First fire of the season last night - topped my boiler off with some treatment and water to the top of the vent pipe last week. Ran the pump for a few days also to hopefully get any bubbles out of the lines, though it only took maybe 6 gallons to top up. Got up to the 90s water temp and started seeing some water come out of the vent. The water was warm - not at all boiling - and I watched it decrease in flow until peaking around 140. I did not load more wood as I got a little nervous. The pump is running and we did get the house from 58 to 64 on the one small load of wood, but I am thinking maybe the pump is beginning to go, allowing the water at the firebox to overheat before it circulates. My other thought was maybe a bad door seal, though with the fan (new last year) running I didn't think a bad seal would allow enough extra air to make that much of a difference. Water temp stayed very controlled and seemed to follow a normal time pattern to get up to the temps it saw. Flapper seemed to be in great shape last year when I changed out the fan. Would love to hear any thoughts on this! Current plan is to replace the rope and the pump as preventative maintenance and see where that gets me.
Did you try the piece of paper trick, or lit match trick to see if the door gasket was actually leaking?
Tried some smoke around the door perimeter (thank you Punch cigar company) but didn't see much to indicate leakage. Will have to try the dollar bill trick once I'm home in daylight hours. Lit match just blows out... I'm next to an acre of field between two hills, so wind is a constant here. Great for a good draft, not so good for testing boiler doors.. Didn't see any smoke sucked in though aside from what's gobbled up by the fan. Next test well be to do this with the fan off. Should have thought of that! Thank you for the suggestion!
Just water coming out the vent? Probably just expansion of the water due to the heat. Mine has done that if I overfill it or fill it when cold. Gary
Yep, just water. Thank you for the reassurance - I did fill it cold, right to the top of the vent per manufacturer's instructions. I did another fire night before last and had much less water escape. By the time I was up to 165 it had stopped altogether. I got a little steam last year, but nothing that made me too nervous as it was while burning some nice dry black birch and beech, or very well seasoned pine.
As Gary stated above. Now that you have ran it up to temp the water that needed to escape has so likely you will not see anymore unless you set your high cut off temp higher. Doubt you have anything to worry about. I have a 5500 and installed it new '04-05 season. The rubber flappers at the air intakes will wear out and tear or dry rot. The only things I've had to work on or replace on my Woodmaster has been the thermistor in the rear that detects the H2O temps and one flapper at the front or door induced blower. $35 worth of parts and not much time. I also ran speaker wire to replace the brittle wire from the thermistor to the ECU. These things are pigs and will produce a lot of heat. How long have you had yours?
I think it's going about eight years. This is our third year in the house (to the day, actually) and I replaced a deceased draft fan last year in the dead of winter. The flapper looked very solid. previous owner did the door gasket four years ago now. I have not seen any water since the first couple fires, so I am feeling pretty good about things. Guess it was just expansion of the freshly filled water. Many thanks to the posters above for calming my nerves. =)
It does have a loose cap with a hollow "dipstick" attached to it that vents to the very top of the cap. In warm weather with a real hot fire I have seen it steam, but this was the first water spillage. Knock wood, no repeats so far after the third burn.
That's just the kind of cap you want with an open vent system. Seeing the water spilling out of the top vent is an eye-opener and I'm sure the only reason is that it was overfilled. Like others have stated, once the water got up to temp......
I realize this is over a year old...but wondering if the OP has any update? I have a 4400 too and in early/late season when my house isn't calling for much heat (like right now) it slowly seems to build temp up into the boiling range...even when the fans not kicking on. I'm guessing there's an air leak feeding the fire? My flapper is good and I replaced the door deal with a 1" rope, however the door doesn't seem 100% sealed because when the fan first kicks on I can see some smoke escaping around it. I'm wondering if I should try a 1-1/4 or even a 1-1/2" rope seal?
My issue was just a matter of being over filled. It cooked off a handful of times, found it's own level, and I've been good since. I've got four years on the current gasket, and knock wood it's doing alright. I'd have one spare if there wasn't a shop right in town who sells them. I can't speak to the size of the rope, as it was newly installed when we bought the house. What I know for sure is that I've only seen smoke out the door once, when I had a hinge pin letting go. If you're getting smoke out the door, air is getting in for sure.
Something else I'd mention is to be careful loading close to the door - I have a co worker with a 5500 who cooked the wiring to the fan and warped the door by (she claims) over firing in the front of the box. I have a feeling there's more to the story, but thought I'd mention it. I guess a leaky gasket or a high limit setting too far up would help cause that.
I I had a Woodmaster 5500 for about 10 years, the only issue I had was replacing the blower on the front door. I sold mine last year before chancing any major issues. I know 4 different guys who have had major issues with the tank leaking, all had to be welded. One friend just had a second leak in a different location. This was the main reason I sold mine, 10 years without any issues, didn't want to chance it.
I run a mix of antifreeze and water in mine. I have from day one. I will fire it up and run it for exercise when it gets real cold this winter. I tend to do this each year since I have switched to pellet stoves now for primary heat. Hopefully I don't have any surprises when I fire the 5500. It has been pretty dormant the last several winters. There are some good videos on youtube and I was reviewing the taco pump vids recently when I stumbled across those. It's easy to fix or rebuild said pumps if your system is plumbed right meaning shutoffs etc; Woodmaster is always helpful trouble shooting and problem solving if you have an issue. I like my unit but don't like its appetite. damm thing is a pig. It likes a lot of wood but it really pumps out the heat. It's a pretty simple system really.
