Outdoor Furnace: How To Take The Water Sample
Enjoy this fun video describing the process:
1. Follow all necessary safety precautions. See your Owners Manual for complete instructions. Taking a water sample while the outdoor wood furnace water is hot is DANGEROUS! It is safest to allow the outdoor boiler to cool before taking the water sample so please use common sense.
2. It is important to remember that an outdoor furnace must always be full of properly treated water. Any time water touches steel, it will rust holes in the steel unless the water is properly treated.
If you don't treat your furnace water – it is only a matter of time before your outdoor wood burner steel will become paper-thin, the furnace will leak, and your investment in your outdoor wood stove will be lost. Proper water treatment is CRITICAL!
3. It is critical to eliminate sediment buildup in the bottom of the water jacket before adding water treatment. This is an important annual maintenance item that flushes any sediment buildup from the furnace.
NOTE: Sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the water tank can prevent even properly treated water from protecting the furnace steel. This step can be done as often as necessary to get rid of dangerous sediment buildup.
4. To do this, open the drain valve in the bottom rear of the water jacket and drain approximately 5-10 gallons of water from the furnace, or until the water runs clear, whichever occurs last.
a. If the water does not run clear, you may have excessive sediment in your system and all the furnace water will need to be completely flushed out.
If this is the case, be sure to remove the unburnt wood, coals, and ash from the furnace so that there is not a fire burning while the water jacket is empty (the water jacket must be full of water when there is a fire in the firebox to protect the furnace steel from warping).
5. Optional: While flushing sediment, you can attach a hose to the water jacket drain at the bottom of the furnace to drain the water away from the rear of the furnace.
6. Once the water runs clear, close the drain valve.
7. Repeat steps 3-5 from the second drain if you have a GX series furnace.
8. In the unlikely event that you had to flush ALL the water out of the furnace because of excessive sediment or cloudiness in the water, now refill the furnace with fresh water.
a. Please note that if you have a water softener, please bypass the water softener to fill the outdoor furnace with unsoftened water.
9. Add the required amount of Liquid Armor Water Treatment.
10. Allow the furnace water to circulate for a minimum of 24 hours.
11. Collect a water sample in a clean bottle so as to not contaminate the sample. Every gallon of Hawken Certified Water Treatment is shipped with TWO water sample bottles, labels, and shipping boxes.
12. Please be sure to include your email address on the BOTTLE label(not on the shipping box) so your results can be reported in a timely manner.
Your email address is the most important because the Lab ONLY provides results for the FREE test via email. If you don't have an email address, call OutdoorBoiler.com after 4-8 weeks for your test results by phone. Call us at (231) 861-8200
13. Also write the following information on the bottle label: Furnace Serial number, furnace model, date sample collected, and your full contact information.
14. Please mail water samples VIA US POSTAL SERVICE ONLY to the following address:
OutdoorBoiler.com Labs
PO Box 158
Shelby, MI 49455
231-861-8200
15. Do not use FedEx or UPS – only mail your water sample via US Mail.
16. In 4-5 weeks, you will receive your test results via email. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN by the Hawken Lab, if any, to protect your investment in your outdoor furnace. If you follow these simple steps, you will be able to continue to save money with your outdoor furnace for decades!
For more outdoor wood boiler parts and products visit OutdoorBoiler.com!
