Pioneer Just Fired up for 9th Heating Season

Post by **Lightning** » Sun. Sep. 27, 2015 11:58 am

Nice! How about a walk thru?
Some pics and descriptions?
Is it tied into the hot water tank in your avatar?

emposter · Post by **emposter** » Sun. Sep. 27, 2015 9:28 pm

Lightning wrote:Nice! How about a walk thru?
Some pics and descriptions?
Is it tied into the hot water tank in your avatar?

Thanks for noticing. Yes, that picture is from 2008 after I added a coil to supplement my electric water heater. I own a 2006 LL Pioneer with a power-vent. My unit is located in the one car garage attached to my 1100 sq, ft home. The original owner of LL suggested that I was crazy to add a coil and still expect to heat my entire house using my 90K Pioneer.
The retail asking price for a water coil ($240.00) made me think Richard was crazy. I made my own coil (i.e. 3/4" Sch 80 308 stainless) and installed it based on the best guidance I found on NEPACrossroads. Well, "The Mayor" was correct. My 90K unit struggled to keep up that winter. And yes, I am crazy.

Additions/modifications since 2008:
Increased the output of my Pioneer approx 20K (Do Not Try This At Home...remember I am a trained professional

and at least two people think I am crazy)
Added a power assist to the water coil
Possibly eliminated the crappy single phase, shaded pole motor & squirrel cage fan assembly that comes with the power-vent. (This mod was less fun/more complicated than bending the water coil and yet to be proven for an entire heating system). My setup today looks exactly the same as my pic/avatar. The garage still needs a final coat of joint compound and painting.
I burn approximately 4.5 ton of rice/year. My bill electric is static throughout the entire year. When the stove shuts down, the electric water heater kicks in + the occasional AC.
I am pretty anal about maintenance due to my vocation. I never get more than 3 years usage from the power-vent.
Honestly, my only complaint with LL

is that Richard never informed me that my coal supplier would annually increase the coal price by $5.00/ton

emposter

Flyer5 · Post by **Flyer5** » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 10:34 am

Who the hell is Richard? If he is working here I need him to get out here and get some work done.

emposter · Post by **emposter** » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 11:46 am

Flyer5 wrote:Who the hell is Richard? If he is working here I need him to get out here and get some work done.

My Bad! I meant Jerry. You know, when a product works as advertised, you don't hear people complain. In my case, I have not signed into this forum in a few years. I was unable to locate myself

Apparently, The "Mayor" did some website cleaning several years ago and failed to completely eliminate me.
My original intent was to post about my Pioneer stove's reliability. Before finding myself, I read through the various posts and smiled that the forum contents are completely different and exactly the same

I guess I owe an apology to either Richard "The Mayor" or Jerry "The Founder"

mike

mike2142 · Post by **mike2142** » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 2:52 pm

Waiting till November

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 3:15 pm

emposter wrote:<snip>
Possibly eliminated the crappy single phase, shaded pole motor & squirrel cage fan assembly that comes with the power-vent...... that Richard never informed me that my coal supplier would annually increase the coal price by $5.00/ton
emposter

I assume you replaced the squirrel case fan with a ram-jet system?

I don't think Rich is going to pay you the fuel price increase. But with the $$$ you are saving anyway, you're still good to go.

Have not started my stove yet, usually end of OCT, early NOV. I was going to go on my roof and chk out my chimney today to see if it needed sweeping but its about ten zillion degrees up there. It was cooler over the weekend but I was busy with my fantasy football stuff.

Uglysquirrel · Post by **Uglysquirrel** » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 4:30 pm

davidmcbeth3 wrote:
emposter wrote:<snip>
Possibly eliminated the crappy single phase, shaded pole motor & squirrel cage fan assembly that comes with the power-vent...... that Richard never informed me that my coal supplier would annually increase the coal price by $5.00/ton
emposter
I assume you replaced the squirrel case fan with a ram-jet system?

I don't think Rich is going to pay you the fuel price increase. But with the $$$ you are saving anyway, you're still good to go.

Have not started my stove yet, usually end of OCT, early NOV. I was going to go on my roof and chk out my chimney today to see if it needed sweeping but its about ten zillion degrees up there. It was cooler over the weekend but I was busy with my fantasy football stuff.

fantasy football?

coalnewbie · Post by **coalnewbie** » Mon. Oct. 26, 2015 4:08 pm

Seventh year with my Pocono, often running on a Champion 1400/1800W $149 special from tractor supply when the power takes a dive. It's in the barn keeping the plumbing from freezing and the cats warm so it's not stressed hard but reliability is essential. Massive overkill for the job as hand but that is the way I run. Replaced the combustion motor just for the hell of it. Shaded pole motors do not last for ever.The glass is now a piece of steel. My AnthraKing AK180 also likes exactly the same type of generator. No fancy inverter Hondas here. No compliants. All set for a bytchy winter.

CoaldHeat · Post by **CoaldHeat** » Tue. Oct. 27, 2015 12:11 pm

Just fired up my Pioneer for it's 5th season. Keeps the house nice and toasty and has paid for itself already with ease.