So the EKO 60 made it through the winter, gradually working worse and worse. The weather here was such that I couldn't give it the break I needed to do a thorough job of cleaning out the heat exchanger tubes. Burning partially seasoned wood and wet seasoned wood did not help.
So this week I set about tearing things down. The turbulators were stuck on ridges of build-up and I had to break them completely down and pull out the twisty straps one by one with heavy vise-grips. I am now in the process of building a rotary wire-brush to scrub out the tubes.
While the turbulators are out I have been considering leaving them out altogether. Has anyone else done this? They're kind of a PITA and now that I have broken things down this far, it seems like it would be easier to service during the main heating season without them, especially if the boiler is still pretty warm.
So this week I set about tearing things down. The turbulators were stuck on ridges of build-up and I had to break them completely down and pull out the twisty straps one by one with heavy vise-grips. I am now in the process of building a rotary wire-brush to scrub out the tubes.
While the turbulators are out I have been considering leaving them out altogether. Has anyone else done this? They're kind of a PITA and now that I have broken things down this far, it seems like it would be easier to service during the main heating season without them, especially if the boiler is still pretty warm.