still more questions on eko 25.

ihookem said:

There is something wrong with my Eko 25. It does not heat the water fast at all most of the time. I think I might have it though. I know I need a Delfoss mixing valve. It's on the way. This should help. I think something else is wrong so here is the questions. I have an Eko 25 super. I swipe the brush lever and leave it down. Is this how iut's supposed to stay when burning. A dumb question but I can't find info anywhere. Also, I have 6 feet of chimney and wonder if I'm not getting a good enough draft What does everyone else have for a chimney lengh? Thanks again.

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It dosent matter where you leave the handle when you are done. What do you mean by fast? are you trying to heat storage water? do you have a loop that alows water to run around the boiler to mix with the cooler return water?

Six feet is very short. I think most wood boilers recommend at least 20'. My eko 40 is in a 40' tall chimney. You will not get a very good draft with only 6'. I would try to go with more pipe if you can.

From recollection I believe the recommendation for draft by chimney height is 18' (I have an older EKO40 super and It was in the manual somewhere). Read the forum "Sticky"- "Fine tuning EKO" thread. Air mix could also be a contributing factor. Poplar is not known for high btu content but works well when dry so moisture content could be a contributing factor as well (wood that is too hihg in MC has to dry out before it can gassify well). My EKO40 is in an unheated out building and there is no storage for it yet. I have found putting really cold wood into the boiler makes it very sluggish. I get idling and actually burn the densest hard wood I can to get the longest burn times I can get for the main heating season. Shoulder seasons and summer (for dhw) I burn the lower btu woods.

As stated above I think your stack is WAY too short. I bet your draft is practically zero which means the EKO is just festering in its own exhaust gasses. You can't get strong gassification until you get good draft. When you're stirring your coals you're probably giving the EKO a bit of a break which is why it starts out okay but then quickly slows down again.

I'd double your stack at a minimum. If it was me I'd go to 18' while I was up there. I'm running 24' with my EKO...

All good suggestions, high wood moisture, inaqeduate draft won't help. If it's a new boiler you'll need to drive moisture from refractory -be patient. Verify air settings with manual. I have 14' of stack which is adequate for my setup. They also run best once the temp is up above 150+. Hang in there...

What are your settings? What kind of wood are you using for most of the burn is it seasoned well? Is the fire going out on you or is it burning up the full load of wood?

Rob

Blue is the color to aim for. I found deviations in the welds on my boiler that would not let the sliding gate that controlled the primary air close completely. If yours is a newer model you can adjust the air flow of your blower and make a major impact on your flame. The sticky mentioned earlier covers a lot on air flow as well.

ihookem said:

Thanks hydronics. I guess I can put on another 3' then I will have 9' of pipe and will be 12' off the ground. Moisture is low in my wood, this is why I think the the chimney is too short. I had some popple, it burns good, had some oak, burns real good. It's all dry though My settings are 9mm open and the screws are out almost 4 turns. Ahona told me 3 but got yellow so I went 4 and got much more blue.

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Just remember you will not get much heat from the popple. Settings sound good but when you get the danfoss and a balancing valve installed you should get some more heat.


Rob

Ihookem,
I've got a eko25 and the total length of pipe is about 6-7'. Nice straight run after the 't' off the back of the unit. It's in an insulated outbldg. with a shed roof so I didn't need too much pipe to be above the roof line. I do have a draft inducer that I run when starting, I also turn it on before I open the door when reloading to keep the smoke going the right direction. I'm guessing you might have other issues other than your draft.

The lack of a mixing valve could be part of the problem. Until your valve arrives you could put in a regular ball or gate valve , you should have one on the hot side of the danfoss anyway to regulate the amount of water available to the mixing valve. You could use that valve to manually control the water until you get the other valve

I saw this awhile back; may be something you could use?

http://www.ctwoodfurnace.com/Misc Parts.htm

ihookem said:

The mixing valve has been on for a week. What a difference when it's out of wood. The boiler stays hot and the fire starts up much better. I have another question and won't bother anyone again. I have a temp guage in the basement to tell me the water temp. However it would be nice to have a wireless thermometer so I don't have to go downstairs to see how hot the water is. Is there a wireless gauge anyone knows about that I could buy? Or for that matter one that can be hooked up with thermostat wire? Thanks in advance.

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I have these and they run on 24v or batt and can be remote with thermostat wire.

http://www.azeltec.com/catalog.0.html.0.html#DIGIT-STAT

Rob

I hooked my pump up into the back of the controller as it shows in the manual pg.13.The controller has power supply going into it which in turn powers the pump. The diagram of the back of the controller is in the manual.The thermostat terminals (#3 and#4)should have a jumper wire between them.This is theRK -2001UA controller anyway.Mine works this way fine.

Not sure on eko, but biomass recommends minimum of 12' chimney.

here ya go http://www.newhorizoncorp.com/PDF/RK-2001UA-ENG1.pdf

L is hot N is neutral