EKO 40, 500gal tank - To gassify or not to gassify?

[Rudy Nunez]

I just started up my Eko 40 3 days ago. Its got 500 Gal. storage. I'm dealing with wood thats definitely not great and I'll be stuck with it for at least a few days. So here's the question: If the wood just aint good enough is it better to leave it to smolder with the heat-exchanger bypass closed even though it wont gassify, or just leave it open and let the thing burn like a regular wood stove?

I've been messing with it for too many hours now. Its had a good coal bed for hours but that just isnt enough. I poke it, stir it, fill it, talk nicley. Current temp is 165. Chimney is double wall stainless. Blower aperture is set to about 1/4 inch. Though I've tried up to 3/4.

Your help is appreciated.

 

[mr.fixit]

Since no one else replied ,Welcome aboard!
If you put your boiler brand and model in the title you should get more response.
But I,ll give it a try.I run my 40 with the fan shutter wide open and then adjust the speed on the controller, usually run at 70 or 80% (I have the new style controller,I dont think you can adjust the speed on the older controller?)I wouldnt run it with the bypass damper open all the time, if the fire took off good your chimney could possibly overheat.
Try more air if your wood isnt ideal and not gassifing nice.
With dry wood and proper tuning these boilers put out alot of heat.

 

[Nofossil]

Something seems really wrong here. With a good bed of coals, you can get gasification and secondary burn using dog poo for fuel.

Is there any chance that the secondary air passages are plugged or blocked?

 

[leaddog]

Seeing as this is a new eko I would pull the panel off so you can look and see how the primaries are adj. Mine were shipped wide open and all the air was going to the upper chamber and none to the secondary. Set the primary and secondary to the manual specks and go from there. While you have the panel off take a rod and push it down the secondary holes and make sure they are clear. They place plastic tubing in the refactory when they pour it and it burns out on the first burn but maybe you have some pieces stuck so you aren't getting air thru. If you have a GOOD coal bed and have the air settings set close you should get gasification and then with experiance you can adj from there.
leaddog

 

[Rudy Nunez]

I'll take ur advice about adjusting the primary and secondaries. My EKO 40 is brand new and has only been running for a few days. It really seems to be the poor wood quality. Over the last several hours the ember pile is just not as big and hot as it should be. If I want secondary burn I have to go back and open it up every 20-30 minutes. Usually stir the coals every time so they cover the nozzle. However, you say that you could get secondary burn from dog poo. I hope that this is true and I will be able to get good efficiency and less hassle from this machine.

 

[leaddog]

I really dont think secondary air passages are blocked. my EKO 40 is brand new and has only been running for a few days. Sometimes I peek into the top door while the blower is running and it doesn't seem at all blocked. It really seems to be the poor wood quality. Over the last several hours the ember pile is just not as big and hot as it should be. If I want secondary burn I have to go back and open it up every 20-30 minutes. Usually stir the coals every time so they cover the nozzle. However, you say that you could get secondary burn from dog poo. I hope that this is true and I will be able to get good efficiency and less hassle from this machine.

Yes it does sound like the wood is the problem if you are getting gasification. You need to split your wood as small as posible and put it close to the stove or in a heated place for afew days if posible. That will help it dry and with it being small it will coal up better and help stop the bridging. Lossing the coals under the nozzel will stop the secondary burn.
don't get discouraged, with dryer wood and experience you will be happy. If I hadn't have found this fourm I would have shipped my eko to the scrap yard.
leaddog

 

[taxidermist]

Settings for your 40

Fan speed 100%

Fan shutter 100% open

pump launch 160 to 170

Primaries 1 inch

Secondaries 3.5 turns out from seated

With your air shutter setting @ 1 open you are starving it for air.

4 things you need for a fire
Heat
air
fuel
chemical chain reaction

Take one out and you have nothing.

 

[Rudy Nunez]

Wow! Millions thanks everyone. This is the most helpful online forum I've ever seen. I've started splitting my wood smaller. I'll get around to the adjustments tonight.

 

[Hunderliggur]

Settings for your 40
Fan speed 100%
Fan shutter 100% open
pump launch 160 to 170
Primaries 1 inch
Secondaries 3.5 turns out from seated

With your air shutter setting @ 1 open you are starving it for air.
4 things you need for a fire
Heat
air
fuel
chemical chain reaction

Take one out and you have nothing.

I decided to take a look at my system tonight since I was getting overblown orange flame in the lower chamber and lots of bridging in the upper chamber. My settings were Fan 50%, Shutter 50%, Pump 165, Primary 3/4", Secondaries 6 or 7. I adjusted to the settings you provided and we are gassifying correctly. I'll see if it helps with the bridging. Thanks for the input.

 

[Hunderliggur]

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

I set to

Fan speed 100%
Fan shutter 100% open
pump launch 170
Primaries 1 inch
Secondaries 3.5 turns out from seated

Just checked it after an hour of burning (see previous post). Boiler temp was 185 and seconday chamber was RED hot. Great gassification though ;-) The storage return temp is 100F, the Danfoss is making it 140, so I am getting about 50% of the flow out of the boiler (I don't have a flow meter but this must be near the max output of the boiler. 1/2 of 10GPM = 5 GPM * 80 deltaT * 500 = 200K BTUH out of a 137K boiler). Storage tank is rising while all zones in the house are calling for heat. I backed the fan down to 80% because I don't think cherry red is what I want(or is it?).

Is it OK to run the secondary chamber red hot?

 

[stee6043]

Red hot? Are you sure you're not seeing red from the coals on top of the nozzle? I'd bet that's the red you see. The steel in the lower chamber would fall apart long before you were able to see it glowing...and I don't think the boiler is capable of producing that kind of heat. So yes, you're safe. Run it!

 

[stee6043]

Also - when you start getting "really good" heat output it's sometimes a good idea to start bringing the fan speed and/or opening down a bit. I typically adjust fan speed first to save the fan life/energy and then I close the shutter when things are really cooking. At the end of a burn I usually end up with 50% fan speed, 30% shutter open. I start my fires 70% fan speed, 100% shutter open FWIW.

 

[Hunderliggur]

The refactory is RED hot, not the steel. My IR thermometer read the outside of the lower door at 280F. I backed the fan down to 80%. While I had it off to set the fan speed, temp rose to 195 so it shut the fans off and restarted at 190 (never experienced that before). I found my circulator (Taco) was set to medium. I bumped it up to High to take the heat out of the boiler faster. Storage is rising quickly while the house is drawing about 50KBTUh. Boiler is at 188. This is neat! I'll tweak the fan speed to control the burn. We'll see how long the wood lasts. I was getting about 3 hours with my old settings. I may still get that but with more usable BTUs.

 

[taxidermist]

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

I set to

Fan speed 100%
Fan shutter 100% open
pump launch 170
Primaries 1 inch
Secondaries 3.5 turns out from seated

Just checked it after an hour of burning (see previous post). Boiler temp was 185 and seconday chamber was RED hot. Great gassification though ;-) The storage return temp is 100F, the Danfoss is making it 140, so I am getting about 50% of the flow out of the boiler (I don't have a flow meter but this must be near the max output of the boiler. 1/2 of 10GPM = 5 GPM * 80 deltaT * 500 = 200K BTUH out of a 137K boiler). Storage tank is rising while all zones in the house are calling for heat. I backed the fan down to 80% because I don't think cherry red is what I want(or is it?).

Is it OK to run the secondary chamber red hot?

Yep run it! I too get my lower chamber red hot sometimes. Like stee said as you get better burns you need to slow the blower down a little. I also start to close my bypass bal valve to keep my return temp after the pump to about 160. Glad you got your settings good.

Rob

 

[henfruit]

the vigas fan operates automaticly. starts at 100% and slows down as the fire gets hotter ,then ramps up as the fire slows a bit.I only have secondary air to adjust.

 

[Hunderliggur]

Overnight went well. Fed the fire at 1AM and went to bed. System was running great. At 9AM I still have usable heat in the storage tank (I am only using 500 gallons right now)! I probably have 2 to 3 hours of storge remaining. Let's see if I can repeat this today.