EKO 40 clearances and Metalbestos outside temps

[700renegade]

Hi Guys,

I'm in the process of building a 60'x60'x17' garage/workshop and am going to partition off a 11'x13' room in one corner to house an EKO 40 boiler. I'm going to use 8" stainless Metalbestos and either go straight up, or may go thru a wall thimble and strap it on the sidewall and run up thru the overhang. ( I tend to like that option a bit better as I don't have to go thru the floor of the mezannine or insulated attic ).

According to the EKO info, they want 36" clearance on the rear and 18" on both sides. I'd like to crowd the boiler tighter to the corner of the room than that.

Does anyone here have experience in how hot it is in those areas? I'd like to be about 18" rear and 6" sides. In looking at the boiler, I can't see how there would be any significant temps radiating off those areas, other than the flue pipe itself - and that temp at the wall will be the same regardless if it were 12" or 12 feet.

I could stand off a second layer of metal wall sheeting a couple inches as a radiation shield ( 1" gap from floor, open on top ) from the regular wall ( 2x8 stud, R25 fiberglass insulation, metal pole barn sheeting inside and out). I would be startled if temps behind a radiation shield would get much above ambient ).

Also I can get a black EPDM boot for the roof that is rated 212*/275* contunuous/intermittant. There is an ugly orange silicone one available rated at 437*/500*+ also, but the black matches the roof better. Any guess on whether the skin temp of that dual-wall Metalbestos at 20 feet in the air would ever exceed 212*? In my current boiler (Buderus) the single wall stainless flue can be nearly glowing hot but the skin of the dual wall is probably less than 200*.

 

[mikefrommaine]

You can reduce the side clearance as you know. But it may make cleaning harder. I'm leaving an extra 6" on the side of my biomass 60 so it is easier to access.

 

[stee6043]

Do you plan on having your boiler installation inspected? If so I can only assume the inspector will care about manufacturers spec's.

I personally think you want to be able to stand on all sides of your boiler for maintenance and cleaning. 6" seems very limiting in terms of getting around. I wouldn't do it if it were my installation.

Roof penetrations are typically managed with a metal "apron", are they not? I don't think Metalbestos would endorse contact with a plastic/rubber boot. I beleive the usual UL smoke pipe is going to have a min rating of 2" clear to combustibles. Ratings are intended to protect you for worst case (in this case it would be a chimney fire). If someone comes on here and tells you their pipe "never gets above 100 degrees" ask them how many times they've measured it during a chimney fire and then reassess.

You've spent the money on a really nice wood burner. You might as well give it the installation it deserves!

 

[700renegade]

There will be no inspection on the workshop, although I suppose the insurance company could conceivably check the clearance after the fact if the place were to burn to the ground. So far my insurance Co. could care less about fireplaces, woodstoves, etc.

In reference to space for maintenance and cleaning - unless I'm mistaken, there is nothing to get at on the back or sides of the EKO for cleaning of any sort - just cycle the handle that move the turbulators right? I guess a search is in order here.

Regarding the silicone boot, Metalbest tells you to seal the top of the storm collar with silicone. I realize a whole boot made of silicone is a bit different than a bead of caulk. I wonder if silicone is considered a 'combustible' or not. I suppose I could take one of my wife's new roasters with the silicone handles and get after it with a heat gun or propane torch and see what happens. I'm sure she'll understand.......

If anyone knows a better way to flash out the metalbest pipe thru a pro-rib ag style steel roof, let me know.

 

[mr.fixit]

I would for sure leave enough room on the cleaning handle side so you can easily stand there.
IMO that cleaning handle only does a marginal job of cleaning the HX tubes.
If you take the top access cover off over the tubes and look down at where the turbulators actually make contact with the tubes, it is a small portion of the actual surface area of the HX tube.
I take the turbulators out and run a wire brush clamped to a piece of steel rod that is chucked into a drill to clean them.

 

[Duetech]

Actually, FYI< there is an access on the top back of my EKO that allows me to get in to the turbolator actuator so it can be cleaned. There may be one on yours as well. The tubes of the heat exchanger should be cleaned periodically. You will need the suggested manufacturers clearance just to get in to the turbolator area. My EKO40 is an older model and they used cotter pins to hold the pins that the individual turbolator blades were suspended from. At one point just barely a year after I started using the EKO two of the pins dropped out and the blades dropped down in to the tubes and started plugging the tubes. The bypass valve/back plate flapper exhausts into the turbolator chamber and you can see some of the rigging if you use an inspection mirror. It would be very difficult to work around the 6" clearance and clean the tubes or repair the trubolator. I went through the roof with my chimney set-up but "T"-d out right at the exhaust outlet and cleaned from the bottom of the "T" and needed every bit of the 36" and was glad I had it. Too much thrift here could be very un-favorable in no time.

 

[Hunderliggur]

18 inch side clearance is what I have - makes it tight to get around the boiler! I do store some ready wood right next to the boiler between the boiler and the wall ;-). If I was to do it again, I would have 24 inches on the sides. 36 on the back is fine - its all cluttered up with vent pipe and boiler lines anyway.

For the roof I used a galvanized flashing on my standing seam roof. If you have an extra roof panel you can cut the hole, run the pipe, add the metal flashing, then lap a new roof panel (cut a half moon for the flashing on the uphill side) up to the peak. Maybe I'll get the siding on the shed one of these days.