EKO at 270 degrees - oops! Thought I lost it all!

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markpee

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Aug 12, 2008
151
Huson Valley New York
Minutes ago I looked outside to see smoke barreling out of the chimney, and also from the eves on the shed. I knew right away what happened. You ever see the instructions that say DON'T leave the bottom door open, stay near the boiler etc. They were serious about that.

I usually start a fire in the am from the bottom door and leave it open for 5-10 minutes while I stand there waiting - I then close the door and switch the fan on with the flap open for about 1 hour to get good coals - on my way to work I shut the flap, and we're good - it my tested and proven method.

This morning, my wife had to be to work extra early for a meeting, and I started the fire, leaving the door open. I then came inside to dress our son and help feed our newborn. Well, about 45 minutes later I saw (start at the beginning of this story).

I have been a volunteer fireman for over 15 years, and at first when I saw the shed, I though I had lost it, thinking it was completely engulfed in flame inside. When I looked through the windows, there was no flame, and the smoke felt wet. When I opened the door I heard a lot of hissing, indicating that the pressure relief valve had opened (this is a very important feature to have on your boiler!). I ran back inside and shut my Furnace "emergency switch" off. This is the red plated switch that is supposed to be placed somewhere you can get to it in an emergency (both my oil and wood furnace are hooked to it). As soon as I shut it off, the steam (smoke ) stopped.

When I went to the shed, it was wet, but no apparent damage to the boiler or piping. The boiler was making a bubbling sound, like water boiling. My manual guage on my outlet pipe was reading 270 degrees - and it can read higher, so I'm fairly comfortable that it didn't go above. The only issue I see is that my pex was a little soft, but am hoping it will be okay. It was not soft on the outside where you could put a fingernail scratch in it, just a soft pliable feeling.

When I restarted, it seems to be fine except for a controller reading of "E1", but am thinking that will go away once the temp is down. I currently have the shed doors open and my therms at 80 degrees, including in the garage with the doors open to help bring the temp down.

I'll keep you posted, but want everyone to read this as to not screw up like I did - and of course, I knew better. At least there is no damage, and no one got hurt!

Lastly, I was thinking of all of you, as I faile to mention that after I threw the switch off, I ran upstairs to get the camera so I could post a pic - by the time I got outside, there was nothing to take a picture of. Sorry guys and girls.

Live and learn - Mark
 
WOW 270 (yes are we clear for take off),good to hear your PEX did not fail I have gotten the E1 code before and it indicated a bad connection to the controler you may have fried the water temp probe, I would pull the controler out and see if the connections are melted off and check the wiring especally to the temp probe.Glad to hear you and the EKO survived it may be a cheap lesson..Dave
 
glad it all seemed to hold up and not be worse for wear- and I guess that's a good testimonial to the basic solidity of these designs.

for what it's worth, someone pointed out to me, and I tend to agree, that any "boiler off" switch on these units should really only be set up to kill the combustion fan- you _do_ want the circulators to be able to continue moving water around, to prevent hot areas in the water jacket
 
I sure am glad other people make mistakes to. About 2 weeks ago someone forgot to open the ball valve on the return line of my greenwood. Long story short, When I got home it was hot, very hot. Had to shovel all coals out of firebox. Cooked all the water out, melted the hands of the gages, melted the float in the bleeder, fried one pump, fried the temp sensor on the heat retention unit. That was a Fri. had it up and running by Sat night. No damage to the refractory, or heat x. I don't think the inside got any hotter than it normally does. My pipes got a little warm though. Accidents happen!!!

djblech
Greenwood 100
 
My problem from the beginning was that I usually shut off the EKO controller when I start a new fire in order to prevent a cool down and subsequent firing of my oil unit. That has a lot to do with why my unit overheated so much. My shutting off the switch not only killed power to the EKO but also stopped the circulators on my zones from pushing more water and pressure out to the unit. My theory anyway, and it worked.

To update, the pex is hard again. After the unit cooled, which I was able to achive rather quickly, I had an "E3" error. I pushed stop, and I was back in business. So far so good. I have to go to work, and am confortable now to do so based on the status of the unit now. Again, Thank God!
 
The boiler service switch is just that, a switch at the boiler location so that there is no electricity present when servicing, and is required by code.
What you're suggesting is a second switch so that circulators can still run. In Marks case, turning down the rheostat would I think accomplish the same thing.
Good catch Mark, glad nobody got scalded, and no damage
 
You run your fan for an hour with the bypass flap open every time you start?? That seems like a long time to me. I burn a lot of wood in an hour and I want that heat going down through the nozzle, not out the flue.

Using Nofossils cold-start method a lot of folks on this forum are able to get the EKO running in 20 minutes or less. I'm not trying to say you don't have a great system going. I just wonder if you could save some wood by changing up your routine...
 
You'd be surprised what temps these boilers can see without any damage. My main concern would be the integrity of the pex and the bladder in your expansion tank, which can fail at high temps. Also, it's not good for your pumps, though I've pumped water hotter than that with no apparent ill effects.

I would forget about using your oil backup during the wood heating season. IME, you can get all the heat you need out of the EKO and adding another layer of complexity with the backup running simultaneously doesn't seem worth it to me.
 
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