Is there a inherent defect in the Econoburns??

[I Stand Alone]

I have an Econuburn 150, Love it mostly. I recently had a problem with the blower fan not running upto speed when the aquastat kicked on. It has been warm recently so the stove reaches temp 185 the aquastat kicks off the fan. When the temp drops it kicks back on. That is normal operation.

Since the fan did not come up to speed I called Econoburn to see what the problem was.

I was told that the fan takes full voltage to start then the voltage drops for low speed. When the Aquastat turns off the fan then turns it back on the fan starts in low voltage and will burn out the circuit board. They are good enough to send a new circuit board but, this will happen again and again I am afraid!

Any thoughts?

Should I complain more?

Anyone else had this problem?

 

[NNYorker]

Call Dale @ Econoburn. He is more than accomodating to solve any issues you may have. He drove five hrs. to my home for an issue I had and did not hesitate to help me. This was on about a two hr. notice. Nothing but good to say about my experience with the company and employees.

Can't help you on your 150, my 100 --no hi/lo speed fan.

 

[wantstoburnwood]

I have been running my 150 since Oct 08 . I havent had any problems with the fan speed , it always recovers speed as it is supposed to. My boiler was shipped with a neutral wire missing in the control , after a conversation with Dale at econoburn I had the wire installed and the boiler has worked without a hitch. A great company to deal with

 

[pybyr]

I put my EBW 150 in service 1/15/09 and it has been my sole heat source since then- and I have not had any problem with the blower or anything else; my dealings with the company (which also has the depth/ backing of being part of a much larger family of companies-- Dunkirk, etc.-- that have a lot of experience in boilers and related systems) have all been great. If there is a problem, I'm optimistic that they'll help people straighten it out. They even gave _a lot_ of tech support to one person who bought one second hand.

 

[Piker]

I have not had any customers burn their nimbus boards out yet because of what the company calls "short cycling..." or basically, using the aquastat to kill the blower repeatedly on installations without thermal storage. Most electronics last longer the fewer times they are cycled on and off since this reduces the frequency of any slight surge that might be present during startup... so it stands to reason that a nimbus board might last longer on a boiler that doesn't "short cycle" though I can't say how much longer that would be. Ask me again in a few years I guess. It makes sense that it would be harder on the numbus board if the fan were trying to start up on low setting... but I wouldn't get too worried about it.

Pybyr,
Not to take anything away from Econoburn as a reputable company, but they are not affiliated with Dunkirk Boiler, as is the common misconception because of the town they hail from and the color of the Econoburn. The parent company is Dunkirk Metal Products - a precision metal fabrication and die stamping company that has been around for over 60 years... about a mile away from Dunkirk Boilers actually. I believe the boiler division, Alternative Fuel Boilers, has been around for about 4 years or so.

cheers

 

[pybyr]

Pybyr,
Not to take anything away from Econoburn as a reputable company, but they are not affiliated with Dunkirk Boiler, as is the common misconception because of the town they hail from and the color of the Econoburn. The parent company is Dunkirk Metal Products - a precision metal fabrication and die stamping company that has been around for over 60 years... about a mile away from Dunkirk Boilers actually. I believe the boiler division, Alternative Fuel Boilers, has been around for about 4 years or so.

cheers

Thanks for the correction- and you have better reason to know for sure than I. I must've gotten mixed up by the fact that Econoburn V.P. Mark Odell _came from_ prior work at ECR, which is the family of companies that's the parent of Dunkirk Boilers.

In some ways, I'm pleased (from just googling Dunkirk Metal Products) to learn that Econoburn/ Alternative Fuel Boilers' parent company is a locally owned business. I admire anyone who's making a go of it- especially as an independent small to medium company- and not succumbing to the trendy outsourcing/ offshoring that I, personally, think is destructive.

 

[Piker]

Pybyr,
Not to take anything away from Econoburn as a reputable company, but they are not affiliated with Dunkirk Boiler, as is the common misconception because of the town they hail from and the color of the Econoburn. The parent company is Dunkirk Metal Products - a precision metal fabrication and die stamping company that has been around for over 60 years... about a mile away from Dunkirk Boilers actually. I believe the boiler division, Alternative Fuel Boilers, has been around for about 4 years or so.

cheers

Thanks for the correction- and you have better reason to know for sure than I. I must've gotten mixed up by the fact that Econoburn V.P. Mark Odell _came from_ prior work at ECR, which is the family of companies that's the parent of Dunkirk Boilers.

Yep, Mark I believe started on the assembly line at ECR and worked his way up, and now he's the man at Econoburn. He's worked hard, and now he's livin' the dream. For sure, he's one of the best guys I ever had the privelige to work for, simply because you worked with him, not for him. I'll stop before it gets too mushy 'cause I know he's reading this!! Hi Mark!

cheers

 

[I Stand Alone]

I believe when I called there tech line I talked to Dale. YES they were very accommodating and helpful. This has been true from my first call to them 18 months ago to purchase my 150. I think it is a great product very well built.

I am getting a new nimbus board free of charge with out even asking for that. That is great customer service.

Just want to see if anyone else sets their unit up to short cycle. Or has had problems with the nimbus board.

It has been in the mid 30's this week and upto 45 this weekend, without storage my boiler fan will shut down. there is no way around it without storage.

I am no electronic wizard but seems to me that a simple tweak of the nimbus board should be able to make it more tolerant of short cycling. When I talked to Econoburn they were definitely aware of the potential problem.

I Stand Alone