Need a new boiler EKO 25 died in fire.

[maple1]

Wow that sucks.Can you save the lines to hook back up top them?
If so you could get an Outdoor Econoburn to hook up quick and get back heating.Then build a shed around it next summer and add heat storage at that time.
I started my system with the outdoor version of the Econoburn,which ended up in a shed hooked to storage.I didn't know if i was going to have my shed fully functional by winter,and i got a good deal on the outdoor model.My systyem has been running for 6 yrs,and am impressed with the Econoburn.I had an issue with a controller and was able to continue running it with an extension cord feeding the fan,using the high limit aguastat to shut off the power when it reached the set point.
I live in the middle of nowhere so having a basic tough boiler is great.
Your experience shows one of the main reasons to have a separate boiler building.Catastrophic boiler fail,and you still have a house to live in.

What catastrophic boiler fail?

 

[Rugar]

As for why the explosion I'm still baffled. The building had windows on one side that were missing pains of glass. What I mean is it had plenty of air movement inside. Was an old wash house from long ago. All rough cut hardwood. Concrete floor and tin on top that was very steep. Always hit my head on doorway going in. I'll always miss that

 

[Fred61]

Propane, like other gasses such as co hangs around the floor and doesn't necessarily mix. That's why they mount the detectors low. It could have a higher concentration than you might think.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

 

[Bill in IL]

I just switched this year to a Garn. It's a very simple furnace to operate and the water storage that was on your someday list is already built in.

Glad that everyone was ok after that ordeal.

 

[maple1]

I will have to admit this thread has me rethinking where I usually keep my Bernzo parked.

 

[maple1]

Kinda hard to tell in the pic with the debris around, but is the boiler sitting right on the floor, or is it up on a stand or blocks or something?

 

[Rugar]

The boiler is on top of the metal pallet it came with. I would say it's five inches tall at least. Without measuring I would say the lower chamber door is about 12 inches above floor

 

[mustash29]

How big was the shed?

Propane is flammable in air between about 2% to 10%.

 

[dogwood]

I initiated a very small "explosion" relighting the burner on our old propane fired water heater once. I used one of those long wooden matches to light the the pilot. It didn't relight on the first try. Only a few seconds later enough propane had build up for it to ignite on the second try with a loud pop, and a flame shooting out long enough to burn the hairs off the back of my hand and singe my eyebrows as I was looking into the orifice. So I'm figuring it doesn't take much time or gas to set off an explosion judging by that experience. And like Fred said, propane is heavier than air and does sink to the floor, so maybe wouldn't dissipate very quickly out the windows.

 

[velvetfoot]

When I unscrewed a tank from my torch, I noticed it was leaking a little. I took it outside. I now keep all the bottles outside in a plastic bag. Actually, I do believe the instructions on the bottle tell you to not store it inside.

 

[maple1]

When I unscrewed a tank from my torch, I noticed it was leaking a little. I took it outside. I now keep all the bottles outside in a plastic bag. Actually, I do believe the instructions on the bottle tell you to not store it inside.

Yes, that was another aspect of my stuck trigger incident I mentioned earlier. After I got the torch unscrewed from the bottle, the bottle was still leaking a little bit of gas. For a few moments at least. Think it stopped as soon as I got it under the heater fan. The torch took longer to come around.

 

[velvetfoot]

Yes, that was another aspect of my stuck trigger incident I mentioned earlier. After I got the torch unscrewed from the bottle, the bottle was still leaking a little bit of gas. For a few moments at least. Think it stopped as soon as I got it under the heater fan. The torch took longer to come around.

My incident was this past summer.

 

[huffdawg]

I have an Eko 40 for sale.. 2 grand US .comes with draft booster,spare controller and a spare fan capacitor. Been used roughly 5 seasons.

 

[Rugar]

Shed was close to 12x16. I'm about convinced it had to be the burnzo leaking. I had a couple empty bottles that I found but I can't find the partially full bottle or nozzle and I know exactly where it should have been.

 

[Rugar]

Thanks for everyone's insite, it really helps make sense of it all. Appreciate offers on good used boilers. I have replacement cost insurance so probably looking for new but still unsure of what I should be looking for. Seems like many boilers went up in cost however EKO has stayed steady or gotten cheeper. Has other boilers passed it in technology.

 

[E Yoder]

Sorry to hear about your incident. Wow.

I would look into some of the outdoor gassers- they've come a long way just in the last couple of years.
They are designed to run without storage (cycling, rather than batch burning) and save some installation cost . They're not your old school "smoke dragons".

Just another option to consider.

 

[Fred61]

Sorry to hear about your incident. Wow.

I would look into some of the outdoor gassers- they've come a long way just in the last couple of years.
They are designed to run without storage (cycling, rather than batch burning) and save a lot of installation cost . They're not your old school "smoke dragons".
In my experience outdoor installation is much safer and cheaper. And no tinder dry shed to catch fire when cleaning ashes out.... We see that happen way too often.

Unless boiler engineering has progressed drastically since I went to bed last night I would like to dispute your assessment of what is available out there for wood boilers.

Cycling wood boilers (gassers) have been around for some time now. In fact the OP has one. The EKO 25 you see standing there in it's underwear. If a wood boiler idles (shuts down the air) it will make a mess of the internal surfaces of the fire chamber. Starving a fire of air is not a good way of shutting off a fire. The only clean way to shut down a fire is to remove the fuel like an oil boiler, gas boiler, pellet boiler, etc. Imagine if your oil boiler was built to shut down by shutting off the air and leaving the oil flowing.

Unless the heat load equals the output of the boiler it will idle and gum up the inside. Shoulder seasons become a nightmare for the operator since the heat load varies within the heating season.

I could be wrong but in my opinion anyone running a cycling boiler without storage is going to continually be fighting creosote.

 

[E Yoder]

I agree that storage is a great and time tested way to eliminate creosote problems. What I've seen in my G1 is that it has creosote but the air passageways are designed to stay hot enough to burn off the creosote during the next burn. Firebox is stainless so moisture isn't a problem. And it burns very very clean.
But I am in no way saying that the batch burning boilers are wrong. Just giving another option.

Sent from my HTCD100LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Fred61]

Are these "air passages" surrounded by water?

 

[E Yoder]

No. They're stainless channels on the inside of the water jacket. The actual water jacket can get pretty messy in the spring and fall (like you were describing). Air coming directly from that would be a real headache. With the separate air channels I haven't had issues.
The reason I mentioned a cycling boiler was because he had said (I think) that he didn't have storage.

Sent from my HTCD100LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Fred61]

His Eko is a cycling boiler. You could have any boiler with storage or any boiler without storage. The fact that he doesn't have storage is no indicator of what he has for a boiler.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

 

[E Yoder]

Right. I'm jumbling terms.
I was meaning the perhaps most common or "recommended" installation. But I'm not as familiar with all the brands of indoor boilers.

Sent from my HTCD100LVW using Tapatalk

 

[mike van]

Sorry to hear about your incident. Wow.

I would look into some of the outdoor gassers- they've come a long way just in the last couple of years.
They are designed to run without storage (cycling, rather than batch burning) and save a lot of installation cost . They're not your old school "smoke dragons".
In my experience outdoor installation is much safer and cheaper. And no tinder dry shed to catch fire when cleaning ashes out.... We see that happen way too often.

Some friends of ours have one of these 'cycling gassers' in a word, it stinks when idling. which is alot in the kind of weather we've had of late. And I wouldn't trade my 'tinder dry shed' for all the wood in china. Just my 2 cents.

 

[E Yoder]

I edited my earlier post and apologize as I did not intend to criticize anyone's setup.

Sent from my HTCD100LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Tennman]

Agree with Fred. There are just too many big holes in a boiler pressure vessel between flue and blowers etc for adequate pressure for a firebox explosion and subsequent fire. I'll bet you replace the controller and your boiler will run again. Boiler still holding water? You keep mower gas cans in there? Glad all are safe. Don't see how an EKO can create pressure for what you describe. Steam maybe, firebox... hummm.