Questions Regarding Operation of EKO 25

[RDabate]

So I’ve been running my new EKO 25 for about six days now. I think its working as it should. But I have a few questions.

1) When cleaning out the bottom chamber; if there are hot coals down there, should I scoop them out as well or just wait till its all ash?

2) When cleaning, should I let the fire die out every few weeks to clean it real good or just burn through the winter as long as possible with not breaks in the fire?

3) In the top chamber, I see a bunch of black soot, and black flakes, looks pretty gross. The rope liner has also become a bit darkened (Yes, I put some graphite on it). Is this normal?

Any help would be appreciated.

Rick

 

[Medman]

See the sticky at the top of the forum for more info - there's some good stuff in there.

I have the 25 also, with no storage. I burn continuously when its cold out, only let it get cold to clean once so far.

After a month of burning, there is a lot of creosote clinging to the walls of the upper chamber. I don't do much with it other than scrape it away from the surface where the door gasket mates with the front.
I have put silicone on the door gaskets, as described in other threads to stop the escape of smoke. The door gasket tends to crust up too, but only on the inside.

When loading the upper chamber, if there are still coals left I push them to the middle first, above the nozzle. If there are few or no coals i push all of the ash down through the nozzle (carefully) and remove it from the bottom. I remove the ash, coals, etc from the bottom every time I load. They go into the scuttle beside the boiler on the floor, and the scuttle gets dumped when it's full.

 

[Eric Johnson]

You can clean live coals out of the lower chamber if you have a safe place to put them. Sometimes it can't be avoided, though I prefer not to.

You can do a pretty thorough cleaning job with the tool provided. I never move the refractory bricks--just clean around them. In the back, you can get under the turbulators with the cleaning tool if you move the cleaning arm so that the bottoms of the turbs are raised. Then get under there with the tool. Repeat on the opposite side.

Yank the cleaning handle every time you load the boiler, and everything should stay pretty clean.

 

[Tony H]

I clean the same as Eric and Medman , I pull all the coals and ash in the bottom chamber out into a big roasting pan and when it's full dump it into a metal trash can with a tight fitting lid. The roasting pan is one of those disposable aluminum ones about 3" deep and as wide as the boiler I think they were like 3 for 5.00 and they work great. One additional thing I do is take the bottom off the T in the chimney every couple of weeks and clean out the ash as mine seems to get some in that spot .

 

[Tree farmer]

Ditto all the above and since I don't have a T on my pipe I just open the bypass damper and stick my shopvac into the bottom elbow to suck out fly ash buildup when the boiler has minimal to no coals left every couple of weeks. This may not really be necessary but there is nothing else to fool with so what the hell. I can see why everyone starts fiddling with air controls to improve efficiency of flame (and gawk at it) there is nothing else to do except load it twice a day.

 

[RDabate]

I've definitely picked up some good tips here.

In the top chamber, should I be trying to keep the nozzle clear, or can it be covered?

Reason I’m asking is because I’m still trying to get this thing running as efficient as possible. I load wood like 3 or 4 times a day and I’m not pleased with that. I'd like to be able to make it through the night without the fire going out.

 

[Nofossil]

I've definitely picked up some good tips here.

In the top chamber, should I be trying to keep the nozzle clear, or can it be covered?

Reason I’m asking is because I’m still trying to get this thing running as efficient as possible. I load wood like 3 or 4 times a day and I’m not pleased with that. I'd like to be able to make it through the night without the fire going out.

It's possible to block the nozzle with a smooth piece of wood and that should be avoided. Best to have a layer of coals over and around it - the air will find a way through and the coals ensure superheated wood gas for good secondary combustion.

Loading three or four times per day is as good as it gets. The only way to reduce that and still burn efficiently is to add storage. You might get a bit longer by throttling it down with the fan shutter. Too much and you can lose secondary combustion, though.

 

[RDabate]

Is it true that every once in a while, that it's a good idea to open both chamber doors and let it burn hot for a few minutes to burn away any creosote that has built up?

 

[Nofossil]

Is it true that every once in a while, that it's a good idea to open both chamber doors and let it burn hot for a few minutes to burn away any creosote that has built up?

Not as far as I know. I don't see creosote as a problem with these.

 

[Tree farmer]

Is it true that every once in a while, that it's a good idea to open both chamber doors and let it burn hot for a few minutes to burn away any creosote that has built up?

I would be concerned more with flyash than creosote, speaking from the experience of the past 6 hours. I had noticed flyash buildup behind the bypass damper three weeks ago and took my shop vac to it when the coals had just about died, it got most of it out but not all. I have been running full tilt since and had not checked it. I awoke this am to my fire alarm going off, ran down to the basement to a room full of smoke. I should have let it go out last night as warm temps were predicted but the pyro in me said keep fire going. I believe it idled a lot during the night and due to warm temps with less stack draft and a half clogged elbows caused it to suffocate and blow smoke out elbow seams. Cave2K added a T clean-out off of the back of his- smart move that is what I will pick up tomorrow so I can clean it easily and more often. I need to learn from this if temps go are going above 40 much to let it go out, my outside chimney doesn't help during these times and since the unit has low stack temps I lose draft.

 

[RDabate]

Is it possible to burn other type of wood like left overs for framing? I know pressure treated wood is not a good idea, but how about a typical 2 X 4?

 

[stee6043]

I toasted a beer to my EKO 40 as I tossed in the cut-up remnants of the crating they packaged her with. I believe it was oak and it burned very nicely. I think 2x4's would be fine as long as they are clean...

 

[taxidermist]

I burn any wood/paper product that gives off BTU's nails and all. When I got mine I said SWEET it even comes with some wood to start your first fire!


Rob

 

[Eric Johnson]

If you don't have a cleanout Tee connecting your boiler to the chimney, you can easily check ash buildup by opening the bypass damper and shining a flashlight into the opening. You'll be able to see how much ash has built up without taking the pipe apart. If you do have a tee and you see ash, then it's def. time to clean it out.