SMOKEY EKO 60

[topp]

HERE IS MY SITUATION, I BOUGHT A BIOMASS 60 FROM COZYHEAT AND THEY SENT ME THE WRONG BOILER. SO TO FIX THEIR MISTAKE, WE AGREED UPON A EKO 60. THE BIONASS 60 HAD A 6" CHIMNEY WHICH I INSTALLED PRIOR . THE EKO 60 COMES WITH A 8" OPENING. SO ON MY SYSTEM, I HAVE A 8" REDUCE TO AN 6" CHIMNEY WITH A FAN INSTALLED ON THE CHIMNEY. WHEN A AM LOADING MY BOILER, I GET A LOT OF SMOKE ROLLING OUT OF THE BOILER. I DON'T HAVE MUCH OF A NATURAL DRAFT. I AM WONDERING IF MY CHIMNEY IS NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR THE EKO 60. THE GUY FROM THE NEW HORIZON COMPANY THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM AND EVEN GAVE ME THE FAN FOR THE CHIMNEY.
ANY SUGGESTION WOULD HELPFUL, TIRED OF THE SMOKE

 

[stee6043]

The best way to avoid smoke when loading is to only load when it's down to coals. That's about the only trick. I run 6" on my 40 with no problems.

 

[taxidermist]

HERE IS MY SITUATION, I BOUGHT A BIOMASS 60 FROM COZYHEAT AND THEY SENT ME THE WRONG BOILER. SO TO FIX THEIR MISTAKE, WE AGREED UPON A EKO 60. THE BIONASS 60 HAD A 6" CHIMNEY WHICH I INSTALLED PRIOR . THE EKO 60 COMES WITH A 8" OPENING. SO ON MY SYSTEM, I HAVE A 8" REDUCE TO AN 6" CHIMNEY WITH A FAN INSTALLED ON THE CHIMNEY. WHEN A AM LOADING MY BOILER, I GET A LOT OF SMOKE ROLLING OUT OF THE BOILER. I DON'T HAVE MUCH OF A NATURAL DRAFT. I AM WONDERING IF MY CHIMNEY IS NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR THE EKO 60. THE GUY FROM THE NEW HORIZON COMPANY THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM AND EVEN GAVE ME THE FAN FOR THE CHIMNEY.
ANY SUGGESTION WOULD HELPFUL, TIRED OF THE SMOKE

I hope they did you right! I would have stuck with the B 60 its a little nicer unit. as for the smoke..........search this site as you could read for days about this issue. I built a hood and suck the smoke out as I load the boiler.

Welcome to the site!!

Rob

 

[Hydronics]

As Taxi said; a hood above the loading door is the only real solution. The draft inducers don't help much.

Welcome.

 

[Hunderliggur]

Agree on the hood. Even when I wait for the coal bed only, the new wood starts smoking before I get the firebox filled.

 

[timberr]

Last year I had a smoke problem with my EKO 25 and this year I don't. The only difference is the wood, this year I am burning smaller splits which are a lot dryer dryer. This year I can actually leave the door wide open when I walk back to the wood plie to get more wood for loading. I have the I too go from 8" flue pipe to a 6" reducer at the chimney.

 

[deerefanatic]

I have 8" chimney, AND the draft inducer... Still smokes out the door. It's just one of the draw backs of a positive pressure system.

 

[woodsmaster]

My biomass 60 also smokes out the door if I load in mid burn so you didn't lose on that aspect. I'm glad it's in a shed.

 

[leaddog]

There are very few boilers or furnaces for that matter that don't have some smoke problem when loading. Each have there quirks so you have to learn how to work yours best for you. That is one of the reasons I have mine in a shed. As then I don't have to be as fussy. I'm not sure I would by an eko to put in the house but lots of people have and are happy with them. There are other boilers that are better in that respect but I'm happy with mine the way I use it. I bought it 3 years ago and there was very little knowledge and availability of gasifiers then. More options and knowledge now.
leaddog

 

[Dave T]

I made my own hood out of stuff I had laying around the house and barn. Pics you say... OK

 

[EffectaBoilerUser (USA)]

You can add a fan in the chimney with a limit swtich at the primary door opening so that it helps to suck out the smoke (this is what I did in my Paxo 25 I used to have in my demo boiler trailer).

However, as long as you have a positive draft type boiler you will always have a smoke issue.

I recently sold my EKO40 and installed an effecta lambda 35 boiler which has a negative draft design (fan in rear) with a smoke evacuation port about the door opening and there is almost no smoke coming out the door now-How Nice!

The best advice I can give for your current system is to not open the primary door until the fire is down to coals.

NWM

 

[mr.fixit]

I made my own hood out of stuff I had laying around the house and barn. Pics you say... OK

This looks like something I rigged up! NICE! Glad I'm not alone with my fabrcation skills.
On the smoke issue I just dont have that much of a problem.
Adequate draft,reloading only when needed are big.
Also when I open the loading door I only open it an inch or so for a few seconds to let the draft get reestablished then I open it fully.
It helps to have your wood at arms length so reloading takes less time.(see post a couple day ago"wood dolly for the over 45 age group")

 

[Rudy Nunez]

Help! I'm having terrible smoking issues with my EKO 40. So my wood is not very good right now but I've got a massive coal bed and the wood is burning great. I open it up to stoke it before bed and I let it burn for awhile to make sure the wet wood is catching. When the fire gets raging and the water is up to temp. (170), I close the door and close the bypass. At this point smoke pours out of the closed (upper) door. It usually does this for a few minutes and then settles down. I've made sure the nozzle is not plugged with too much ash, all airways are clear.

Fan speed = 100%, open 1/2 inch
Primary air = 1/4 inch
Secondary air = 3.5 turns from seated.

Zenon suggested that I insulate the 3 feet of single-wall chimney pipe that goes from the burn chamber to the wall thimble. Could that really make so much of a difference in draft?

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

Help! I'm having terrible smoking issues with my EKO 40. So my wood is not very good right now but I've got a massive coal bed and the wood is burning great. I open it up to stoke it before bed and I let it burn for awhile to make sure the wet wood is catching. When the fire gets raging and the water is up to temp. (170), I close the door and close the bypass. At this point smoke pours out of the closed (upper) door. It usually does this for a few minutes and then settles down. I've made sure the nozzle is not plugged with too much ash, all airways are clear.

Fan speed = 100%, open 1/2 inch
Primary air = 1/4 inch
Secondary air = 3.5 turns from seated.

Zenon suggested that I insulate the 3 feet of single-wall chimney pipe that goes from the burn chamber to the wall thimble. Could that really make so much of a difference in draft?

Zenon said the same thing about my Atmos, to insulate with ceramic wrap. It sounds like you might have a draft problem. I would suggest a Magnehelic draft gauge off Ebay, should be about 20 bucks. Then you know if you have proper draft. If you can get an overfire draft spec from EKO I would use this & put the probe in the firebox, that is way more accurate than flue pipe draft that is seldom measured properly anyways, Randy

 

[Rudy Nunez]

What is overfire draft spec?

Thanks.

 

[rkusek]

topper,
I echo the remarks of many of the above. The best is to only load when it is down to coals. I have loaded up from half full but you really have to be careful (fan off & open bypass about 10 secs before opening) and get it done quick. On a cold start I will let a few pieces burn 20" with lower door wide open to get some hot coals. I then close the lower door and open the top to load. At this point the chimney is hot as well ad the few pieces of wood now half charred and less likely to smoke out the top door while loading. It helps to have your wagon or wheelbarrow right there with all the wood you need too. I've thought about getting a kitchen range hood and hooking up to a dryer type vent out the side of my building but haven't done so yet. If the EKO were in my house instead of my pole barn I would definitely want some type of exhaust hood.

 

[Rudy Nunez]

It IS in my house. Its pretty bad but not unbearable (yet). I never have a problem with smoking as I OPEN the door. My problem is when everything is CLOSED and I shut the bypass. As soon as I shut it smoke leaks profusely from the door seam. It smokes for a few minutes and then calms down but it seems like the gassification is calming at the same time.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

Overfire draft is like it sounds, the draft in the firebox not the flue pipe. If you hook a good draft gauge(Magnehelic) you will probably see a difference in pressure/vacuume when it's smoking. Even if you can't get the spec from EKO you can compare readings when you don't have smoke coming out the door. You might see pressure instead of vacuume as I believe your boiler is forced draft, Randy

 

[Hunderliggur]

It IS in my house. Its pretty bad but not unbearable (yet). I never have a problem with smoking as I OPEN the door. My problem is when everything is CLOSED and I shut the bypass. As soon as I shut it smoke leaks profusely from the door seam. It smokes for a few minutes and then calms down but it seems like the gassification is calming at the same time.

Have you cheked the upper door seal? If you have been burning wet wood (been there, done that) you probably have a lot of creasote. The seal rope in the door can get caked on and then it does not seal well. Check around the door seal, make sure it is in place. You may have to replace it. I believe that it is the same stuff sold in wood stove stores. I was able to just scape my seal clean.

 

[Tennman]

WHAT??!? I'll briefly repeat my story. And PLEASE don't take this as EKO bashing. Just an engineer with almost 40 years designing and delivering systems to customers (but at the time 0 experience in wood boilers). But a guy who makes stuff and must make/keep customers happy.

Had my mind made up the get the EKO 60 primarily because of its proven longevity in the market. When I arrived at the distributor and started comparing design features the BioMass had MANY features that changed my mind. The FIRST thing that struck me upon opening the upper door in the EKO was that I was eyeball level looking at the flat surface of the ceiling of the upper chamber and (as I recall) looking straight into the opening of the upper chamber draft exit. Couldn't for the life of me imagine how I was gonna prevent billowing smoke and fire coming out at my face. The BioMass's upper chamber that extends 8-10" above the top of the door opening AND the draft exit above the opening made sense for obvious reasons. The draft fan running all the time to assist combustion and smoke removal when fills also seemed a good idea. AND I STILL typically get some smoke and if I'm too hastely an occasional blast of fire! So my hats off to you EKO users.

Then I thot the little window in the lower chamber would come in handy. Bear in mind, this is the first time I ever laid eyes on a wood boiler. I can't imagine myself operating much less my wife operating without that window in the lower chamber door. I can't tell you the satisfaction of walking into my boiler barn and seeing an orange/bluish glow coming out of that window and IMMEDIATELY I know the condition of the burn, but more importantly so does my wife, kids, and in-laws. How'd you EKO guys take all those pic?

So, my BioMass may rust thru today or tomorrow or something else may blow up. But after seeing a BioMass and making that decision if an EKO was delivered you have every right to raise holy, legal, you know what! Ya'll EKO folks know the respect I give ya because let's face it, the EKO users here are typically the most experienced because of it's time in the marketplace. Geez, just read the "Fine Tuning the EKO" sticky, I have several times and learn every time! But I absolutely now after two seasons would enthusiastically make the exact same decision on a BioMass vs EKO. The design improvements perform and avoid the exact issues I imaged I'd deal with. BioMass vs EKO efficiency? I'd bet the condition/type of the wood is a far greater factor. If you decided on a Ford Fusion and a Chevy Malibu was delivered what would you do?!?! As a business owner I can't even imagine this scenario Ok, I gotta go make money and I better shut up.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

Just wondering why this "spillage" was not caught by the testing agency. It's a UL requirement that you don't burn of your body hair on hands an arms during re-loading just by combustion gasses rushing into the boilerroom.
It should not be up to the consumer to put a extra hood in, or a power vent to take care of this.
Kind of unsafe to for CO poisoning also. Say you relaod for 1 minute and you get 1000 ppm CO (or more) right in your face. Potentially Deadly for your body if it happens on a frequent base.
Be carefull

 

[woodsmaster]

I also love that sight glass. Bet I've looked in there 300 times allready. I've never opened the bottom door while burning.

 

[mr.fixit]

Help! I'm having terrible smoking issues with my EKO 40. So my wood is not very good right now but I've got a massive coal bed and the wood is burning great. I open it up to stoke it before bed and I let it burn for awhile to make sure the wet wood is catching. When the fire gets raging and the water is up to temp. (170), I close the door and close the bypass. At this point smoke pours out of the closed (upper) door. It usually does this for a few minutes and then settles down. I've made sure the nozzle is not plugged with too much ash, all airways are clear.

Fan speed = 100%, open 1/2 inch
Primary air = 1/4 inch
Secondary air = 3.5 turns from seated.

Zenon suggested that I insulate the 3 feet of single-wall chimney pipe that goes from the burn chamber to the wall thimble. Could that really make so much of a difference in draft?

Turkey,couple things,is the 3 feet of single wall sloped up to the wall thimble?
Also the top door seal is critical,it needs to seal good. You can adjust the door hinges in to get a better seal.
For wetter wood I would try more primary air.I run mine with fan at 80-90% and shutter wide open.Primary air at 1/2" to 5/8".Secondary at3.5 turns.
Are your HX tubes clear?

 

[rkusek]

I just replaced my door gasket with the orange silicone wrapped one that the distributer sells. Seems to hold its own and seal up better. I had the door torqued down to where the bolts were hitting the sheet metal and was almost to the point of the door not sealing properly with the old one. Kind of expensive. $59 plus shipping I think, but worth it if you are getting smoke around it. The Biomass does sound pretty cool with the window in lower door. I would definitely look at a kitchen range exhaust setup mounted above the door Smoked Turkey. Shouldn't be too hard to pipe outside with a dryer vent outlet on your house. I get enough smoke in my 30x60x14 high shed that it bothers me a little. Eventually, when I find a deal on a hood, I will take care of it.

 

[taxidermist]

ST,

Try starting your fan while the door is open. As your fan is ramping up to speed close the door. Let the fan run for a few sec. then close your bypass and see if that helps. I know when I shut the door then turn the fan on and slam the bypass shut when I am in a hurry if puffs smoke from every place it can until the fire takes off.

Also you might want to open up your primaries a little to 1" to 3/4"

Rob