Turbulator cleaning tool

[in hot water]

I'm thinking about dropping some chains down the tubes in my older EKO 40, as others have. I think this "dog leg" hook will be a good way to rattle the chains to clean them and the inside of the fire tubes. The carabiner will allow me to move from chain to chain.

hr

 

[willworkforwood]

Hr, what type of deposits do you get in your boiler tubes - is it light stuff, or more solid, baked-on ash? I've been cleaning my EB tubes every few weeks, and the stuff I get is somewhat dense - definitely not creosote, but also not light fly ash. Even though it's not a thick layer, it still takes a bit of a push on the steel brush to dislodge the stuff, and I need to scrub at least a few times in order to clean the full surface. Now, I'm trying to imagine what would happen with a spinning chain - not sure how many revs it would take in order to hit the full tube surface (or at least most of it). If this works well (i.e. fast, with a nice clean tube), please post the result - I'm always up for something faster and easier.

 

[Donl]

I clean my tubes every spring. Probably should do this more often though.

When I do clean them there is a thick (1/16" or so) hard substance that is very difficult to remove. I've tried coarse steel wool placed on a rod but that does not easily remove the stuff. So far the best that I have come up with is a few steel washers that just fit inside the tube that are closely spaced on a threaded rod and held in place with nuts. This scraps the stuff off but again requires lots of work. I would do it more often, but it is a pain in the ass to remove and replace the EKO turbulators. I was wondering if there was any chemical that would help soften this stuff up a bit?

 

[willworkforwood]

.... When I do clean them there is a thick (1/16" or so) hard substance that is very difficult to remove .... I would do it more often, but it is a pain in the ass to remove and replace the EKO turbulators. I was wondering if there was any chemical that would help soften this stuff up a bit?

What you describe is almost definitely creosote, although it's surprising to get it when running with storage. Did you use poorly-seasoned wood at some point? Ash deposits can be knocked off the tube walls by routine scrubbing, but creosote is almost impossible to remove with a wire brush - if you spin, it just heats the stuff up and spreads it around the tube and the brush. 2 years ago I tried to use some 30% wood to get through the Spring. I didn't understand what was happening inside the tubes. Later, in the Summer at cleaning time, I found out :sick:. This was a self-inflicted wound, and the boiler gave me a good lesson on why you don't do that. It took me 2 months, on and off. to get them cleaned. I tried an assortment of cutters but they only chipped small pieces (others on the forum have reported success using cutters). Finally used an ash/water mix that eventually cleaned the tubes to bare metal (lots of elbow grease required). This method creates a mess, and I wouldn't recommend it for in-season creosote removal (unless it's bad and nothing else works). Someone else on the forum used a chemical spray, but also said he never did get the turbs out - not my idea of a comprehensive job. I didn't realize the EKO tubes were a problem to clean - is the turb linkage hard to reach or disassemble? Hr, seems like a hijacked thread at this point - sorry about that :-/

 

[Donl]

.... When I do clean them there is a thick (1/16" or so) hard substance that is very difficult to remove .... I would do it more often, but it is a pain in the ass to remove and replace the EKO turbulators. I was wondering if there was any chemical that would help soften this stuff up a bit?

What you describe is almost definitely creosote, although it's surprising to get it when running with storage. :-/

Yes, I think you are right it is creosote. This is my third year with the EKO and first year with storage. I cleaned the tubes last spring and got them fairly clean but probably could have done better. My wood is dry, two years (small splits), about 15% m.c. This year with storage I find everything runs much smoother. i.e. easy to get fire going and gassifying. The turbs can be pulled out and replaced in about 45 minutes. But who whats to do that several times over the winter? I think I will check my stack temperature and if that seems to be getting too high I will do a tube cleaning now, else I will wait for spring. How often to others clean thier tubes?