When do you clean with spiral turbulators?

[frolingdual]

I have a froling log boiler spdual with a handle on the side that moves spiral turbulators up and down to clean the tubes. The manual says that this is to be done before lighting.Mybirn times are about 7 hours and I find it can take quite a pull to get it to move and it did get stuck completely once.

Does anyone know if there is any problem doing this whilst it is burning?

 

[woodsmaster]

I have a froling log boiler spdual with a handle on the side that moves spiral turbulators up and down to clean the tubes. The manual says that this is to be done before lighting.Mybirn times are about 7 hours and I find it can take quite a pull to get it to move and it did get stuck completely once.

Does anyone know if there is any problem doing this whilst it is burning?

I'm not familiar with how that boiler is constructed, but if it gets hard to move, Im guessing it needs to be taken apart for a more through cleaning. do you monitor your stack temps. ?

 

[frolingdual]

Stack temps are generally 180 sometimes they fall a bit and it does take perhaps 45minutes to from lighting.

I have recently cleaned it's just they are very close fitting with a crude connection to the springs and it doesn't take much to make movement difficult.

Hence thinking that if I operate say 3 hours into a burn it will keep everything moving but wondered if there is any reason why I should not.

 

[maple1]

I would do it every time I put wood in. I don't think it can hurt anything, but I don't have a Froling. Likely most of what makes them stick comes from the early part of the burn, so maybe once the first time you reload might be enough too. What else does the manual say about it? If it doesn't say don't do it while burning, it should be OK to do it.

 

[velvetfoot]

As an aside, how large is your buffer?

 

[jebatty]

My experience with a Froling when the turbs stick indicates creosote formation, a by-product of wet wood and/or not burning hot enough (stack not hot enough). I assume that your temp of 180 is C (mid 300'sF). That should be good. How long does it take to bring the Froling up to temp? If it takes a long time, that also could be the problem. The FHG-L50 manual says 120C before closing the start vent door, but better practice in my experience is 150C to make sure the fire gets off to a fast start. Your return water protection also has to be working properly. Also, not overload at the start, let a coal bed start to build up before loading full. I don't know if your Froling has the "heat shields" in the firebox between the firebox and boiler jacket. If so, you could have creosote buildup behind those shields. That would need to be cleaned out also.

The Froling of my experience is an incredible boiler, but poor burning procedure and/or wet wood can make a very good boiler perform poorly. I assume of course that the plumbing and other design elements are appropriate.