A good place to start with an EKO

[verne]

has anyone came up with a good place to start with adjustments on a eko. I have a 40 with storage. looking at the primary /secondary and fan air where should I start , also what about the knobs on the back side of the control panel ? fan and purge? I wish the boiler came with a little more info . I have to look at newhorizons file and it is lacking.

 

[Nofossil]

has anyone came up with a good place to start with adjustments on a eko. I have a 40 with storage. looking at the primary /secondary and fan air where should I start , also what about the knobs on the back side of the control panel ? fan and purge? I wish the boiler came with a little more info . I have to look at newhorizons file and it is lacking.

Do you have any reason to think that it's not adjusted correctly? I think they set them up at the factory, although at least one member had the secondary air inlets closed on his when it was delivered.

I can't comment on settings for yours, as it's too different from mine.

 

[Eric Johnson]

The manual isn't much help. Hopefully that will change soon.

You can start by removing the fan housing plate, which is held in place by about 12 screws (on the 60). When you take it off, you'll see the primary air inlet sliders on the upper corners. Make sure they're not completely closed. While you're in there, take a look at the secondary air intake valves so that you understand how they work.

Put the plate back on, being careful to tighten the screws more or less evenly so that you don't get a leak around the gasket. Then loosen the retaining nuts on the secondary air controls and screw them all the way in. Then back them out about 3 or 4 full turns. That's the critical adjustment. You may want to open or close them a bit once you get the boiler going. If you get smoke during gasification, then open them up a turn or two. On my 60, the factory setting is 2.5 turns, but mine works best at 6 full turns.

The slider on the blower should be open about an inch to start. You can play around with it, too.

I'm not sure which controller you have. I have the older one (RK 2001K, I believe) and I didn't do anything to it. The factory settings should be fine for now.

 

[verne]

thank you for the info . I have not even fired mine yet , but I would think you should have a base line , like tuneing a carb rich lean etc. I have already removed the cover as the nut on one of the posts had fallen off. I was looking at the back of the controler for circulater hookup and noticed the the two knobs . once again just an initial setting, and wondering what they do?

 

[Geno]

The knob on the left controls the percentage of power you want the fan to operate at. The knob on the right controls the length of interval in minutes between cycles of the blower when the EKO is idling. When you first turn on your controller, you will see 2 numbers. The first is the length of interval, the second is the power setting of the blower. If you watch the display when you turn the knobs you will see the values change. Mine works quite nicely at 80% while my interval is set at 4 minutes which is sufficient. The variable opening on the blower is used for adjusting the air volume input which really has to do with the moisture content of the wood and how the flame looks in the gasification chamber. Just like you adjust the air on a fuel oil burner to achieve the cleanest burn, the EKO is adjusted the same way. Open it up for wood with higher moisture content and close it up for wood that is more dry. This will pretty much change the way your flame is burning. You want a nice white hot flame which is the hottest and most complete combustion. For initial setting on the secondary air: seat the screws all the way in then back them out 4 full turns and tighten the lock nut. You can adjust the flame with this setting also. The 60 will require a little wider opening because of the larger nozzle than the 40 of 25 (which are the same size). I would also suggest pulling the fuse and getting a couple at the local auto parts store so you have one on hand if it's needed and you won't have to do the aluminum foil routine.