Bit the bullet Vigas 40

[Brialin]

I was seriously considering the eko boiler to replace my tarm which is 18 years old which developed a leak. Patrick form Vigas contacted me and convinced me to look at one of these boilers before I made a purchase. I was hesitant because I did not want too much new for electronic controls. After seeing the boiler I purchased one from Patrick from Alternative Heating of Washington Valley NH. I installed it on Monday. I am still wondering why it is using considerably less wood than the Tarm. Granted the weather has been around 40 degrees. I am still configuring some of the parameters of the boiler. I will see how it goes and let you know in a few days. So far the technology seems to be a lot better than 18 years ago. It is amazing how fast the boiler will come up to temperature from a cold start to 180 degrees. So far it seems well worth the extra dollars spent to get a QUALITY produt and EXCELLENT technical support. I had a few technical questions while installing the boiler and was promptly contacted by Patrick what to do. Not only is he an excellent source of knowledge but is also running a Vigas himself.

 

[JP11]

Awful happy with mine.

My settings..

Max flue 425
Min 200
Min fan speed 35%

Pretty good results.

JP

 

[nrcrash]

Congrats Glad to see you had a chance to see one up and running before you pulled the trigger on the purchase.

 

[nrcrash]

Awful happy with mine.

My settings..

Max flue 425
Min 200
Min fan speed 35%

Pretty good results.

JP

Why do you have your min fan speed at 30%. Have never adjusted mine because I was not sure what it would do.

 

[JP11]

I'll see if I can explain what Mark told me properly. He said that it can sit at 1 or 2% fan speed, and the fans turn so slow that there really isn't any air going in there, and it's not gassifying. He said it was better to have it run a bit harder when it ran.. and not have it try to "creep" up to max.

Now.. I could have gotten the number wrong..and he said min of 15%. I've been happy with it the way it is. It pretty much will take storage top to bottom 195.. with maybe one short idle on it's way. That's if I leave it alone and don't monkey with it.

 

[Brialin]

The furnace is working just fine. Exhaust temperature has never gone above 325 degrees. Can't wait for the cold to arrive today to see how the wood consumption is doing. So far this week I have used about 20 percent less wood than the tarm, but temperatures were also in the low 40s.
Min fan speed 35
Min flue 200
Max flue 400

 

[JP11]

Sounds good. You'll get in the swing of flue temp watching. You'll be able to tell when it's bridging from the sound.

I will tell you it's VERY easy to clean your tubes. I got a 1.5 inch long handle boiler brush. Cut the loop off the handle. Stick it in a cordless drill.

Set up a shop vac with the filter bag in it.. leave it in the top of the tube area when you do each tube with the drill going. No real mess at all. Takes maybe 15 minutes to do the job. I'm doing mine every 3 or 4 weeks. You will see for sure when it's starting to get dirty, You'll see flue temps shooting up... Because, not as much heat transfer taking place. Mine gets up into the 380s or so and i know it needs a brushing.

JP