Bridging Fix?

[sdrobertson]

I did this fix to help with bridging in a EKO 60 Regular. The new Super has rounded sides and the old Regular has a flat bottom. I took standard firebrick and cut them diagonally and stacked them side by side in the firebox using a 16 dollar diamond blade for a skill saw. The bricks ended up about 2 inches from the nozzles. Hopefully this will be a quick and easy fix. Wanted to pass it along so that if any others have a flat bottom(on their stove) - this might help roll the unburnt fuel towards the nozzles.

 

[Dave T]

Thanks for sharing I also have a EKO 60 standard and I am interested if your idea works well for you,Keep us posted...What are you using as a compensating vessal...

 

[sdrobertson]

What are you using as a compensating vessal...

Not sure what your meaning a compensating vessal - I'm guessing that would be the expansion tank. This is a 335 gallon steel tank off a field sprayer. Semi rim welded on bottom. When it was filled with water to test for leaks, the gauge still worked with the tank on its end. So I'm going to use the gauge to monitor water level instead of a sight glass.

 

[hkobus]

Looks like a good idea. Just wondering if I see this correctly. The pieces are cut and set a few inches apart, how do you keep them standing that way?

 

[jebatty]

Don't have the Eko but will follow this thread. Smaller splits seem to cause less bridging than larger; smaller at bottom and larger at top (weight at top) also seems to cause less; a little looser rather than tighter loading seems to cause less; more smaller round wood (less than 5") and less splits (angles that can pack and catch) seems to cause less. Will have more experimenting to do this season to find the best loading/burning technique. Most loads burn just fine with minimal to no bridging, and then there's the problem load which just wants to burn out the bottom middle and the rest hangs - smoke, interruption of gasification, and large temperature drop are the results.

 

[sdrobertson]

Looks like a good idea. Just wondering if I see this correctly. The pieces are cut and set a few inches apart, how do you keep them standing that way?

The bricks are cut and they are all placed touching each other. I lucked out and 14 fire bricks happens to be the same size as the firebox. They fit in fairly snug so I haven't cemented them in. I'm hoping that they will stay in place as long as I don't get carried away with my fire poking stick!

 

[Dave T]

The compensating vessal I spoke of (which may not be the proper words for it) is your over heat loop I am interested in seeing if anybody is using a 50 gal hot water heater mounted above their boilers like the EKO manual shows. In the manual there is no circulation back to the boiler, just a valve that is normally closed and a vented,empty hot water heater above the boiler.

 

[sdrobertson]

The compensating vessal I spoke of (which may not be the proper words for it) is your over heat loop.

I should be ok with 2000 gallons as I should have a natural gravity flow if I loose power. With this much water, I should be able to absorb heat as I shouldn't be firing the stove when I have 180 degree water so I should have "room" to absorb if needed. I liked the idea Eric used - a cast radiator in the attic - seems like the same idea as the EKO manual.

 

[sdrobertson]

Just wanted to update everyone on this idea. I've been burning for around a month and I have been pleased with the fire bricks that I cut and installed in my boiler. The bricks have stayed in place nicely and I haven't had to many issues with bridging even though I have not been that careful on how I load the firebox. The coals seem to roll down to the nozzles. I would definitely recommend this for anyone with flat bottom fireboxes.

 

[flyingcow]

looked at your signature. Buddy of mine just put in a 6048, tried to talk him in to a gassifier. Have you had a chance to see how much less wood you burn after the switch?

 

[sdrobertson]

looked at your signature. Buddy of mine just put in a 6048, tried to talk him in to a gassifier. Have you had a chance to see how much less wood you burn after the switch?

Right now its hard to say how much less as I have had to "relearn" how to burn wood. Every time I start the boiler, I'm using less wood each time as I get this figured out and I still want to go back to my old habits, but I can definitely say that its over half less. My wood is still just a touch on the green side and I forget to build to make coals for good gasification (old habits). What I found out is when talking to people about gasification vs owb, its hard to explain the gasification but the "throw anything you want in it and you'll heat your house" is pretty simple.

 

[flyingcow]

Thanks. I got a tarm innova on order. plus 800 gals of storage. Just can't wait to get it set up, and show him how little wood it needs to heat my 1800 sq ft house. Got the seasoned wood ready to go. Going back to seasonal temps this week. I went to work at 2 am and it was 65 degrees!

Good pics on your bridging fix. As stated many times before, this site is a great asset. Damn good bunch of people on here.

 

[Dave T]

Good to hear you are happy with the fix so far, it sounds like a cheap solution to a nagging issue.. I am soon to fire my standard for the first time and would like to load it and not worry about the thing every time I leave it..Did you end up (mudding) the fire brick together and did you fasten them to the bottom if so what did you use? Do you adjust there position to keep them in place? I will be doing something like this if I have any troubles with bridging...Good to hear from you..Keep us posted on your sucess..

 

[sdrobertson]

Good to hear you are happy with the fix so far, it sounds like a cheap solution to a nagging issue.. I am soon to fire my standard for the first time and would like to load it and not worry about the thing every time I leave it..Did you end up (mudding) the fire brick together and did you fasten them to the bottom if so what did you use? Do you adjust there position to keep them in place? I will be doing something like this if I have any troubles with bridging...Good to hear from you..Keep us posted on your sucess..

I just set them in place without any mud. When I cut them, I used a diamond blade on a circ saw and cut them almost all the way through and then snapped them. This left a small lip and if I was to do it over, I would remove the lip as this catches on my poker I use in the firebox but this really hasn't been a issue.