Econoburn ebw 150 TC33 to solo controller

[chrishh]

It's been a long time since I posted but I ran into an issue with my econoburn ebw 150 recently. It appears that the automation direct tc33 is shorting out. My question is since the tc33 is discontinued has anyone changed one out with a automation direct solo?

 

[salecker]

Hi ,Econoburn user here a 200 model
I don't recognize the parts you are mentioning, could you post pictures?
Thanks

 

[chrishh]

Thanks for the reply, I have an older unit from around 2009. They have since switched the controller. I've attached a picture of the one I have.

 

[chrishh]

well it turns out it's not the TC33 that was causing the issue.

Just in case anyone else has this issue, I had a battery backup unit sitting on top of the wood boiler which caused the top to sag just enough to touch the manual buttons on the two relays. I think it was barely touching them and they were half tripping. I'll try to post some pictures to show the issue. I was able to slightly bend the metal shelf that holds the electronic components down a bit and I moved the battery backup unit. Everything seems to be working correctly again.

 

[chrishh]

Here are some pictures after I bent the shelf down a bit. Then another one through the access panel on the top.

 

[salecker]

Mine is about the same vintage, but the "outdoor" version.
My original controller was replaced by warranty the second year it was being used.
Glad you found the issue
Care to let everyone know how your unit has been working for you?
I have made a couple modifications to mine, copied what cumminstinker did to his before he moved on to a different brand.It has brought down my stack temps quite a bit. I don't think they are designed for the fast burning spruce that is up here.
How is yours for cleaning? I seem to be good for about 3 cords of spruce before cleaning the flue tubes which takes me about 2 hours if i have a new cleaning tool, i should make a bunch and change after 2 cleanings as once they start to weaken they just don't clean like when they are new.

 

[chrishh]

I have mine running in a room off my garage so kind of outdoors not in a heated space. They didn't have the outdoor units when I purchased mine, they came out shortly after that.

I mainly use mine between December and March. I don't have any storage, never ended up doing it.
It's been good for us, I burn a mix of hard wood probably around 11 face cords a year.

I'm not familiar with the mods you talk about but I'll have to look into them.

For cleaning I'm not the best example lol, probably should clean it more often than I do. But I've used a wire brush wheel on my drill to clean the turbulator tubes. I Normally will do it after a hot burn. But I really only do it once a year.

I did remove the bolts that hold the turbulator bar onto the lever and replaced them with some rods and pins to easily remove them. I'll then clean the turbulators with a wire brush before I put them back in.

 

[salecker]

Mine is an outdoor unit inside a boiler building, it was all they had and i wasn't sure the building would get finished. No real differance between indoor and outdoor. Th outdoor have spray foam insulation, a intake air chanal that preheats the intake air a bit if you are outside, and the tin is bigger with a roof.
You should add storage night and day difference in using a boiler.
I tried a wire brush and the deposits just laughed at it, got a tube cleaner from McMaster Carr, same results. The tool i make is the best i have found for my boiler. It may be the wood i burn as it is comply different than what the boiler was built for.
I clean after a couple cords of spruce burnt, the cleaning is noticed buy shorter burn times to charge the storage.
I never bother with the turbulators, i welded a piece of angle iron on the bottom of the turbs and a tab on the top to slow down the flow through the flue tubes which brought my stack temps down. I again feel it is the fast burning spruce we have that the boiler couldn't capture the heat, should have 8 or more flu tubes for spruce

 

[airlina]

I'll join the Econoburn party, started in 2009 with my 100 in the basement(no storage then) and did that for 4 years. There were pros and cons to that location and the cons were more than the pros so I bit the bullet in 2014 and moved it to the shed pictured here with 500 gals of storage. As Salecker says this was a game changer. This is how a gasifier shines and is made to operate. Basically a 4 hour full blast never idle burn daily is sufficient for house and DHW loads. Today is an exception caus its 6 dg F this mornin in Western NY , so I will do two smaller burns AM and PM. The advantages to storage in my case are convenience on burns and less boiler cleaning due to the full blast , no idle burns. I do one mid season heat exchanger tube cleaning with a special tool (brushes won't get you back to bare metal tubes) and again end of season. 10 to 12 face cords a year of any kind of wood both hard and soft . whtever is dead on my land I cut and burn. Its been a good run with the econoburn and I never regret my all in decision to heat with wood especially with the escalation of heating costs , the oil, gas , propane costs will never go down but mine are predictable and don't change . my monthly bill is sweat equity.

 

[salecker]

I have an ash problem with mine that i can't figure out
My boiler building is covered in it everywhere
i rebuilt the cover for the turbs with angle iron welded to it to form a lip that i could use a rope gasket that was thicker that the ribbon one from the factory.
Nope
Covered all my pipe seams...
Nope
glad it's not in my house.

 

[airlina]

That was one of the biggest cons to having it in my basement the 1st 4 years , no matter what i tried (like you) I had a fine ash migrating through out the house. Much better in the shed where it is contained . When I do my post season boiler maint. I give the shed a good cleaning too.

 

[aswecit]

I'll join the Econoburn party, started in 2009 with my 100 in the basement(no storage then) and did that for 4 years. There were pros and cons to that location and the cons were more than the pros so I bit the bullet in 2014 and moved it to the shed pictured here with 500 gals of storage. As Salecker says this was a game changer. This is how a gasifier shines and is made to operate. Basically a 4 hour full blast never idle burn daily is sufficient for house and DHW loads. Today is an exception caus its 6 dg F this mornin in Western NY , so I will do two smaller burns AM and PM. The advantages to storage in my case are convenience on burns and less boiler cleaning due to the full blast , no idle burns. I do one mid season heat exchanger tube cleaning with a special tool (brushes won't get you back to bare metal tubes) and again end of season. 10 to 12 face cords a year of any kind of wood both hard and soft . whtever is dead on my land I cut and burn. Its been a good run with the econoburn and I never regret my all in decision to heat with wood especially with the escalation of heating costs , the oil, gas , propane costs will never go down but mine are predictable and don't change . my monthly bill is sweat equity.

What extras do you have bolted to the front of your machine?
I'm just starting out with a new 200 gasser lots of questions. If I can pick your brain

 

[airlina]

I would guess you are asking about the 2 PID controllers. Back when I bought my boiler circa 2009, the econoburn controls were not very sophisticated and I did not like the fact that when a burn was completed the blower fan and pumps would continue to run until manually shut off wasting electric . The 2 PID gadgets monitor flue temps and are user programable to act as switches to shut off the blower and pumps at a certain flue temp at the end of the burn. If you have a newer model 200 I believe that this is now accomplished with your main controller. Read your OPS manual and learn was features are settable by you. Also I have a security camera(the white thing) that I can monitor from in the house to check flue and boiler temps during a burn . The camera has a pan scan feature that swivels to view my mid tank storage temp gauge as well. One last add is an in house wireless switch that I can shutoff all boiler ops from in the house. Makes it easy on a cold winter night to not have to bundle up to go check on boiler ops. Good luck with your 200 , this is a good winter to heat with wood as cold as it been early. Bruce

 

[aswecit]

I would guess you are asking about the 2 PID controllers. Back when I bought my boiler circa 2009, the econoburn controls were not very sophisticated and I did not like the fact that when a burn was completed the blower fan and pumps would continue to run until manually shut off wasting electric . The 2 PID gadgets monitor flue temps and are user programable to act as switches to shut off the blower and pumps at a certain flue temp at the end of the burn. If you have a newer model 200 I believe that this is now accomplished with your main controller. Read your OPS manual and learn was features are settable by you. Also I have a security camera(the white thing) that I can monitor from in the house to check flue and boiler temps during a burn . The camera has a pan scan feature that swivels to view my mid tank storage temp gauge as well. One last add is an in house wireless switch that I can shutoff all boiler ops from in the house. Makes it easy on a cold winter night to not have to bundle up to go check on boiler ops. Good luck with your 200 , this is a good winter to heat with wood as cold as it been early. Bruce

My boiler was made in 2014 so just the basic water control. And for sure will have to get a storage tank installed for next year. Hard to control the heat in the house other wise. Will have to look into PID controllers. Not much info in the manual on adjusting this boiler. Is the draft adjustable? I see a couple of bolts but nothing about adjusting them.

 

[airlina]

more information is needed, when I ran my boiler without storage for 4 years in my basement, house temp control was never an issue but the cons of batch burns (because of no storage) , dust control and excessive idle time were the issue. So when you say its hard to control heat in the house what is your issue? The boiler should easily handle your heat loads but will require more tending without storage. I have never had to make any adjustments to those bolts you speak of , but if you search this site I believe you will find where other folks have tried that . My factory settings have been fine.