Econoburn Flue Temps

[cumminstinkerer]

I would like to hear from all The Econoburn owners out there, what do you see for peak burn and sustained burn flue temps, internal preferred, but will take surface as well, it would also be very nice to know if you are charging storage or running direct to loads, I am wanting to get a baseline to see if my readings are normal or not, it would also help to know the last time you cleaned your tubes, I think I am running a bit high, I will 500-600F and then settle down to 475-525F, I would just like input from others. Thank you.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

I should also amend and ask how far from the outlet collar on the boiler you are taking the reading

 

[brenndatomu]

I think I am running a bit high, I will 500-600F and then settle down to 475-525F, I would just like input from others.

Sure sounds high to me...are the tubes clean? We dropped the stack temp 200* on the gas fired boiler at work just by cleaning the tubes and then installing the turbulators that were supposed to be in it!

 

[cumminstinkerer]

tubes were spotless less than two weeks ago, going to pull cover tonight and double check, but what I can see and the lower chamber are clean, factory turbs with the cleaning lever are in and they move just like they did with the tubes freshly cleaned, by cleaned I mean down to emery cloth flap wheel, polished steel all the way top to bottom, I know @salecker has similar temps on his 200, just has me curious if it is normal or if we both have something up, I would like some others to chime in for comparison. Thanks for the reply @brenndatomu

 

[salecker]

Yes i feel my flue temps are to high as well.
First fire this year on clean tubes and the high temps are still there.
My boiler loads storage with 1 1/2 copper pipe with a tee coming off that line for my HX
I have a horizontal flue of 2 ft then i measure about a foot up from the clean-out Tee.
I burn spruce that is super dry,that's about the only wood to burn here.My feeling are that the boiler is designed for hard wood.I feel that spruce burns too hot and fast for the boiler to extract the heat with only 6 2" tubes.
Looking froward to fleshing out the high temp issues. Thats about the only beef i have with the Econoburn Boiler so far

 

[3fordasho]

I don't have an Econoburn but my 45kw Attack (156kbtu) has 8 (or maybe 9)- 2" tubes and when the flue temps regularly exceed 400F I know I need a deeper clean than what the turbulator lever will do - about once per season. Normal flue temps are 350-400F. I'm burning ash, elm, box elder - low to medium btu hardwoods.

 

[airlina]

Econoburn 100 , 500 gal. storage , flue temps thermocouple about 6" aft of boiler back . My temps during good gassing (you can hear a low rumble and no smoke from flu) range from 350-450. Mostly a variety of hardwoods. Bruce

 

[cumminstinkerer]

I checked the tubes Tuesday, they had a very light dust on them, moved the lever a couple times and bright shiny metal, I did end up changing the main circ to a 26-99 I had, old one, no change, circ was noisy so I pulled it thinking suction flange was allowing air in, I had troubles getting it to seal before I started it, cleaned it all up good reassembled and powered up, impellor stumble rotated, pulled it back apart and found the shaft was broken, installed a brand new 26-99 3 speed, things are much better, however return protection/bypass circ does not flow enough and therefore I have cycling issues, this is my own fault, I used way to small of pipe when I installed it, that will be remedied this weekend, then hopefully I can get everything dialed in and get to the bottom of the high flue temps.

 

[salecker]

I will add that my magnetic flue temp gauge is unverified.
I don't know how accurate it is but i can see trends with it,like a drop after i have cleaned the tubes.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

I believe I have found the reason why the flue temps are so high, this is looking at the flap from the inside of the upper chamber during a burn, I shut the draft fan down, and snuck the door open past the safety, don't ask, but this is what i found, any suggestions on how to fix it. As you can see only maybe a third of the bypass flap is actually sealing, the rest is definitely leaking by

 

[brenndatomu]

Good sleuthing CS...for those of us not familiar, how does this flap move? Does it pivot to open, or does it pop up off a seat?

 

[cumminstinkerer]

The flap has an arm attached to a rod that is spring loaded closed and it simply pivots the shaft dropping the flap down.

 

[salecker]

What are the ends of the screws through the top of the bypass pipe for?
Mine definitely seals tight compared to yours

 

[cumminstinkerer]

Thomas, you are seeing back into the flue further than it looks, they are the screws holding the chimney to the boiler outlet. they are actually out beyond the the boiler outlet collar, the picture is deceiving, to be honest I was in a bit of hurry as it was more than a little warm in there.

 

[RobinSmith01987]

I don't use this model, but my neighbors do a general cleaning every year to avoid fire!

 

[cumminstinkerer]

Well I found the issue, There is a piece of flat stock that comes up from the control shaft to the flap, that flat stock was bent just a little right near where the bolt that holds the flap goes through.

 

[salecker]

Is you flap tight on the arm? Mine isn't.i made sure my flap was not tight on the arm and it seals better with flap loose on the arm.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

Thomas, that is a good point, when I put the flap back on after straightening the arm I got the bolt too tight, my little snap-on impact is tough, and it would not seal, I had to loosen it a bit to get it to seal up, the initial burn last night went way better, flue temps were between 400 and 450 F after I got that sealed up, I ended up having to turn my secondary air screws back in to 2 1/2 turns out and then the torch was awesome.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

I am going to take a look at the flap tonight after work and see if shows signs of leaking still, worst case I will take it back off and bend the arm a bit more, can't exactly get a straight edge down in there, I just eyeballed it and unfortunately you can't really get straight on to look at either.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

Update, The flap stayed sealed so all is good, now I can button her back up. flue temps are running 400-500 now.

 

[g.mccormick]

It also looks like your turbulator cleaning actuators are disconnected

 

[salecker]

The turbulator cleaning actuator arm being hooked up really does nothing.
If you have enough buildup for the turbulators to actually clean any of it off you are already way past the time to clean the flue tubes.
The turbulators just don't fit tight enough to clean anything off the flue tubes to make any difference in the efficacy of heat transfer.
I use my leaver to make sure it's not time to clean yet

 

[3fordasho]

The turbulator cleaning actuator arm being hooked up really does nothing.
If you have enough buildup for the turbulators to actually clean any of it off you are already way past the time to clean the flue tubes.
The turbulators just don't fit tight enough to clean anything off the flue tubes to make any difference in the efficacy of heat transfer.
I use my leaver to make sure it's not time to clean yet

Yes. I did the same thing on my Attack, in fact I removed the turbulator lever and all associated mechanism. Just the turbulators are left and they are much easier to remove once the mechanism is gone. Makes brushing the tubes a 5-10mn job.

 

[SSweet9c1]

Hey I have a 2018 170-200 with 1000 gal thermal storage tank next to it (spray foamed propane tanks) and then buried pex running to the heat exchanger in the house.. I regularly see 500-600 flue temps on digital econoburn readout...
I have a ton of questions for other econoburn owners...
BTW I burn well seasoned hardwood with the occasional piece of cedar..
Thanks
Jon

 

[salecker]

I have a 299 but no digital flue temp readout.I am assuming that is a new addition to them.
Could you take some pictures of your controller and prob to add to this thread.
Ask away with your questions,there are a few Econoburn users that will try to help.
I am on year 13 and still learning.
So far this year the highest i have seen,no data logger,is 600ish on my primitive flue temp gauge.
In the past i have seen about 200 degrees more than this year with some modifications to the turbulators