EKO 25?

[mpraete]

I have an EKO 25 for about 2 heating seasons. I just realized that along with my ash rake and poker that came with it I should have also gotten a "Tube" cleaner. No longer available via Zenon. Anyone have one for sale? A picture of one? Alternative suggestions? Anyone know the diameter of those tubes in case I just end up with the old wire brushes. Thanks, Mike/Kerhonkson, NY

 

[Triumph562]

I've had my EKO 25 boiler since 2022. I have never pulled the turbulators out until just now. (note, if you have the self cleaning mechanism, you need to remove at least one of the individual turbulators off the assembly with the cotter pin before lifting the entire assembly out). The self cleaning mechanism with the handle does not clean the tubes at all, it just prevents the soot from building up to an atrocious level long after the efficiency is compromised.

I measured the tubes at 1 7/8" diameter. I'm going to buy a 2" boiler brush on ebay and probably grind it down to the right size. I can't find a steel brush at 1 7/8", only horsehair which is not aggressive enough. I would not worry about the tube cleaner tool. In fact the Super models never came with the tool. A wire brush attached to a drill or handle will do a much better job. When I perform the cleaning I will give you an update on what I find.

 

[mpraete]

I've had my EKO 25 boiler since 2022. I have never pulled the turbulators out until just now. (note, if you have the self cleaning mechanism, you need to remove at least one of the individual turbulators off the assembly with the cotter pin before lifting the entire assembly out). The self cleaning mechanism with the handle does not clean the tubes at all, it just prevents the soot from building up to an atrocious level long after the efficiency is compromised.

I measured the tubes at 1 7/8" diameter. I'm going to buy a 2" boiler brush on ebay and probably grind it down to the right size. I can't find a steel brush at 1 7/8", only horsehair which is not aggressive enough. I would not worry about the tube cleaner tool. In fact the Super models never came with the tool. A wire brush attached to a drill or handle will do a much better job. When I perform the cleaning I will give you an update on what I find.

Hi, Thanks for the info.. I am not very mechanical. I did open the back up to look at the tubes but could not see how to remove them for cleaning. You mentioned a cotter pin? Can you direct a little on where that is and how to remove the rest to get full access. Much appreciated. Mike

 

[salecker]

I made a tool for cleaning the tubes on my Econoburn
I tried a wire brush, waste of time.
Tried the fancy tool from McMaster Carr, waste of time.
Made my own from some 1" wide strapping from large lifts of lumber.
I also found that trying to clean it when it's cold is a waste of time.
Now i burn 100% dry spruce so i don't know if spruce would produce a buildup that acts differently than buildup from hardwood.
If you check out my threads you can see the tool i made. Sorry looked for a pic to post but no luck

 

[Triumph562]

Hi, Thanks for the info.. I am not very mechanical. I did open the back up to look at the tubes but could not see how to remove them for cleaning. You mentioned a cotter pin? Can you direct a little on where that is and how to remove the rest to get full access. Much appreciated. Mike

Here is what I did. This assumes you have the "newer" style EKO sheetmetal. You need to peel back the boiler outer sheetmetal just enough to slide out the rod which holds the turbulator mechanism in place. It's a rod which slides into a bigger rod. The inner rod needs to be pulled out first before you can pull the turbulator assembly out. You will also need to remove the 4 bolts which hold the metal plate on the side the rod sits on, directly behind the cleaning lever. It helps to have smaller hands. It's easier if you remove the flue pipe to have a second opening to fit your hands inside. You need to pull the flat plate piece out with the small tube opening out first. This has 4 bolts and nuts. Be careful not to drop the bolt down the tubes when you remove it so it doesen't jam a turbulator (it would probably harmlessly fall to the bottom, but I'm paranoid). You may need a pair of 15mm (maybe 13mm) sockets so they don't spin around on themselves. Then slide out the rod assembly. You will need to rotate it some to clear the square hole as it's oddly shaped to perform the cleaning function. This will put a lot of tension on the sheetmetal but it will clear. Once the inner rod is out you can start lifting up the assembly. I found I needed to remove one of the individual turbs from the end of the flat stock to clear the rectangular hole on top. You can reach inside and remove the cotter pin and pin with washers holding the turb in. After one is removed you can pull the rest out in one go. You will need to shimmy and fight them a little to pull them out. It will be very filthy too. I looked like the father from A Christmas Story when I came up from the basement!

1. Remove the top metal plate above the HX tube chamber with the two nuts/washers
2. Remove sheetmetal screws on the side panel (lever side)
3. Remove sheetmetal screws at the corner of the back panel adjacent the lever sheetmetal panel (four above the drain valve)
4. Remove two philips head machine screws on the lever side of the boiler on top. They are underneath the black caps of the upper enclosure and you need a longer screwdriver to reach them and unscrew. You can fit your arm and hand inside to grab them but it's tight. One is easy to get at next to the HX plate. The other is in front. You don't need to unscrew the two on the opposite side.
5. Use an allen wrench to remove the nut holding the cleaning lever on. Remove by pulling it off and set it aside.
6. Unscrew the black ball on the bypass handle
7. Remove the black trim piece on the emergency cooling pipe
8. Pull back the sheetmetal so it's loose enough to get a socket wrench behind
9. Remove the 4 bolts and nuts holding the metal plate which houses the end of the inner rod. You will need to hold both sides of the bolt/nuts to spin them loose with 15mm (maybe) 13mm sockets
10. Pull the metal plate out the end of the rod (this will bend the sheetmetal further back to clear)
11. Pull the inner rod out. This will cause the assmebly inside to drop down but that's OK.
12. Pull the assembly up high enough to reach the rightmost turbulator pin and cotter pin. Remove the pin and pull out the individual turbulator.
13. Remove the entire assembly as one unit and set aside.

I'm going to abandon the cleaning assembly and see how it performs by monitoring the flue gas stream with a handheld thermocouple. ThermoWorks also makes a datalogger but that is expensive. Pulling the cleaning assembly apart and putting it back together is a PITA. I am planning on putting 3" key rings on my turbulators and setting them inside on the rings to hold them in place. I should be able to grab the rings and pull them out individually for periodic brush cleaning. I used this brush to clean my tubes tonight. The 2" brush is just slightly too tight. I took an angle grinder grinding wheel and took a few passes evenly around the bristles to shorten them just enough. I cut off the end handle loop and screwed it on my milwaukee battery drill chuck. I ran the brush up and down the tubes with the drill and they are bare metal now. You will want to run a vacuum in the lower chamber to suck the ash away. At first I will probably do this every two weeks, or when flue gas temperature data dictates. It will be an experiment using flue temperature data to drive the maintenance interval vs time based intervals.