EKO 60 potato skin burning questions or other catylists

[Dave T]

How do go about burning potato skins in my EKO, In what quantity is there alternatives..Dave

 

[Tree farmer]

I believe you throw them in the gasification chamber on the sides of the refractory. I have not tried the potato thing yet but have been spraying Rutland creosote reducer int there, not sure if it does the same thing but what the hell. I would just put a couple handfuls in on each side, maybe my wife won't throw them away next week and I can try it too.

 

[woodmeister]

What's the point of burning the spuds ?

 

[rickh1001]

TacoSteelerMan

Try them - you'll like the results. Forget just the potato skins. If we have the leftovers from a 5 lb bag that are sprouting, I throw them in. I usually do it when there is a nice hot bed of embers, then just throw them in with some more wood. They work! Any cresote becomes brittle and flaky, plus I don't worry whether the chemicals in the commercial cresote removers might cause corrosion in my stainless steel chimney, or the boiler itself. It is apparently the starch in the potatoes that is doing the job, so you might as well use the whole potato, rather than just the skin.

 

[Kemer]

I was told rock salt would work.Any truth in that?

 

[Nofossil]

I was told rock salt would work.Any truth in that?

Yikes - salt and steel don't seem like a good combination....

Let me repeat what I mentioned in a previous thread:

As far as I can tell, the creosote in the primary chamber is not a problem. It gets to maybe 1/8" thick, and that's it. It doesn't harm the steel, and maybe even protects it. I haven't even scraped mine at all in over a season, except the crumbly stuff around the door flange.

There are plenty of things to fine tune on these beasts, but my take on it is that creosote in the primary is not worth worrying about.

However, if you end up with a bucket of creosote scrapings, send it to me for fuel in case my poplar doesn't carry me through the winter ;-)

 

[Dave T]

I have the standard so I have no choice but to use something to get the soot off of the inside of the exchanger tubes, not worried about the primary burn chamber so much, but is that where the skins need to go to be burned with some wood??From what I've read the skins have to be dryed out so I've got some drying but how much do I need??Dave

 

[rickh1001]

I just throw them in the upper chamber, without drying. I figure the total moisture even from whole potatos isn't that great compared to the masses of wood being burned. I also do it when there is a hot fire and good bed of coals. I am sure they suggest skins, because people have them available. However, I use the entire potato, and have had good luck.

 

[Nofossil]

Are you seeing creosote in the heat exchanger tubes? That shouldn't happen - I've never had anything except fly ash there. If you're seeing creosote, then you're not getting proper secondary burn, or you're idling a lot.

 

[Dave T]

Idleing is my enemy, when I ran the cleaning tool down the exchangers I noticed that there was a thin build up of hard soot that I was not able to get I was thinking that the taters would free this layer of soot up so it could be removed..I am burning less than ideal wood (seasoned about 8 months) but I am also removing a 100 year old barn (Hemlock) on my property and mixing the wood together.. Another slight issue I am having is oily soot at my door opening..Dave



GO STEELERS

 

[Duetech]

It really sounds like your air mixes are off. I do a lot of idling too and have been tweaking for the last month and a half or so. Upper chamber creosote is still going to be present because when you idle the smoke rises from the wood. When you are gassifying though you should not be getting any creosote in the discharged gasses and the temps from the gassification should eliminate most of the stuff in your tubes.