Eko--cleaning ash and tubes

[kmjoyce]

I installed my Eko a couple months ago. It has been great. After resolving the bypass issue all went well. Ash is building up in the top chamber, though. How do people deal with that? We are at the end of the season so it is not a big deal, but next year it will be. I don"t really want to be midwinter and shutting the whole thing down, and it is really hot to shovel it out. Should I just get a longer handled shovel for that ash? It is hard to do it and not clog the nozzle slot too. Suggestions? How much ash base is sufficient?
Also, I have the handle on the side unit to clean the tubes. Is that gets stiff feeling at times. Am I going to have to do anything with that, or is the handle sufficient? I am not sure how I'd get in there anyway.
Thanks!!

 

[taxidermist]

I cycle the handle everytime I load the boiler. I have never had it bind up or feel stiff, as for the ash I have found that leaving ash in the upper chamber helps with bridging issues. Do you have storage? mine blows the nozzels clean when the fire burns out. I dont shovel it out but I burn oak and cherry and it is only powdwer ash in there. I clean my lower chamber 2 times a week and the tubes in the boiler I never have cleaned them. I took the top off and they were clean after burning non stop for 2 months straight.


Rob

 

[sdrobertson]

On the ashes in the top chamber, I just rake the coals when there burnt down quite a bit. The ash goes down into the bottom chamber through the nozzles and the larger pieces of coals stay up on top. Some people sort of the larger pieces from the ash out of the bottom chamber and toss them back into the top when reloaded with wood. I'm using storage so I burn the boiler till I recharge the tanks and then its shut down for a day or two so that's when I clean everything really well. With the heat exchanger tubes I have to clean them every so often as I have a older EKO without the cleaning turbulators, but if had the cleaners, I would clean them really good when I shut down the boiler for the summer. I made a attachment for a drill with a steel round brush and it works really, really well and allot easier than scrubbing the tubes by hand.

 

[sdrobertson]

I clean my lower chamber 2 times a week and the tubes in the boiler I never have cleaned them. I took the top off and they were clean after burning non stop for 2 months straight.
Rob

I wasn't burning really dry wood so I got quite a bit of "coating" in my tubes. Now that I'm cleaning the yard of branches and sticks which are super dry and burn really hot, my tubes are staying allot cleaner.

 

[barnartist]

Pictures are always so worth while. Thanks Srob.