EKO Owner 2nd year burning

[eekster]

Great site, wish I found this last year when having issues with new burner. Solved many problems last year , mainly due to wood size. Been reading this forum for about 4 months and thought I would post. This is my set up, 2400 sq. ft house 400 sq. ft. garage, boiler located in garage, not code, which I know , but wouldn"t be able to pull permit due to ASME non-certification. Insurance co. aproved boiler and location and commented "Never seen anything like it, specs you supplied were great help, more than safe." So that it where it is located. Great product, gas bills during 0-5below were 25.00 due to heating pole barn and just having a meter.Plus the house has never been this warm of temp, cause the boiler sure does work Also purchased form Cozy Heat. Dave was a great help and I still call to just say hi and what kind of feedback he has been getting. Please, if I can help anyone do not hesitate to ask !! Thanks for all of you that have intriqued my interest in many thoughts. Keith Jandreski

I'd love to post a few pic's, looking for some help! Thanks

 

[Eric Johnson]

Welcome to the Boiler Room, Keith. It's always good to have another EKO owner onboard. What model do you have?

Please post some pics.

 

[eekster]

I have the 40 and no water storage, but still works well. I can get 8-12 burns on a load.
Tried to send pictures last night, couldn"t get it to work. How do you upload?
Thanks, Keith

 

[Eric Johnson]

If you choose the "post reply" option, you will see a "browse" window at the bottom of the page. If you choose the "fast reply" option, you have to go into "Edit" mode to find the browse window. Hit "Preview" between each pic choice to post multiple pics. And they have to be the right size. I generally try to size my pics around 10" x 7" (more or less) at 72 dpi. You can go smaller, but not bigger.

Can you share what you learned last year when debugging your setup? I think over time we should be able to work out a solution for most the the common problems that people seem to have. As I said in another thread, these tend to be adjustments to make the things run even better, and I get that sense that everyone is successfully heating their homes with them even when they're not completely dialed in. I know I did.

 

[eekster]

The biggest problem was my wood was split to small (fireplace size), once I got
ahold of large split my puffing problem quit. Also adjusted purge time to 3 minutes and fan speed is now set at 5. Also when I talked to Zennon, these boilers need to run. I have two furnaces one upstairs and one downstairs, each with a circulator, I have water to air exchangers in the ductwork. Zennon suggested to constantly run one to make boiler cycle,
so I have both pumps running which helps with overtemp water is always hot in coils and floors and crawlspace stays warm. With fan speed on 5 and large wood and a couple of logs on top, boiler runs longer and cleaner. I will try to post my pics when I get back from up north on Sunday, cutting wood and meeting a logger. Thanks for the advice on the pics .
Keith

 

[eekster]

Hope thes pictures come out, I included pictures of my ductwork modification for the heat exchangers, boiler installation and my homemade ash can. The can works great especially with the boiler being 18" off floor, I filled this can twice all season-Nov.-March. I have a little shorter burning season than most of you, with me being in southeast MI.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Beautiful setup. Thanks for sharing. Really nice.

I get a lot more ash than that. How much wood do you burn?

My only comment would be that I would have gone with black stovepipe up to the ceiling 1.) to save money on the chimney and cleanout tee; and 2.) to recover some radiant heat for the boiler room instead of sending it up the chimney.

 

[wdc1160]

Thanks eekster.

Eric have you ever put a post together or participated in a post on different stovepipe approaches??
I searched and didn't see anything?

 

[eekster]

I probably burned 4 cords if I had to guess, Zennon recommended using double wsll being in the garage to reduce condensation off the pipe, it sure would have been cheaper I also check the clean out about every three weeks, always find ash dust in it. Thanks for the compliment on the system, a few hours involved as I"m sure you know.
Keith

 

[Eric Johnson]

No. What are your thoughts?

I'm thinking the only reason for bringing the chimney down to the stove would be if condensation is a concern, but I don't claim any knowledge or expertise beyond my own limited experience.

 

[eekster]

I think when Zennon told me this, He probably didn"tknow that the garage was insulated. Really not a bad decision though, cause the garage still will stay at 55-65 degrees depending on out door temp and nice protection from getting burned. Just learning how this posting works. But really like this site-it"s very addicting.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Well, time is one thing, but having the skill and vision to set everything up so neat and well organized is pretty impressive. I especially like the fire extinguisher mounting. Did you do the work yourself? Why did you put the boiler up on blocks?

I hear you about the output of these things. Having operated conventional wood-fired boilers for around 12 years prior to getting the EKO, I got used to a certain amount of heat produced for wood burned. I continue to be impressed by how much more heat I can get out of the same wood. In a way it's like having a new house. My wife turns all three zones up to 80 and the next thing you know, the house is 80 degrees. Never had that happen before--unless it was 60 degrees out. Now it will even do that when it's below zero. Amazing.

 

[eekster]

Code in Michigan which(for furnaces or water heaters) in garages is 18" for burners off floor. Just a little precaution when I set it up. Makes it alot easier to clean ashes out. I did do all my self with help from a friend or two. I"ve been in the hvac and boiler trade for about 12 years. And yes the wife also loves the warmer house. I store my wood in the garage so it always stays nice and dry, Can go out in the morning in slippers and underware and reload which is nice. Getting back to the ashes, I found the longer it burns (less ideling) the less ashes youhave. Also, Dave at Cozy Heat helped me alot with piping diagram, pipe size, etc. He was very helpful. I can"t take all the credit.

 

[Gagz]

eekster I am not in to art in any way shape or form,but I can honestly say you have swayed me with your pics and setup . Very nice and congrats on your finsished project

 

[eekster]

Question..? Is it possible for wood to be too dry? I have a moisture meter and checked my wood this morning and it wouldn"t even read 7 percent. Noticed a lot longer burns this year and boiler doesn"t cycle much lately which isn"t good. Chimney at top seems blacker this year than last. My wood was about 15 % last year and burned cleaner and cycled more. My meter is working I checked it on other wood. Any thoughts?
Keith

 

[Eric Johnson]

The EKO specs call for wood between 15 and 30 percent mc. So yes, your wood can be too dry. It's too early in the morning for me to think through what the consequences would be, but I think puffing is one of the symptoms.

 

[eekster]

I don"t have any puffing everything is working great 11-12 hour burn times, Just doesn"t cycle much. And like I said chimney (outside top) seems very black) I am going to check inside today and see what It loks like. I think have a big pile of wood in the garage where it is warm is drying it ou too much.
Keith

 

[Eric Johnson]

I guess the soot at the top of your chimney suggests an incomplete burn. Do you get any smoke?

In my experience, no matter how you've got your wood stacked or stored, the pieces in the lower half of the stack are going to be noticeably wetter than the stuff on the top. Mixing them up can be a logistical challenge, but maybe worth the effort.

 

[Tony H]

Eekster - Nice looking setup, I am installing a similar setup with the EKO 40 in a shed behind my garage and running to a heat exchanger in the Gas forced air furnace in the basement with no storage (yet). Do you have a diagram of your setup and some close up pictures you could share? It would be great to see a setup so similar to what I need.
Thanks

 

[eekster]

Tony, I
would be happy to help, let me know what close-ups you want and I could make a diagram if you want.
Keith

 

[Donl]

Tony, I
would be happy to help, let me know what close-ups you want and I could make a diagram if you want.
Keith

I think I am at about the same place as Tony H with regards to my planning for the EKO 40. I too would be interested in viewing any diagrams you may have that show how you have designed yours. The more detail the better. I have looked closely at the pictures you posted. I wish the resolution was better so I could see things more clearly. What is the black box the that is located near the output of the EKO? I am guessing that it is a low water cut off. Close????

Don

 

[Tony H]

Thanks eekster I am most interested in the plumbing right near the boiler with detail or labels so I can make out what is what.

Tony

 

[barnartist]

I just started reading this thread.
I have that much ash a week! I idle allot though with my 60. Just to be sure im on the right page, idling would mean when the boiler shuts its fans down when up to temp. AKA going into idle.
Ya that setup is very artistic. And how the heck do you keep that room white? You must have terrific draft and no inside smoke.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I get about 4 or 5 gallons a week, on average.

 

[eekster]

I"ve got a little catching up to do here!! Let me start with my issue of the dirty stack. Eric, yes I had more smoke than before, checked inside still very clean. I changed my purge cycle from 3 to 4 thinking that it would keep the wood from smoldering more.Second I changed fan speed from 5 to 6 and closed shudder down on fan and presto.. no smoke at all !! Even with extremely dry wood. Checked my wood outside and it was about 20 %. But for now everying is good. To Tony H. and Don L. I will in the next few days get more pictures. I pretty much used the piping set up form Tarms website which is www.woodboilers.com, click installers corner at top, and then click piping layouts on left, it will bring you to different diagrams. I used the first one "only boiler" and than modified it. And yes, Don that is a low water cut off, I have it wired from my main switch through the l.w.c. and back to the outlet where the boiler plugs in. I had a mis-hap when the termovar blew a gasket and lost water.. thankfully I was home. I changed that valve and put a Danfoss valve ( no gaskets to worry about) also changed air elimnator to a spirovent, their expensive but work. Could never get all the air out with the old setup, very pleased with this.
Last, to Barnartist I have about 18 feet of chminey, so it does draft well it is 8" diameter also. The old 10 foot rule doesn"t always apply especially with wood. I tried to cheat and lost. Had to add another 5 feet to the stack to clear 2nd floor roof. Had bad backdraft with northwest wind. With my ash, I really don"t have as much as you guys, I don"t live in that cold of area( right now it is 38 out and raining) I clean my box every 3-4 days and maybe have a gallon or so of ash. I also do not clean out the burning chamber till the end of the season, which would also add a fair amount of ash. I was wondering do you other EKO users clean out your tee? As I said before I get about a quart of ash in it a month, I think its just from the motor and how light the ash is. Hope this wasn"t too long of a post, but I always can"t back in a timely fashion. Thanks for all the interest.
Keith