epyre elite 100 v1 advice needed.

[frc00ny]

Hello every one.
I am new to the forum.
First i will tell you what i have, and the problems i am having with it right now.
I have a v1 unit that is in the mid 600 serial number range. I am heating a 1500 square foot house. Partial in floor radiant and two baseboard zones. One zone is a addition that is not remodeled yet, and the other is the basement which stays really comfortable with just the heat coming off from the the manifolds and exposed pex near them . I also provide my home with dhw from a 40 or so gallon heat exchanger. I still burn some fuel oil, although reluctantly. My unit is placed in the garage. The garage is poorly insulated, its old and drafty.


The problems i have started from buying the unit from a dealer that was not upfront about their relationship with profab. I bought his last empyre unit, as he did not want to do business with them any more. Having dealt with this guy i will say the problems were most likely on his end. He did not disclose everything that i needed to know to properly make a decision as to whether this was a good fit for me or not. And service after the sale is non existent as his comment was the manufacturer is responsible for that. That being said i have been talking with profab and they have been very helpful in providing me with information to properly run my boiler and the proper maintenance of the unit.

I have been treating my water, but i still have had some corrosion problems. I have a patch welded into my fire box.

I have been using seasoned wood, although this year my wood is not seasoned enough. I am thinking about cleaning my unit up and treating it for storage. I just don't know how to do this properly with out it costing me an arm and a leg. Fuel oil is cheap right now so that's good.

So this brings me to the question at hand. How do i keep this boiler from freezing, and still keep it protected from corrosion while storing it in my soon to be unheated garage? And this is just in case i decide to shut it down.

Another question i have pertains to the amount of coals i get dropping into the bottom chamber. Am i doing something wrong or is my wood not properly dry enough to be causing this? I do seem to have more ash than the web site and you-tube videos say i should. But no where near the amount of a phase one owb.

Are there improvements that i can make to the boiler that will make life with it more enjoyable?

 

[huffdawg]

As far as winterizing the boiler.. I don't know your boiler specifics but you should be able to isolate it from the rest of your system. There should also be a drain valve on the bottom somewhere and a pressure relief up top.. Once your boiler is isolated drain some pressure out if yours is a pressurized system then take the pressure relief valve off and use the open fitting as a vent while draining

 

[WoodChoppa]

Hello every one.
I am new to the forum.
First i will tell you what i have, and the problems i am having with it right now.
I have a v1 unit that is in the mid 600 serial number range. I am heating a 1500 square foot house. Partial in floor radiant and two baseboard zones. One zone is a addition that is not remodeled yet, and the other is the basement which stays really comfortable with just the heat coming off from the the manifolds and exposed pex near them . I also provide my home with dhw from a 40 or so gallon heat exchanger. I still burn some fuel oil, although reluctantly. My unit is placed in the garage. The garage is poorly insulated, its old and drafty.


The problems i have started from buying the unit from a dealer that was not upfront about their relationship with profab. I bought his last empyre unit, as he did not want to do business with them any more. Having dealt with this guy i will say the problems were most likely on his end. He did not disclose everything that i needed to know to properly make a decision as to whether this was a good fit for me or not. And service after the sale is non existent as his comment was the manufacturer is responsible for that. That being said i have been talking with profab and they have been very helpful in providing me with information to properly run my boiler and the proper maintenance of the unit.

I have been treating my water, but i still have had some corrosion problems. I have a patch welded into my fire box.

I have been using seasoned wood, although this year my wood is not seasoned enough. I am thinking about cleaning my unit up and treating it for storage. I just don't know how to do this properly with out it costing me an arm and a leg. Fuel oil is cheap right now so that's good.

So this brings me to the question at hand. How do i keep this boiler from freezing, and still keep it protected from corrosion while storing it in my soon to be unheated garage? And this is just in case i decide to shut it down.

Another question i have pertains to the amount of coals i get dropping into the bottom chamber. Am i doing something wrong or is my wood not properly dry enough to be causing this? I do seem to have more ash than the web site and you-tube videos say i should. But no where near the amount of a phase one owb.

Are there improvements that i can make to the boiler that will make life with it more enjoyable?

I believe that is an indoor boiler so it will function much better if put in an insulated space. Solution to freezing is to purchase glycol depending on where you are at it could be 30-50% of water volume. Another option is to place a small electric space heater focused on the side of the boiler to keep it from freezing.

 

[maple1]

I think this is an open boiler? So thinking there is also a plate heat exchanger between it & the rest of the system? Maybe not far from the boiler? I think if I was looking at a real threat of freezing or if it was in an outdoor enclosed space, I would put glycol in it. You shouldn't need much (relatively speaking) since it's just the boiler. A local decent OWB dealer should be able to set you up there. Glycol hurts heat trasnfer efficiency a bit, but might be a trade off that's worth it.

Have you done a search here on the Elite? There is lots of past stuff. They did have issues. I forget them all. One I think was lack of proper return temp protection. Then maybe something in the design of the firebox. Both could contribute to corrosion. Some time spent searching should fill in my blanks. Also I would think Profab might be able to help too?

 

[frc00ny]

I think this is an open boiler? So thinking there is also a plate heat exchanger between it & the rest of the system? Maybe not far from the boiler? I think if I was looking at a real threat of freezing or if it was in an outdoor enclosed space, I would put glycol in it. You shouldn't need much (relatively speaking) since it's just the boiler. A local decent OWB dealer should be able to set you up there. Glycol hurts heat trasnfer efficiency a bit, but might be a trade off that's worth it.

Have you done a search here on the Elite? There is lots of past stuff. They did have issues. I forget them all. One I think was lack of proper return temp protection. Then maybe something in the design of the firebox. Both could contribute to corrosion. Some time spent searching should fill in my blanks. Also I would think Profab might be able to help too?

I have done a ton of research on this unit. But only after I began to have problems with it. I am still running it right now. But I am considering shutting it down until I get some dryer wood. I may just keep the circulator running and keep it warm off from my oil boiler. I was just looking good for the most efficient cost effective way to protect it.
I appreciate all of the responses.

 

[Woodfarmer1]

I had an early version with no corrosion issues, no return water protection. Profab wouldn't warranty the unit without it but they weren't willing to provide me one at no cost. I ran 30% glycol in mine and it was in an unheated shop with no issues. When i went away I let the propane boiler in the house circulate out to the empire.
If your going to mothball it, it will cost roughly $300 for the glycol, and/or just leave your circulating pump on but I won't be held responsible if your unit freezes up based on this post
Most of what Profab says is crap, you can't heat a house without storage unless you are there to throw wood in 24/7.

 

[frc00ny]

I had an early version with no corrosion issues, no return water protection. Profab wouldn't warranty the unit without it but they weren't willing to provide me one at no cost. I ran 30% glycol in mine and it was in an unheated shop with no issues. When i went away I let the propane boiler in the house circulate out to the empire.
If your going to mothball it, it will cost roughly $300 for the glycol, and/or just leave your circulating pump on but I won't be held responsible if your unit freezes up based on this post
Most of what Profab says is crap, you can't heat a house without storage unless you are there to throw wood in 24/7.

I am running my oil boiler as back up, so that is my emergency plan. I think i should have adequate freeze protection from that. Its just a little extra oil. I think glycol will cost more.

 

[frc00ny]

How do i keep all the larger coals from falling into the secondary chamber?
How much ash do you have when your boiler is gassifying properly? I fill a 55 gallon drum in a year. That would be roughly twenty face cord. Thats a real rough estimate because i cut my wood at 24 inches, well i try to anyway.