Erosion of my nozzle and secondary burn chamber tiles,why?

[hobbyheater]

. I call it my nozzle prophylactic.

Fantastic post!

 

[Fred61]

I think you guys are beating dead horse. Lots of discussion on what I feel is normal wear. 20 cords is a huge amount of wood. That much wood will fuel my boiler for a little over 6 years. How long do you expect your nozzle to last?

 

[flyingcow]

I think you guys are beating dead horse. Lots of discussion on what I feel is normal wear. 20 cords is a huge amount of wood. That much wood will fuel my boiler for a little over 6 years. How long do you expect your nozzle to last?

Mine was 6 yrs, at least 7 cord a year..........

 

[hobbyheater]

. How long do you expect your nozzle to last?

I've learned over 30 years of operation that doing what seems to be small things can very much add to the life time of the refractory. The Jetstream has a very large refractory component 1,400 lbs. The first nozzel lasted 17 years at an average of 4 1/2 cords per year and I expect the same out of the new unit that was just put into operation!

 

[kod198707]

Thank Tennman for such a graphic and disturbing account. I will be ordering replacement parts, but for now try the patch. Those of you that have storage did it reduce wood demand or just longer times between burns?

 

[maple1]

I think you guys are beating dead horse. Lots of discussion on what I feel is normal wear. 20 cords is a huge amount of wood. That much wood will fuel my boiler for a little over 6 years. How long do you expect your nozzle to last?

I've got 15 or so through mine - still looks great.

20 cords would likely get me three years if it's decent wood.

 

[woodsmaster]

I think you guys are beating dead horse. Lots of discussion on what I feel is normal wear. 20 cords is a huge amount of wood. That much wood will fuel my boiler for a little over 6 years. How long do you expect your nozzle to last?

I've run aprox. 25 cord threw mine and don't plan on changing it yet. If I had started with a shield It would be better than it is now. It's not dead and I'll keep beating it until it is. Some of us are serious wood burners, not this three cord a year stuff. lol

 

[woodsmaster]

My nozzle was close to that bad before I patched it. As long as you can patch it without filling the air holes in, it should work.

 

[Tennman]

FWIW, All of us understand the nozzle and other ceramics have a finite life like tires. But if it took 4 hours to remove wheels to replace tires I'd find ways to do it as infrequently as possible (or sell the car).

WM, I forgot about those air passages in the throat of the nozzle. When I saw them, I decided one way or the other I was swapping the nozzle instead of attempting a repair.

 

[goodwood]

FWIW, All of us understand the nozzle and other ceramics have a finite life like tires. But if it took 4 hours to remove wheels to replace tires I'd find ways to do it as infrequently as possible (or sell the car).

WM, I forgot about those air passages in the throat of the nozzle. When I saw them, I decided one way or the other I was swapping the nozzle instead of attempting a repair.

FWIW, All of us understand the nozzle and other ceramics have a finite life like tires. But if it took 4 hours to remove wheels to replace tires I'd find ways to do it as infrequently as possible (or sell the car).

WM, I forgot about those air passages in the throat of the nozzle. When I saw them, I decided one way or the other I was swapping the nozzle instead of attempting a repair.

i was going to change my nozzle this weekend, but did not think it would be so difficult,was the hardest part getting the side blocks out? did the new nozzle drop right in or did you have to trim it? also zenon said there was a gasket around the nozzle youre suppposed to remove and replace, any other tips or advice would be gratly appreciated

 

[Tennman]

GW, Since you mentioned Zenon, I presume you have a BioMass. We have a 60 so I really can't speak for the 40.

Yes, If you hope to reuse the side blocks it may be hard. We've not run with storage so bonding due to creosote could have been worse for our boiler than yours. This is a wood boiler so it's more likely to be gooey in the upper chamber. The key is understanding how the side blocks must be removed. Since ours was stuck, there was no way to tell if you're doing something wrong. I'm of average height, but stocky. So when I did get my body into the boiler, I had no space to work. I finally had to hire someone smaller than me because the 60's chamber is too deep to work from the outside and too small for me to work inside.

1) I tried to use soft tools, wood or nylon to loosen the blocks. Try to get movement in one of the side blocks. Take your pick, front or back. Try both, one or the other will be less bonded than the other. Once you have some movement, use some type of tool (big flat blade screwdriver) to pry on the top of the block to get it to pivot the top into the chamber. I chipped all my blocks prying and working to get them loose but they were still useable.

2) Once loose they will rotate about the bottom into the chamber and then you can lift it from their metal pocket. Getting the first one out on each side is the hardest because now for the second block you can get a wedge behind the second one and pop it loose. MARK the blocks or place them on the floor so they'll go back in the same location.

3) Start over and repeat on the other side. At this point you may want to go get an adult beverage, watch football and attempt the other side following Saturday morning.

4) Now that you've successfully removed the side blocks with hopefully minimal damage. Take a hammer and chisel and beat the crap out of that old nozzle. Turn it into a thousand pieces for all the hours and missed football games it took to get you to this point. You can try to bump it from the bottom, or pry it out, but turning it into powder at this point is more satisfying.

5) I used a right angle grinder used for sharpening bush hog blades to grind/trim the nozzle. It took us 3-4 fitting attempts until it dropped into the nozzle cavity. I can't remember if the nozzle rope insulation is on the top or bottom, I think around the top, but not sure.

6) Clean the side block cavities so the blocks will set properly. Replace blocks back to their same positions. Admire.

7) Now cogitate if a removable shield to protect that nozzle and hopefully double it's life is a good idea.

 

[JP11]

When I changed out my vigas nozzle.. I found an air chisel worked great. Now.. had I been a surgeon I MAY have gotten away with minimal patching. as it was.. pretty easy to use the castable refractory and just pour a new 'floor' around the new cast steel nozzles.

JP

 

[kod198707]

Tennman I like how you embraced your inner caveman and clubbed that nozzle in to submission. When I was cleaning my nozzle preping it for repair I found several of the air holes plugged. I blew through the air inlet with the shop vac. Cleared them right out but filled the basement with dust. Should have kept the door closed

 

[kod198707]

Got the upper part of the nozzle repaired fairly easily. The throat is gonna be a challenge if it can be done at all?

 

[Tennman]

Yeah, I bought some of the refractory stuff to do a repair. Then discovered the air injection holes in the nozzle and the erosion into the injection holes. At that point I was worried I'd spend a lot of time doing a repair and it still be wrong.

GW, looking forward to your report and hoping you don't miss a bunch of college AND pro games this weekend.

 

[goodwood]

GW, Since you mentioned Zenon, I presume you have a BioMass. We have a 60 so I really can't speak for the 40.

Yes, If you hope to reuse the side blocks it may be hard. We've not run with storage so bonding due to creosote could have been worse for our boiler than yours. This is a wood boiler so it's more likely to be gooey in the upper chamber. The key is understanding how the side blocks must be removed. Since ours was stuck, there was no way to tell if you're doing something wrong. I'm of average height, but stocky. So when I did get my body into the boiler, I had no space to work. I finally had to hire someone smaller than me because the 60's chamber is too deep to work from the outside and too small for me to work inside.

1) I tried to use soft tools, wood or nylon to loosen the blocks. Try to get movement in one of the side blocks. Take your pick, front or back. Try both, one or the other will be less bonded than the other. Once you have some movement, use some type of tool (big flat blade screwdriver) to pry on the top of the block to get it to pivot the top into the chamber. I chipped all my blocks prying and working to get them loose but they were still useable.

2) Once loose they will rotate about the bottom into the chamber and then you can lift it from their metal pocket. Getting the first one out on each side is the hardest because now for the second block you can get a wedge behind the second one and pop it loose. MARK the blocks or place them on the floor so they'll go back in the same location.

3) Start over and repeat on the other side. At this point you may want to go get an adult beverage, watch football and attempt the other side following Saturday morning.

4) Now that you've successfully removed the side blocks with hopefully minimal damage. Take a hammer and chisel and beat the crap out of that old nozzle. Turn it into a thousand pieces for all the hours and missed football games it took to get you to this point. You can try to bump it from the bottom, or pry it out, but turning it into powder at this point is more satisfying.

5) I used a right angle grinder used for sharpening bush hog blades to grind/trim the nozzle. It took us 3-4 fitting attempts until it dropped into the nozzle cavity. I can't remember if the nozzle rope insulation is on the top or bottom, I think around the top, but not sure.

6) Clean the side block cavities so the blocks will set properly. Replace blocks back to their same positions. Admire.

7) Now cogitate if a removable shield to protect that nozzle and hopefully double it's life is a good idea.

thanks for the detailed reply, you talked me out of it for this weekend though, the weathers supposed to be beautiful this wknd and i dont want to be stuck inside a boiler covered with creosote and soot, my boiler is a 60, 3 yrs old, i have a steel plate over the nozzle so i still get ok gasification, my main concern is the erosion of the bottom of the nozzle, it has really widened out by the airholes, i did get replacement blocks for the sides from zenon in case i break the old ones, i may put it off for a rainy weekend, but i appreciate your information, also am i pretty much guaraneted to have to trim the new nozzle, it seems like they should be made the proper size, thanks for your help

 

[woodsmaster]

Wonder why there made oversize ?