Need a new boiler EKO 25 died in fire.

[Rugar]

Have been running an EKO 25 for seven years and something happened. There was an explosion and shed was immediately on fire. Lost everything. Fire dept was quick and house was spared.

I need a new boiler. Should I stay with EKO or is there a better option now. Maybe something that doesn't need constant feeding. The EKO was fine but took some attention. Always planned water storage but haven't got it done.
Thanks

 

[Lcback]

From someone with an inside furnace. That's terrifying.


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[Vinced]

My main concern before doing anything would be finding out why it caught on fire!

 

[velvetfoot]

My main concern before doing anything would be finding out why it caught on fire!

Terrorism?

 

[dogwood]

Sorry for the loss of your boiler and outbuilding Rugar. Glad nobody was hurt and your house was undamaged. Do you have any idea if the explosion was internal to the boiler or chimney, or was it possibly something stored in the shed that exploded? Scary.

Mike

 

[Rugar]

Really unsure what happened. I checked furnace an hour or so earlier. Wife was within 15 feet of shed doing chores 15 to 20 prior to explosion. She didn't notice smoke or anything unusual. At moment of explosion she and our 6 and 3 year old were leaving house going to shed and heard explosion and everything was on fire. I don't recognize any problem with integrity of boiler or any compromise of flue as in burnt up or holes. There was a benzomatic self igniting hand torch for soldering and starting fires. Could it have spontaneous combusted I don't know. Hard to believe something was smoldering and took off that fast. I had been carefully to make sure no embers escaped and was burning oak that doesn't throw sparks. Had a double wall flue that attached to angle iron on one 2x4 and then poked through tin. 6 Inch stainless with a 13 inch outer shell. I'm at a loss of what happened. Fire dept and insurance didn't see anything to investigate

 

[cumminstinkerer]

Rugar I wonder if you lost secondary flame for some reason and it built up a huge amount of gasses the lit off, my homemade "hybrid" does a small version of just that at times, I've had it blow fire out the peep hole in the door and flyash out the chimney when it does that, make one hell of a huff when it does it.

 

[maple1]

If I was buying a new boiler right now, I am pretty sure the Froling that Tarm is clearing out right now would be at the top of my list. Watch for the banner ad at the top of the page. It needs storage though - which one should have anyway if at all possible.

 

[Rugar]

Cumminstinkerer you have the best theory I've heard so far. I've had the metal flapper by fan in front blow smoke out of itself at times. I'm guessing that is what your referring to. Always wondered if something could blow out at that moment but never seen evidence of anymore than smoke.

 

[dogwood]

I'm so glad for you your wife and child weren't hurt.

Maybe the Benzomatic leaked some gas. Could have happened if it's valve was made in China, worn, or accidentally not completely closed. I read an article once warning about keeping any potential source of flammable fumes away from a room with gas, oil (or wood for that matter) fired appliances. That included oil based paints, solvents, or anything like that with potentially combustible fumes.

I'm digressing, but it's a concern when people put wood boilers in their garage where you have gasoline cans and other sources of flammable fumes.

I saw that ad on the Froling https://www.woodboilers.com/ at Tarm Biomass that Maple1 mentioned. Looked like a great deal.

Mike

 

[goosegunner]

I sent you a Private message.

 

[maple1]

I have a Bernzo I keep beside my boiler too. Works great and love it. It's a push button one. I had one issue with it a couple weeks ago when I took it outside on a real cold morning to help thaw out some quick coupler fittings while hooking up the snow blade on our tractor. It sat on the ground for an hour or 2 before I went to use it (Had a breakage happen that required a weld job). Anyway when I went to use it the trigger froze in. It misfired & didn't light. So was spewing gas without control. Had to unscrew from cylinder & thaw it out under the tractor heater blower. Maybe the trigger stuck/froze slightly open on yours?

 

[brenndatomu]

I have a Bernzo I keep beside my boiler too. Works great and love it. It's a push button one. I had one issue with it a couple weeks ago when I took it outside on a real cold morning to help thaw out some quick coupler fittings while hooking up the snow blade on our tractor. It sat on the ground for an hour or 2 before I went to use it (Had a breakage happen that required a weld job). Anyway when I went to use it the trigger froze in. It misfired & didn't light. So was spewing gas without control. Had to unscrew from cylinder & thaw it out under the tractor heater blower. Maybe the trigger stuck/froze slightly open on yours?

I was just going to say the same thing. I have used my torch out in the cold and then it "freezes up" and won't shut off completely until it gets warm...if the flame went out but the gas was still flowing...well, you know, BOOM!

 

[Rugar]

The Froling looks interesting. I've seen some about econoburn. Looking for pros and cons. Haven't kept up with newer products well. The EKO was fine but wish it had a larger firebox and had some trouble with controllers. I have a small two story drafty farmhouse that's around 1000 sq ft. The EKO 25 did keep up with all the heat our baseboards could handle but cold windy days were just adequate for warmth. Probably need more baseboard and insulation. So 85-100,000 BTU boiler is probably adequate

 

[Fred61]

If the amount of "tending" is an issue for you, your first inclination would be to buy a larger boiler. That could backfire on you because after filling the firebox on a larger boiler you could get creosote build-up from excessive idling and your only fix would be to make smaller fires then you're back to where you started, The best way to minimize "tending" is to incorporate storage. Then you will be able to tend the boiler on your schedule.
With the 25 you were burning at the maximum capacity if the boiler making creosote problems less of an issue.
If I were in your shoes I would make an effort to tighten up the house. It's money well spent.

 

[hondaracer2oo4]

Heatmaster g100?

 

[BoiledOver]

Is the Eko a total loss? I would think not. UNLESS, the explosion happened within the boiler. The blower, controller, rockwool, and wiring is all replaceable. As long as the inner and outer skins of the water jacket are sound, you have a good unit. You might have a good again boiler for just $600. If you get a settlement maybe consider storage and home insulation.

You experienced troubles with your controller? I have not had any issues with that. From day one it was removed from the pyramid and placed above a piece of polyiso and several inches of airspace, NOT enclosed in any box that would hold heat. From the factory, it is in a prone to over heat location.

Best of luck.

 

[BoiledOver]

Here is what I did with the controller. Just that little 1/2" of polyiso stops the heat in its tracks.

 

[Woodfarmer1]

My Garn is in my shop with Diesel atv, car and truck. I would think as long as the fan is running there would be no buildup of gasses.

 

[NateB]

Sorry for your loss. Glad everyone is OK.

I know the last thing you need right now is more to do, but any change we could get some closer pictures of the EKO? I have the 40 and would like to know more.

 

[salecker]

Have been running an EKO 25 for seven years and something happened. There was an explosion and shed was immediately on fire. Lost everything. Fire dept was quick and house was spared.

I need a new boiler. Should I stay with EKO or is there a better option now. Maybe something that doesn't need constant feeding. The EKO was fine but took some attention. Always planned water storage but haven't got it done.
Thanks

Wow that sucks.Can you save the lines to hook back up top them?
If so you could get an Outdoor Econoburn to hook up quick and get back heating.Then build a shed around it next summer and add heat storage at that time.
I started my system with the outdoor version of the Econoburn,which ended up in a shed hooked to storage.I didn't know if i was going to have my shed fully functional by winter,and i got a good deal on the outdoor model.My systyem has been running for 6 yrs,and am impressed with the Econoburn.I had an issue with a controller and was able to continue running it with an extension cord feeding the fan,using the high limit aguastat to shut off the power when it reached the set point.
I live in the middle of nowhere so having a basic tough boiler is great.
Your experience shows one of the main reasons to have a separate boiler building.Catastrophic boiler fail,and you still have a house to live in.

 

[Fred61]

I don't believe the boiler exploded. In fact I'm willing to bet my brother in law's paycheck on it. In order to get BOOM you need to confine the area of ignition tighter than the EKO is capable of doing in order to create that much pressure. You have a large 8 inch flue plus an air intake plus the doors would quickly relieve any pressure with the slightest outward bend. You'll get a "PPPFFFFFFTTTT larger and louder than you want to hear in the worst case. That is not to say that you won't get some smoke or maybe some flame into the room.
I had some wicked explosions with my Wood Gun and was darn glad I had my flue pipe screwed together well. It was just the task of running around to pick up the blown off pieces and re-attaching to the boiler. Intake pipe, etc.

I'm guessing you had a propane leak.

 

[NateB]

Do you think a small propane bottle with a leak could get the fuel to air ratio close enough to get a boom? With a boiler sucking fresh air into the room. I am not saying you are wrong. I just don't know?

I did hear of a guy blowing up his garage when he set a can of spray paint on top of his wood stove.

 

[Fred61]

Do you think a small propane bottle with a leak could get the fuel to air ratio close enough to get a boom? With a boiler sucking fresh air into the room. I am not saying you are wrong. I just don't know?

I did hear of a guy blowing up his garage when he set a can of spray paint on top of his wood stove.

Yes. Looks like a pretty small building. My EKO 25 moves very little air. It would take a lot of time for the EKO to purge the air in that space.

 

[Rugar]

Sorry I haven't been available much this weekend. I will get some closer pictures. I don't think the boiler is compromised other than controller, fan, paint, sheet metal, insulation and wiring. Fortunately I have replacement cost insurance and boiler was listed so I guess I have to buy a new boiler. But I think I will keep the old one to use again somewhere.