New EKO Controller

[Eric Johnson]

Dave from Cozy Heat just emailed me a copy of the manual for the new EKO controller. It allows you to make multiple settings, including setting your temps up to (195 degrees F) right from the control panels. And a lot of other neat stuff. And it displays in Farenheit. Looks pretty cool. I don't have time to post a link, but if anyone is interested in seeing the manual, PM me with an email addy and I'll forward you a copy of mine.

BTW, it goes for $249. If anyone is looking to pick up one of the older controllers cheap, no doubt somebody making the upgrade will be happy to sell their old one for cheap.

 

[Nofossil]

Dave from Cozy Heat just emailed me a copy of the manual for the new EKO controller. It allows you to make multiple settings, including setting your temps up to (195 degrees F) right from the control panels. And a lot of other neat stuff. And it displays in Farenheit. Looks pretty cool. I don't have time to post a link, but if anyone is interested in seeing the manual, PM me with an email addy and I'll forward you a copy of mine.

BTW, it goes for $249. If anyone is looking to pick up one of the older controllers cheap, no doubt somebody making the upgrade will be happy to sell their old one for cheap.

Sounds like it could be a big improvement, especially if you can set some of the unsettable parameters. I'd be tremendously interested, but I think I'm just going to replace mine with my own controller.

 

[leaddog]

I';m supposed to be geting one from Dave. I didn't post anything until I got it and saw how it worked. Zenon emailed me the file when I asked him for a elect. drawing for mine. It looks like the controler for the Bio Max. It looks like just what I need. When I get mine I'll report how it works.
leaddog

 

[Eric Johnson]

Good to have some competent help doing the beta testing, leaddog. I think it's probably worth the higher temp capability alone, along with everything else that it is supposed to do.

I wonder what the street value on the old ones would be. Ebay? OWB owners? Slowzuki?

 

[Bartman]

This morning I gave Cozy Heat a call and had a nice conversation with Dave, great guy! In our conversation, he did mention the new controller when I told him of how my system is set up. Apparently the new control has TT connections so if the fire goes out, it will start the oil/gas boiler. Not necessarily what I need, but I do like the fact that it's in Fahrenheit. Apparently the original control is in Celsius? Some literature is headed my way through Dave, I did forget to ask him if the new EKOs would be equipped with it.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Well, I would insist on that as part of the deal. I suspect they would be included. My controller, which I believe is a generation ahead of nofossil's but very similar, reads in Celcius, and doesn't allow settings above 80C, which is only around 175. We've got a couple of threads discussing ways to get around that restriction (which apparently is rooted in European efficiency standards), but I think upgrading the controller is the best strategy. Dave is a great guy. I got great service before, during and after the sale, and good installation advice that saved me money, even though he could have loaded me up with extras that I didn't really need.

 

[Bartman]

It looks like I'm going to have to wait until spring breaks so I can excavate my basement stairs before buying a new boiler. After Jan 1 the prices are going up, Dave thinks approx. $200, maybe it reflects the cost of the new controller, but I doubt it, probably just the weak dollar. Can this be run without a controller? Or is there a big ugly hole when it's removed? The future plans for my system includes a PLC to run the works with digital temperature controllers feeding back to the PLC. If I could I would really like to do without their controls.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I doubt you could get it without the controller. That would void the warranty, for sure. Same with anybody. I don't know why you'd want to, but you can certainly rig the thing up with some aquastats and get the job done. There aren't any wells going into the boiler, however, other than the drain and the supply and return lines. The current controller runs off a surface-mount sensor.

 

[Bartman]

No more wells for me, the latest and greatest is going to be threaded it thermocouples. Just received one off eBay to work with my temp controller and has a 1/4" thread. Haven't checked the pitch but it should be 1/4-20, fitted with a copper o-ring, I'll tap the water jacket, mill a small flat to seal the washer and I should be good to go. It for certain that I'll have this worked out before ever purchasing a new boiler, especially at that price. My only wish is tha I could get my hands on an EKO 18.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Nice looking boiler setup you've got in the other thread, Bartman. What's wrong with the EKO 25. That's only around 80K btu. What's your New Yorker?

 

[Bartman]

The NY is 120k, if I'm going to run for max efficiency, I need to run wide open, I would rather run a small unit wide open with smaller wood loads, than a larger unit idled down every once in a while. Thanks for the complement, I should have finished repainting the NY in the new yellow/black color scheme before taking the picture.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Well, you can restrict the nozzle opening with a piece of firebrick to effectively cut the output of the boiler. I've done that with mine, which has two nozzles, and it worked well.

 

[Bartman]

The other factor is size, height and width not a problem but depth is. In the pitures of my boilers, I'm actually in the doorway, not much depth here.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I'm in a pretty tight spot, myself. But you do need access to the back and some room for the plumbing and the exhaust piping.

 

[Bartman]

Man is that tight! I would have to assume that you built the partition around the boiler.

 

[Eric Johnson]

No, I built the room for another boiler. Luckily, it was just big enough to wheel the new EKO in with a pallet jack. I have a couple of inches to spare on the sides, but doors on both ends, so plenty of access to the important stuff. It vents from the outside.

 

[Bartman]

Nice job. I like your wood pile, how much do you keep near the boiler?

 

[rreihart]

The control on the BioMax is an RK2100-U and it does read in farenheit. Through the controls parameters, I can set the max and min temps then set my target temp with the dial. As I turn the dial, the range is from the min parameter to the max parameter. I can also set the overheat temp.

Bartman mentioned TT connections. This was mentioned in the manual, but was not clear at all. What actually happens is there is a 12 VDC signal sent from terminals 1 and 2 when the control is in the work mode. When the control is off, or when there is a no fuel signal, the 12V is no longer output. I bought a relay with a 12 VDC coil and ran the TT terminal for my oil boiler to a set of the normally closed contacts. So when the wood is burning the coil closes and the TT terminal is held open. Works pretty well.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Nice job. I like your wood pile, how much do you keep near the boiler?

I can get 10.5 cords in there--enough to get through the winter. At least that's the plan. I load it up in the spring, so it has plenty of time to get nice and dry.

 

[Bartman]

I wish I had the space to store that kind of quantity. When I re-do my basement entrance, which is totally below grade, I can allow for 1 cord of storage outside near the entrance doors, that's it. For me, it was a practice never to keep too much wood near the house with the fear of "enhanced" termite exposure.

 

[begreen]

Eric, I've loved watching the progress on this system. Thanks for posting the neat pictures too. (Better get a coverplate on the boiler switch before elk sees it )

How is your wood consumption so far as compared with the older boiler?

 

[Eric Johnson]

Thanks. It always takes me forever to wrap up all the details on these projects, then I'm always tearing things apart on one of my periodic "heating system upgrades."

On the wood, I'd say about a third less. But we're heating more space and keeping the whole place warmer....because we can. I'm about ready to finally put the tank and heat exchanger into service, and that will deliver a big boost in efficiency, it's pretty clear to me. New Horizon says to expect 40% and although my friend nofossil, who has an EKO 25 and an 800-gallon tank, says he thinks that's way high, with a much bigger boiler like my 60, it's a much bigger difference. Mainly that's because without a tank, you have to throttle back a big boiler most of the time, and you pay a price for that.

But the best thing, aside from an unlimited supply of heat and hot water, is that there ain't no smoke.