Orlan 60 Gasification

[nckennedy]

Thanks Bob, Some radical ideas there, wish I had known about them a couple of years ago when I had to remove all the flue rods. However that problem seems to be fine now. I think my present problem is that I am not getting enough air through the secondary tubes, Cannot get a consistent gasification burn. Controller says its out of fuel, but still plenty in it, so tomorrow AM I plan to shut it down take off the fan cover and see if you can adjust the screws that cover the tubes. The manual says 3 to 4 turns on the Orlan 60. Not sure where you start counting? Screw them all the way in and back off 3 or 4 turns?. That would not be very much space to let air in! Also one of the screws seems to be stripped from the holding plate so I can't really adjust it to close anyway. It tends to hang down and pull away from the tube. Any suggestions? Craig

 

[McKraut]

Craig,
I can't help you with the air adjustments because the EKO 40 wasn't adjusted by turning screws. I am sure that there is someone on the forum that can help you with that. I could be wrong, but I did have problems with bridging and the boiler shutting down because of "FUEL". The only way I could solve it was to put dry wood on the bottom and put the "wet" wood on top. After I figured that out, I never had the problem again.
I never had any luck getting good gassification. Other people can show you pictures/videos of their fires during gassification and mine never looked at it. I would adjust the fan and the secondary air, and it would get better but I never could get it where I wanted. I tried for almost 10 years and never was satisfied. I had reached to Zenon several times and he was not helpful at all. I finally stopped asking him for help. I can't say that it was the fault of the boiler, but I never had a problem when I used a Tarm for ~ 18 years. Have your reached out to Tennman to see if he is still around?

Bob

 

[Woodman1]

Have you had any luck getting your boiler to work correctly? I have a eko 60 so maybe I can help? As far as the FUEL code, that is a controller setup issue and can be completely bypassed by setup programming. Basically if you are getting that code, if your boiler isn't hitting a certain temp within a set amount of time it will shut itself down as it thinks it is out of fuel.

As far as air settings, I run my fans at 60% speed, primary's are 3/8" open. And secndarys are 2 full turns open from closed. These settings give me nonstop gasification throughout the burn. With the exception of the 15 minute startup.

This is all assuming your wood is dry. 99% of the time, any problems go back to that.

 

[nckennedy]

Thanks for getting back to us. Appreciate it. It is running better now. I decided that one of the problems was a lack of air, so I adjusted the primaries from 1/2" to 3/4" as a result we are getting good burns now. The blowers are shutting down and coming back on as need to maintain the temps. Must be our wood has more moisture init than I realized. I guess I should get a moister tester. Yours must really be dry if yours works on only 3/8" I have noticed that the blowers seem to be loader than last year and I do not notice them slowly slowing or increasing in speed through a burn cycle. They seem to be either on or off. I have no idea what the blower speed is on the control unit. I will have to check that. I am thinking it must be set a maximum. Not sure!
I will keep your handle in mind "woodman1" and let you know what I come up with
Thank You

 

[nckennedy]

Oh, I was just looking at your post again. What do you mean by 60% speed setting for fans? Are you referring to the air opening on the side of fans or a fan speed setting on the programable controller?
Thanks

 

[Woodman1]

Oh, I was just looking at your post again. What do you mean by 60% speed setting for fans? Are you referring to the air opening on the side of fans or a fan speed setting on the programable controller?
Thanks

60% fan speed set up in the controller. Fan shutters 100% open. Wood moisture 15% or less.

 

[Woodman1]

Why is your boiler shutting down during a burn? Do you not have storage?

 

[nckennedy]

Ok that helps. Never tried to change the fan speed since a got the new controller a couple years ago.. No we do not have any hot water storage. Would hooking up our electric water heater to heat with the wood boiler help some with that?
Craig

 

[Woodman1]

Adding hot water heater would add a little load to your boiler. That 60 wants to put out ALOT of heat when it is cranking. I dont know what your heat load is, but in my mind your boiler is shutting down right when it wants to get going. I know guys have run without storage but I think we are comparing 2 different animals as far as setup goes

 

[Woodman1]

I guess I would try shutting down one fan and blocking one nozzle to cut your output in half and go from there

 

[nckennedy]

That might be a good solution when it is not very cold. We have 2300 sq ft house, using pex tubing under the floors to distribute the heat. It is really nice when the it is cold and windy outside, very comfortable inside. We set the temps to about 71 in the rooms. The wood boiler shuts down when the temp is reached and then starts up again when it drops to 69 or so. Although at the moment (mild temp.) the boiler took it up temp, shut off, but has not come back on yet. I will probably have to go out and open up the lower door to get more air into.
Craig

 

[nckennedy]

Hi Woodman, I think I might need a new fan for the Orlan 60
Getting some bearing noise and fan will sometimes vibrate like crazy and then makes an awful noise. The boiler shuts down after an hour or two of running. The control says low on fuel but there is still wood and coals in the boiler. Also thinking something might be wrong with the controller itself. I realize dry wood is important but even if it is a little wet I would think it wouldn't shut down but keep blowing air into the fire to keep it going, there may not be gasification but at least the fire should continue to burn. Right? Any ideas?
Craig

 

[Woodman1]

Hi Woodman, I think I might need a new fan for the Orlan 60
Getting some bearing noise and fan will sometimes vibrate like crazy and then makes an awful noise. The boiler shuts down after an hour or two of running. The control says low on fuel but there is still wood and coals in the boiler. Also thinking something might be wrong with the controller itself. I realize dry wood is important but even if it is a little wet I would think it wouldn't shut down but keep blowing air into the fire to keep it going, there may not be gasification but at least the fire should continue to burn. Right? Any ideas?
Craig

It sounds like a bad bushing in the blower motor. I'm not sure if they are still available at new horizons or not? If you can make it through the season you might be able to get it rebuilt at a electric motor repair shop.

The fuel message you are getting is due to how you have the controller programmed. If you dont have the fuel options deleted it will shut the blowers off at what ever time you have programmed if the boiler doesnt get to a certain temperature within that time. If I remember correctly it's the fb60 line and fd30 line in the setup menu. You can adjust the time from 1 minute to 4 hours or there should be an option to delete this feature. Do you have a controller manual? It explains how to program the controller. It should be still available online. Hope this helps

 

[nckennedy]

NO : I didn't realize that. I will check out the menu. Thanks, Craig

 

[McKraut]

Hi Woodman, I think I might need a new fan for the Orlan 60
Getting some bearing noise and fan will sometimes vibrate like crazy and then makes an awful noise. The boiler shuts down after an hour or two of running. The control says low on fuel but there is still wood and coals in the boiler. Also thinking something might be wrong with the controller itself. I realize dry wood is important but even if it is a little wet I would think it wouldn't shut down but keep blowing air into the fire to keep it going, there may not be gasification but at least the fire should continue to burn. Right? Any ideas?
Craig

Craig,
Are you still looking for a fan? I might be able to help you out.

Bob

 

[nckennedy]

Hi Bob,
Good to hear from you again. Yes, we probably would be interested in a fan. Our two are working fine so far, just nosy so probably just a matter of time before one will need to be replaced. What did you have in mind?

 

[McKraut]

I am junking my EKO 60 and I'd be glad to send you the fan if you like. I bought a new one ~ 5 years ago and it was working fine at the end of last year. It would be a shame to waste it, if you can use it. Let me know if you're interested. The only thing I would ask you to pay would be the cost of shipping it to you. Let me know if you are interested.
Bob

 

[nckennedy]

HI Bob, What's going on? Are you getting another wood burner? Do you still have two fans? I would be glad to cover the cost of sending them our way. Really appreciate your generosity. It's Craig Kennedy 5908 Bennetts Corners Rd. Camillus, NY 13031. Are you in Michigan? Let me know an estimate and I can send you a check. Craig

 

[McKraut]

Craig,
I pulled the EKO out of service this past fall and I am finishing the installation of a Switzer boiler. My EKO only has one fan on it so I will send you the measurements. I hope that you can use it. I live in PA just north of the MD border.

 

[McKraut]

Here are two measurements to check. If it will work for you, I will box it up and get it sent. Do you want USPS or UPS? Do you want the base plate and blade too?

Bob

 

[nckennedy]

Ok, I will check, but they don't look like my fans at all.
Craig

 

[McKraut]

That's too bad. I didn't hear from you so I sent it to you yesterday through UPS. We aren't close to a UPS store and I was going to town so I took a chance and shipped it. Don't worry about it.

Bob

 

[nckennedy]

Well as it turned out is only off by a 1/4' so still might be able to make it work. Thanks for sending it.
Craig

 

[nckennedy]

HI Bob, The fan arrived the other day, looks like it might fit after I take off the metal plate. Stove is running nicely after I cleaned out the stove pipe. Ready for another cold snap. Thank you very much. Really do appreciate it. Hope your new stove works out well for you.
Craig

 

[McKraut]

HI Bob, The fan arrived the other day, looks like it might fit after I take off the metal plate. Stove is running nicely after I cleaned out the stove pipe. Ready for another cold snap. Thank you very much. Really do appreciate it. Hope your new stove works out well for you.
Craig

Glad to hear that you can use it. Thanks for the update.
Bob