Orlan EKO 40 question

[Bliz]

Hello All,
I have a EKO 40 that is about 10 years old and started having a smoke problem with it. Specifically, the smoke was coming out from the rear of the boiler and the side and top covers. I pulled out the turbulators based on info found on this site and found one of them was plugged solid with fine ash, the others appeared clear. The others had some baked on build-up, but nothing too serious. My question is how can I tell if the tubes are clean all the way to the bottom of the channel? I don't really understand the plumbing of these so any information is helpful.
Thanks!

 

[Woodman1]

Pull out the turbulators and clean all the ashes from the lower chamber. Put a flashlight in the lower chamber pointed towards the rear and look down the tubes. You should be able to easily see the bottom of the lower chamber through the tubes. Hope this helps!

 

[McKraut]

Let me know if you need help cleaning out the tubes. I have used tow drill attachments that help speed it up and does a decent job of getting the creosote and ash out. I pulled the turbulators out years ago and replaced them with chains (I got that hint from someone on this forum and I can't remember who it was). I would do my best to get the "baked on build up" off if you can. All of that crud decreases the amount of heat that is transferred to your water and decreases the efficiency of the burn.
Bob

 

[3fordasho]

My Attack boiler has a set up similar to the EKO, spiral turbulators attached to a lever and mechanism that moves them up and down a couple inches. While easy to actuate the lever after everyburn it only knocks off gross build up and leaves fine ash behind and that's if your burning optimal wood. If you got some not ideally seasoned wood pretty soon you have some baked on build up that it will take a good mechanical cleaning to get off. Some have found that removing the lever and associated mechanism, removing the factory turbulators and replacing with chains makes things easier to clean. In my case I removed the mechanism but place the factory turbulators back into the HX tubes. With the mechanism removed I can pop off the top covers, slip out the turbulators (straight up and out) and have clear access to the HX tubes. I then take a 2.5" steel bristle tube brush and 36" extension rod chucked into a 1/2" drill and run that up and down once or twice. The process takes about 10 minutes and that incudes vacuuming out the lower chambers. I do this about every 1.5weeks and this keeps the boiler plenty clean and efficient. Once you get the build up off and are burning good dry wood you can go to a stiff nylon bristle tube brush if you wish. The brushes are available in multiple sizes - mine needed 2.5":
Heavy Cleaning Threaded-Shank Tube Brush, with Steel Bristles, 1/4 NPT Male, 2-1/2" Diameter | McMaster-Carr
Cleaning and Deburring Tube Brush for Copper, 1/4 NPT Male, 2-1/2" Diameter with Nylon Plastic Bristles | McMaster-Carr
Flexible 36" Long Extension Rod for 1/4 NPT Threaded-Shank Low-Scratch Tube Brush | McMaster-Carr