Reversing upper door of EKO 40

[damon_sisk]

The title says it all. Has anyone done this? Just looking for good ideas.

 

[huffdawg]

I wish I could do that also as mine is on the wrong side its a real pita loading around the open door. That might be a future mod. I am sure it could be done.

Huff

 

[Nofossil]

Well, someone in Poland started with a pile of metal and ended up with an EKO 40. Given a welder and some tools, it's certainly possible. I suspect it would take a bit of time to figure out how to fixture everything accurately enough.

 

[henfruit]

Vigas builds them either way.

 

[ewdudley]

Vigas builds them either way.

... Slovakian Swingers?

 

[Spartan]

You have a picture of the connection? I can't imagine it's that hard to do with a welder.

If you do, make a jig so you can position the hole at exactly the same depth and verticle alignment. Also, small tacks on all four sides before any real penetration. Heavy weldings distorts small parts in a hurry.

 

[BoiledOver]

It was a brief consideration when installing the EKO 25. The complication of altering the bypass linkage and hacking the outer skin argued against that mod. It is doable for sure though.

 

[damon_sisk]

I'm toying with the idea of extensive modifications this coming summer. But I should probably just sell this one and buy a pellet stove. It is a fundamental flaw to have so much fuel burning at once, because the resulting thermal energy has to be stored since it is far too much for a home all at once. I wish there was a way to automatically feed my boiler. I've used it for 4 years now. I even burn kiln dried wood from a local cabinet company. The pieces are knots and imperfect blocks of wood. They usually measure 0.5 to 1 inch thick, 5 - 18 inches long and anywhere from 1 to 4 inches wide. It is a perfect fuel for this thing, yet the boiler frequently smokes like crazy when it tries to restart from idle. Having to load it during the middle of the night to keep the house warm is not what I want. But then, the fuel is free...

 

[Fred61]

Well, someone in Poland started with a pile of metal and ended up with an EKO 40. Given a welder and some tools, it's certainly possible. I suspect it would take a bit of time to figure out how to fixture everything accurately enough.

And another pile of metal. Only smaller.

 

[JTWALL]

The issue on the door reversal will be the locking cam. The cam would need to be changed from clockwise locking to counter-clockwise locking or a total redesign of the latch system.

I thought some more about this...

Unless you can come up with a way to prevent the door from opening with the bypass lever closed, in my humble opinion it should not be attempted!

Why? If you open the door BEFORE opening the bypass lever, there is a very good possibility that you can cause a gas explosion! Remember, this IS a gasifier. It creates highly combustible gases that ignite when they pass through the nozzle. The size of explosion would depend on how much fuel is in the firebox and the time it has been "cooking"!

So you go to the boiler and pop open the door without opening the bypass lever first to vent the firebox...most likely you'll be greeted by a loud fireball coming out the door!

Even with the bypass lever open, I am very careful opening the door on my Model 25. On many occasions, it has ignited and puffed back angrily at me.

 

[Fred61]

I just scrolled back up through this discussion. Too many ifs, buts and other suggestions that seem to be too difficult to accomplish.

Can you just turn the boiler around?

 

[JTWALL]

I just scrolled back up through this discussion. Too many ifs, buts and other suggestions that seem to be too difficult to accomplish.

Can you just turn the boiler around?

Ummm...way too risky! I wish I could reverse the doors on mine also. LOL...no, relocating boiler is not an option for my installation.

 

[maple1]

It is a fundamental flaw to have so much fuel burning at once, because the resulting thermal energy has to be stored since it is far too much for a home all at once.

...


It is a perfect fuel for this thing, yet the boiler frequently smokes like crazy when it tries to restart from idle. Having to load it during the middle of the night to keep the house warm is not what I want. But then, the fuel is free...

Can't say I agree with this take - burning all the fuel wide open until it's gone has its proven advantages and is far from being a fundamental flaw. A little storage would go a long way to fixing your setup - I usually go 16-18 hours after I go to bed before I have to visit my boiler again. No smoking. No way I could do that relying just on idling & burn times. But I think there are also those who are running their Ekos without storage and having fairly good luck with them.

 

[JTWALL]

Can't say I agree with this take - burning all the fuel wide open until it's gone has its proven advantages and is far from being a fundamental flaw. A little storage would go a long way to fixing your setup - I usually go 16-18 hours after I go to bed before I have to visit my boiler again. No smoking. No way I could do that relying just on idling & burn times. But I think there are also those who are running their Ekos without storage and having fairly good luck with them.

I agree with what you say. Having the correct amount storage is the key. I would love to have enough room to have at least 1,000 gallon of storage! Unfortunately, that is not an option available to me. The 300 gallons I have is a buffer, but not correct. Having adequate storage and burning wide open is how the unit was designed to be used. Regards.

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

If you turn the boiler upside down the doors would be on the right side for you?