New house came with EKO 80, totally lost

[UpperPeninsula]

The things that slow down the heat exchange tubes are frozen in 4 of the 8 tubes I've worked on. I've tried heating them out with no success (can't get heat far enough down. Creosote is holding them in place and they hardly wiggle.

I'm thinking of lighting a fire to hopefully heat them up more evenly and see if I can pull them out. Only other thing I can of is rigging a pulley to the ceiling and slowly using that force to pull them out.

As far as the storage tank goes, I do not think it has any coils. I believe it is a plain jane old milk storage tank he just used for the storage tank.

 

[NateB]

Have you tried impact. The creosote can be brittle, or I think the recommend burning potato s to help clean it.

 

[maple1]

Sounds like lack of maintenance, maybe poor burning practices - plus maybe also some improper install things overlooked?

Is there a heat exchanger between the tank & the boiler? (Maybe you already said but I don't see). Is there some form of boiler return temp protection in place?

With open storage, both are essential for proper boiler operation & also boiler life.

 

[Fred61]

It blows my mind that someone would purchase a unit with a sophisticated burning technique and run it like they're burning a campfire.

You could try pouring some boiling hot soapy water with some sort of drip pan below to catch it. I've cleaned door gaskets with soap and water and had some success.

 

[leaddog]

I haven't been on here in a long time but have an eko80. getting out stuck turbs is a bear but I found a hammer and puller works. I made a hammer puller with a hook on one end. I give the turb a couple hits down with a hammer and then uses the puller a couple hits up until I slowly get them to move. Once you get them out clean the holes WELL. With proper burning with dry wood and using the handle every time you start a fire you won't have to go through that again.
I found that starting up a fire from a cold start was hard as they are a big boiler and took a while to get to heat so This year I stoped heating dhw in the summer. I used to fire it every 7 days in the summer.
For the cold season I will fire it as needed any where from every other day to twice a day and that way there are still coals in the box and it is easy to start.
Wood must be dry. If you have SLIGHTLY less that dry wood split it small. 2x2 and place it in the boiler room for a week and that will help. I have room for 2 cords in the boiler room and the rest is under roof outside so as I use up the inside wood I bring in the cold wood to replace it.
WET wood is a waste and cause lots of problems.
Make sure you have some sort of cold return water protection as that is VERY important for the life of the boiler. Water entering under 130* makes problems, poor gasifing, condensation, acid. Another reason to not do a lot of cold starts.
Another tip. make a small fire and build up a good coal bed with smaller dry splits for a cold start and then you can use slightly less than dry wood but you MUST have a coal bed first.
My boiler is over 7yrs old and until this summer ran year round. I used about 10 cords a year and this year I made stainless angle plates for the nozzles as they were getting bad. So far they are working well. 2x2x1/4 angle welded to fit inside the nozzle.
When you have the blower cover off check the air tubes and make sure the tubes haven't moved . On the first ones the weld tack was bad and the tubes moved out so you lost secondary air. just put them back in place and retack them.
Very good boilers but now there is better out there.
Leaddog

 

[Bad LP]

Nothing people do surprises me anymore. I see people not taking care of million plus dollar homes.