Baro Damper Setup

I finally got a Field Controls R-C barometric damper for my EFM520 and I hope to install this weekend when I have my manometer. I was wondering what I need to do to adjust it. I've seen posts other places on the site that says .02-.04 is a good range for an EFM (correct me if I'm wrong). The only thing I wasn't sure is where this was measured. At the damper, at the hole in the door...over the fire itself? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. After the 2nd summer of fighting some outfires which I can only attribute the draft....(feed, aquastat, air, timer, etc.) settings work perfect 99% of the time and my flue is clean of fly ash. Just sometimes when the weather goes crazy....change in temp, pressure, humidity...I lose the fire. I'm hopeful that the baro will help this as well as help during winter heating.

Thanks in advance for the advice. In a week or two I plan on cutting up my system and make some upgrades to the original half-@$$ design such as air eliminators, isolation valves, etc so you might see me on here a lot!

rocketjeremy wrote:I finally got a Field Controls R-C barometric damper for my EFM520 and I hope to install this weekend when I have my manometer. I was wondering what I need to do to adjust it. I've seen posts other places on the site that says .02-.04 is a good range for an EFM (correct me if I'm wrong). The only thing I wasn't sure is where this was measured. At the damper, at the hole in the door...over the fire itself? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. After the 2nd summer of fighting some outfires which I can only attribute the draft....(feed, aquastat, air, timer, etc.) settings work perfect 99% of the time and my flue is clean of fly ash. Just sometimes when the weather goes crazy....change in temp, pressure, humidity...I lose the fire. I'm hopeful that the baro will help this as well as help during winter heating.

Thanks in advance for the advice. In a week or two I plan on cutting up my system and make some upgrades to the original half-@$$ design such as air eliminators, isolation valves, etc so you might see me on here a lot!

Over the fire draft should be .02 use the hole in the door . Stack draft should be .04 to .05 when hot / Running check the
draft coming out of the flue pipe in the back of base or anywhere before the baro not after the baro. You will need to put a small hole into the stack pipe where you plan on using the Manometer or threw one of the stack pipe screw hole .

Thanks coal berner for the great information!! How should I be setting the baro then? Do the numbers matter or do I adjust it to whatever it takes to get .02 though the door while the fire is running? Or should that be set to .04/.05 to get that in the pipe and that in turn should be getting me close to .02 over the fire.

Thanks! ~Jeremy

rocketjeremy wrote:Thanks coal berner for the great information!! How should I be setting the baro then? Do the numbers matter or do I adjust it to whatever it takes to get .02 though the door while the fire is running? Or should that be set to .04/.05 to get that in the pipe and that in turn should be getting me close to .02 over the fire.

Thanks! ~Jeremy

Set the baro to the manometer reading you will want .04 to .05 in the flue stack pipe / Chimney Pipe .
Over the fire draft would be taking at the viewing door threw the little hole .02 Also make sure the baro is level Start between # 3 & # 4 on the scale on the baro and go from there the left side edge of the weight should line up with the # line on the scale .

Since you have the manometer and since all draft situations are unique, adjust the weight on the draft regulator to achieve a setting of negative .04 at the breech when the boiler is warmed up and the flue temperature is stabilized. You should also have a negative .02 at the fire door at the same time. If not, it can be a sign that the unit needs to be cleaned.

If you set the over fire draft at .02 then the flue draft will be correct, it will probably be .04-.06 but you can't set both. If you just set the flue draft to .04 at the pipe you can have too little draft in the firebox and get a sulfur smell when you open the fire door. Start with a clean boiler and a clean pipe for best results. Manometer must be level and zeroed per the instructions. Depending on how your baro is mounted you will have the weight on the vertical or horizontal scale side, if it's on the wrong side you will have a hard time getting it to work properly. Make sure the baro is level and plumb or it won't work properly. A little extra time now will pay off with less fiddling with it in the future.