New EFM 520 Owner with questions

I just purchased a used EFM boiler and love it. I'm still working out the bugs, and hope someone on here can help.

1.) There is a smell of sulfur coming down the auger pipe. Is this normal? And how can I eliminate the smell?

2.) My house is extremely large, but the major problem is that half the house is hot water radiators (heats easily and really nice) the other side is forced air which I am currently heating through a forced air coil. I also have my domestic hot water feeding off the boiler also. I live in central pa, and was curious if anyone had any suggestions of feed/air settings. House is a total of approximately 5,500sq. ft.

3.) I read the manual and at the end of the manual it says "POUNDS OF COAL PER HOUR", when trying to calculate the amount of coal needed. I'm assuming that those amounts of "POUNDS OF COAL PER HOUR" are calculated if the auger was running for the whole hour. Is that correct?

I'm sure there will be more questions in the future.

Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm going to move your post to the EFM section for better exposure. Help is on the way!

How long of an auger are you running? What is the feed and air set at? Have you checked the chimney draft?

-Robert

right now i have feed 5 air 5. the unit was just put in by a certified efm installer. the chimney is very high and was previously being used for a furnance.

the auger pipe(worm) is roughly 2 feet long.

Is your forced hot air system causing negative pressure and drawing air back through auger? My 520 has about a foot or so auger going into a 55 gallon drum and the top of drum open and have no problem. It does sound like you have negative pressure. Get yourself a carbon monoxide alarm if you don't already have one. It'll also let you know if there is a problem before it's to late if you get my drift.

CoalBurner5 wrote: I am currently heating through a forced air coil.

Is the btu output of the fancoil sized to the area ? What kind of water temperature are you pushing ? Are the radiators and the fancoil on different thermostats ?

The BTU output is based on continuous operation per hour. If you aren't using the full length pipe and worm set, which extends away from the boiler by about 7 feet, you are prone to gas going down the pipe and escaping through the coal bin in times of poor draft or too much air on the fire.

There should be no smell. If you smell sulfur, you are also getting carbon monoxide in the house. At 5/5, your settings are right, so it's probably draft or there isn't enough coal covering the worm inside the bin/barrel. You should put a sealed lid on the barrel, if you are using one.

Your coal feed/air should match your heating load and 5/5 may be too low for your large house.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the worm pipe that i have does not have holes in the top of it. Would this help the problem?

I have my coal bin funnelled down to a single point. The coal bin holds about 2 ton. There should be plenty of coal covering the end of the worm.

There is a CO detector down there so i'm not to worried about that, YET...

The heat exchanger coil (from what my certified installer says) is the proper size.

I'm running on 20lbs of pressure right now.

PLEASE KEEP THROWING ME SUGGESTIONS AND IDEAS.

You have to have the 5 or six 1/4" or 5/16" holes in the feed auger tube to allow any gases to escape safely. Don't forget to cut the center notch for pot alignment pin either. Also, the alignment pin in the pot could be missing, so don't freak out if it has been broken off. Top dead center for the alignment notch.
See the posts on the breakdown of the S-20 pot and you know what it is suppose to look like. it is not fun to remove and retrofit the holes in that auger tube, but they are critical.
Sometimes wet coal will cake up fines in the feed tube holes also, but that is not part of your issue. You will not be able cover your coal bin, or extend the feed tube by the sounds, so more thought is required.

I assume the auger is in good shape also, if not this is a perfect time to replace it and the bushing.
Folks that have the coal source coupled that close to the pot have to be careful to cover the barrel or supply bin.

PS: Be really careful loosening the fasteners holding the tube to the pot, start spraying the penetrating oil early.....as you lay on you back wishing there were an easier way.

Yep, the first thing you need to do is to remove the feed tube from the pot and drill holes in it, look at the photo in this thread for the location. Pictorial: Pipe and Worm Package Upon reassembly the holes should face upwards. Apply Never-Seize to the fastener threads as well.
If you haven't checked the draft to the boiler with a manometer you need to do that next.

I am going to check the auger pipe for holes. I'm feeling confident that is my problem. I won't have time to do that until Saturday or Sunday. Atleast I've got the DF model, hit a switch and I'm onto oil.

Thanks for the ideas. I will let you all know if that is the problem.