losch 475

well me and my big mouth got me in trouble. my scrap guy called me last night and asked me if i wanted another boiler. my answer was, yes ill take a look at it. well its a losch 350. im going to go get it next weekend. its going to be fun getting it out of the basement. with no outside access. up through the house we go. well the owner said he bought the house in 1978 and never used it just moved it in the corner and left it there. well there selling the house and the new owners don't want it. well good for me right????

does anybody have a manual for this beast?? and what am i getting my self in to. did a quick search here and it seems that there are problem with the water cooled grates. i see this being fun. i didn't have the pleasure of really looking at it. but for what i payed for it im not going to complain. this one was two cups of coffee and a bonus of lunch for my scrap guys. boiler "don't hate me" free.

The grate rebuild, if necessary, will kill you. Otherwise it is a project.....but before the cash changes hands........know what you are getting into. A slick idea, however the long term maintenance could change you mind. You were lucky once, I would not want you to think you have won the lottery!!

well today was the day from hell. we got the boiler out of the basement and in the truck. it took four guys and two, count them two, broken fingers. ive got one and my buddy has the other one. we had to take it out through the house, not fun, not fun at all. we started at 9 this morning and finished at 5 pm. well ive got a pile of parts. this was the day from hell. well its in the truck and its going to stay there till tomorrow. i forgot to take pictures of the unit in one piece. but there wasn't really enough room to take a picture any way. we took turns taking it apart. four guys and a boiler in a 8 x 8 room with 4 at the lowest and 6 feet in between the floor joists. low ceiling for four 6 foot+ guys. we all have knots on our heads tonight. one of my buddy's knocked him self good on the cast iron sewer drain that was about 4 foot off the ground. after finding out he was ok. he's not going to live that one down for some time.

upon looking at it as it came out of the house, the bolt pile had no broken bolts. i had taken the torch along just in case but it was not needed. the base looks good for being in three floods. i finally got answers today too. it was installed in 1959 and removed from service in 1974. it went through the 1972 flood and the 96 flood and the 2006 water main break in front of the house. there was a water line mark from the last flood on the base. i was told that after the 72 flood. it was gone through and put back in to service, after the flood. then it was removed two years latter before the original owner died from cancer. she said that her husband didn't want her to have to take the ashes out and feed the boiler after he had passed. so he installed a gas boiler in its place and moved the Losch out of the way. im going to get it off the truck in the morning and see what is needed. im going to test the water cooled grate first. this is the first thing on the list. if the grate doesn't hold water. then i will go in to it and see whats going on with it. and if i can fix it. if the grates good then test the boiler at pressure. if the worst case happens that the grates are leaking bad and the boiler is no good. off to the scrap yard it goes. right now ive got about what ill get for it if i took it to the scrap yard. so it wont be to much of a loss, except my time lost if its not worth fixing. but that's a last resort. fixing it is going to be high on the list. i will be kicking my self if i did all this work for nothing.

whistlenut wrote: You were lucky once, I would not want you to think you have won the lottery!!

whistlenut, i would have a better chance of getting hit buy lightning than ever winning the lottery. nothing in my life is ever easy. i live in the estrogen ocean. all women! my son and i can't stand it sometimes. ive got four, three daughters and one son. i wonder if im going to lose my mind sometimes. believe me i know more about feminine hygiene products than any man should. and in the last few years i keep midol in my pocket, or within reach, hand out as needed.

if any thing goes my way im ducking for cover cause its going to blow up.

All and all sounds like you had a great time , Just kidding, sorry to hear about the struggles, hopefully everything will still be intact for you and will function. Good luck.




Eric

well got it off the truck and tested a few things.

1 the water cooled grate. its been holding 55 pis of water in it for 6 hours and no drop in pressure or leaks of any kind.
2 the boiler. holding 55 psi. no leaks not even from the DHW.

the data plate on the boiler says 30 pis for hot water and 50 with steam. this was set up for steam. so testing at 55 psi is about 2.5% over set pressure

up date on the model it is a 475 not a 350. could a moderator fix the header please. couldn't read the plate when it was in the basement. does anybody know the difference? is this a 180 BTU and the 350 a 110 ?????? i don't know. help from some one who knows about these boilers would be nice.

now question??????

is this a boiler that can sit idle for the summer? it came with all the controls. from the 50's of course. if they work great. im thinking ill install the losch until i get the EFM refurbished. then ill take it down to my fathers and install it in his house. he is gone most of the summer so sitting idle for the summer wouldn't be a problem. of course that's if he wants it. if not i just might sell it. i really don't know what to do with it. other than to use it. why couldn't i have gotten this in the fall.

Photos please !!!!

And some measurements of the water cooled grate, so we can compare to other stoker's grate size. This will allow a guess on the BTU capacity of the stoker and boiler.

Greg L

I tried to be nice and warn you......this isn't good for the 'sit down to pee guys', you actually WILL lose skin, break bones...blow out a disc.....THEN the boiler could be junk! I hope that isn't the deal, but check it over carefully.
Check with coalberner about the grate, he will tell you where to get a fair appraisal of what you scored...or didn't score.

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!! (Rodney Dangerfield) Can you relate?

Sorry about the fingers....been there, done that. Broke two big toes one cold morning about 20 years ago when a concrete panel with a steel bottom face bounced the wrong way. Fortunately I met a fine southern gentleman named Mr Jack Daniels, and was able to suffer through the day. Limped for 3 weeks..... NEVER HAPPENED AGAIN!!

ask and ye shall receive. the grate is 10 x 24

whistlenut wrote:I tried to be nice and warn you......this isn't good for the 'sit down to pee guys', you actually WILL lose skin, break bones...blow out a disc.....THEN the boiler could be junk! I hope that isn't the deal, but check it over carefully.
Check with coalberner about the grate, he will tell you where to get a fair appraisal of what you scored...or didn't score.

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!! (Rodney Dangerfield) Can you relate?

'sit down to pee guys' i like to pee in the wind. up wind that is.
and Rodney Dangerfield just about sums it up. my life on most days.

i can't complain just looked at the pressure gauge on the grate still holding at 55 pis.

sorry i made a mistake its 15 steam and 30 water. testing at 55 psi is about 83.3% over working pressure

Can anyone compare the square inches of grate surface to one of the bigger Keystoker grates.? So we can figure out the BTU capacity of the stoker?

Greg L.

Greg, Keystoker grates aren't nearly that long...14" if I remember correctly.

Just guessing here, but I wonder if the model number refers to the boiler's rating for steam radiation. EFM's are that way, using the same math for this unit would put it around 150,000 btu's per hour NET. A quick call to Losch might also be helpful.

Well, Keystoker grates are 3"X14" so I guess it depends on how much of that 24" on the Losch. And each model increase in size has one more 3"X14" grate.

I'd guess it be between a K6 and a K8.

I think the grate on a KC-10 is 15x14 (= 210 sq in) and generates a gross output of 240 kbtu/hr. A KD-12 grate is 18x14 (=252 sq in) and puts out 288 kbtu/hr. At 240 sq in this is between those two - maybe 275kbtu/hr?

I think testing at up to 2x max working pressure is fairly common.

Mike

P.S. I hope your stoker works, but if it turns out to be toast I have an orphan stoker from a KC-10 looking for a good home.

i forgot to mention that the depth of the coal on the grate is going to be around 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. maybe a little more don't know? but looking at the grate and how it sits, its going to be a deep coal bed.