Survey about the lifespan of stoker parts

This question is open to efm stoker owner or former owners. I would appreciate your input.

The most commonly replaced items are the burner worm, the burner pipe and the burner plates.

What was the lifespan of any or all of these parts or if you bought used equipment, how long have you been using these parts without replacement?

How do you know when the burner worm and burner plates need to be replaced, do they simply break or is it less obvious?

Several things may occur.

You might start seeing live coals in the ash bin after you pull the clean-out lever. They would have fallen through a broken plate or a plate with a large burned out area.

You might notice alot of coal fines falling into the ash bin because the burner worm bushing is worn out. This is a reverse bushing meant to keep coal fines out of the pot and return them to the coal stream.

Coal fines are caused by a worn out worm with sharpend edges on the flights (spelling) which will grind the coal into a powder.

You might have a problem with many broken shear pins due to the wet coal dust binding up the worm inside the pipe, also caused by a worn worm.

The burner end pipe erodes and wears through inside the pot and you'll have unburned coal falling into the ash bin when you pull the clean-out lever.

I don't have a efm but I do have a gentleman janitor model # GJ5. The gentleman janitors are similar to a efm in design. The boiler was built in 1954 and is almost all original. The original motor finally went this past month and the worm is starting to show some signs of wear but all in all it's in good shape for it's age.

I got some feedback today from a man who needed a burner worm for the 520 efm stoker he installed 27 years ago. This is the first repair part he has needed, making his maintenance cost less than $200 over that period.

My 520 was installed new in 1992. I have had no repairs to it so far except for flue pipes. I does appear that my air settings are not accurate anymore which means I have to clean the fan housing? Do I have to tear it down to do this?

It's easy to clean the fan housing. Turn off all power to your stoker first. Then go to the pictorial "S-20 Stoker Assembly" and work backwards from the last few pictures in the post.

I don't have many stoker customers anymore, but the burner plates were #1 as far as failure. I used to attribute that to lack of clean-out lever use by the homeowner. Feed tubes, worms and tube couplings were big also.
I have never replaced any parts in the actual stoker drive area.Just burner motor/fan/coupling, and worm components.
The furnace will see alot more wear as sitting all summer is a killer. The boiler stays better if run for domestic all year.
Since the re-introduction of the furnace, I'd like to remind any furnace owners that it is imperitive that the unit gets serviced imediately after shut down in the spring.When we get done with the cleaning, we spray down the furnace interior with wd-40 and leave both doors open.

with a boiler, what's the best way to service it if it's being used for hot water during the summer? Leave it lit when brushing it out, or put the fire out, clean it, and then relight? I was thinking that the stack has to be removed to really get at the passages but I could be wrong, I'm new to the EFM.

e, you definately need to shut it down to clean it. You need to clean the fluepiping and chimney base. You need to thoroughly clean the burner, the plates, under the plates, the burner fan, etc. The combustion air handling parts must be kept up well for efficient combustion.

Thanks! I'll probably shut it down and clean it out in the fall before it starts to get cold again, it went into service in the fall so that would be a yearly ordeal. Do you take the hot water coil out and clean that yearly too or leave it be to avoid the drain and fill routine.

I would add a boiler water conditioner. It is never a good idea to add fresh oxygenated water to the boiler in a hot water system. It is not necessary to remove the water coil. However, the coil gasket nuts should be snugged up each year and always check for any seepage around the gasket.

Oilman, have you ever replaced the gooseneck bushing without removing the burner end pipe? If I was in the service business, I would have a steel rod machined to do it with the pipe in place.

No I haven't, the rod is not a bad idea.