From OWB to EFM520 Installed in Truck Box

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sat. Sep. 20, 2014 3:17 pm

This boiler has a round door, both set screws are rusted fast in the round housing & someone previously broke off an allen wrench in the one,lots of soaking with a good penetrating oil & neither has loosened . The round housing is also cracked between the hinge stands. While cleaning the rope gasket groove out I was thinking......

plumber in his 350 restoration had a broken door latch & was advised that the weight of the door would be plenty to seal the rope gasket. If that works for the door then can I just skip welding the housing crack,not bother to try removing the 2 allen screws that are rusted fast & just use lots of high temp silicone around the door housing ?? If the weight of the door is plenty to hold the door tight then silicone the whole way around the housing should keep the housing in place or is there internal fire chamber pressures that could blow the door off ? I would think that silicone used with very good coverage would hold as much as those 2 little set screws do .

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 6:56 am

When operating the firebox is under negative pressure, not positive. A high quality drill bit should make short work of those set screws. As for the silicone, that's your call. That housing basically just sits there with no load or pressure on it.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 7:42 am

Thanks,Rob . Guess I can try a different bit,but had no luck so far,seems like I am drilling extremely hard metal .I printed a manual from the EFM site but it is for the newer unit. Is there any way to get a manual for a round door unit ? It would be nice to have it for things like the proper sized rope for the door & how long. Should I be installing a rope somehow on the exhaust pipe flange panel or silicone it,i was thinking maybe this panel needs to come off periodically for interior cleaning ? & if siliconed on would be a pain to remove.

Mark (PA) · Post by **Mark (PA)** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 9:18 am

Hi Windy

I also have a round door. Agree with Rob you should be able to drill those set screws out...
I had to drill out 2 boiler plugs as well to get my return water into the bottom of the boiler. that was some work!

Regard to the rear exhaust panel. I thought like you that taking it off yearly for cleaning etc. well after ruining most of the studs, having them turn off because they were rusted on, etc. I had to drill all of them out and replace them with bolts.

Needless to say I no longer bother taking that panel off because honestly the exhaust pipe is plenty large enough to get in there and vacuum it out and use my exhaust tube cleaning rod to clean the flues.

Good luck.

Oh yea i'm with the other guys. get double what you think you'll need for sure. I made that mistake too many times. Also thought I'd be spending about $1000 to replumb my system when I hooked it up and it was easily $2500 when done.

Oh well.

Lu47Dan · Post by **Lu47Dan** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 11:08 am

WIndy, Try the old paraffin trick to loosen the broken screws. Heat the effected broken stub and the area around it to above the melting point of paraffin. Melt some paraffin on the area with the heated metal and than allow to cool. Repeat this a couple of times and the stubs should loosen up. I use my Turbo torch to do this with as I can control the heat better than with an O/A torch. Most times the part does not need to be red hot for this to work.
If that does not work than try welding a nut back to the stub. I have had real good results welding a nut the is much larger than the original sized one would have for that thread size. Weld it on and allow it to cool some and than attempt to turn it out.
I removed a 1-1/8" - 12TPI stud out of a transmission housing on an industrial tractor a few years back with this trick.
The heat from the welding shrunk the threaded portion enough that I could break it loose, I used an 1-1/4" - 12 TPI nut to weld on the stub.
Dan.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 11:16 am

Mark (PA) With the top part of the housing cracked,if I waste my time drilling those 2 set screws out ,then install with 2 new it will only expand the crack. I could see if the screws were down near the bottom part of the housing away from that thin area on top. Thanks for that info on the exhaust panel,silicone to the rescue,again. I can't double what I think I need ,our loan was less than I wanted anyway,after all this crap we might have to buy coal 1 bag at a time.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 9:22 pm

Time to update our progress with pics of our project.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 9:49 pm

This set of pics will end 14 yrs of us burning wood,the last 8 yrs with the OWB

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 10:05 pm

Well , now the OWB related work is gone for us & just past ,not so fond memories. The OWB will help keep this new owner,a young man,very busy tending it,but we can move on to new parts of our project,we did make some more progress.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Sep. 21, 2014 10:20 pm

We got the smoke stack done except for the storm collar which turned out to be the wrong size.We also need some stainless steel self drilling bolts to install the roof support properly.We will be getting some more plumbing supplies tomorrow & keep that part of the project going forward.Cold weather is coming even if we did top 80* today,tomorrow will not top 66* with significant wind,have to get this project wrapped up so we can heat & move on with our lives. It is very tiring to work all 7 days without a day for resting,relaxation & just enjoying the down time.

Post by **Rob R.** » Mon. Sep. 22, 2014 4:17 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:Thanks,Rob . Guess I can try a different bit,but had no luck so far,seems like I am drilling extremely hard metal .I printed a manual from the EFM site but it is for the newer unit. Is there any way to get a manual for a round door unit ? It would be nice to have it for things like the proper sized rope for the door & how long. Should I be installing a rope somehow on the exhaust pipe flange panel or silicone it,i was thinking maybe this panel needs to come off periodically for interior cleaning ? & if siliconed on would be a pain to remove.

None of the operating manuals that I have seen have the information you are asking about. EFM sold their units through dealers, and expected that the dealers would be doing the service/rebuilding. Kind of like an owner's manual vs. a service manual for a car. I think the door takes 1/4" gasket rope.

You will need to clean the boiler at least once per year, twice would be better. I would put that rear panel in place and see if you can get your arm through the 8" opening for cleaning. If you can get in there with a small brush to brush out the heat exchanger, I would just silicone it in place. If you can't reach through it and don't have any friends with skinny arms, a flat rope gasket would probably be a better solution. I have never needed to remove the rear panel from mine, but mine is also a newer unit than can be cleaned via the front door.

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Mon. Sep. 22, 2014 7:33 am

Good progress there Windy!! Keep at it and you'll be enjoying the warmth very soon!

Lu47Dan · Post by **Lu47Dan** » Mon. Sep. 22, 2014 10:05 am

Windy, did you guy wire the chimney, or are you waiting for the correct storm collar before doing so.
Dan.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Mon. Sep. 22, 2014 10:10 am

[quote="windyhill4.2"]We got the smoke stack done except for the storm collar which turned out to be the wrong size.We also need some stainless steel self drilling bolts to install the roof support properly. WIRE ? it ? you mean for the built in Christmas lites ?

If you are referring to the roof support,see above.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Mon. Sep. 22, 2014 10:20 am

Rob, thanks for the info,since I do not have arms like Popeye I think I can reach thru the 8 " hole with my parka on. titleist1, thanks & we are looking forward to this project done & the dhw & heat being done by coal.

From OWB to EFM520 Installed in Truck Box

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