From OWB to EFM520 Installed in Truck Box

Great video Rob!

I forgot how far I went in insulating our boiler until I saw this video.

I insulated the under the base before setting the base on it's blocks.

I insulated our boiler base inside with insulating board held in place with fender washers and insulated the outside with fiberglass.

I even insulated the nipple for the pressure gauge.

The only heat coming off the boiler is the door.

Does it make a big difference? I don't know. I never had it not insulated.

vermontday,i have seen a huge difference with just the boiler insulated + a little bit of the pipe. Our boilers new look.

Took some pics of it fired up,set on 4 teeth,4 air,how does the fire look to you coal boiler fire experts ?

What an enormous job, and all accomplished while attending to your normal duties, and having to feel your way in unfamiliar areas.

You certainly deserve the highest commendation and hope the satisfaction you must feel is commensurate. You are something special.

One more pic of the outside showing the chimney would be nice.

1 fire pic that did not load b4,the fire looks good to me but then this is only the 7th day anniversary of our first coal fire.We have now had the 520 firing for 1 week heating mainly the DHW but also getting some heat calls this past week end ,some chilly nights & mornings. I added 60# the last 2 nights,each night,60 # for 24 hrs for DHW for 2 houses & some light heat calls for the 3 buildings. I should mention the coal is from Superior in Hegins,Pa.

franco b , THANKS for all those kind words.The satisfaction we feel with this project is huge,we had a similar feeling when we set up the OWB in Sept. 2006 & with the 2 boys tending it most of the time for the first few yrs. the enormity & awfulness of the late nite tending in the bitter cold & wind did not hit on my wife & I until we had to tend it all the time ourselves.That & the enormous job of all the cutting,splitting & handling the wood.When we would look at the 3 loads of logs piled up,we would talk with a relief about having fuel for the winter,but then the work load reality would hit us & the dread of it.When we augured the 7.85 tons of rice coal into the coal bin from the truck in less than 30 minutes & we walked in to see that coal in the bin,my wife stated how we both felt when she said she feels "giddy" with relief knowing that we have at least a large portion of our winters fuel supply all ready to use !!!! To us it is totally amazing to add 60# in the hopper for 24 hrs of use compared to the same heat demand the OWB would have needed 3-4 wheelbarrow loads of wood.Even tho we have not tended the coal boiler in bitter cold,snowy weather yet we already know that it will be far more pleasurable than standing ouside in the weather to tend the OWB,so yes we are Thanks again & yes,we did forget the chimney,we will try to get that pic posted b4 this weekend is over . The work on this project is not all over,we still have to build the 1 wall,insulate the pipes & the pex going down into & in the pit,i also need to make a cover for the pit access hole.

x2 on the kudos.

After running for 30-40 minutes straight there should be about a 2" ring of ash around the outside of the fire. Hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like you might have hot coals closer to the edge (in which case you would need a little more air). If you can get that ash ring don't worry about what the ash looks like in the pan.

Mike

More air ? I was leery of having air too high & then have the fire burn too low in the pot which would then heat the grates more than they should be,but then I am only guessing .I will try adding a bit more air but do I have to worry about too high air setting ? Thanks, pacowy.

You're welcome. Getting the right ash ring under load is how you know you have the right fuel/air mix. You're right that you don't want the fire too low in the pot, but you also don't want it trying to burn past the point where it can get proper air. I suggest making small adjustments until you get the right ash ring.

Mike

windyhill4.2 wrote:More air ? I was leery of having air too high & then have the fire burn too low in the pot which would then heat the grates more than they should be,but then I am only guessing .I will try adding a bit more air but do I have to worry about too high air setting ? Thanks, pacowy.

I have to defer to experienced users of that stoker, but to me that fire looked great. I really liked those lazy blue flames which to me indicate just right air. My only reservation is it looked like a maximum fire to me and can't picture it putting out double that. I know though that the picture is somewhat different from what it actually looks like since the picture tends to over expose the bright spots.

I will attempt to improve on the air adjustment tomorrow a/m.

When that thing is tuned and pushed a little bit the blue ladies head for cover and the fire starts to look more like a jet engine with the afterburner on. Given the load the OP will have on this unit when things get cold, now is a good time for him to get it dialed in.

Mike

I really liked those lazy blue flames which to me indicate just right air.

The fire looks a little different in the round-door boilers due to the air getting drawn through the fire door and straight into the flames...it makes the flames flutter and look lazy. If you open the ash door to break the draft through the fire door the flames will go straight up. Regardless, the proper adjustment will put the edge of the fire right at the inside edge of the ring around the pot. I explained it in more detail somewhere earlier in this thread.

Make sure the auger pipes are fitted tightly together inside the coupler, no gaps.

Rob, thanks. I reread your previous post & then reread this last one & only then did I catch the trick of opening the ash door.I will look at the fire with the ash door open to verify but it sure looked to me as tho the ash ring is at least 2" ,auger pipes are tight together & the coupler edges are silicone sealed.

The appearance of the flame isn't really important, I was just mentioning that the air coming through the viewing door changes the appearance.