Still Working on the Install

Well, the EFM 520 install is still a work in progress. Every weekend I expect to finish up and there is always something that slows me down. Either it is Masonic service, Shriner events, family or something that always seems to get in the way. Ohhh well, if it wasn't for those things life would be pretty boring so I can't complain. I have the boiler in place and plumbed. Only a couple of small leaks around some black iron reducers on the return ports so I need to drain it to fix those. I installed those early on in the process and used Oatley pipe compound. I had since read those post about using RTV silicone as pipe thread sealant. I used that on the rest of the joints and none of those has leaked. I even put some on the threads of the unions. I'm not sure if that is neccessary or not but they aren't leaking around the unions.

All I have left to do now is the electrical wiring and build the coal bin. I had hoped to get the outer panels sanded and repainted before now but that hasn't happened yet. I can do that one panel at a time throughout the winter if the need be. So I am hopefull that I can get these done in a few nights this week and have a "fire in the pot" before weekend. Saturday I will be going to my nephews wedding in Monson which is about 4 hours south of me so that will kill that day. So a coal fire before the weekend would be nice. I'll keep you all posted.

Still no "fire in the pot". I completed the wiring last evening and tested it. The automatic fireout and switch over to the oil boiler seems to be working as I expected. I did wire a couple of electrical bypass switches so I could power the EFM up while I am building a coal fire and getting up to temp. Then switch it to automatic. We'll see how that works this evening. It was getting late and I didn't want to start a fire knowing it would be a couple of hours of tending and watching everything. So hopefully tonight will be the kickoff.

Let us know how you make out.

It is most certainly a thrill.... Its fun keeping an eye on it to find the settings you want for your coal. Different settings for different coals and I just enjoy working with coal period.

Wife says I have a problem.... pay more attention to the fire than I do her...

Tyler

Tyler

My wife feels the same way... i'm getting some time away from it though... but I seem to always want to go look inside the door for whatever reason! yep... still burnin!!!

Well guys, we have a "fire in the pot"!! I finished up some things on the boiler last night, door gasket, metal plates installed (baffles?), etc and started a fire about 9:30 PM. I don't have my coal bin built yet but I couldn't wait any longer. I had a 35 gallon trash can sitting around so I dumped 120 pounds of coal in it, put the bin auger and bin feed pipe in it and layed it down at an angle so I could couple the auger together. I started out using the charcoal briquettes soaked in lighter fluid but that didn't seem to be working fast enough. So I took some old scraps of wood I had and rolled them up in paper and lit them. Within minutes the coal was glowing red. It took about an hour to and hour and a half to get it up to temp and the stoker shut off. I couldn't determine if my timer was working properly or not. I have a Honeywell S400B timer. I assume it is the mercury one everyone envies I know it was switching 120VAC and it is running but there wasn't any stoker action. I connected one side of the switch to the ZR screw and the other is wire nutted to the 120VAC line in. The only thing I could think of was the High Limit was reached and the stoker wouldn't fire even on the timer. I had it set on 180/160 with 4air 4 teeth. I turned it down to 170/150 3.5 air 3 teeth because it seemed to be running hot. The feed tube was warm but not hot when I finally went to bed about 1:30 AM. I forgot to check the feed tube this morning before I left. I may go home at lunch time to do that .

I'll post some pictures as soon as I can. It's been a big project to undertake but I have learned a lot and I did it all by myself. I still need to build the coal bin and get the panels painted blue.

You need at least a 40º spread between the high and the low aquastat setting, or you will have outfires, especially in warmer weather.

Thanks Stoker-man,

I'll set that when I go home. Should I go 10* on each one or leave the low limit and bump the hi limit 20*? I don't know why I was thinking 20* difference. Probably because the aquastat instructions say 20* min. It was still running at lunch time. Idling low. I noticed the circulator wants to run all the time, even when no zones are calling for heat and the timer connected to the ZR screw does nothing. I'm guessing they are related. It's probably a wiring mistake on my part. Probably the zone control and TT screws. I'll look into that later tonight as well. Thanks for the input.

Congrats on making fire! Yippeeee!

Thanks Freddy,
I think I'll be happy with the EFM520. I had originally hoped to get an AA 130. I had a line on a guy who had bought 5 from a dealer who retired in Orono. He still had 3 left. Brand new! I couldn't talk him into selling me 1 of them. He didn't have plans for them, just didn't want to sell one when I was looking. I ended up buying this EFM used. It had been sitting idle for 20+ years and looked like it had leaked around the supply pipe and DHW coil at some time. That worried me but I did some cleanup and repainted the outside of the boiler. We'll see how she goes this winter. I hope to see yours some day when I'm in Bangor with time to kill. I had a buddy I worked with at one time who lives in Orrington. I lost contact with him after we both left the company we worked for. Maybe I'll look him up too. Talk to you later.

You need 150 or 160 degrees for HW heat, so go 40º above that for the high limit. The spread is more necessary in the warmer months when the circulator isn't running as much. Maybe even 50º in the summer.