Can Round Door EFM 520 Be Converted to a Square Door?

Hello all,
I am wondering if my round door unit could be converted to a square door unit for ease of cleaning and working on the unit?
We are thinking we will keep my current 1960 efm 520 cobco boiler in place and use that instead of switching to a DF unit.
The round door is not near as easy to clean and a pain to get the baffle in and out etc.
Just think the conversion would really make it easy to work on and clean.

Mitch

Yes it could, and if I was doing it I would get a little bigger cast door from an old stove and fit that on there

I have seen it done. Not worth it in my opinion.

Is your boiler a plate boiler? If it is, you could cut access panels on the side to get you better access to clean from below. You wouldn't have to lift the baffle then. You wouldn't have to shut down to clean either.

Scottscoaled wrote:Is your boiler a plate boiler? If it is, you could cut access panels on the side to get you better access to clean from below. You wouldn't have to lift the baffle then. You wouldn't have to shut down to clean either.

X 2 on that. It would also be a lot cheaper and easier.

-Don

my boiler is a tube boiler. It does have a cleanout in the back but stinks to clean through the round door and get to the baffle.
I am just looking ahead for long term ease of use.

Would a square door from a 700, 900 or 1300 be too big?

Scottscoaled wrote:Is your boiler a plate boiler? If it is, you could cut access panels on the side to get you better access to clean from below. You wouldn't have to lift the baffle then. You wouldn't have to shut down to clean either.

I was under the impression that the sides of the boiler were wet. Didnt I see stays welded through the sides? Or is it just the back???

The sides are wet and there are stays. I think Scott meant access panels on the sides of the base.

any idea what it might cost to convert the round door to a square door?
I have decide that we will burn coal instead of just oil.

I had 5 tons of buck delivered last week.
I wonder if its worth the effort and cost to modify this boiler? also wonder if its worth looking at a complete DF unit?
my current unit is a 1959 or 60 efm cobco built round door efm 520 with the cleanout in the back. Is there any value in this unit?

it's just not easy to clean and work on.

you don't have natural gas in denver do you ?

I can't imagine that it would be less than $400 to $800 to:

1) Buy the material
2) Measure it up
3) Cut through the inner and outer boiler walls
4) Re-attach any boiler stays than may have been cut
5) Weld the square part in

That is if you take it to the welders shop. It will be a bit more challenging and expensive if your plan is to leave the boiler connected in the basement and have the conversion done "in place".

The real solution to your problem is to replace the 520 with a Gentleman Janitor or Van Wert. Better boiler section and easier to clean.

-Don

I found a fellow who has a late 1980's DF for sale and it's disconnected sitting in his basement.

I think if I could get it converted to a square door for a decent price that would interest me. Then I wouldn't have to remove mine and redo any plumbing.

natural gas is approx. 1500 ft. down the road. I called UGI and they told me that it would cost me $41,000 to have them run the gas lines down the road onto my street.
no one on my street or the old part of the neighborhood as inquired about gas so they don't see it as cost worthy for them to run it here on their own.

so for that kind of money I will burn coal and oil and modify my boiler etc. to make things easier.

mof1964 wrote:my boiler is a tube boiler. It does have a cleanout in the back but stinks to clean through the round door and get to the baffle.
I am just looking ahead for long term ease of use.

Would a square door from a 700, 900 or 1300 be too big?

I'm a bit confused. I have a round door 350 tube boiler, I haven't had issues cleaning it. I start by blowing out the fire box with compressed air through the round door, the draft pulls out most of the flyash. I can get all around the baffle with the air nozzle. Then I brush off as much of the inside of the firebox as I can through the door. After that I remove the cleanout, vacuum out all the flyash there, then disconnect the smoke pipe from the boiler. I vac all the flyash out of the pipe, then stick the vac hose in the flyash chamber in the back of the base, and run my brush up each tube. Then I vacuum out the flyash chamber. Takes less then an hour, and I haven't lost the fire yet. I shut the power off while working and get the stoker going as soon as I'm finished.
Am I missing something?

I just thought that I cant get inside the boiler walls the way I should through the round door.
can can't see what I'm doing and then I always find that I am missing areas. Its also tough to get the baffle plate in and out.

just thought that with more access to the inside I could scrape it down or brush it down from corner to corner all around the unit and keep it really clean.

I'm also interested in finding a way to have my oil boiler and my coal unit tied into the same flue, not running both at the same time of course. This would make it much easier for when I travel etc that I just let the coal burn out and flip the switch for the oil and it should fire when the temp drops enough.

That's what I figured. I do as thorough of a cleaning as possible, I think the most important task is getting all the fly ash out. I have never removed the baffle during cleaning.

As far as the 2 units being connected, you can do it, but it's against code to have appliances burning 2 different fuels connected to the same flue. Why I have no idea. I've done it. The only issue is if you have a questionable draft like I do the chimney is gonna pull through both appliances, you might not get enough draft to the EFM to keep the fire alive when there are no heat calls or hot water use.

I can't have anything else connected to the chimney here now since I have a draft inducer on the smoke pipe for the EFM, anything else I connect would have to tap in between the inducer and the boiler, and there just isn't enough room.

There are electrically operated dampers that fit into the smoke pipes, they seal off the draft when the unit is at rest and open when the appliance runs.