Anyone Having Out Fires

BigFoot · Post by **BigFoot** » Fri. Aug. 09, 2013 11:11 am

I had two out fires in a week ,all seams gook with boiler,even cleaned the chimney ,got to go get some more charcoal and get her going again ! My fire is olny for hot water maybe my temp/setting and timer is to low and timer set to long to keep it going at summer time !

Post by **franco b** » Fri. Aug. 09, 2013 11:50 am

BigFoot wrote:I had two out fires in a week ,all seams gook with boiler,even cleaned the chimney ,got to go get some more charcoal and get her going again ! My fire is olny for hot water maybe my temp/setting and timer is to low and timer set to long to keep it going at summer time !

You should have a manometer to see exactly what your chimney draft is, which is most likely the cause of the problem. Using it to set temperature and timing for minimum draft I think is the best course.

BigFoot · Post by **BigFoot** » Fri. Aug. 09, 2013 3:32 pm

My meter said .04 to.06 should have good !

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Aug. 09, 2013 3:57 pm

Does the grate "ash" when the unit is running? If everything checks out, Perhaps you do need a longer timer cycle.

mozz · Post by **mozz** » Fri. Aug. 09, 2013 8:17 pm

My AA130 was about 95% out a few weeks back when temps were in the 90's here for a week. I just happened to catch it and saved the fire. I had my baro weight set all the way to L which was from the winter and I usually move it over to H in the spring time to get a little more draft but forgot this year. My timer is set as low as it will go, maybe 30 seconds each half hour.

BigFoot · Post by **BigFoot** » Fri. Aug. 09, 2013 9:06 pm

Thanks for your
help

Wiz · Post by **Wiz** » Fri. Aug. 09, 2013 9:15 pm

Had issue awhile back when temps and humidity was high, added pins to timer. Been burning good with no issues lately.

chlop · Post by **chlop** » Mon. Aug. 12, 2013 5:52 pm

My DF520 usually goes out for a day or two when the temp is over 90 and the humidity is insufferable, so I expected a problem about a month ago during that hot spell. Well, the boiler went out at least three times since then. I adjusted the feed, the water temps, and the draft. I cleaned out the inside of the boiler and did a laundry list of other things. Right now, I have the water temps between 140 and 190 and the feed is at three clicks. The only other problem may be the coal----the ashes seem to be very heavy. If I can't maintain a fire now, I may trade in my Cadillac for a Pinto.

Post by **Rob R.** » Mon. Aug. 12, 2013 8:23 pm

chlop wrote:My DF520 usually goes out for a day or two when the temp is over 90 and the humidity is insufferable, so I expected a problem about a month ago during that hot spell. Well, the boiler went out at least three times since then. I adjusted the feed, the water temps, and the draft. I cleaned out the inside of the boiler and did a laundry list of other things. Right now, I have the water temps between 140 and 190 and the feed is at three clicks. The only other problem may be the coal----the ashes seem to be very heavy. If I can't maintain a fire now, I may trade in my Cadillac for a Pinto.

If you have an EFM 520 that experiences outfires, I recommend you reset everything to EFM's recommended settings and go from there. I have NEVER had an outfire using their recommended settings...but I have tried to outsmart the system a few times and experienced a few outfires.

Also, if you have poor draft, poor coal, or both...you will have problems with whatever coal burning appliance you are trying to use.

Baseline settings for a 520: 160 low, 200 high, 10 differential. 4 teeth feed, 4 air (or a touch more), 2 minutes every half hour on the timer. My boiler has been running all summer with those settings, trouble-free.