EFM AF-150 Disassembly, Rebuild, Installation

Pacowy wrote: Lastly, I suggest minimizing use of a hammer to remove rust from cast.
Mike

Well actually it was a small chisel and hammer and a lesson learned..

Rob, Yes, a 1/4 drill bit fits in the holes tight, at least the ones with out the extra rust.

According to the service tags, the upper auger and gooseneck bushing were replaced 4/29/09, no mention of the feed pipe. Also there is no mention that I can tell from 10/03 earliest date on the tags, that the grates or gaskets were serviced/replace. I'll have to post the tags kind of interesting history of the 150.

If the feed pipe doesn't show much wear and it isn't pitted inside, I would put it back in service.

The feed tube looks good on the inside as well as outside... But a closer inspection of where the holes are in the gooseneck shows that there is cracks between a few of the holes, guessing because that area was previously pugged up is why it got that way. So now I'm thinking I should replace it? (edit) Just a side note, I believe the pipe is Stainless... magnet don't stick to it and too hard to be aluminum

Here is a close up of the holes.

Before investing in new pipe you could consider trimming the bad part off the pot end and re-using the current pipe. You might (or might not) need to adjust the length of flighting on the far end of the auger/extension, which you might need to do anyway to conform the auger/extension to your bin set-up.

I still believe the 1/4" holes are too big. In an old thread there is a pic supplied by Matt Direnzo that appears to show they are 3/16" - see Smoke in Coal Bin (Rob's post on 1/18/2013). The oversized holes in this one may have contributed to the cracking between holes.

Mike

Mike,

I was thinking the burner feed pipe had to be a specific length, (guessing because of where the worm coupling was) never gave any thought to cutting it.

Yes, I came across that thread in my search's, Thanks, and was wondering about that, I was thinking there might be variations depending on something or the other.

I don't have the AF150 in place yet, just thought I would start getting the obvious broken stuff in the mean time.

The factory pipes do come a specific length, but I think people who use only the short auger (normally into a drum next to the boiler or furnace) generally have to trim some off the pipe to meet the spec for exposed flighting. If you do that, or tinker with the extension components a little, you should be able to recycle that short pipe.

I think the "something or the other" in this case was a previous owner or service person deciding to use a 1/4" bit to drill the holes in a non-factory pipe. I'm not aware of there being any systematic variations in the factory pipes.

Mike

Pacowy wrote:Before investing in new pipe you could consider trimming the bad part off the pot end and re-using the current pipe. You might (or might not) need to adjust the length of flighting on the far end of the auger/extension, which you might need to do anyway to conform the auger/extension to your bin set-up.

I still believe the 1/4" holes are too big. In an old thread there is a pic supplied by Matt Direnzo that appears to show they are 3/16" - see Smoke in Coal Bin (Rob's post on 1/18/2013). The oversized holes in this one may have contributed to the cracking between holes.

Mike

Shows how good my memory is.

I pulled the pipe on mine and checked, holes are 3/16". Mine is not a factory pipe, but works well.

Rob R. wrote:

Pacowy wrote:
Shows how good my memory is.

I pulled the pipe on mine and checked, holes are 3/16". Mine is not a factory pipe, but works well.

Don't feel bad, trying to remember hole size can't be all that important...

Well... Stopped by Scrapper's the other day and picked up the grates, bolts, gaskets, auger bushing and gooseneck bushing every thing I thought I needed, but only to find out when I went to replace the gooseneck bushing that there was a hole in like the casting tube. I'm guessing when the bushing was replaced previously that the hole was made by someone getting a little over zealous. So...well at this moment the feed pipe is a mute point. Scrapper's better half called me today to let me know that they have a used gooseneck at a fair price, but I am still not able to convince my wife that I need to spend More Money.. She says "What's wrong with the stove we have now? and it doesn't use electric either... lol.. And a closer inspection of the auger does show a bit of wear, the first twist is starting to get sharp. I put a straight edge along the edges and you can see that that part is about 3/32" wore from the rest.

So for now I'm going to patch the hole with High Temp epoxy and reassemble the stoker then do what I have seen some others do with them and fire it up outside and see how well everything works and take it from there.

I do not like the looks of that hole in the casting. If it were me I would get another gooseneck.

Rob,

Well the epoxy patch came out pretty good ... But, Yes, I feel pretty much the same way. I'm thinking yes it probably would work and get one heating season with the rigging I did on this gooseneck, but then most likely will fail at 2am on a Sunday when the outside temp is -10* ...lol

I don't think it won't be a couple more weeks before I get the furnace down stairs and start setting it up and maybe by that time I'll be able to get a replacement gooseneck and parts.

Well I went ahead and assembled the gooseneck, air chamber, and installed the grates figuring I would just do a test run with the stoker assembly outside and see how it work, if nothing else I am learning more and have more experience now and will be able to replace the gooseneck easily. Also I'm thinking I need to have the stoker assembly in the furnace so I can figure placement and the coal bin feed setup.

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Sun. Aug. 13, 2017 9:34 am

That looks like a really nice unit. Thank you for posting the pictures, I have never had a good look at an EFM hot air furnace and I don't remember seeing any pictures on the forum.
-Don

Before I get the furnace downstairs I'll post more photo's here in this thread and guess I'll start another as I start putting it together under a different topic.

Couple of photos shown cleaned up and assembled.

Bill, it is nice if the entire story is all in one thread. It makes it easier for people to find/follow afterwards. I can rename the topic if you want.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Sun. Oct. 01, 2017 8:05 am

Bill, it is nice if the entire story is all in one thread. It makes it easier for people to find/follow afterwards. I can rename the topic if you want.

WOW !!!
It is good to know i am not the only one who likes to pick up a book & read the entire story ,instead of having to continuously hunt for the next or previous book in the series. Especially when their are reference pictures.... (let me find the original thread to see what he is referring to .... now what was that thread called ? Oh, there it is ! & then i forget myself as to which thread i am in & post something,only to have it in the 1st thread instead of the current one.)

I think this is the most detailed thread of an EFM furnace that i have seen.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Sun. Oct. 01, 2017 8:05 am

Bill, it is nice if the entire story is all in one thread. It makes it easier for people to find/follow afterwards. I can rename the topic if you want.

Rob, that sound like a good idea, I didn't realize the topic could be changed. Only thought of another topic because this topic wouldn't be right for the assembly and the questions I know I'm going to have on that process.... Please feel free to come up with the proper topic ... Thanks!

windyhill4.2 wrote: ↑

Sun. Oct. 01, 2017 11:21 am

WOW !!!
It is good to know i am not the only one who likes to pick up a book & read the entire story ,instead of having to continuously hunt for the next or previous book in the series. Especially when their are reference pictures.... (let me find the original thread to see what he is referring to .... now what was that thread called ? Oh, there it is ! & then i forget myself as to which thread i am in & post something,only to have it in the 1st thread instead of the current one.)

LoL... I know what you mean hunting down information and jumping around sometimes frustrates me as well and Thanks.

Tomorrow or rather later on today, I plan on testing the stoker and burner pot, not really so much to see if my patch job holds but I am anxious to see this thing work and of course to check that the stoker is working ok.

I installed the new worm bushing, I went and used anti-sieze on that as well. But when I slid the burner worm and shaft assembly in to check for fit for the gooseneck bushing it seemed to bind a little, what I noticed is if I turned the burner worm at the feed end it turned easily, how ever if I turned it from the stoker end it was difficult, like it was bound. But if I supported, centered the feed end I could turn it from the stoker end with no problems... So I'm thinking and looking again at the parts list and there is nothing to support the burner worm on the feed side....What am I missing???

Then it dawned on me that when the stoker is in operation coal is filling the tube the coal is acting as a support and centering device. Is my thinking correct ? As it turns easily from the stoker end when I support the feed end...