Rebuild My EFM 520

A few years ago I bought a EFM 520 off of Glen Harris which I had intended to intall that year but some other financial obligations came up forcing me to put this rebuild on hold.

Right now finances are decent so I am in the process of rebuilding the 520 and hoping I can get everything done before the snow flies. The original base which was not in the greatest shape got backed over by a friend driving a JLG lift so I decided to build my own base. Here are some pictures of the base I am in the process of putting together.

I have done a lot of research on here and the wealth of information available here is incredible. I know I will have a ton of questions as this is all new to me.

Thanks,
Dave

Nice work Dave!!!!!!!
Coming right along

Thanks Chris. I know I am going to have a ton of questions trying to get this thing put together correctly. I am very anxious to see the first fire in the 520 and to be able to bid the oil man farewell. LOL

That will be a pinnacle moment Dave.
Nothing better than when he knocks on the door to ask if you have your heat on because he can't squeeze any oil into your tank.
Keep on going and you will get there.
Best Regards
CS

You must be a very talented guy. Great job so far on the base!

PJ,

Thanks for the compliments. I am far from talented but I have done a lot of research on this forum and try to look at what others are doing. This forum has been a huge help.

Dave

I am thinking about lowering my burner assembly 1" so that I can put the bolts through the square tubing rather than trying to weld bolts into the angle iron. Will lowering the burner 1" effect anything?

I did buy some elevator bolts hoping I could use them in the angle iron but the stick in to far inside the angle iron and not allowing me to slide the boiler down inside.

My base is 24" high and the panel that my burner is mounted to is 22-3/4" high so I do have enough room to drop down and run the bolts through the square tubing.

Elevator bolt heads are thin - it sounds like you have a pretty tight fit there.

From the pics I have a couple of possible concerns regarding the way the stoker will align relative to the head, though they might just be optical illusions. AFAIK there should be no less than 3.25" of horizontal clearance around the outer edge of the ash ring to prevent clinker/ash buildup issues. The pot should be centered left/right, and if you have any "slack" front-to-back it should be positioned so the 3.25" minimum clearance is at the front of the boiler (to maximize combustion gas exposure to heat transfer surfaces).

Mike

I took some measurements and I have 2-1/2" from the rear of the burner ring to the divider panel and 6-1/2" from the front of the burner ring to the front panel. My divider panel is 11" from then rear. I looked at this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnkT9ZtE8KQ and it appears the burner is closer to the divider panel then the front panel.

However I did notice is this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9t0XBEdVuU that the to of the burner appears to be about level with the inside edge of the angle iron where mine is sitting roughly 2-3/4" below the inside edge of the of the angle.

Can someone tell me where the top of the burner should be? The panel that is on my burner is the one that came with the unit so I assumed it was correct but it may have been replaced.

Thanks,
Dave

I have one of those panels in my garage and the stoker is offset "to the right" by a few inches so that the pot is basically centered on the panel. It seems like that would get closer to the clearances I mentioned, though you would need to make sure you weren't getting too close to the plane of the front wall of the combustion chamber when the head goes on the base.

Mike

The center of your blower should be 5.5" from the right hand edge of your panel. A total of 9" from the front of your base. The stoker needs to be toward the front of the opening to allow the flame to hit the top of the chamber then curl around the hanging baffle. It will cause your pan to hit the bottom of the stoker if you lower the panel. What you need to do is fill in the gaps between the bent pieces with 2" stock. Use welding studs. The top row goes above the lip on the angle iron.

Scott,

Thanks for the information. I will have to check on my measurements tomorrow since it is late now. For the most part I used the measurements I took off the old base. Here is a picture of the old base.

dave28 wrote:I took some measurements and I have 2-1/2" from the rear of the burner ring to the divider panel and 6-1/2" from the front of the burner ring to the front panel. My divider panel is 11" from then rear. I looked at this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnkT9ZtE8KQ and it appears the burner is closer to the divider panel then the front panel.

However I did notice is this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9t0XBEdVuU that the to of the burner appears to be about level with the inside edge of the angle iron where mine is sitting roughly 2-3/4" below the inside edge of the of the angle.

Can someone tell me where the top of the burner should be? The panel that is on my burner is the one that came with the unit so I assumed it was correct but it may have been replaced.

Thanks,
Dave

The first video is a 350, not a 520. The 350 has a smaller diameter ash ring. 13.5" I think. The boiler and base are also smaller, so not a good comparison. That being said, the back of the ash ring looks to be very close to the divider plate!

The second video is a 520. Like PACOWY said, you need the pot to be closer to the front so the flame and hot gasses can sweep the top of the boiler front to back. If the pot is back to far, the top front of the boiler will have a cold spot. I don't think the height is as critical as the front to back measurement, but, higher is probably better. I should think you don't need to attach the blower housing to the angle iron.

-Don

dave28 wrote:Scott,

Thanks for the information. I will have to check on my measurements tomorrow since it is late now. For the most part I used the measurements I took off the old base. Here is a picture of the old base.

Wow!!!! What did you do to the base?????? That is the old style base. They are made heavy, very heavy. Out of 3/32" steel. Next size under an 1/8". A two man job to pick one up. Not like the new ones. They last, almost forever.

Don,

What you are saying makes a whole lot of sense so the flame and hot gasses can sweep the top of the boiler front to back. What I did was pretty much copy all measaurements off of the old base. The only measurement I didn't get was the one from the front corner to where the panel with the stoker attached. I took a wild guess and went with 2"-3". I'm going to take a wild guess and assume who ever owned this unit had a new panel made and missed in the measurements.

I have another piece of steel plate so I am able to make another panel to replace this one and make the appropriate adjustments. My question is do I want to center the burner in the middle of this area?

Also as I mentioned previously the burner ring sits 2-1/2" below where the bottom edge of the boiler would be. Should I move that up to be level with the bottom of the boiler?

Thanks for your help,
Dave