Considering Home Coal Boiler Project

Pacowy · Post by **Pacowy** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 9:29 am

windyhill4.2 wrote: ↑
Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 8:56 am
Round doors are not as pretty to look at & are a pain in the butt,neck,shoulders & arms if trying to do something thru that tiny round door.

True, but the convenience comes at a cost. The big square door and oil burner port reduce the heat exchange surface relative to round door plate boilers, which in turn have a smaller heat exchange surface than the tube boilers (let alone the Highboys). Everybody gets to make their own tradeoffs.

Mike

Qtown1835 · Post by **Qtown1835** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 9:52 am

ScottB wrote: ↑
Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 7:16 am
With oil burner. What city.

Slatington, PA via Allentown,PA

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 9:59 am

ScottB wrote: ↑
Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 7:16 am
With oil burner. What city.

The round door DF unit I saw did not have an oil burner with it. Do not recall the location, but if you search the Scranton Craigslist for efm it should come up.

The oil kits are not really that common, and and expensive if purchased new. Some dealers have used kits available, but you need to make SURE the kit is complete. The burner itself is cheap compared to the mounting flange, mercoid switch, etc.

A complete dual fuel unit in running/refurbished condition will likely turn out to be less expensive than trying to piece one together, but it depends what you find.

Pacowy · Post by **Pacowy** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 10:08 am

If you look at the 3rd pic in the ad for the boiler from Slatington it looks like there is a cleanout panel under the DHW coil. AFAIK that would make this a tube boiler from the 1950's (door provides access to clean area around tops of tubes), not any kind of factory DF. Sellers don't always know the differences among models, and sometimes call what they have whatever the website says.

Mike

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 10:14 am

https://scranton.craigslist.org/grd/d/efm-520-coa ... 75165.html

This is the one I was referring to. The plate on the side with 3 bolts is covering the hole for an oil burner.

Edit:. I should add that I only mentioned this unit to show that a round door boiler can be a DF unit. I know nothing about the history or condition of the unit pictured.

Olllotj · Post by **Olllotj** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 10:49 am

I think if the seller put the boiler above the burner base it would have worked better and he wouldn't be selling it.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 12:09 pm

Olllotj wrote: ↑
Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 10:49 am
I think if the seller put the boiler above the burner base it would have worked better and he wouldn't be selling it.

Lots of new paint on that unit...

Should be ready to run

Qtown1835 · Post by **Qtown1835** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 12:14 pm

This is the slatington 520
https://allentown.craigslist.org/app/d/efm-df-520 ... 60368.html

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 12:28 pm

Qtown1835 wrote: ↑
Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 12:14 pm
This is the slatington 520
https://allentown.craigslist.org/app/d/efm-df-520 ... 60368.html

Well.... that unit is lacking almost $1000.00 worth of paint

I am glad i don't need to decide which is the best unit for the money.

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 1:27 pm

Pacowy wrote: ↑
Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 9:29 am
True, but the convenience comes at a cost. The big square door and oil burner port reduce the heat exchange surface relative to round door plate boilers, which in turn have a smaller heat exchange surface than the tube boilers (let alone the Highboys). Everybody gets to make their own tradeoffs.

Mike

The highboy currently in my dad's basement heated Steve Wilhelm mother's house for nearly 50 years, and was replaced with a DF520. At the time Steve told me he did not notice any difference in the way it heated the house, but it would be interesting to see what he says now that another 6 winters have gone by.

Pacowy · Post by **Pacowy** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 2:12 pm

Steve is the guy from whom I first heard about some of the advantages of the Highboy - Post by scrapper_23jr - 520 EFM Highboy Coal Stoker . Then there was the 2/28/11 post by a noted forum official regarding the efficiency advantage of the Highboy (ok, relative to a 350) due to its greater heat exchange surface area (Post by vwgtiman - 520 Highboy). Even if Steve's mom could stay warm with a DF520, I don't think they should be viewed as equal.

Mike

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 3:08 pm

They may not be equal, but if it does the same job and burns the same amount of coal, it would seem that the engineering differences do not make an appreciable difference at a moderate feed rate.

I would expect any performance differences to show up if the units were pushed hard...which is a moot point in many applications (like my dad's).

Post by **StokerDon** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 4:39 pm

Qtown1835 wrote: ↑
Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 12:14 pm
This is the slatington 520
https://allentown.craigslist.org/app/d/efm-df-520 ... 60368.html

I've been staring at this one for a week now. I seriously doubt it is a DF unit. The boiler itself is longer than it is tall. I suspect that it is an old Lo Line boiler/EFM combo. These don't show up that often. I have never seen the "H" tag on one of these, but I suspect they might have more surface area than the DF520. For $650, it's probably a good deal!

-Don

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 6:20 pm

I would say the Scranton boiler is a pretty sweet deal. Can't see the plates or feel how bad the power head is worn. The other boiler isn't a good one to try your hand at. It has bad domestic coil problems and the burner plates look like they are coming to an end.

Pauliewog · Post by **Pauliewog** » Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 8:14 pm

Scottscoaled wrote: ↑
Fri. Dec. 15, 2017 6:20 pm
I would say the Scranton boiler is a pretty sweet deal. Can't see the plates or feel how bad the power head is worn. The other boiler isn't a good one to try your hand at. It has bad domestic coil problems and the burner plates look like they are coming to an end.

That Scranton one is located 15 minutes from my shop.

Paulie