Soon to be EFM 520 owner

 
DooHicky
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Post by DooHicky » Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 12:17 pm

Bought a round door 520 from a co-worker...I was looking a the manual for the DF520 and they recommend the use of both of the return tappings...is this the same for the unit I'll be picking up?...is it absolutely necessary to run into both?...thanks for all the info...I'm sure I'll have many more questions.

Mike


 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 1:04 pm

Not necessary but it keeps the belly cleaner and evens out the flow.

 
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Post by DooHicky » Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 1:07 pm

Ok...just like a kid at Christmas...can't wait to get it home and in the garage to give it a once over ...when it happens pics will show...it might not be for another week....tho :-(

 
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CoalJockey
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Post by CoalJockey » Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 5:32 pm

Congratulations on the new addition to the family. You will be well pleased, the EFM units are built like a tank and will provide many more years of steady heat with a few new parts. Any questions, fire away. We are coming into the slow time of the year for traffic here on the coal board but die hards and hard heads such as myself will still check in often.

Will be excited to see the photos :yes:

 
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StokerDon
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Post by StokerDon » Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 7:21 pm

DooHicky wrote:
Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 12:17 pm
Bought a round door 520 from a co-worker...I was looking a the manual for the DF520 and they recommend the use of both of the return tappings..
Congratulations on your fun new toy!
DooHicky wrote:
Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 12:17 pm
is this the same for the unit I'll be picking up?..
It depends on how old it is. Somewhere around 1960-1962 EFM switched the 520 from fire tubes to wet plates. The plate boilers are pretty much the same except when they added the DF option. This is when they switched to the large square door.
DooHicky wrote:
Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 12:17 pm
.is it absolutely necessary to run into both?
It is if you want to get the most out of your new boiler. The real question is, why would you NOT want to run both?

If you only use one return port you will likely end up having one hot side and one cool side on the boiler, that's not good. Running into both returns will equalize side to side boiler temps and a bypass will equalize top to bottom temps. If you hook it up like the manual says, you can't go wrong.

-Don

 
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Post by DooHicky » Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 7:31 pm

Lots of info to digest...lol....I bought it sight unseen...I know..bad decision but the guy that bought it was as picky as myself..and I found it for him..but he can't use it at this point so he figured he'd let it go to me..it was under pressure when he picked it up so I know that will be ok..

 
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franpipeman
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Post by franpipeman » Wed. Apr. 25, 2018 7:48 pm

both return maximizes your surface area heat exchange. .


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Apr. 28, 2018 11:28 am

Using both returns is preferred, but if you are only going to put a moderate load on the boiler and run it on 4-5 teeth I would not loose sleep over it. Some guys pipe an equalizer between the supply header and one of the return ports, and I've seen others pipe up a separate loop for a plate heat exchanger (for DHW).

Check out this old thread, it has some good discussion about return piping:

Piping the Returns on an EFM

 
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Post by DooHicky » Wed. May. 02, 2018 9:51 am

lol...that's almost a loaded question....house is well insulated 1300sqft ranch with full finished basement below grade...boiler will be in insulated furnace room attached to 30x30 insulated pole barn with radiant in floor heat...heat pumped 130 feet to house...my wood boiler does the job..it is a royal 5260....(I think)...with supposed 150k btu rating....only switching because I'm getting tired of staying up till 11 to make sure I got fire when I wake up for work in the morning when it gets into the single digits...other than that...my pole barn needs more insulation in the ceilings before hooking it into boiler I could easily get 12-13 hr burn times....

 
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Post by DooHicky » Wed. May. 02, 2018 8:38 pm

Looks to be made in 1955....old arn!!!

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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Wed. May. 02, 2018 10:46 pm

Is that a "HighBoy"?

Looks pretty Sweet, WOW!

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. May. 03, 2018 5:38 am

McGiever wrote:
Wed. May. 02, 2018 10:46 pm
Is that a "HighBoy"?

Looks pretty Sweet, WOW!
No, it is not. Highboy's have the domestic coil mounted in the front of the boiler, and an extension on the base for the ash door.

I agree that the exterior looks sharp. If the heat exchanger and stoker look the same way, it is a very nice unit.

 
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Post by DooHicky » Thu. May. 03, 2018 6:19 am

Well...I have to take it apart in order to get it through my man door into the furnace room...soooo....I just hope there aren't any surprises...I did also extra pot sections for spares. The mechanics work nice and smooth...the guy had a plug on the end to show everything works as it should. I just couldn't pass it up for $1900....

 
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Post by DooHicky » Sun. May. 06, 2018 2:48 pm

Working on tearing it apart to make sure everything is as it should be.... domestic coil had a couple burst points ....cleaned n soldered and it should be good to go...no onto the fire pot.....the ring that keeps the sections in place where the lower gasket goes...is this something special or..... because mine was disinterested....help would be appreciated....

Mike

 
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nepacoal
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Post by nepacoal » Sun. May. 06, 2018 5:32 pm

Mark's Supply in Shenandoah, PA. Great guys that should have everything you need.

They have a website, but you have to call to order.
http://www.markssupply.com/

Contact Information
Mark’s Supply
230 S. Main Street
Shenandoah, PA 17976
Call us at
570-462-0748


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