EFM 520 is finally IN ACTION!!

 
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SMITTY
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Location: West-Central Mass
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler

Post by SMITTY » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 1:19 pm

Ahhhh! It's been a minute since I've been in here! FINALLY got around to installing a EFM 520 from 1951 that I've had for a bit. Finished the install 16 months to the day I brought it home! Better late than never, I figure. :thumbup:


As usual around here, it was an adventure! Drove down to NC to pick it up where it had been sitting for 10 years. Got home and had nowhere to put anything, so it sat in the back of my truck for a MONTH! Finally got some time and motivation, and the neighbor and I used his backhoe, got that heavy SOB out the back and into my stairwell entrance to the basement - where it sat, jammed stuck in the doorway for NINE months. :o

Finally summoned some more motivation. Had to tear the wall down to the studs, and remove a couple, behind the boiler so that we could rotate it 90° to fit down my infamous 1800's stairwell. Finally got it into position! I reused the pressure treated 2 x 6 I had nailed across all the studs way back when I installed the first coal burning unit back in '05 - the Harman Mark 1. She's got some miles on her!! Used it again in '08 to extract the Mark I and install a Mark III. Then in '13 the Mark III came back up the stairs, and a custom built firetube stoker boiler went down. Then in August of '21, THAT boiler came out and up the stairs! And now it was being used to lower this 750 pound (estimated - could be MUCH more!!) behemoth down the stairs ... until .....

BAAAAM!! The board tore out of the studs, flew right over my head (MISSED ME!!), and that boiler sailed down the stairs at 150 MPH!! BAAAANG! Right into the fieldstone foundation! Shook the house like a 7.0 earthquake! I looked at my arms, checked my skull - all good! Got 2 tiny little scratches on my hand and wrist - that was it! God was looking out that day, no doubt! I was amazed I didn't get scalped!!

So from there my neighbor that's built like a Mack truck manhandled the thing, and managed to roll it sideways onto the basement floor. Only damage to the boiler was a 1/2" nipple / cap that snapped off inside up top. Where the fieldstone contacted the 5/16" boiler plate edge, there was only a tiny DENT!! Try that with a 2022 appliance! LOL!! :lol: Anyway, we got it up on a set of pipes, and rolled it to the opposite side of the basement, where it sat for another 5 months. We're getting there ...

September 23rd, we FINALLY got the base positioned, and raised that behemoth onto the base ... with just 5' of ceiling clearance. No pics or video of that - it was WAY too involved. I was fairly certain either I, or my best buddy were going to end up in the ER that night with crushed or missing limbs!! We muscled that SOB up 2' high on jacks and jackstands! SKETCH CITY. It wiggled and wobbled its way all the way up, then my buddy body slammed it sideways, knocking it into the base! My heart began beating again, lol. After some wrestling, she was in place!! FINALLY!! The day after I managed to get her up on bricks myself with a 3' prybar to keep her dry (for those that don't know, saying my basement is "wet" is the understatement of the century. It's in the middle of a RIVER).

Now that brings us to a month later, late October, and we're getting sick and tired of waking up in a 55° house, and the last of my sub $3/gallon heating oil is just about GONE. Time to get moving! Had to bore a giant hole in my chimney - wider than the flue itself! The 8" pipe plus the clay thimble ended up close to 10" in diameter. Had to go out in the shop, run an air line into the basement, and bring Big Nasty - the Astro 4980 industrial 1/2" air hammer - down there to blast through the rickety chimney. I had to go so far through one side that I was just imagining this whole 100+ year old chimney coming down. Would be my luck! Thankfully that didn't happen. Got the thimble mortared in, and repaired some sketchy sections while I had the extra mortar.

Finally the big day (or couple days) arrived! Did the plumbing and electrical, installed the stoker, grabbed a 55 gallon plastic diesel barrel I've had for 20 years, cut the top off, bored a hole in the side and installed the auger & pipe. The coal bin was born! Lit the fire, kicked some tires, and the rest is history!! 🤘😬🤘

FINALLY friggin warm in here!!
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franpipeman
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Coal Size/Type: rice
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Post by franpipeman » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 1:26 pm

YIIIKEs what a story and a tough job it was with that high boy

Its a fitzgibbons pressure vessel like min was the baffle in it ? i just wrestled mine in again after cleaning

congratulations

 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 1:44 pm

Quite a story! No job is complete until some blood is shed. I hope you will be happy with the EFM!
Hey I know that other guy in the first photo.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 2:00 pm

I love a story with a happy ending. I hope you don’t mind that I edited your post title so it says “EFM 520”. The DF520 has an oil burner port on the side and didn’t exist until the late 70’s.

Did you hang the cast iron baffle at the top/rear of the firebox?

 
lincolnmania
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Post by lincolnmania » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 3:36 pm

Wow I thought my basement was tight!
Looks good!

 
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franpipeman
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Post by franpipeman » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 3:46 pm

remember to put a cover over the coal barrel as when it gets low on coal carbon monoxide can escape into your basement and one should install a carbon monoxide alarm as a protector o your households life.

 
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Post by franco b » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 3:50 pm

Always a great story, well told.


 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 5:48 pm

lincolnmania wrote:
Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 3:36 pm
Wow I thought my basement was tight!
Looks good!
Smitty's got about the same amount of room as I have here!

 
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pintoplumber
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Post by pintoplumber » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 6:58 pm

Ahhhhh, another Moxie lover!

 
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StokerDon
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Post by StokerDon » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 7:19 pm

SMITTY wrote:
Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 1:19 pm
It's been a minute since I've been in here! FINALLY got around to installing a EFM 520 from 1951 that I've had for a bit.
Good to see you back again Smitty!

But, WOW! That ain't just a 520, it's a High Boy! :o
That boilers got to weigh about a million pounds!

In hindsight, letting it fly down the stairs was probably the easiest way to do it. :lol:

-Don

 
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tsb
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Post by tsb » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 7:27 pm

Everybody loves a happy ending.

 
lincolnmania
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Post by lincolnmania » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 7:32 pm

CoalHeat wrote:
Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 5:48 pm
Smitty's got about the same amount of room as I have here!
I got just under 6' ceiling in the basement.

 
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SMITTY
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Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler

Post by SMITTY » Sat. Nov. 19, 2022 8:21 pm

Thanks fellas! Good to see everyone again! I'll try to get everyone's questions answered one by one in the order they were received ...

Yes, there's a baffle in there up high above the burn pot. That came flying out after the trip down the stairs at warp speed. Added bonus, that shook about 4 pounds of scale out the inside that I easily vacuumed out of 3 of the 4 lower ports, hahaha! I guess there's supposed to be 2 more baffles near the firetubes by the exhaust in the base? I don't have those. Might just be for the newer models, possibly. Not sure. I'd definitely like to have them there if they're supposed to be!

LOL, yeah, you met that guy! Yep - always bloodshed! LOL! Our basements ARE very similar!! I definitely have a much lower ceiling height, though. It's ridiculous. Good thing I'm short, lol!

No problem, Rob - thanks for editing. There was some confusion there - I'm glad you cleared that up! I never knew whether to call it an EFM520 or a DF520. I must have the DF manual, since it does show an oil burner on the front page.

Fran, I appreciate the concern, but I don't think it's possible for CO to migrate downward that far back from the boiler. I'd either have to have the air cranked up to max, or have the chimney completely blocked off.

Thanks Franco! Great to see ya here!!

Yeah Lincoln, it's EXTREMELY tight down there. 5'5" is the highest part in varying areas. Most are far below that! I'm 5'4" tall and I routinely bash my head open on plumbing down there when stacking bags. The boiler and base BARELY fit! I was lucky enough to have lined up the pipe outlet at the top with a gap in the floor joists (whole trees from the 1800's!) by accident, lol. Also got lucky that I'm able to remove my ash pan with not an inch to spare! It's VERY close to the fieldstone. I wasn't even thinking of that when I set the base - I was more concerned with the chimney pipe and plumbing costs. The ash door misses the fieldstone by 1/4"!! BARELY made it!

I do love Moxie, Pinto, but unfortunately (not to get too political here ...) Coca-Cola has morphed into WOKA-Cola, and I have refused to buy it for 6 months now. Sad. I just finished the last of my Moxie stockpile a few months ago. I switched to Dr. Pepper and ASHOC energy drinks, and have been happy. :)

Hey Don! Yeah, you're right on that, lol!! I said that to my buddy seconds after it crashed down there, "Well, just saved us 2 hours labor!" :D

INDEED, TSB!! HAHAHAHA! :D

Sounds like our ceiling heights are within 6" inches of each other, Lincoln.

Hopefully I didn't forget anyone here! Great to see the familiar "faces" !

 
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Post by hank2 » Sun. Nov. 20, 2022 1:46 am

Great tale and photos! Congrats on getting it all done! I had to chuckle when you said it was stuck at your outside door for 9 months. I get that! Must be one heavy SOB.

That mercury switch timer looks identical to the one that was on a 1950's Bairmatic (Schuylkill Haven) I used from late 70's to later 90's. Stuff that still works after 70 years. I would have been shaking in my skivvies to hog out that chimney flue.

 
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SMITTY
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Joined: Sun. Dec. 11, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: West-Central Mass
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler

Post by SMITTY » Sun. Nov. 20, 2022 4:37 am

Thanks, Hank! Appreciate it. The weight is just incomprehensible, until you actually attempt to move the thing, lol! It's INSANELY HEAVY! Ridiculous, actually! But, that's what it takes to make a reliable, long-lasting design I guess. What a far cry from today's junk! Hot water heaters especially. I haven't seen one last more than 8 years these days, while this boiler will last generations!

That timer is a Honeywell S400A. I've always been of the mindset of owning things I can fix. That excludes most electronics. :)


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