Memco Boiler Modifacations

Well Iwill try this one more time I have a memco boiler I installed it late year and tried to burn wood in it and it did not take long to relize that it was going to be a long winter
I modifide the lower draft and that helped but I need to redriect the exhaust inside the boiler so that is not right in the middle, and all the heat dose not go right out the chimney, I thought about putting a damper into the stack befor the stove pipe but I don't know if this is going to be enough
I also bought coal grates for it because I tried burning coal in it towards the end of winter which worked much better (longer burn time and better heat control) Has anyone out there worked with these boilers?

I found this thread for you. You might be able to get in contact with the writer to see if he still has it and can give you any more details on what he did. Put it in the search bar on this forum and happy burning.

Re: Central Maine Coal Co-ops

Thank you luck wood have it that I aquaried a Franco Belge 10-475 today can't wait to get that home and fire it up it is going in the famley room

I started my memco boiler modifacation I arrowed up the fire box from 16" too 10" I also made it deeper I went from 6" too 10" deep I also changed the exhaust from 7" to 5 1/2" and have made some major modifacations to the intake I hope that this will help my burn time and also my heat control on my boiler if any one has any suggestion I am open to them

Sounds good.

Here's a thought, see where it will take you. The longer the exhaust gas path is inside the boiler, the longer the time the gas is washed to the boiler walls. Longer distance and longer time. Think baffle plates, dampers and such. Baffles don't necessarily have to be welded solid in place, they can simply hang from hooks or pivot points for example. Remember, the hottest gases are the lightest and go to the top...your job is to make them linger a bit longer to give up more heat into the water.

Thank you I was thinking about that but was not sure how the draft was going to work after cutting it down and moving it from the top center to the top back I thought about dropping the exhaust down the back wall of the boiler about six inches but was not sure if I would have to have a forced draft to have a positive press. to force the gases out

That's the beauty of hanging a baffle on hooks or pivots, if it turns out not so good you can just move it or modify it easily.

You are right I will give it a try I should have it runing this weekend or the first of next week I will post how it works or dose not work thanks for the help

Hi could some one tell me how to attach pic. to the post? My memco boiler modifacation is almost done I also got my Frankco Belge 10-475 hooked up and ready to go, just wating for colder day time weather to hit thurday or friday (Let it come I can't wait too try the Frankco )

Hello every one last friday I went to my coal dealer and picked up a load of nut coal and I was talking to him about my franco belge stove and how much I liked it I have been burning nut coal in it because that is what the previous owner was burning and he had about a ton a half in the basement that came with the stove alls I had to do is lug it out for $400.00 for the stove and the coal, I think I got a deal ++++ but any way back to my question when I talked to my dealer like everyone else he is having a hard time getting nut (he was saying that the crusher was broken at reading) or where ever he gets his coal.He was saying that I should be burning Pea coal in this stove which I agree with him because the manual says that it the preferred fuel for this stove, so he gave me a bucket full of pea to try, so I did the only thing is I did not move the baffle plate down to the proper adjustment (because I did not want to let my fire to go out ) so I tried it Sat. night and when I got up Sunday morning the fire was about to die but luckly I was able to revive it and things went good the rest of the day and night Monday morning I shook it down and said cool this is going to work good, but when I got home from work that night and it was out I could not belive it.
Could not adjusting the baffel cause this problem? (the only thing that I can see that it dose is puts more coal on to the greats) the stove seemed to act different as well it seem to want higher settings to keep it going, I also looked threw the manual and it gave me two position one on the bottom and one on the top and this was for pea coal when I first read the manaul I thought the high position was nut and stove coal.

The smaller the coal the more air you will need to move through some stoves to get them to work correctly. I have an older FB stove and I burn primarily nut in it. I took the baffle out and just shovel in the coal through either the top loading hatch or right through the front door. If I burn pea in it the fire is about 1/2 to 3/4 of what I get with nut but I will get a burn about 2 hours longer. If I am not careful and let it go too long before tending the fire will go out no matter what I try to do.

Try a mixture of nut and pea coal and I think you will get good results.
Larry

Thank you I will give it a try I will say that it seemed to burn longer proable if I ran it on 3 and a half to 4 I would have had better luck I will keep playing with it till I get it right
thanks again
Memco man