Fire Brick

Lurkin' Murkin'

If the existing chamber is way oversized for the firing rate you require, and the flame quality could be improved by creating a more appropriate chamber size and shape - why not? I used to install what they called a "hanging baffle" over the chamber, where feasable - it was a ceramic disk attached to a chain. This improved the flame and distributed the gasses outward to the heat exchanger better, it seemed. Haven't seen that mentioned here, though. It would be interesting to experiment with these approaches, with the combustion measurement devices available these days...

Jim_109

Fire Brick

Will inserting fire brick inside the fire box increase efficiency? THe boiler is about 50 years old.

Steamhead (in transit)

Not in the fire box

but in the flue passages. This MUST be done by a pro with proper test equipment.

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Unknown

Jim

the existing refractory is there to keep any direct flame impingement off the metal, so long story short, my answer to your question is no. "Baffling" is another matter, so take heed to what Steamhead says.

Dave

Norm Harvey

That reminds me of those elderly gents with the double door american standards that would burn their trash in the boiler. They often had bricks in the flues.

I remember on guy who used to burn his trash in there. We went one year for the maintenance and he was telling us how his wife died,.. we always wondered what kind of ash we were cleaning out of the flues that day *grins*

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Steamhead (in transit)

If that were the case

I'd use a Lynn Kaowool chamber inside the old chamber. Kaowool reaches temperature much faster than fire bricks, resulting in a cleaner burn.

Jim, I'd have a pro look at this. Also, if you have an old-style burner and you're not ready to replace the boiler, upgrading to a flame-retention burner (either along with the chamber upgrade or not) would be a real good move.

L.M., depending on the boiler a hanging baffle might be a good idea too. But I haven't seen them in a long while, do you know if anyone still makes them?

"Steamhead"

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Lurkin' Murkin'

Those were the days...

The hanging baffle was about a foot in diameter, and came in 2 halves (to fit through the cleanout door) that were connected by a clamp to a chain. Some boiler designs allowed the attachment of the chain to the heat exchanger above. I can't vouch for their effectiveness or longevity, although we never got any callback from malfunction or complaint that fuel was not saved. A retention burner, additional baffling, and chamber replacement or repair was usually done in conjunction with the hanging baffle. The flame usually looked excellent, but sometimes the stack relay wondered what happened to the hot flue gas it was used to? This was all done with no combustion measuring equipment (sorry to admit). I don't do work in the field now - but would only do this with the great instruments available these days, if I did. Maybe if you know a supply house with a pleasant counter guy, you could inquire about it?