Chronicles of the Clayton

 
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Lightning
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Mon. Dec. 11, 2017 10:23 pm

Now you can post that link anywhere you want.


 
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Dieselpowerf350
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Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Hotblast 1557m
Coal Size/Type: All and I want more....lol!
Other Heating: Oil

Post by Dieselpowerf350 » Mon. Dec. 11, 2017 11:19 pm

8-) Thanks!!!

 
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Lightning
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Dec. 12, 2017 9:33 pm

Some stats for today being the coldest 24 hour burn I dare have. 19 degree outside mean temp according to the closest small airport about 10 miles from here.

Just before tending the furnace tonight there was a heat call by thermostat at 8:00pm. At that time the furnace was steady at 260 degrees over the load door and 100 degrees in the warm air supply.

At 8:30 the heat call ended. At that point the furnace had reached 325 degrees over the load door with 113 degrees in the warm air supply. This shows an increase of 43% in heat output by comparing the change in the warm air supply. (8:00pm to 8:30)

Not a bad achievement for a fuel bed that had been keeping the house at 72-73 degrees for 24 hours with a mean OAT of 19 degrees. ;)

I only added 39 pounds since my next tending will be tomorrow morning at 12 hours.

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Last edited by Lightning on Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 7:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Dieselpowerf350
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Posts: 200
Joined: Sun. Oct. 25, 2015 6:51 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Hotblast 1557m
Coal Size/Type: All and I want more....lol!
Other Heating: Oil

Post by Dieselpowerf350 » Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 6:53 am

Yea that’s impressive! I prob should start keeping stats myself to compare and see how well she’s burning.
I started my 12 hour tending this morning for a couple days anyway.

 
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Lightning
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 8:04 am

Thanks Mike, to keep it easy I just use a luggage scale (eBay around $20) to track coal usage and keep that information (and any other info I might want to add) filed on a note pad app on my smart phone.

 
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Dieselpowerf350
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Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Hotblast 1557m
Coal Size/Type: All and I want more....lol!
Other Heating: Oil

Post by Dieselpowerf350 » Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 8:10 am

Awesome! thanks man.

 
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Lightning
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 9:08 am

You can set it up any way you want. Here's what I do. I make a day list for each month with poundage, outside average temps and maintenance notes. If I do twice a day tending I'll put a + (pounds at second tending) for example today's entry for poundage will look like,

13 - 40 + 35

That way when I look back I can see where I had to do a tending twice in one day. My first year I printed calendars and used a pencil. This is more fun lol and makes it easier to share data with a screen shot.

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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 10:22 am

Funny lol.
Interesting name for a weather station/small airport.

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Dieselpowerf350
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Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Hotblast 1557m
Coal Size/Type: All and I want more....lol!
Other Heating: Oil

Post by Dieselpowerf350 » Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 7:40 pm

Got to look for a luggage scale now. The wife- why are you buying a luggage scale, you aren’t leaving me are you. Me-Nope for weighing coal. Her- omg you lost your mind it’s already in 40# bags, what you don’t trust them. Me- nope I’m just Coal Crazy baby. Lol!!! :lol:

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 7:49 pm

Omg, that's funny. I named my coal furnace "Ashley" so I'm often accused of being in the basement with "the other woman" :lol:

I use a scale that hangs from the floor joist, remember to see what the bucket weighs so you don't count it.

 
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Dieselpowerf350
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Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Hotblast 1557m
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Post by Dieselpowerf350 » Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 8:07 pm

Right on partner!

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sat. Dec. 16, 2017 11:47 pm

Now that the minor cold spell is over I'm back to the 24 hour tending cycle into the foreseeable future. It seems my breaking point between doing 12 or 24 hours is around 22 degrees average outside temp. Trying to stretch to 24 hours below that temp becomes too much strain on the fuel bed for ash clearing and recovery. I'm sure I could stretch that to an 18 hour cycle but that becomes a nuisance lol with work and sleep patterns. Below is the recent activity.

It's interesting to see my loading habits. On the 9th and 10th I added a little too much so by the 11th I had to back off a little bit because the fuel bed was getting too heavy. It appears that around 55 pounds is average for around a 22 degree mean OAT. When mean OAT drops to 11 degrees I can expect to use 75-80 pounds per day. Some neat and useful data can be gathered by tracking stuff. 8-)

Day - Pounds (+ 2nd tend) --------> mean OAT

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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Dec. 19, 2017 12:49 pm

Got the low and slow burn today.
185 over the load
135 on the pipe
Warm air supply is variable.
-.025 to -.030 mano
41 degrees outside
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Last night I sorted some coal and put a blanket of pea and buckwheat size on top. Hardly no activity looking at the top of the fuel bed. It's really dark in there.
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So here is my tri level sorting facility. I have one tray with big, next tray with smaller and the bottom with hardware cloth. The top tray keeps all the biggest stove size, the middle tray keeps the nut and the bottom tray holds all the pea and buckwheat. The rice and fines fall thru to the floor. When I need some smaller sizing I'll dig from under the coal chute door. I make use of all the sizes.

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joeq
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Post by joeq » Tue. Dec. 19, 2017 5:43 pm

That tri-level looks interesting Mr. Lee. How does it work? You buy in bulk, right? What size do you buy? If you buy stove, and shovel it onto the top tier, (and it's stove size), how much falls through to the nut level, or even the bottom tray? What do you use as a shaker? Arm strong? Is it a new invention? How did you open the trays to the sizes you wanted, or were they already sized appropriately? just a few simple questions. :D

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Dec. 19, 2017 11:23 pm

joeq wrote:
Tue. Dec. 19, 2017 5:43 pm
You buy in bulk, right? What size do you buy? If you buy stove, and shovel it onto the top tier, (and it's stove size), how much falls through to the nut level, or even the bottom tray?
Yes I buy stove size in bulk but the load inevitably has some smaller pieces and fines. I only sort the coal when I need some smaller sizes to blanket on top. Although, later in the season as I dig towards the coal chute door I'll start sorting because there will be a higher concentration of fines and smaller pieces there.
joeq wrote:
Tue. Dec. 19, 2017 5:43 pm
What do you use as a shaker?
I just nudge the coal with my shovel and the smaller stuff falls thru
joeq wrote:
Tue. Dec. 19, 2017 5:43 pm
Is it a new invention? How did you open the trays to the sizes you wanted, or were they already sized appropriately?
I started sorting in the first year but used a milk crate. I only separated fines by heaving the milk crate up and down inside a barrel but that got kinda dusty hahaha. The top two trays I used the jig saw and cut out holes sized how I wanted. The bottom tray has half inch hardware cloth across it.


joeq wrote:
Tue. Dec. 19, 2017 5:43 pm
That tri-level looks interesting Mr. Lee. How does it work?
So, first question last lol. When I need to sort sizes I'll throw 4 shovels worth on the top tray, then nudge the coal back and forth. Once I'm content with what remains (stove size and bigger) I'll pull that tray off and dump it in my coal cannon. Then I'll do the nudge trick again with the shovel at the next layer. Once I'm content with what's left there (nut size) I'll pull that tray off and dump that in another bucket and continue to the next tray with the hardware cloth. I'll do the nudge trick again and once all the fines and rice fall thru I'm left with pea and buckwheat. The rice and fines fall to the floor. Once those accumulate they get taken to another barrel. I'll use the sorted sizes depending on conditions outside for the optimum burn I want. Whether I just wanna layer of nut on top the stove size or a blanket of pea and buckwheat or maybe a blanket of rice and fines. Pretty fanatical, huh?

It sounds like a long labor intensive process but it only takes a few minutes to sort 50 pounds of coal. I usually do it while the fire is revving up before shake down.


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