Harman SF3500 Bricked Down
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- Location: PA, Southern York County!
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
- Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
- Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood
Since I have been running stoker boilers for the past few years I don't get to hand fire much anymore. About this time of year I get the urge to burn some wood and some big black rocks.
I bought this house 8 years ago and it had an old Blaze King wood/coal furnace installed into a plenum. The "Vee" shaped fire box and the single grate made it difficult to burn Anthracite, Lucky for me I found this Harman SF3500 for cheap right after I bought the house. It was a bit of a job getting this monster into the basement! Touchdown! Now to get it in place. And install it. Right from the start I bricked it down to 4 grates. The other 2 grates are installed backwards so they don't engage the shaker. Then fire brick was stacked on them. A few years ago I bricked it down to 3 grates using the same method.
Now it's kind of hidden behind the Van Wert and a 6 ton coal bin. I fired it up last night and opened some window-stats! I shook it down a while ago and loaded it up with 2 buckets of Chestnut and 1.5 buckets of Pea. It's a bit rev'ed up right now after the shake and re-load. About 330 on the front. About 320 on the stove pipe. Should be about 120 to 150. Even bricked down to 3 grates this thing puts a ton of heat into the house.
-Don
I bought this house 8 years ago and it had an old Blaze King wood/coal furnace installed into a plenum. The "Vee" shaped fire box and the single grate made it difficult to burn Anthracite, Lucky for me I found this Harman SF3500 for cheap right after I bought the house. It was a bit of a job getting this monster into the basement! Touchdown! Now to get it in place. And install it. Right from the start I bricked it down to 4 grates. The other 2 grates are installed backwards so they don't engage the shaker. Then fire brick was stacked on them. A few years ago I bricked it down to 3 grates using the same method.
Now it's kind of hidden behind the Van Wert and a 6 ton coal bin. I fired it up last night and opened some window-stats! I shook it down a while ago and loaded it up with 2 buckets of Chestnut and 1.5 buckets of Pea. It's a bit rev'ed up right now after the shake and re-load. About 330 on the front. About 320 on the stove pipe. Should be about 120 to 150. Even bricked down to 3 grates this thing puts a ton of heat into the house.
-Don
Nice looking fire!!
I miss hand firing sometimes also. I get the chance when we lose electricity and I move the Mark III in place in front of the stoker. Ya never know....if the electric company improves its reliability there might be a time when I flip the main breaker and claim we need to go hand fired!!
Lets see.....garage boiler, basement boiler, basement hand fed.....how many chimneys do you have??
I miss hand firing sometimes also. I get the chance when we lose electricity and I move the Mark III in place in front of the stoker. Ya never know....if the electric company improves its reliability there might be a time when I flip the main breaker and claim we need to go hand fired!!
Lets see.....garage boiler, basement boiler, basement hand fed.....how many chimneys do you have??
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- Location: PA, Southern York County!
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
- Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
- Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- Location: PA, Southern York County!
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
- Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
- Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood
I am really enjoying this hand firing thing on a cold Christmas Eve. It really sets the mood!
I put a small meat thermometer near the top of the plenum. And, I drilled a hole in the stove pipe and put a copper tube in it for the draft gauge. Strangely enough, I have never measured the draft on this furnace. Right now, shortly after a shake down, reload and a little rev up it's about -.02. Most of the day it was about -.01. .
One thing I have learned about hot air systems is, the more you blow the air, the cooler it gets. The other day when I fired it up I decided to pull the big blower off and install a smaller 500 CFM unit I had laying around. Yesterday, I removed that and just stuck a box fan on the back. I'm very surprised at how well this works. This hot air system seems to convect really well so the air only needs a little push. The heat seems to distribute very well and I don't have as many window-stats open. Since we are not using a return duct, the basement door is propped open about 6". It is in the center of the house which helps.
Merry Christmas! -Don
Today we added a couple of monitoring devices.I put a small meat thermometer near the top of the plenum. And, I drilled a hole in the stove pipe and put a copper tube in it for the draft gauge. Strangely enough, I have never measured the draft on this furnace. Right now, shortly after a shake down, reload and a little rev up it's about -.02. Most of the day it was about -.01. .
One thing I have learned about hot air systems is, the more you blow the air, the cooler it gets. The other day when I fired it up I decided to pull the big blower off and install a smaller 500 CFM unit I had laying around. Yesterday, I removed that and just stuck a box fan on the back. I'm very surprised at how well this works. This hot air system seems to convect really well so the air only needs a little push. The heat seems to distribute very well and I don't have as many window-stats open. Since we are not using a return duct, the basement door is propped open about 6". It is in the center of the house which helps.
Merry Christmas! -Don
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- Location: PA, Southern York County!
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
- Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
- Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood
I shot a short video of the Big Ol' Harman running.
Merry Christmas!
-Don
Merry Christmas!
-Don
StokerDon,
How did you get it into the basement?
Did you manhandle it down the basement stairwell?
Based on your pictures, I am guessing you have some sort of access door from the outside you lowered it through.
How did you get it into the basement?
Did you manhandle it down the basement stairwell?
Based on your pictures, I am guessing you have some sort of access door from the outside you lowered it through.
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- Location: PA, Southern York County!
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
- Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
- Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood
The basement entrance is right behind the furnace. From here it's a simple matter of lifting the furnace about 3 feet. Then back the truck up about 5 feet and lower the furnace into the basement.
The stairs were removed to make this happen. From here I rolled it on pipes to get it in place.
-Don- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- Location: PA, Southern York County!
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
- Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
- Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood
Were going to run this for a few more days.
Here's a little ash comparison between the Axeman Anderson 130M and the Harman. Keep in mind that the coal we are burning in the Harman came out of the Axeman's bin. Axeman ashes... Harman ashes... It's hard to believe it's the same coal! In the Harman, this coal burns almost to dust! I wish I could teach the Axeman to do that.
I put another load in. All set for the night. -Don
Here's a little ash comparison between the Axeman Anderson 130M and the Harman. Keep in mind that the coal we are burning in the Harman came out of the Axeman's bin. Axeman ashes... Harman ashes... It's hard to believe it's the same coal! In the Harman, this coal burns almost to dust! I wish I could teach the Axeman to do that.
I put another load in. All set for the night. -Don
- Canaan coal man
- Member
- Posts: 822
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 08, 2012 12:37 pm
- Location: East Canaan, CT
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Efm 520
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: A little cubby coal stove in the basement
- Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood #6
- Coal Size/Type: Stove And Nut
Don have you ever had the chance to play with a hand fired boiler? Maybe we will get a nice detailed review some day, if you ever have the chance to plumb one in?
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- Location: PA, Southern York County!
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
- Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
- Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood
Sorry no I haven't. I would be a little afraid to run a hand fired boiler in my house. My heating system is all PEX. Hand fired boilers have a habit of overshooting the water temperature and PEX should be kept under 200 degrees.Canaan coal man wrote: ↑Wed. Dec. 26, 2018 9:46 pmDon have you ever had the chance to play with a hand fired boiler? Maybe we will get a nice detailed review some day, if you ever have the chance to plumb one in?
-Don
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- Member
- Posts: 205
- Joined: Fri. Sep. 08, 2017 12:54 pm
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vigilant II 2310
- Baseburners & Antiques: Grodin Petite
- Other Heating: electric radiators until used boiler hook up
My 87 year old Father tells stories of growing up with a hand fired steam boiler and every once in a while the pressure would hit the pop off and fill basement with steam. Guess that's one way to humidify air although it does have some odor.
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- Location: PA, Southern York County!
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
- Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
- Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood
Thank's!
I started a Playlist for the videos.
I don't know how many more I will do. It's going to be 60 tomorrow so I think I'm just going to let the Harman go out overnight.
-Don
I started a Playlist for the videos.
I don't know how many more I will do. It's going to be 60 tomorrow so I think I'm just going to let the Harman go out overnight.
-Don