Coalpail.com Forum

I believe I finally figured out why all the coal was not being burned! I am Definitely excited. I did not realize that the smaller secondary motor has a air intake on it that was completely shut. I had the large shutter opened for the stoker but not the small secondary intake. When the boiler was idling it was not getting enough air to burn all the coal. It is working great now! The fire goes from one side to the other and it was not before nor was it burning the top layer of coal. Thanks for all your help especially Vtec350 who mentioned the air vent. Here is his suggestions: I've had my KA-6 running now for 3 weeks . Rite now fro summer DHW my feed rate (red nut) is set 15 turns, start with the nut closest to the back of the boiler then 15 turns forward. The main air is set 1" open, the secondary motor is open 1/2 way and the aquastat is set at 140*/160* with the dif at 15, the timer I left with the settings from the factory, 5 pins every 15 mins. A 5 gal. bucket of coal is lasting 3-3 1/2 days with a nice small fire stoking and I empty the ash pan once a week and it's not quiet full. For winter you want to move the aqaustat up to 160*/180* and back off a few turns on the feed rate for a hotter fire.
Best,
Jon

You wont need the secondary blower once the cold air gets here . It works better if you remove it and reinstall the original blank plate with the curved fan shroud for winter. Dave

Could you post some pics of the ash now?

Here are a couple pictures of my ash now that the boiler is getting some air. The first two are how the ash is now and the second two is how it was. I still have some tweaking to do since my settings where based on less air intake but I am very happy with the change so far. I really appreciate everyone's input and support. This is one great site!
All the best,
Jon

Flyer5 wrote:You wont need the secondary blower once the cold air gets here . It works better if you remove it and reinstall the original blank plate with the curved fan shroud for winter. Dave

When the weather is warm, or if you have a marginal chimney, you do need a full time combustion blower.. If your stoker is fireing to make heat several times an hour, then your coal will burn very well and completely.. But if you have warm weather or a marginal chimney pulling air through the fire, then the additional combustion air is needed to keep the idle fire burning well.

Greg L

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