New Guy Questions.

Hi All.

My name is Jeff I'm a grumpy old biker you got questions on old panheads or any Harley in general. ask me I'm your guy. but I'm new to coal so I thought I would run my plans by you guy's to get recommendations.

few weeks back I bought a Reading Juniata off craigslist. shop that sold it said it wouldn't keep there shop warm so after one winter they uninstalled it. when I went to go look at it I found out they where trying to heat a 10,000 sq ft building with 15+ ft ceilings (dummies). well anyway the stove looked and the blowers ran like new.
been seriously considering removing tri-burner squirrel cage and add a separate 50 cfm cumbustion blower. is it worth it? I have a new coal-trol (retail standard version) so I wont have any issues running it as either a tri burn or not.
my plans for installation in my 8" thick walled 768 sq ft log cabin (full basement only going to be heated by radiant heat from stove) is set it next to the propane forced air furnace. the cold air and supply ducts will pass directly over the the stove and there is already a 10" opening with flange in the return duct. so all I have to do is get a 10" to 6" reduced to hook it up to the stove convection port. what I think I will do is remove the convection blower and put a snap disc in the duct above the stove and wire it into the 24v terminal (R-G) terminal so that when the temperature rises it will kick on the furnace blower. suggestions on temp range of the disc would be very helpfull.
my water heater will be 6' away so I also plan on installing a dhw coil. its just my wife and I and its a 40 gallon tank so suggestions on coil size would be appreciated.

any and all suggestions will be appreciated
thanks in advance
Jeff

Being directly under the 10 inch return opening you might do better without any direct connection at all rather than 6 inch which will block other radiation from the stove.

Hi Jeff, Welcome to the forum. And YES, I do have a Harley question for you. I bought my first Harley last summer. I'm going to change my oil & filter next spring, before riding. Should I warm up the oil before draining? Or should I roll it out of the shed, and drop it cold. I've always warmed the oil in my trucks before changing. Man at dealer recommended dropping the oil before starting in the spring. What would you recommend? It's a 2003 Fat Boy, w/7,000 original miles. Black Cherry in color (the nicer of the two black cherry's). Just the right amount of chrome, And extras....... Very nice, Classy looking bike. It caught my eye one day, while playing on e-bay. Wife said "If you want it, buy it". I took her advice........ Any other suggestions before riding? Oil brand, etc.? OK, now to your stove: Personally, You shouldn't need the big squirrel cage fan you're talking about. That would cool your hot air coming off the stove. When tying into your duct work, use the cold air return. The closer to the hot air furnace, the better. In the main trunk, above the filter is best. The further away from the furnace you are, the more heat you'll loose through the thin sheet metal of the duct work. The whole idea is to give the already pre-heated hot air to the furnace. The furnace won't have to work nearly as hard. Leave the furnace run as if you had no stove helping it. The furnace will not run long. Your heat will be distributed evenly. And, for the most part, you'll be heating with the coal unit. You'll be very happy with results. Oliver

Hey, wait a minute here, I'm grumpy... Welcome aboard Jeff..

franco b wrote:Being directly under the 10 inch return opening you might do better without any direct connection at all rather than 6 inch which will block other radiation from the stove.

Franco thank you for the imput. I understand completly what your saying but I don't think the 6" will be the restriction the square port where the convection blower hooks up will be the limiting facter on how much air will be pulled through it. I do want some radiant heat in the basement I don't heat it at all now but in really cold weather the basement doesn't really get that cold but a little chilly so I was hoping the heat off the stove would help. So I could do my ammo reloading down there more comfortably. It won't be that complicated setup so it will be easy to modify on the fly once I get it up and running and you have given me something to think about.

oliver power wrote:Hi Jeff, Welcome to the forum. And YES, I do have a Harley question for you. I bought my first Harley last summer. I'm going to change my oil & filter next spring, before riding. Should I warm up the oil before draining? Or should I roll it out of the shed, and drop it cold. I've always warmed the oil in my trucks before changing. Man at dealer recommended dropping the oil before starting in the spring. What would you recommend? It's a 2003 Fat Boy, w/7,000 original miles. Black Cherry in color (the nicer of the two black cherry's). Just the right amount of chrome, And extras....... Very nice, Classy looking bike. It caught my eye one day, while playing on e-bay. Wife said "If you want it, buy it". I took her advice........ Any other suggestions before riding? Oil brand, etc.? OK, now to your stove: Personally, You shouldn't need the big squirrel cage fan you're talking about. That would cool your hot air coming off the stove. When tying into your duct work, use the cold air return. The closer to the hot air furnace, the better. In the main trunk, above the filter is best. The further away from the furnace you are, the more heat you'll loose through the thin sheet metal of the duct work. The whole idea is to give the already pre-heated hot air to the furnace. The furnace won't have to work nearly as hard. Leave the furnace run as if you had no stove helping it. The furnace will not run long. Your heat will be distributed evenly. And, for the most part, you'll be heating with the coal unit. You'll be very happy with results. Oliver

Oliver if it was me and your oil level was good I would put about 20 miles on it then drain the oil. 20W50 don't flow that well when cold. On my Panheads I use a straght 60W and in my twin cam I run Revtech 25W60 if you look in your manual it will recomend a 50 or 60 straight weight in warmer temps. The twin cams run very hot from the lean fuel mixture because of the EPA mandates so I recomend the 25W60. Also very important make sure you fill the filter with oil before puting it on even if you got to get someone to lean the bike over the twin cam filters the oil before it goes into the engine if there's no oil in the filter it will run dry with no pressure till it fills the filter. Evos,Panheads,shovelheads and knuckles all filter the oil as it leaves the engine.

What Franco said.........

Where the hell is Freetown Fred ??? I figured he has finally met his twin by your introduction.......

Welcome to the forum and how about finishing your profile info and include the general area you are located ? Might be some nerby who can offer up some advice on getting the most out of it.

Rick

olpanrider wrote:

oliver power wrote:Hi Jeff, Welcome to the forum. And YES, I do have a Harley question for you. I bought my first Harley last summer. I'm going to change my oil & filter next spring, before riding. Should I warm up the oil before draining? Or should I roll it out of the shed, and drop it cold. I've always warmed the oil in my trucks before changing. Man at dealer recommended dropping the oil before starting in the spring. What would you recommend? It's a 2003 Fat Boy, w/7,000 original miles. Black Cherry in color (the nicer of the two black cherry's). Just the right amount of chrome, And extras....... Very nice, Classy looking bike. It caught my eye one day, while playing on e-bay. Wife said "If you want it, buy it". I took her advice........ Any other suggestions before riding? Oil brand, etc.? OK, now to your stove: Personally, You shouldn't need the big squirrel cage fan you're talking about. That would cool your hot air coming off the stove. When tying into your duct work, use the cold air return. The closer to the hot air furnace, the better. In the main trunk, above the filter is best. The further away from the furnace you are, the more heat you'll loose through the thin sheet metal of the duct work. The whole idea is to give the already pre-heated hot air to the furnace. The furnace won't have to work nearly as hard. Leave the furnace run as if you had no stove helping it. The furnace will not run long. Your heat will be distributed evenly. And, for the most part, you'll be heating with the coal unit. You'll be very happy with results. Oliver

Oliver if it was me and your oil level was good I would put about 20 miles on it then drain the oil. 20W50 don't flow that well when cold. On my Panheads I use a straght 60W and in my twin cam I run Revtech 25W60 if you look in your manual it will recomend a 50 or 60 straight weight in warmer temps. The twin cams run very hot from the lean fuel mixture because of the EPA mandates so I recomend the 25W60. Also very important make sure you fill the filter with oil before puting it on even if you got to get someone to lean the bike over the twin cam filters the oil before it goes into the engine if there's no oil in the filter it will run dry with no pressure till it fills the filter. Evos,Panheads,shovelheads and knuckles all filter the oil as it leaves the engine.

Thanks
olpanrider. My thoughts exactly.........Warm the oil. I did buy an owners manual. Then discovered I needed reading glasses. Got the glasses. Haven't been back to the manual yet. EDIT: I just happened to think of something; This is a coal burning forum. I should have sent you a PM for my Harley questions. Look at the top of your screen for the flashing envelope. Oliver

Rick 386 wrote:What Franco said.........

Where the hell is Freetown Fred ??? I figured he has finally met his twin by your introduction.......

Welcome to the forum and how about finishing your profile info and include the general area you are located ? Might be some nerby who can offer up some advice on getting the most out of it.

Rick

Yea the more I think about what Franco said the more I like what he's saying.

That stoker should work just fine. I run a Keystoker 90 with a 6 inch top vent for convection air in a sort of push pull configuration. The stove convection blower is controlled by the Coal-trol in the basement family room where the stove is located. I then duct the air into an inline Panasonic FV20NLF1 fan which is 240 cfm. The Panasonic blows the air into the bedrooms at the opposite end of the ranch home. The stairs to the basement family room at the other end of the house act as a return. 60's ranch with upgraded windows, and attic insulation. The upstairs maintains 68 to 69 by the thermostat in the hallway which controls a RIB (relay in a box) on the cold or cool contacts of the thermostat. As the temperature rises the fan is then turned off feeding upstairs while the family room gets a little more boost as upstairs does not pull the heat. The family room in the basement runs 73 to 75 24/7 during cold months, and a little cooler during the warmer shoulder months, all controlled by the Coal-trol. 2200 sq ft basement and first floor heated very comfy and use about 3 tons per year. This cold year at about 5500lbs to date, burning since Oct 22.

I just been waitin for him to finish his profile & info--INCLUDING his age so I can see just how old this young panhead woodpecker is . Welcome to the FORUM my friend OP--NICE

I see Jeff's an evening poster. I just hope he's not a one of them thar overly sensitive Ohio guys like his State Mod. Hambden Bob!!

freetown fred wrote:I just been waitin for him to finish his profile & info--INCLUDING his age so I can see just how old this young panhead woodpecker is . Welcome to the FORUM my friend OP--NICE

nice shovelhead Fred. pipes are a little blue you better check and make sure your timing ain't retarded.

here's a couple of my toys

1950 panhead that I've owned 32 years now since I was 18 (you can do the math)



1962 panhead I bought in the mid 90's after I was hit by a car on my 1950 so I could ride while I rebuilt the 1950.



1999 ultra that my wife fell in love with



Fred since you own a shovel you really need to check this forum out.

http://shovelhead.us/forum/index.php

here's a couple links to some threads I did there

http://shovelhead.us/forum/showthread.php?t=121344

http://shovelhead.us/forum/showthread.php?t=127513

http://shovelhead.us/forum/showthread.php?t=114491

Well, Happy 50th whenever it was Nice collection my friend. I had a shop down in Palm Bay, Fl & then Vero Beach, Fl. " American Dream Machine & then "Spokes & Strokes" Used to get a lot of stop ins early this month

freetown fred wrote:Well, Happy 50th whenever it was Nice collection my friend. I had a shop down in Palm Bay, Fl & then Vero Beach, Fl. " American Dream Machine & then "Spokes & Strokes" Used to get a lot of stop ins early this month

thanks for the b-day wishes.. grew up in my Dads shop " custom cycle mfg." in the 70's. went to Harley school in Daytona in the 80's. then worked at a couple different shops and for myself since. now I work at International in the cab shop fabricating truck cabs. the shop names you mentioned sure sound familiar. maybe I heard the names when I lived in daytona for a short time.