HELP....new to coal harmon magnum stoker

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rookiecoalburner2
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Location: south central pa
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: harmon magnum stoker
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by rookiecoalburner2 » Mon. Feb. 26, 2018 9:06 pm

greetings,aweome website...i need some guidance...im very green?new to coal heat... just bought a used harmon magnum coal stove in working condition. had a good friend of mine help me get exhaust stack plumbed to chimney and a 6" galvanized line from from knockout in stove top to floor register 8 ft from stove.
its warm here mid 50s during day 40 or so at night.. the problem im having is getting the pilot mode to burn the coal up before being pushed to ashpan.im gonna say 70% of coal in ashpan isnt burnt.. some still black and shiny.ive reduced the feed to like 1.75 dots,added 2 min to on burn time(now ar 5 min). off time at 10 min. opened/closed the combustion motor restictor plate..chimney is rectangle.. probably 6" x 12" flue ,20 to 25 ft high..
my buddyis a hvac guy. he didnt check the chimey or stove draft yet with manometer..i know thats important..hes gonna do it soon. any suggestions
ps. i burnt wood for 18 years..tired of all the work....trying coal..

 
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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Mon. Feb. 26, 2018 10:20 pm

Welcome Aboard :)

Sounds like it may need more air. But when changing any setting you do need to give it a lot of time, like about an hour, to settle in and recover before you can tell what the changed results are.

Someone else will be along and give you the finer points to your specific equipment. :)

 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Tue. Feb. 27, 2018 7:28 am

Welcome to the forum! A very nice stoker you have there! :yes:

As McG said you need more air getting through the coal to burn it up. How far open is the shutter on your combustion fan? Mine is just over half closed. And did you clean the squirrel cage fins real well? The fins will catch and hold dirt and it will really cut down on airflow. I believe your feed rate is about right, mine is at 2 dots and only needs to be adjusted if the size of the rice coal changes a lot from load to load. Make sure the fan is seated in the sleeve all the way. I have made that mistake after cleaning and re-installing the fan! :hangover:

One other thing to check is to make sure the holes in the grates are clear. Take a drill bit and ream out each one. I was looking for the bit size in the manual but didn't find it, I am sure i saw it in there. :eh: Boogers will build up on the holes and you think they are open, but really aren't all the way clear. I clean mine out at the end of each season. I just had mine shut down last week and only about 5 of the holes needed reaming.

My timer settings are 2 minutes on and 12 minutes off. I get a minor amount of unburned coal when mostly in pilot mode but not near the 70% you are getting.

Having the manometer is important so that as you increase combustion air you don't pressurize the firebox causing CO to escape through the hopper. If you have the hopper lid on you will see condensation on the underside when this happens. Its recommended to have a CO monitor near the stoker and another one elsewhere in the house too.


 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Tue. Feb. 27, 2018 7:40 am

By the way....just an obvious question, but it is rice coal you are burning and it is relatively 'clean' which means not a lot of dust and smaller pieces of rice? If there is a lot of dust and real small pieces then the air will have a harder time coming up through the coal bed.

Just checked the spare grates and a 5/32" bit fit nicely into the holes.

 
rookiecoalburner2
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Location: south central pa
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: harmon magnum stoker
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by rookiecoalburner2 » Tue. Feb. 27, 2018 5:25 pm

Pulled the plug on the stove till I get something figured out wife came home open the door in the carbon monoxide detectors are going off. Where should the burn line be in the Firebox closer to where the ashes drop off or closer to where the ramp is that pushes the coal up, my burn line was completely back off of the grates with the holes in them right where Thecoal push up.im really confused here. How critical is it to know the draft of the chimney with the mentimeter I haven't been able to do that yet will that cause these problems if the rest of the stove isn't set up to the draft of the chimney

 
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WNY
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Post by WNY » Tue. Feb. 27, 2018 6:06 pm

It pushes the coal from the back/bottom so the flames should start in the back and go to the front depending on how much you are burning and the demand for heat. Idle it should be towards farthest back.

you might need to make sure the holes are clean and under the grates are clean good. Not sure if that one had a "fines" dump door under the grates, sometimes that gets left open and little air gets up thru the grates where it should go and it won't idle properly. if it's not burning completely across or feeding too fast, or not enough air, it will not burn up properly. you will get a lot of ash probably compared to wood stove, so don't be alarmed. The blower might need cleaned too, the fins can get very dirty.

Yes, the Draft definitely needs to be checked and set for proper drafting.

There a lot of good threads on here for your stove.


 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Tue. Feb. 27, 2018 8:10 pm

Good job having the CO monitor! Good decision to shut it down for now.

A manometer is very important when setting up a stoker. There is an allen head bolt in the front middle between the lower and upper doors. The metal manometer tube is inserted there to get the overfire reading and then the metal manometer tube is inserted in the flue pipe before the barometric damper if you have one to get the exhaust reading.

Not sure where you are located but temps here got to 68* and some installs will have trouble maintaining draft with an outside temp that high.

My stove was in pilot mode all day and the flame line is about 3/4 back on the grates. There is not a large bed of burning coals in pilot mode. When it is in full fire mode the flame line will be within 1" of the front edge of the grates and extend back to about the 3/4 spot..

 
rookiecoalburner2
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Posts: 11
Joined: Mon. Feb. 26, 2018 8:30 pm
Location: south central pa
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: harmon magnum stoker
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by rookiecoalburner2 » Tue. Feb. 27, 2018 8:57 pm

thanks for the suggestions/tips guys. i have already tried a lot of them..ive only had this thing running for 4 days. my 1st burn cycle.but its been very warm for south central pa over this time period. highs in the 50s.today 60.lows in 40s.i wouldnt even be burning my woodstove as warm as it is.ive seen on other threads/websites that some setups with stokers dont burn well on pilot when its warm.ive seen that chimney draft goes way down as outside temp goes up..that could have been my problem today with carbon dioxide alarms going off. never had draft problems with woodstove..i talked to a guy at work with a harmon magnum.his settings are very close to mine and his rig runs good....should ashes comming off burn pot be scaly or turn to fly ash powder as you crush it between your fingers.. my ash is scaly...

 
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McGiever
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Posts: 10130
Joined: Sun. May. 02, 2010 11:26 pm
Location: Junction of PA-OH-WV
Stoker Coal Boiler: AXEMAN-ANDERSON 130 "1959"
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: BUCKET A DAY water heater
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar

Post by McGiever » Tue. Feb. 27, 2018 9:35 pm

Scaly, won't ever see powdery.

With a combustion fan it is mandatory to use a manometer to set draft precisely. No 2 chimneys are the same.

These are dealing in 100th's of a inch of water column negative pressure.

 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Wed. Feb. 28, 2018 5:02 pm

The best ash description I've heard for these 'granola like'. The only powder you will see is when you use the pull chain handle on the exhaust port to clear that passage and the powder will miss the ash pan and lay on the bottom.

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