Finally. I'm burning Coal...Harman Magnum Help Please

Hi all...I have a KA6 boiler but due to a possible relocation I've decided to hold-off and just get a stoker for the winter. So I found a Magnum local here. Tore it all apart. Cleaned it. Fixed a few issues and fired it up today. I've been reading all of the great advice on here but I do have one point of confusion; operation of the Vertiflow control unit. If I follow most of the folks on here, the unit has 2 modes of operation. Pilot and Tstat. Ok 3...it also has a rocker switch that cuts power to the feed so you can light the stove.

Pilot mode is the ONLY time the On, Off (stoke operation and combustion blower) and Distribution timers enter the logic. When the tstat calls, NOTHING is regulated other than stoker stroke length (mechanical adjustment) and combustion blower volume by cavitation via the gate over the inlet.

I just want to be sure because I think my "On" timer is not working. Who the heck decided to use those scrawny pots with the arrows I can't see in that controller!! LOL!!

Stove is running great. I just have the tstat jumped and I'm playing with combustion air volume and feed stroke. I'm pretty good with about 50% blinded and about a bit heavy of 1/4" of stroke.

Don

Hi dcveem....

Sounds like you are getting it dialed in! I 100% agree with you about those tiny screw slots / arrows. I can only guess they did that to discourage people from messing with them after they are set!

One thing, you mention the rocker switch controlling the combustion fan....on mine the rocker switch controls the feed motor receptacle.

I hope your ON timer turns out to be working, those controllers are not cheap!

You are correct...I fixed that in my post so I wouldn't screw anyone else up!! Yeah, I hope so too. I'd probably just work around it with a simple count-down timer...with a BIG pointer!!

Thanks Titleist!

Don

I do believe You've got this. Just remember the long lag time between adjustment and settled in result. Some Folks have done some Magic with the CoalTrol. Do some research on that unit. It's been some time gone by since I recall one being adapted to the VertiFlow..

Yeah, I see that the coaltrol is the ticket. Thanks Bob!

Here's a first start picture. It's running about half of this output at the moment. I have almost ALL of the combustion motor blinded and I'm still getting a pretty aggressive burn. I'm going to check my draft settings again when I get home...it was .05 when I first started. Maybe now with a nice hot masonry chimney I've improved my draft to the point where the combustion motor is only 50% in-play.

Easy to find out...I've got a manometer on the wall and I can always unplug the combustion blower and see what the bed looks like.

Thanks all!

Nice pic....i can't even remember when my glass was that clear!!

Its always tough to tell from pics, but the flame looks very healthy so I don't think the combustion air plate is closed too far.

A couple minor things to mention about the burning coal bed. The "smile" flame pattern would have me checking the sides of the grates for air leaks and sealing them with furnace cement. Looks like you may be pushing burning coals off the grate so you might want to tweak the air / feed motor stroke combo to get 1" of ash on the end of the grate. You have to balance the combustion fan opening with the draft in firebox versus flue pipe to make sure you don't pressurize the firebox then adjust feed rate to get the 1" ash edge. Since you have a manometer I am guessing you already have a handle on this!

*Titleist* beat me...
with 'jumpered t'stat like said you'll need to shorten the feed stroke.

I'm seeing a 'smiley face' burn pattern...

When you cleaned stove did you check each hole in grate by poking a bit into each hole?

Were all the fines cleaned from below the grate? plus new replacement grate gaskets?

You may SEARCH this site using 'smiley face' as your query.

Good catch!! But the burn pattern is straight across now..this shot was taken with match lite charcoal still embedded in the center!! I mean this was like 3 minutes after lighting! I'll get another shot when I get home this evening.

I did NOT seal the sides of the plates...I just figured since Harman didn't/doesn't it made perfect sense with the path of least resistance being the open holes of the grates. Grates where brand new didn't even have rust on them. The mating surfaces of the stoker assembly that the grates lay on were clean, non-pitted and I would assume offer a nice seal? This stove was "rebuilt" by a shop 2 years ago...but the owner didn't burn it. They delivered to his garage and it sat there until I bought it. I saw the glass and gaskets were new so I didn't mess with that. I did fix some odd problems tho;

1. The shaft that rotates the cam that interfaces the "U" shaped bracket that levers the door did NOT have the support bearing installed on the cam side? I can see where the original screws were installed. So I made a plate and pressed a sinstered bronze oil impregnated bearing in there. The "U" was also bent. I just resized it for now with a clamp. It's 1-3/4" inside now. I was going to replace it but after reading on here it's actually good since it acts like a sacrificial part in case things jam up. Made sense to me.

2. The swivel gate on the very end of the stoker unit to allow cleaning of fines was welded!! Badly too!! LOL. I don't know what went on there but there was a piece of brand-new looking woven gasket wrapped around it to facilitate sealing. It appears the repair shop saw it too and maybe applied the piece of gasket? Don't know. I removed all of it. Ground the bird-crap welds off to a level surface underneath. I surfaced the swivel gate and attached with new bolt.

Also, why would leaking grates cause a smiley face? Heck if the grates were leaking on the sides would that not produce a frown and not a smile? Less air in the center and more on the sides would equal unburned coal in the middle and red-hot coals on the sides? I'm new at this....lol!!

I'm so new I started the FIRST fire in the middle of dished out portion immediately coming out of the stoker unit!! I had the match light going pretty good and I'd sprinkle some coal on top, fire up the combustion blower and basically nothing would happen since there's no air holes way back there...geez. So I got on here and read a bit. Shoveled out the mess I made earlier. Filled that rear dished-out section with coal, spread a bit on the arched portion where the air holes are. Made a trench in the middle and crushed up the charcoal in there. Lit it up. Put a pit of coal on top of the charcoal and THEN fired up the combustion blower and BAM...in 3 minutes I had what you see in the picture!! I was amazed at how easy it was to make a fire in this thing if you know what you're doing. I gotta thank the guy that made that post.....

Don

Also, McGiever, you are dead-on. With the learning curve coming into play here...I'm a bit under 1/4 stroke and the combustion motor is all but closed off completely...

Obviously, I would love for this stove to run in pilot mode but I have to get around to figuring out what's up with the "on" timer. Could just be me.

Don

You get the smiley face effect if sides are leaking air because the coal on the sides burns faster than the middle. Less airflow in the middle lets the fire stay lit longer for its travel down the grates and makes the smile.

I didn't realize that was a 'start up' fire pic but since you have a straight steady fire line I wouldn't worry about sealing the sides or middle seam.

With the fan closed off so far and the feed rate under 1/4" what kind of heat output are you getting? What are the stove side temps and flue pipe temps? (and how did you measure temps)

Well, to be honest NO idea on temps! I do not have a thermometer worthy of that scale of temps. I even checked with wifes cooking stuff...LOL!

Here's the most recent picture. It looks pretty good to me...but I do see a curvature I kinda thought was from drag on the sides of the chute. Are your grates cemented on the sides? I need to shut mine down anyway soon to modify my stack design. I might just cement the sides of the grates too.

I can tell you this, it's toasty!!

I surely appreciate the help!

Don

Let the heat roll in and revel in it. Keep that working while you learn as much as you can here. When the time and outside temps are higher,You can afford a maintenance shutdown. Then You can be ready to try some magic on the existing controller and other issues. Patience and Summer are Your Best Allies! You're going to shock Yourself just how Good this Variable Rate Heatmaker really is! Did You get a copy of the Original Manual? We should have a link hiding in Our Archives!

dcveem3 wrote: ↑

Mon. Dec. 17, 2018 7:51 pm

Well, to be honest NO idea on temps! I do not have a thermometer worthy of that scale of temps. I even checked with wifes cooking stuff...LOL!

Here's the most recent picture. It looks pretty good to me...but I do see a curvature I kinda thought was from drag on the sides of the chute. Are your grates cemented on the sides? I need to shut mine down anyway soon to modify my stack design. I might just cement the sides of the grates too.

I can tell you this, it's toasty!!

I surely appreciate the help!

Don

That "smiley" is okay...at the angle the picture was taken makes it appear a tad worse than it prolly is.

Yeah, if you're taken her down, cement the sides plus the center seam and use a cup of water to dip a finger in and smooth over the top to get a finish like glass.
Keep a rag or old towel handy for wiping things up.

I will do just that...thanks for the help!!

Don

I'll toss in that when you are ready to get that KA6 installed and going, drop a line.

There is a lot of info on here about the KA6, including some of mine with a lot of pics and documentation that might help.