Alaska 140 set up.

 
sitdwnandhngon
Member
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri. Jul. 20, 2018 7:26 pm
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Stoker II

Post by sitdwnandhngon » Wed. Jan. 12, 2022 6:15 pm

I picked up a new switch, and it was much smaller than the one that was on it. I didn't trust it. Running it with reduced fan speed gets it very hot. I decided to take it back out and right now it's just running with some of the fan intake blocked off to slow flow down.

I think I have to order a heavy duty rheostat, like 10-15 amp.

 
LTStorm07
Member
Posts: 106
Joined: Tue. Sep. 11, 2012 8:32 pm
Location: Stillwater, PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1980 EFM DF520
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Alaska Stoker II
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Other Heating: Heat pump / Propane

Post by LTStorm07 » Wed. Jan. 12, 2022 9:55 pm

sitdwnandhngon wrote:
Wed. Jan. 12, 2022 6:15 pm
I think I have to order a heavy duty rheostat, like 10-15 amp.
Yep it's a higher amp controller but believe it or not the blower isn't a high amp blower, Dayton 4.9amp if I recall. A new varispeed controller is pricey, $60+. For me, I used a Coaltrol which controlled everything based on a programmable thermostat. Blower speed, stokers, set backs etc. It even turned the second feeder on and off from the tstat, I just had to throw the shovel of hot coal on and then tell the tstat to run the second stoker. Greatest thing I ever did for my 140...

 
sitdwnandhngon
Member
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri. Jul. 20, 2018 7:26 pm
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Stoker II

Post by sitdwnandhngon » Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 12:49 pm

Well, I think I have it figured out.

I picked up a Dayton 10a fan speed controller, and have a backup of basically the same thing coming from Amazon.

On the lowest setting it seems to move enough air to get heat at every vent, but not blow the roof off the house.

I didn't have room for the plenum, so I used the cap for it over the top of the stove and put two 8" duct collars in, and each of those feeds two ducts.

One side of the blower intake is now ducted into our existing cold air return from upstairs with a filter inline.

The thermostat is right above the plenum cap inside one of the ducts and is set for 150 on, 90 off. It kicked on and off a lot last night with one burner going at about level 3. I think with the lower fan speed now it should stay on much longer, which is probably ideal, no big spikes in duct temps.

I got the second burner going to test it out, seems to work just fine, it really makes some heat with both going, hopefully those below zero nights don't leave me with a 55 degree house temp anymore.

The paddle feed does seem a lot more efficient than the carpet, with the single burner going I had more heat and less ash in a 24 hour period than with the Stoker.

I grabbed a back up combustion motor and fan and intend to get another, plus two backup feed motors.

It needs a good paint job, but that won't happen until summer when I can get all the doors and windows open, paint in some morning and just leave for the day so it can air out.

-----

Now I just need to mess around with it and see which is more efficient, running two burners on low/med, or one burner on high with the second as a supplement when needed.


 
LTStorm07
Member
Posts: 106
Joined: Tue. Sep. 11, 2012 8:32 pm
Location: Stillwater, PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1980 EFM DF520
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Alaska Stoker II
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Other Heating: Heat pump / Propane

Post by LTStorm07 » Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 1:48 pm

Hey that's great and sounds like it's working well for you. I would agree it's much more efficient than the stoker II is in my experience. With both burners running will chew through A LOT of coal, but sometimes you need that depending on house and temps. I would argue that it'll meet needs of most residential homes providing the heat can be distributed as 170k BTU is a lot of heat. The trick is getting it throughout the home. I will say that I felt it was more efficient running 1 burner than 2 since it seems to be that the more load a coal appliance has, the more efficient they are. With 2 burners running, it can idle back a lot and not be as efficient.

If you ever decide to venture down the coaltrol road, you'll wonder why you waited. It automatically controls everything from the thermostat, even the idle and max fire rates which it constantly modulates the feed rate to match the target house temp.

 
sitdwnandhngon
Member
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri. Jul. 20, 2018 7:26 pm
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Stoker II

Post by sitdwnandhngon » Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 3:12 pm

I think for now I'll just plan on using the rear burner full time, and the front burner as a supplement when needed.

That way repairs on them should stagger each other. If the rear goes down and I need to wait on parts, the front should be good to go.

I'm pretty sure just capturing the heat and getting it upstairs was where the stoker failed. I had it fitted with a two sided heat jacket and two 275 CFM blowers, but all the heat from the back and front was just lost to the basement.

The 140 looks like it's built to catch most of the heat off the unit, even the blower running at it's lowest setting pushes way more heat than the other one could, and with the blower off it still has heat finding it's way up through the vents. 3 vents with heat in the house is sure going to be just the one we had going.

Post Reply

Return to “Stoker Coal Furnaces & Stoves Using Anthracite (Hot Air)”