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Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Tue. Feb. 13, 2018 9:59 am
by Sunny Boy
So far,...... with the extreme changes in OAT temp we've had in the past week, it's changes in draft strength that have been doing a better job of regulating the stove than I have byexperimenting with the primary adjustments. :oops:

Seems there's not as much change needed in primary damper opening size as I'm used to needing with the range.

The #6 is a large, forgiving brut compared to the small firebox of the range. :o

Paul

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 8:38 am
by Sunny Boy
Well, it's been an interesting month and a half getting to know how well this #6 with a magazine does.

I love the stove,...and I definitely will keep the mag in. The reasons are several.

The mag not only extends the burn times with a full firepot, it makes refueling much faster, easier, and no risk of puff backs.

I've been running it rather hard to heat this big leaky old Victorian house. After 12 hours the mag is empty, but the firebed is still full and glowing. With the mag, after that length of hard running it time, there's no need to build the firebed back up in layers. Just pour the coal in the top of the mag, close the lid, swing the bonnet back, and put the stove back in indirect draft, then set the MPD.

However, clearing ash is more work than I'm used to with the range. The shallow firebox of the range does not bridge after a long burn like the #6 does. And one 120 degree rotation is enough to clear any slate and clinkers. With the #6 I can easily rotate them more than a full turn and still not see a glow in through the primary damper openings.

And, I still have to remind myself that in addition to dragging the right-angle tipped poker around the edge of the firepot to help loosen the ash there, I have to give the firebed one good poke down in the middle. Then shaking the grates will be able to clear ash well enough to see an orange glow in through the ash pan.

I found one drawback to the magazine - large sized coal. I opened a bag of TSC Kimmel's last week, saved from a couple of years ago. The sizing included not only every size you can buy, there was some pieces even larger than stove size. :o When I opened the magazine for refilling the next morning, the large piece pictured below was stuck sideways in the mag, about halfway down. Glad I happened to look in and see it before pouring coal in or it would have caused a clog that would have been interesting to try and clear if the mag was filled on top of it. :roll:

Paul

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 9:04 am
by freetown fred
Same problem with my HITZER hopper Paul. My one attempt at nut/stove mix did not work well due to stove size hanging up periodically.

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 9:36 am
by Sunny Boy
Fred,

Yup, I can see how some mags that are a bit narrow would have trouble with stove size.

This chunk is way bigger than the Blaschak stove size I used when I was testing magazine capacity. One of the questions back when we were doing the recast magazine project was would the magazines work with stove coal ? During several tests of filling the mag with Blaschak stove coal and then gently lifting the magazine up out of the 5 gallon bucket, the column of coal moved easily down through the mag each time without need of shaking or prodding. But, I didn't have boulders like this one to test with, though. :lol:

Paul

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 10:00 am
by franco b
Good objective report. I think you touched all the bases.

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 5:05 pm
by joeq
The mouth of my Surdiac hopper would also clog when the pea coal was mixed with nut. But the bottom of that hopper was so badly distorted, even "Ex-Lax" wouldn't help.

Hey Paul, you mentioned tending your long burn, and just topping off the hopper, cause the fuel bed was still burning. I've been curious about the density of the coals at the bottom of the fire-bed, and the length of time they will actually have enuff substance to continue burning. I would think the bottom half of the pot would be so soft, from being hot, and burning a while, that they would turn to powder when "acted upon by an outside force", and more of the bed would have to be refilled, (meaning more fresh coal, and longer to get back up to temp.) Know what I'm gettin at?
If the coal pile had burned for 15 hrs or more, but the fire was still strong, if a full shakedown wasn't accomplished, but a minor poking of the grates through the klinker door with a riddler, just to get some color back into the ash pan, would the bottom of the coal pile have enuff life to just top off the pot with fresh stuff, and continue burning for another 8-10 hrs? Or would the pot just fill up with ash quicker, and the long burn would diminish over time?

When I come home from work, I'll do a full shake down, even tho the fire bed is still strong. My coal level will then drop enuff that I'll need to put another 10-15 lbs on it. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if my kinker door is still burning cleanly, and not ashed up, should it be shaken down completely?
Just like your long burn, and you just topping off the hopper. Is that all you'll need to do? And is that after a full shakedown of the grates?

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 9:11 pm
by Sunny Boy
Joe,
No clinker door on a #6 so I have no way of seeing what the bottom of the firebed is like.

Filled to max, the mag holds about 25 - 27 pounds of nut coal. It's empty after about 12 hours burn time, but the firebed is still full and crowned right up to the base of the mag, or slightly below it if I've been running it hard.

As long as I go by 12 hour tendings, the firebed has never gotten so low that when I refill the mag I have to worry about burying the firebed and risk a puff back.

If I let it go about 16 hours then the firebed level is low enough that by just pouring coal in the magazine it will smoother the firebed. So in those instances I throw a few shovel full in through the loading door and let it get flames showing before finishing filling it through the mag top.

When I reload the mag I also shake ashes. But, no matter how hard I run the stove, I only need to empty the ash pan once a day - when refueling before bed time.

The ash pan I have I made slightly oversized. It's as wide as will just slide through the ash drawer door. And it's so long that if it's not placed in correctly the ash door can't shut.

Plus, I made it with a high back wall that just clears the underside of the grate teeth when pulling it out to empty, so that ash can't drop behind the pan and need to be shoveled out each time to get the pan back in. ;)

Paul

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 10:17 pm
by joeq
Your mag holds almost the entire capacity of my 111. That's a decent amount to supplement your your G6. I see how a 12 hr schedule can be optimum for you. I also envy you for your oversized ash pan.

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 11:02 pm
by Sunny Boy
joeq wrote:
Wed. Mar. 21, 2018 10:17 pm
Your mag holds almost the entire capacity of my 111. That's a decent amount to supplement your your G6. I see how a 12 hr schedule can be optimum for you. I also envy you for your oversized ash pan.
Yeah, that recast mag added 50% more coal capacity. It really makes a difference in burn times.

I've run the stove 20-1/2 hours without touching it and it wasn't dampered down, either. It still had plenty of fire left. It was the ash buildup that is the limiting factor as to how long it will run at max output.

Paul

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Thu. Mar. 22, 2018 4:22 pm
by joeq
Well, some good testing is knocking at your door Paul, to check out the burn cycle on "super low idle". Looks like our OATs are beginning to warm. Right now we're at 50°.If you keep her closed down, it'll be interesting to see how many "days" you can go at 600 RPMs.

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Fri. Mar. 23, 2018 10:05 am
by Sunny Boy
joeq wrote:
Thu. Mar. 22, 2018 4:22 pm
Well, some good testing is knocking at your door Paul, to check out the burn cycle on "super low idle". Looks like our OATs are beginning to warm. Right now we're at 50°.If you keep her closed down, it'll be interesting to see how many "days" you can go at 600 RPMs.
Joe,
600 rpm,....... that fast, huh ? :D

I'm hoping that it will idle down to even older times - such as long stroke, heavy flywheel and 400 rpm. Maybe even as slow as my range can do, idling along merrily for hours at .005 mano reading. ;)

Paul

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Fri. Mar. 23, 2018 4:39 pm
by joeq
400 RPMs Paul? I didn't know the inductance in the coil for the points would break down at that low an RPM, or have enuff manifold vac. to operate the idle system in the carb. :? :lol:
And you have a manometer that reads thousandths? That would make too much sense. The few that I've seen read upwards of 3.0, but we always are adjusting our settings to less than 1.0, usually from 0-.06, or 7 max.

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Fri. Mar. 23, 2018 6:39 pm
by KingCoal
joe you can deduce .005 as 1/2 of .01 pretty easy even on my liquid mano.

the early 70's Jag XKE Slll, V12 w / standard trans were commonly set to idle at 550/600 and were very smooth.

we put some nice cams and 6 weber's on several and had 410 HP and above chassis dyno results on otherwise stock engines

this car is still at the top of my 3 favorite mass production cars, second is the Lotus Europa w/ big valve engine and third the Ford Pantera which is so simple to mod heavily it's silly.

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Sat. Mar. 24, 2018 7:01 am
by Sunny Boy
Joe,
The antique engines I rebuild have heavy flywheel/clutch housings, a heavy harmonic damper, long stroke heavy crankshafts, and mild cams. In tip-top shape, 400-450 rpm idle is normal. ;)

Paul

Re: Just another GW #6

Posted: Sat. Mar. 24, 2018 9:16 am
by KingCoal
Paul, what do those slow rolling engines function in ?