AXEMAN 101 *Class Is in Session!*

It was making me a little nervous last night and I lifted the lever and the solenoid latch snapped out. Is the roller supposed to hit the high point of the cam on every revolution? This latch lifts it clear of the cam and I'm wondering if that hung it up so it wouldn't ash. The fire seemed to be a little dead at the outside of the pot.

coaledsweat wrote:

Wood'nCoal wrote:You'll need to use that chair in the photo, I guess. Just relax and stare at it!

That is for standing on. The one I sit on has wheels, I need to look at it from different angles.

Nice install!
I got 2 chairs by mine..... one on either side of it, just in case I have a visitor who is intrigued by it.

I tried to get my wife interested in ours by presenting her with the first clinker. She didn't get it.

Wish I could help you with your ashing question but mine is setup with a motor and anthrastat for control. So far it works.

coaledsweat wrote:It was making me a little nervous last night and I lifted the lever and the solenoid latch snapped out. Is the roller supposed to hit the high point of the cam on every revolution? This latch lifts it clear of the cam and I'm wondering if that hung it up so it wouldn't ash. The fire seemed to be a little dead at the outside of the pot.

You might have a little adjusting to do there, the ashing roller usually contacts the cam just enough to relieve the down pressure on the solenoid arm so it releases if the solenoid is energized. while it is ashing the stop lever keeps it from coming all the way down and controls the number of teeth. Check and see if you have power to the solenoid, if so and it is not releasing you need to do some adjusting to get it to release on it's own. By now you should have some ashing going on, so I would give it a few manual ashing strokes and take a look at what is coming out.

Freddy has some nice pictures he can post for you to see how it should look, I'm sure he'll chime in soon. You can always ash it manually a few times while you get all this straightened out to make sure the fire doesn't go out. 30 hour is a long burn even with a fresh pot of coal in this weather!

Matthaus wrote:You can always ash it manually a few times while you get all this straightened out to make sure the fire doesn't go out. 30 hour is a long burn even with a fresh pot of coal in this weather!

Thanks Matt, once I lifted the lever it started ashing again and it appears to have been ashing all night. I figured that it won't release the lever unless the cam taps the roller to lift the lever off the latch arm as the solenoid released but the latch won't snap out on its own with the weight of the lever on it. I'll do a little adjustment tonight.

Everytime the thing runs my wife yells "it's feeding coal again". I told her if you hear it tinkling, it isn't feeding but falling back down the screw and the sound you here is coal not feeding. Or in wife terms, "the sound you hear is you saving money". I haven't heard a word about it since, I think she is plotting what to do with all that tinkle money.

CS,

Sometimes on our 260, I'll get static coming through the TV or radio and can hear the solenoid chattering until the latch does release. It just goes along with the tinkling sound as part of the coal burning experience.

Wonderful sounds to me since I don't hear the oil burner gurgling and gulping. But sometimes I think it might be wimpering.

Enjoy the experience. Welcome to the fold.

Rick

I suppose you are among the ADDICTED now, I offered to help with an intervention, but the 'hooks' are in firmly now!
Freddy has a bunkroom I hear right beside the AA, kinda a STAT reaction room....but like the Maytag man, nothing but uniform heat, very little coal usage, and a tinkle or two every hour, so he sure won't have a heart attack from too much activity!

If the addiction becomes unbearable, I can still help remove the temptation...I'm ruined, it's been 38 years now..........
so no hope for me to go to solar, geo-thermal, electric resistance, etc. Passive solar for 32 years, that and super insulation practices.

I need a new floor....wore through the concrete the first year just going to visit it. Lot's of visits, but not much to do while I'm there.

Even if the lever is down when the solenoid kicks in, the very first rotation of the auger tube will lift it. With solenoid "on", the lever drops and clicks click. With solenoid "off" the lever lands on top of the arm and no clicks occur. If that's not happening, you have an adjustment to do....although I can't picture how it couldn't work unless something is bent or missing.

Freddy wrote:Even if the lever is down when the solenoid kicks in, the very first rotation of the auger tube will lift it. With solenoid "on", the lever drops and clicks click. With solenoid "off" the lever lands on top of the arm and no clicks occur. If that's not happening, you have an adjustment to do....although I can't picture how it couldn't work unless something is bent or missing.

All set now, the lever gets bumped a 1/4" every turn of the auger. She is sitting down there laughing at the house with the open doors. I take it the firepot should have all fresh coal on top and the glowing coals just below the surface, fire just breaking through at the left side near the chamber wall? I set the anthrastat at 120*. About right for this weather?

Sounds like mine, but the anthrastat would seem low to me. I never operate it at less than 135, year round.
I do know that we could update our stats with the thermocouple setup for short money, save coal and have the 'next big thing in technology' for $500.00. I think a new anthrastat is $172+-, so makes one wonder.......

Bernie and Phyls is having a huge mattress sale with high end products available....forget a couple chairs...lie down and enjoy the warmth. Only thing better would be nukie, and that would mandate lots of extra paperwork....plus those damned Black Tahoes with smoked windows....blah, blah. blah.

As whistlenut said 120 is a bit low, I wouldn't go any lower than 130. Let the science project begin!

Just remember: Change only one setting at a time! Record when and what you changed, and get the anthrastat back up to 135 ish. The warm weather isn't causing much demand, so I know that makes it tough. Next week will be cooler.

I'll PM you with the anthrastat update. Want to run it by Pete Axeman first. No need to change something that has worked well for over 60 years.....however, as they say: The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys! I for one hope no never outgrow that statement!!

I watched it for a while last night and noticed the fire was going deeper into its bowels ( ) so I ran it back up to 130* and now the fire is just breaking through the top in a crescent around the left side of the pot. I was just a little worried the beast would overheat.

Greg has generously chastised me for suggesting that a boiler must be run above 140 degrees to prevent flue gas condensation in the appliance.

But Ill stick to what I know.

Sting wrote:Greg has generously chastised me for suggesting that a boiler must be run above 140 degrees to prevent flue gas condensation in the appliance.

Hey Sting, we are discussing ashing temps not water temps.