Re: Don't Burn Wet Coal
Posted: Mon. Dec. 21, 2009 8:07 pm
I don't feel so stupid now that I'm not alone. I did the same thing for a different reasone.alleg wrote:I learned a lesson the hard way. My coal is really dry so I have been watering it down when filling the hopper to reduce the dust. Today I smelled sulfur so I went down to check it out and while there was 200 pounds of coal in the hopper I could see the auger in the bottom of the barrel. The coal stuck to the sides and made a huge funnel. So I just pushed it down, added another couple hundred pounds and went away. Fast forward and we're freezing a few hours later. The wet coal made a pocket around the auger in the bottom of the bin so it wouldn't feed and the fire went out. I had to shovel all the coal out of the hopper because I thought the auger had broken, come to find out it wasn't broke just packed with wet coal. I never had a problem using dry to slightly damp coal but too wet is definitely bad.
BTW I got to thinking about things like holiday breakdowns (because things only break at the worst possible time) if the auger ever breaks can it just be pulled out and welded and put back into service?