Strong Sulfur Smell HELP

Last week I posted a few questions and got a lot of feedback. After working on the boiler, I tried a few things and still no luck. I have a very strong sulfur smell that comes from my auger tube (worm). The smell (assuming gases) comes down the tube and into my coal bin (which holds about 1.5tons over top the auger end).

I had looked at the auger tube and realized that there were holes all the way around the tube. This tube is an after market tube made out of aluminum. It currently has 1/4 inch hole all the way around the top of the tube which is still on the inside part of the boiler. The distance this worm is from the outside of the coal bin to the outside of the boiler is 18 inches. The over all length of the worm is approximately 24inches.

My questions are:

1. What is causing the smell?
2. If I was to try a new auger tube, could I use my own pipe, and if so, what type of metal should I use and what are the Inside diameter and outside diameter of the pipe I should use?
3. what is the price of an auger tube from EFM?

You guys are very helpful so the more suggestions and ideas the better. Thanks

did you try increasing the stack draft? set it at .04 or .05 and see if that helps

I'm assuming you mean from my barometric draft? It is currently completely shut. I was under assumption that it should be completely shut. The pipe work comes out the back and goes up approximately 6 feet from there it T's off barometric draft on left side and then to the right it goes approximately 2 feet. At that point there is a cleanout T and then out to the chimney. Which has a very high chimney with good draft.

I will look into the barometric draft tomorrow.

Please keep the ideas coming. Wife doesn't like the smell of sulfur throughout the house. Can't say I do either.

shotgunning ideas ...

Everything clean - no blockage from fly ash in the pipes or something falling down the chimney?

Do you have a manometer to check your draft? This is a necessary gage to asses your actual over fire and before/after baro chimney draft.

No did not try the meter. I will ask my heating guy (who is efm certified) and is very good, to take another look at it. I was trying to avoid hounding him any more than I had to. He is a friend, but very busy this time of the year.

So far I need to check draft and use the meter to get pre and post fire readings.

any other ideas?

What town do you live in?

Smell is either from bad draft or improperly adjusted air setting on the stoker. First step is the draft meter reading.

be sure your pipes are clean. I don't the location that you currently have the baro in, although people have done it with success i'm sure, it tends to create turbulence in that position that can lead to reduced overfire draft even if the baro is set high. If it were me i'd pull the pipes off, and move the baro to a location in the length of vertical pipe and without a manometer set it at .045. If it's not opening anyway, this may not solve things for you, but it will fix something that should be done anyway and will eliminate a potential problem area.

Using a short auger and tube like that, it is critical to use rice size coal. Using larger size, like buck, will make the gassy smell. It happened to me like that. I used Superior buck with my short auger and the smell was terrible

I did a few of the soft coal experiments during the summer when the temps were 90 and the draft was barely neg. .01 at the breech. I used the short auger/pipe, but as long as I kept a lid on the can, there was never a problem with smoke. It's definitely a draft issue, but there could be a handful of reasons, as to why.

I live in Clearfield Pa. I am currently buring rice coal. The chimney I am using is very high, 40-50 feet up. It was used previously for a forced air oil furnace. It now has my efm DF520 hooked in to it.

With my barometric draft shut completely, that should force all the air up the chimney correct? Or could the height of the chimney be part of the problem. Please keep the ideas coming.

This is a continuing issue for me and it is not draft related. In my furnace there are a number of small holes in the auger tube where it penetrates the fire box. During normal operation the draftkeeps the flow of smoke moving out of the auger tube and into the firebox. The smoke itself is created by water in the coal vaporizing.

Two things you can try. Use only very dry coal, this is probably already the case if your coal in the bin is not wet. Make sure your holes in the auger tube are in an area where the draft will suck out the smoke.

Good Luck,

Will

CoalBurner5 wrote:With my barometric draft shut completely, that should force all the air up the chimney correct?

Not if theres a blockage of some kind. Is there a screen on the cap? Maybe something crawled down it. Racoon family? Birds? Cats? Ash build-up? When is the last time that chimney was looked at?
Which way is the draft moving, at the Baro? Up the chimney, or down the chimney? Put a lit candle or newspaper in your baro to quickly check .
Or better yet, buy a Manometer, which will tell you how STRONG the draft is.

Blockage is a main suspect.

I hope you have a few CO alarms throughout the house.

Another shot in the dark....do you have a tight house? I am wondering if there is not enough make up air entering the house for the combustion air being used and it is hurting your draft? Have you measured your draft?

I think it was stated earlier that there are supposed to be holes at the end of the short pipe and the the holes are facing UP when the pipe is set. A 40 foot chimney draft should suck the toupee off your head. But, like was suggested, your house could be too tight.

I highly doubt that this house is to tight. I have the boiler in the basement which is a 2 car garage with 2 man doors and windows throughout. I am going to eliminate that idea. My main thought here is the barometric draft and I think that is what I need to focus on.

Please keep sending ideas.

There are holes on the auger tube, the tubes are the whole way around the tube, as this is an after market tube. Will the holes all the way around make a difference or not?

Thanks and keep suggesting ideas.