AHS S130 Coalgun- Puffbacks & Explosions

freetown fred wrote:Does your flapper not open immediately upon fan shut off?
(not sure if I did quote right)

My flap opens soon after the fan stops but I am intrigued by the possibility of the flapper opening faster allowing air to enter the tube and carry the coal gas up the chimney instead of blowing up in the tube. As I said in the previous post, I will try anything (paper clips, bobby pins, rubber bands ) that have helped other ASH owners stop the explosions.

Holy crap, I said that?

Well, looks like I did the quote correctly

rychw
about how far is your flapper open at the bottom of view port?

rwwsr wrote:about how far is your flapper open at the bottom of view port?

Now after putting the additional spring in place about 3/4". Before without the spring it was open about 1". We will have to wait and see if the additional spring helps, hurts or does nothing about the explosions.

26,810 views with 708 posts and it appears that a user comes up with a possible simple inexpensive fix to a puff back problem that has resulted in damage to property. Remember this user said he never upgraded to the automatic controls. He operated his unit manually and still got the same puffbacks as those with automatic controls. So it appears it was not a problem with the controls but instead appears to have been some type of possible design hickup inherant in the design from when this was first tried in the 1940's and the project was dropped and not pursued?

Is it possible that for the last 70+ years the fix for this complex design was a simple flapper and springs costing less than $5.00?

Can you post some photo's of the way you assembled this flapper and spring arrangement? Those that retrofit can you do the same and keep everyone advised of your puff back experience or the lack of?

Rev. Larry

I would like to clarify my post. The spring setup for my flapper is just one item I incorporated for my boiler. I believe that the fire height is the most important item to keep out the bangs. As long as the fire height is very close to the feed tube I feel is what actually keeps the bangs at bay. Also, in the past when I had puffbacks, I always could smell sulfur in my boiler room before they occurred. As long as I keep the fire at the height I described, no smell and no bangs. You're nose can tell you a lot. One tool I use is a remote barbecue thermometer to monitor my water outlet temp. With this I can see exactly when my fan turns off from indoors. Periodically I go to the boiler room to see where the fire height is just as the fan is shutting down and if I have to adjust my timer to raise or lower the fire. This is why I stated it must be watched very closely. Since monitoring the height I have had no bangs. The flapper is just one item in the process. thanks

Pete, what timer (% timer for grate) settings have worked for you?

rychw
3/4 sounds good. I thought maybe yours was not opening wide enouf.

Rev. Larry
The units come with spring and adjustment nuts. I had to add a washer (6mm iirc) or two on the back of flapper bolt on one unit to get flapper to open faster. Draft would keep flapper closed for about 2 min after fan turned off. Had no problems, just wanted it to open faster.

lsayre wrote:I've watched mine, and it opens as soon as the fan stops.

Mine too but I still have an occasional puff with only one or 2 actual explosions that I am aware of after 2.5 years.

blrman07 wrote:

pete6500 wrote:It's been a long time since I've posted a comment. My ahs130 is 5 years old with the timer based grate. I've cut my bangs to zero by doing the following: Keep the hopper at a constant level if possible. The more coal in hopper, the more the coal will feed on fire when ashing. Set the fire high as possible. Mine is about 1" below feed tube. This leaves the top of the fire with very little new coal on top. Set the flapper door spring to open the door about 5 seconds after the fan shuts off. This draws in fresh air to purge the gasses. Keeping the fire this high also leaves more of the burning coal exposed to fresh air to keep the fire going when in off cycle. Also, it more completely burns the coal for more efficiency. If the hopper level is kept relatively constant the the feed rate stays constant so I only have to adjust my timer according to the outside temp or heat load. Small adjustments are needed to keep the fire where I want it. It,s not something you can set and forget but have to watch closely. This is why I never upgraded to the thermo-ash system. Hope this helps somebody.

Emphasis in the quote is mine not the authors. It sounds like he nailed it by going backwards in technology. He took away the automatic control aspect, regulated it by hand and intuition which an automatic control will never be able to do. Something as simple as a piece of steel and some springs. Amazing.....

Are the factory reps reading this and paying attention????

Rev. Larry

With the change in ownership, yes. However, I am also a pragmatist, and I've found that for most folks, a little technology actually makes keeping the fire positioned correctly easier. This takes nothing away from folks who manage without it.

This is your response to all this??????????/ Amazing

freetown fred wrote:This is your response to all this??????????/ Amazing

I've posted repeatedly, I'll repeat: Generally, draft, correct positioning of the fire, and avoiding too rapid introduction of fresh coal to the fire are the keys. Anyone using the Coal Gun is free to contact us for support for this or other issues. There is no "one size fits all" answer.

If anyone is having issues, we will work with them to resolve them.

IF---anyone's having issues--my God, from 2011 till current 48 pages of mostly dissatisfied customers--have any changes been made to improve the puff back issue at the factory? I notice you do not have your location in your profile nor do you post a number where you can be reached in that last post. just sayin

ROB, It varies from 2min to 6min as the winter progresses and it gets colder. If we get warm spell I cut it back slowly. I'll try and post pictures of my fire height and flapper setup as soon as my son will help me. I'm not that computer savvy when it comes to pics.

Not all Coal Gun owners are experiencing these puff backs. I had some mild ones (when compared to the serious blasts reported by others) with oiled Harmony coal , but as I worked my way out of the oiled coal and tweaked my boiler for Harmony they went away. I've never had a puff back from Blaschak. I'm a satisfied customer.