AHS S130 Coal Gun : First Fire

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Fri. Oct. 14, 2011 9:16 pm

She's fired up and we're making heat from coal for our very first time. Lit the match at 5:30 PM. Turned the grate switch on at 8:30 PM. So far everything appears to be functioning normally. No puff backs yet. And the best part is that I now have heat and hot water from coal!!!

theo · Post by **theo** » Fri. Oct. 14, 2011 9:24 pm

Let her rock!!

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Oct. 14, 2011 9:29 pm

Outstanding. Keep an eye out for leaks, but it sounds like you are good to go. Don't be afraid to put a heavy load on it and stretch its legs.

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Fri. Oct. 14, 2011 9:34 pm

Congratulations!!!
Pictures please!! We love pictures here.

AA130FIREMAN · Post by **AA130FIREMAN** » Fri. Oct. 14, 2011 10:48 pm

VERY GOOD !!! You sweated the small stuff and now hopefully it all works out in the end

. How long did it take till it was up to operating temperature from when you lit the match ?

mikeandgerry · Post by **mikeandgerry** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 12:29 am

Great news. You are right on time for the season. Enjoy it.

When I got mine in I was pushing it--we had no heat until mid Nov. It was getting a little chilly for Momma.

Freddy · Post by **Freddy** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 5:17 am

Congrats on getting the new baby to cry! I'm sure she'll have a long & happy life.

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 5:55 am

AA130FIREMAN wrote:VERY GOOD !!! You sweated the small stuff and now hopefully it all works out in the end . How long did it take till it was up to operating temperature from when you lit the match ?

About 2 hours as I recall.

watkinsdr · Post by **watkinsdr** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 7:33 am

Pictures please! We need an ash update too, unburned coal, etc.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 7:37 am

watkinsdr wrote:Pictures please! We need an ash update too, unburned coal, etc.

I don't think he has the chart recorders and load cells hooked up yet.

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 7:43 am

watkinsdr wrote:Pictures please! We need an ash update too, unburned coal, etc.

Despite all warnings, I started the boiler with fresh coal only (no ashes added, since I didn't have any). The good part is that since I left the tiny window in the center of the sight tube door open I have had no puff-backs (so far at least). The (potentially) bad news is that the ash grate temperature is still too high for it to ash. I wonder how long it will be before the temperature at the grate falls to 140 degrees? I'm considering throttling down on the tiny window sometime today.

For pictures, see my previous (Making Some Progress) thread. Nothing has changed much since I took all of those pictures.

EarthWindandFire · Post by **EarthWindandFire** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 7:46 am

Congratulations Isayre!

I have to admit that I'm jealous, the Coal Gun is the finest boiler ever made, the Anthratube is a close second. I dearly wanted to drive up to New Hampshire and pick up Dewey's AHS 130 but this house just isn't worth it.

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 8:14 am

When I first turned the ash grate motor on at 8:30 PM yesterday the grate temperature was low and some completely unburned coal came out, but soon after that the grate temp went up above 140 degrees, and so far (overnight) it has not gone down to or below 140 degrees again. In fact the ash grate temp was reading 220 degrees just moments ago.

AA130FIREMAN · Post by **AA130FIREMAN** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 8:18 am

lsayre wrote:In fact the ash grate temp was reading 220 degrees just moments ago.

You mean the ahs actually has a display that tells you the ash temperature ? Now, talk about hi-tec

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Sat. Oct. 15, 2011 8:40 am

AA130FIREMAN wrote:
lsayre wrote:In fact the ash grate temp was reading 220 degrees just moments ago.
You mean the ahs actually has a display that tells you the ash temperature ? Now, talk about hi-tec

When the ash grate was at 220 degrees it was at idle. Now that it is firing to heat a few zones the ash grate temp has fallen to 158 degrees. Still not at or below the set-point for the grate motor to turn on.

Update, after hitting 157 degrees it started heading back up and hit into the 180's before the blower shut down. Now its climbing even further as it idles.