AHS 130 Efficiency

I installed an AHS 130 last year and loved it. On average I burned 50 to 60 pounds per day depending on temps. This year I fired her up and have been burning 75 pounds per day even with all the warm temps. I finally got around to cleaning it out, I never did at the end of last season==my mistake. What a chore getting all of the scale rust off of the heat exchanger. It took all of 4 hours scraping and brushing. But I got it cleaned up fairly well, had to make a big improvement. Wrong. Same performance. My ash this year is very coarse. Last year I could fit an entire hopper full of coal into the ash pan and have a little room to spare, not much though. And the ash was very fine. This year a hopper full of coal will make 1 and 1/2 ash pans full and the ash is very coarse. Looks like the original coal just burned. You crack it apart and it is just ash color inside. The coal came from the same place both years, KasseyCasa. And it was pea coal both years. Nothing has changed from last year except that I did not clean out the unit at the end of the season like I should have. I was hoping thia was my problem, but I am thinking that the coal may not be as good a quality as last year. Any thoughts?

An entire hopper made one ash pan full of ashes last year? I don't think you got bad coal this year, I think you got the best coal ever created last year! Although, 75 pounds does seem high. It depends on how much area you are heating.

if your ashes changed that much id bet your coal changed also, I have changed coal in mine several times brands and size and have yet to see fine ash

lew wrote: I am thinking that the coal may not be as good a quality as last year. Any thoughts?

That is certainly possible, coal quality can vary. The cleaning was a good idea anyway, so burn up the coal and be glad you don't have to buy fuel oil at $3.75/gallon.

Hey Lew not sure where you live. casey casa is in plymouth twp where I live and a buddy of mine said worst coal ever cant keep it lit

I have a 130 that just got hooked up about a month ago, I have been burning between 50 and 75 lbs a day to heat 1800 Sq. Ft cape with DHW as well. I get mostly coarse ash and some unburnt coal. For 70lbs of coal I get about 15 lbs of ash. I thought this was normal.

The amount of ash doesn't bother me, but the extra coal burned does. Last year I went through 4.5 ton. That heated a 2,000 square foot house at 73 and heated all our DHW, that's with 2 teenage daughters.

I must admit I forgot to say one thing. There is one slight difference from last year, maybe not so slight. I am going to blame not telling you this because of the hour at which I submitted my question. The gasket on the lid to the hopper was hanging on by a thread, so I removed it and planned on reinstalling later when I figured out what ot glue it back on with. So right now it has no gasket. would this create the problem. I thought I had read that so long as the lid was in place it would not bother. Maybe I'm wrong, I've bben told that several times (been married 25+ years).

Also, does Kasey Casa produce their own coal or do they jsut break it and sell, buying from whomever they can get bulk , raw coal from?

Freddy

Being new to coal I guess I don't know how lucky I was. It was great. Every 6 days refill the hopper and empty the ashpan. If it was colder, like an average high of 20's and lows in the single digits then every 5 days. I tried running it through the summer but gave up by end of July. Too many puff backs and not enough time to play with getting it right, but then I was getting 10 days to a haopper full. with all this warm weather this winter I was expecting at least 6 days to a hopper full. Not 4. something is wrong.

Any chance your daughters are taking longer showers?

What settings are you using on the grate control?

Yes, this winter is warmer and much less snow. But is it really that much warmer to make a huge coal savings? or just a lousy winter for snow?

Rob R. the ash control is set at 130 degrees and the upperlimit control is set at 180 degrees

Steam up This winter is much milder than last year. I spend half of every day outside and it's been great to work in, however I don't think that should make my coal consumption increase.

We just installed a new ahs130 2 weeks ago, we are also burning Kasey Kassa Pea coal and we are using 70-90 pounds a day heating approx 3000 sq ft. Don't notice much difference in usage between zero degres and 40 degrees. Our ash is also quite chunky. Being new to coal, we have no idea if this is normal usage or if the coal is good quality. I'll be interested to hear what others may have to say.

I noticed that upon a fresh start-up if the S130 isn't ran hard and long it will send a lot of partially burned to unburned coal out with the ashes for perhaps up to a few weeks before it finally settles in on its own and gets super effieicent. That was my experience at least. At my next startup I intend to run it hard and long to settle it in properly right off the bat. After startup I'll probably just open up a hot water spigot and let it pour to force the boiler to fire hard for a good while. It seems that I actually heard this advice from someone who posted it here on the forum, but I didn't listen.

lsayre wrote:After startup I'll probably just open up a hot water spigot and let it pour to force the boiler to fire hard for a good while. It seems that I actually heard this advice from someone who posted it here on the forum, but I didn't listen.

I can think of at least one crazy guy that was pestering you about that...

AHS S130 Coal Gun : First Fire

AHS Coal Gun: Thermo Ash Grate Control Question

You probably read about it in the manual as well.

Before starting a fire, it would be advantageous to for both the system and the house to be cold because this will allow the Coal Gun to establish a good burn. Before starting the fire, turn off the grate switch on the right side of the boiler base and fill the hopper full of pea or buckwheat coal. Turn the boiler on. The I.D. fan will be heard running. Insert several fire starters (such as Rutland Safty Lite). Light the starters making sure the sight hold cover is pulled up against the seat (see also Operation of Sight Hole Cover below). Allow the Coal Gun™ to run for two to three hours (this allows the coal in the coal pot to burn).

I'll listen next time!