Coalpail.com Forum

Nice job, and now you know the REAL story behind a quality rebuild. If you are not going to use the tankless, weld a plate over the hole and forget the issues a leaking gasket can cause. Make sure the fan assembly is in good shape and carefully evaluate the condition of the shaft and fan itself. McMaster-Carr for gaskets, etc. Keep up the good work, and thanks for the pics.

Good morning Whistlenut, I have the fan assembly setting on the bench and will probably start looking it over and cleaning it up at some point in time. I am currently tracking down some thread chasers so that I can clean the fitting holes, plug them and get some pressure in her. Did you have a good visit with the folks at Axeman?

Very nice...you do good work.

Nice work!! man, those photos bring back memories of my rebuild years ago..
The fan gets cracks, it lives in a Hellish environment.. I've had my fan 'Tigged' twice.. but I DO have a spare in case it dies one day..

Your ashing bellcrank pin was almost GONE. LOL. So was mine,, think about how much the ashing grate was moving?? 1" maybe?

This season I fed mine coal, dripped a few drops of oil every month and took out the ashes... It's been a very reliable unit..

I think my AA thinks it died an went to heaven: it used to live on the flood plain of the Suskwehanna river [sp?].
The motor had river mud in it, and the anthrastat had a 'high water mark or two..

Your're gonna love it..

Greg L

As always I'm juggling projects and fear that it will be taking the backburner soon. Once I get some ash rollers, bushings etc. I can put the boiler back on the base and putter on the accesories this fall. Its been a fun project so far, I enjoy bringing old iron back to life. I haven't noticed any high water marks on her and havent checked out the motor yet. It sounds like this renovation is a cake walk compared to Gregs. First day I've worked outside with t-shirt on since last summer. Going to chew on some smoked brisket this afternoon and enjoy the day.

What's funny, is that when I was chasing down parts, I found a coal boiler service guy who's shop was just a few blocks from where my AA boiler had been rescued..
I went to buy some parts, and told them about my AA from just down the street, he laughed and said that it definietly needed a full rebuild, that it had been under water at least 4 times that he knew of,
The owners had called him only when they had to, and only to bandaid it back together.. I had no doubt about his comments, my boiler was a testimony to bandaided repairs. .

These are TOUGH units and with a little TLC, they should last about forever, mine is one of the first AA260's, according to Axeman's. Built in 1950, the boiler is two years older than ME !! I wish I could rebuild ME like my AA got rebuilt !!

Greg L

I had problems finding thread chasers and found this small cut off wheel that came from a Chinese dremel kit worked in a pinch to clean threads.
Got her plugged up, filled with water and presserized to 50 pounds for a few days.
Thinking that a way to lube the ashpan wheels would be good, I drilled some 1/8" angles holes just above the wheel shafts and through the base so that I can give them a squirt of oil every once in awhile from the outside.
I drilled out the old crank pin and welded in a new one, filled the worn hole in the pushrod with weld and bored a new hole to accept a new bushing. During the process I could't help but wonder if this gearing is heavy enough to be shaking a hundred pound pan filled with ash? I was also surpised to see that the ashpan flange had been intentionally bent so that it touched all of the rollers. It seems with all the precision work they do to build these boilers they could get the rollers to line up with the ashpan.
As suggested by Greg and Whistlenut I flopped the boiler on its side, installed the ash funnel and sealed it with furnace cement. The high temp gasket maker that I found was only rated for 600 degrees so I thought the cement a safer bet.
I put a bead of sealer on the base and pressed the rope gasket into it.
I made a spreader bar to lift the boiler which made setting it on the base a lot easier. I also chased the base hole threads and purchased new bolts. With a dab of never-seize things went together well. It is nice to see her taking shape and makes a great conversation piece when folks come into my garage.

Very nice.

Beautiful job!

Thanks Townsend, I see you are running a 260. Looking forward to being tutored this fall. LOL

Well, I gave up on the summer to do list, parked the lawnmower and switched over to the fall to do list. I have been side stepping the 260 all summer but quite anxious to get back on it. I have been working on the controls and putting all the pretty painted parts back on that I removed and painted last spring. Spent three days looking for the grate shaker arm which was hanging on a nail over the work bench right where I left it last spring after painting it. I removed the auger head tonight and cleaned up the tube, head etc. Looks like it will need the brass bearing, some ridges removed on the roller bearing surfaces and a groove to contend with in the cam that operates the ashing arm. I was thinking about putting two bearings on the ashing arm so that they would land on the cam surface that is not damaged. Anyone done that before? Seems like those stuck ashpan rollers can really do a number on these rigs from one end to the other. The fan counterweight was not on this unit when I purchased it, I assume this is something that I should be putting back on? In shopping for a used L8124 I have noticed that some have a red board and some are green. Anyone know the difference? Thanks in advance and look forward to catching up with you all. Kevin

I think the aquastats with red boards are older, but I could be wrong.

Lately I have been using "Hydrostats" made by Hydrolevel. I like the interface better, and the 3250 model has the ability to adjust the boiler temperature based on heat call frequency and duration...they also have an optional outdoor reset probe if you wanted to try that.

Hi Rob,

That Hydrostat 3250 looks like a nice setup with a price more inline with the blue collar budget. Had I not purchased a used control on ebay I would go the 3250 route. I guess I should have posted sooner. I have been known to mess up on occasion and let the magic smoke escape from controls so there might still be a chance to try one yet.