Jim D.'S Stoker Boiler Install Thread

Lightning wrote:Good job partner .. I knew you'd get er done!

Thanks Lightning!!

Wood'nCoal wrote:Next will be a zone out to the barn. .. ..

Ya know John, that ain't a bad idea! But, I think I've done enough plumbing to last me a lifetime. If I NEVER solder another pipe again it'll be too soon ...

Got some ash pics:

<removed links, links in PM's can only be downloaded by the recipient or the sender>

Well?

No, she's still running, and I just installed the 4006 aquastat - thanks Rob!!

Only issue I'm having now is the fire falling off the edge. Just started happening. I had placed a small section of paper over the combustion air inlet, and that fixed the fumes out the hopper I was getting. I removed this since that's the only change I've made. Didn't improve very much. With the stoker running about 10- 20 minutes to hit the set temp of the new 'stat, I had a few red coals go off the edge.

I'm thinking the air holes may have got clogged. I dumped a bucket of coal in that's been sitting in the greenhouse for over a year from cleaning out one of Jim's furnaces. It was loaded with trash - flyash, bits of plastic, woodchips, small clinkers, etc ... made a big cloud of dust when I dumped it in - I'm thinking that may have plugged some air holes, since I'm getting no fumes out of the hopper like I did before with the blower unobstructed. Hmmmm ...

No more stinky hopper?

Stinky hopper is back ... and the fire has moved back to where it's supposed to be. Also, the depth of the bed is back to normal as well - when it was pushing coals off the edge, the bed of coal looked as if it was ready to overflow the sides of the steel burn bed. This could've been why there was no stink then - the bed was so thick it blocked airflow. No idea what caused that one ... but by dialing back the temp on the aquastat, and unplugging the stoker while leaving the blower going for several minutes seemed to straighten it out.

Oh, and I finally timed the stoker on/off operation with the idle feed rate box on full minimum: 1 minute 8 seconds on, 11.5 minutes off.

Is the hopper full?

Try taping a garbage bag over the hopper and see if it inflates.

No, it's very low right now. Was waiting to add coal so I could wipe all the flyash dust off the inside from that bucket of trash coal I tossed in there ...

Good idea with the bag ... I'll try that tomorrow morning - got an interesting episode of Glenn Beck's show on the Electoral College & The Consitution. Trying to watch and type at the same time here ...

I did the bag thing, and it does indeed "puff up" although very slightly ... but I suppose slightly is all it takes ... I asked Freddy to make a custom lid for me, where I can run gasket around the inside to try and seal it up a bit.

One small issue I discovered - when I removed that Flo-Chek valve from the return line of the indirect DHW heater tank, I figured I'd be all set, since that circulator that came with the Amtrol has an internal check valve. Turns out, I must've melted that valve with 260° boiler water from the coils in the Mark III, because I had 176° hot water the other day! It's flowing on it's own, without the circ running. Been shutting off the ball valve I thankfully installed when I put the Amtrol in. Going to have to fix that before the oil burner goes back on ... IF it does. Looks like I need the Flo-Chek after all .... so my plumbing break was short lived ...

Could a replacement internal check in the circ. solve this?
That's almost not plumbing.

Probably would .. but not sure how durable those things are. Would hate to replace it and then melt it again if I ever needed to fire the Harman up again. I'll have to look into that - sure would be easier. I'm all about EASY!

Anyone know where to find TACO 0010-025RP cheaper than $25?

Seems a bit excessive for a tiny piece of plastic ... Damn shipping kills you! Why the hell do these companies insist on using UPS for EVERYTHING??? Throw it in a padded envelope for F's sake ... Geesh!

SMITTY wrote:Anyone know where to find TACO 0010-025RP cheaper than $25?
... Damn shipping kills you!

IFC Replacement Kit for 005, 007, 00R Taco Pumps:
http://www.pexsupply.com/Taco-0010-025RP-IFC-Repl ... -Taco-Pump

http://www.simplyplumbing.com/tacoinc-0010-025rp.html

Half that price, but I didn't check their shipping cost.
Oops. Now I checked shipping, and you're back up to $23.

Yeah I already checked those 2 places - both use UPS and both cost as much to ship as the part itself. Thanks for trying though.

Looks like I'm off to eBay ...

Anyone else notice Amazon is now charging SALES TAX on purchases? Went to check out, and noticed an additional line in the total .....

Not sure, but I think it depends what State you're in & what State you're buying from???????????????????????