Calling All S-130 Owners

I'm to the point of setting my AHS S-130 into final position. Just wondering if any of you S-130 owners have any opinions on setting the boiler directly on the (concrete) floor, or if you wished you had set it up off the floor on concrete bricks, or blocks?

Not sure how the design is on them but if it's like my Van Wert then the actual floor of the building is where the ash can sits, there is no bottom in it. If you place it on blocks you'll have extra room for overflow of ashes if you need it.

Mine directly on a concrete floor. I wish I had raised it up 2-3 inches or more. But remember you will also be raising the top of the hopper making it a higher lift to fill with coal. I use a Black & Decker Workmate as a step stool to make it easier to lift the coal hod. I place the hod on the top of the Workmate, then step up on the lower step and re-lift the hod & dump the coal out. A custom made one or two step platform with a shelf would be better. Just haven't got around to making one yet. If you raise the entire boiler you may have to extend the lower portion of the ash door. It's easier to shovel out ash that missed the ash bucket if there is no obstruction (blocks) in the way.

I agree with Yanche, I was going to suggest raising the whole boiler on a raised platform so that the ashpan wasn't right on the floor, it would be easier on your back picking it up if it was say 8" higher.

But I forgot about the AHS gravity feed hopper, and having to climb up even higher to put coal in it. So I'd leave it right on the floor.

My AA 260M boiler is on the concrete floor, and so far the ashpans are getting lighter, not heavier.

Greg L.

LsFarm wrote:so far the ashpans are getting lighter, not heavier.

Greg L.

Just think now you lost your personal gym...

you may want to look at auction ads.
was at a auction outside Laraysville at a farm . 2 AA130 and 1 AA260 went for scrap . they used them to heat the barns and shop. you never know. they were in good shape.

cougar

I hope Matthaus was sitting down when he read that post

I fell down and beat the floor kicking and screaming !! What an AWFULL waste... AA boilers turned into chevys and fords...

Greg L

mwcougar wrote:you may want to look at auction ads.
was at a auction outside Laraysville at a farm . 2 AA130 and 1 AA260 went for scrap . they used them to heat the barns and shop. you never know. they were in good shape.

cougar

And I'm a 15-20 minute drive from Leraysville.

And looking for a boiler.

cArNaGe wrote:

mwcougar wrote:you may want to look at auction ads.
was at a auction outside Laraysville at a farm . 2 AA130 and 1 AA260 went for scrap . they used them to heat the barns and shop. you never know. they were in good shape.

cougar

And I'm a 15-20 minute drive from Leraysville.

And looking for a boiler.

PM FLYER 5 Or Matthaus Both have AA-130 I know Dave is Selling one Not sure about Matt

Neglecting the thread drift that went on here, I'm happy to report that my new S-130 was started up this past Saturday (groundhog day).

As I learn how to effectively run the boiler (the AHS "Owners Manual" is slim on info.), and learn the nuances of operation I do have a question for the veteran S-130 owners.

How long does the boiler take to recover from 160° to 180° with no external heat load?

I'll post some pics of my installation on another thread, and give some of my observations on the AHS use of technology & fabrication quality later also.

Thanks
Brian

Wotseurba wrote:How long does the boiler take to recover from 160° to 180° with no external heat load?

Well, I seldom have that condition but my guess would be less than 15 minutes. Since you are only trying to heat the small amount of water in the boiler it shouldn't take long. More typical is the recovery with a heat demand also. For me that's 20+ minutes, depending on how many heat zones are on and/or if the indirect hot water heater has a large usage. Said another way it's typically 2-1/2 to 3 cycles of my 10 minute ash grate timer.

Wotseurba wrote: How long does the boiler take to recover from 160° to 180° with no external heat load?

The S-130 holds approximately 27 gallons of water at 8 lbs per gallon or 216 lbs of water. It takes 1 BTU to raise the temperature of 1 lb of water 1 degree F. So it takes approximately 4320 BTU to raise the temperature from 160 to 180. At rated input of 130,000 BTU, which is an out put of about 110,000 BTU at an efficiency of about 85%, it should take 4320/110,000 of an hour, assuming that there is no load on the boiler, or a little less than 3 minutes.

By the way do you have a reason to be operating at 180 degrees? With solid fuel appliances it has been reported elsewhere on this board that it is desirable to have 40 to 50 degrees between the operating set point and the high limit. The manual that came with my S-130 says the maximum safe water temperature is 200 degrees. That leads me to conclude that the high limit should be set at 200 and that leads to an operating set point of 160 or less.

Hi guys,

Did I read that correctly? There is no bottom on the AHS 130 and the ashpan sits directly on the floor????

Also, can anyone tell me the height from the ground to the flu outlet to the chimney and an AHS 130? I only have 43" to my chimney and the AHS 130 is one of my finalists.

Yanche:
Thanks for the info. Because my experience with this boiler, and coal burning in general is 3 days, I was just wondering if my unit is making heat as quickly as others. I'm more used to a traditional boiler, which comes up to temperature fast, because the burner (oil or gas) is making maximum output as soon as it lights.

Bob:
also thanks, but your calculations assume the fire is combusting at full output. I find a few minutes of time lag from whan the aquastat turns on the combustion blower, and when the fire pot is burning full bore. I'm sure this time lag can be overcome with better controls instead of the on-off (fixed differential) aquastat that comes from the factory. In reagrds to temperature settings, I have left all of the aquastats settings as they cane from the factory. The operating aquastat came factory set at 180. I don't remember the settings of the over-temp & over-temp pump settings. My "owners manual" (term used loosly) does not mention temperature settings, so I left the factory settings as-is.

beatle78:
I attached the AHS outline drawing for you, I hope this helps.