The Van Wert VA600 Project

LehighanthraciteMatt wrote: ↑

Tue. Sep. 22, 2020 1:17 pm

I get it, I just never had to use a timer on my Van Wert, EFM always needed to. Van Wert had a pot that held plenty of coal and didnt need timed run.

That's interesting, I haven't tried shutting the timer off. On my current settings, the fire has survived many power outages over 3 hours long!

-Don

7 more days. 30.8 hours of run time, 100.0 pounds, 14.3 pounds per day. 26 pounds of ash, 25.97%. That Gofer!!! Current settings;

Feed Rate = 1.5" drive pulley = 3.25 pounds per hour?
Air = 11.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Sun. Sep. 06, 2020 9:42 pm

I looked at those Clam Shells H. Even the large one is way smaller than my opening.

Today I made the door and latch and everything else to get this sealed up. Got some of the caulking done then ran out of caulk.

Then painted it. This color is supposed to be a dark Red-ish Brown. Looks more Raspberry to me!
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If the hardware store is open tomorrow we will get more caulk and finish sealing it up. I have some roofing felt, maybe I'll put that on it for now.

7 more days in the book.
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27 hours of run time, 87.75 pounds, 12.54 pounds per day. WOW! I never expected to get into the 12's!
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24 pounds of ash, 27.4%.
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The Gofer.
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Current settings;

Feed Rate = 1.5" drive pulley = 3.25 pounds per hour?
Air = 11.
Aquastat = LO = 154, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

looks good!

i built a basement entrance with a full size door. sure beats hitting my head on the bilco door and keeps the heat in too!

7 more days of coal stoker boiler running in the books! 30.5 hours of run time, 99.125 pounds, 14.16 pounds per day. 32 pounds of ash, 32.3%, Wow, that's a lot! Gofer action. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 1.5" drive pulley = 3.25 pounds per hour?
Air = 11.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

do you have this and the axeman running at the same time?

It's kind of warm out to be running 2 boilers. We are only heating DHW right now with the Van Wert.

A few weeks ago I did some maintenance to the Axeman. After that there was a slight chill in the air so I fired it up. It was only keeping the garage warm and eventually the fire went out because there was nothing to heat.
Post by StokerDon - Axeman Anderson 1959 130M

-Don

Another 7 days... On Monday we changed the motor pulley from 1.5" back to 2". I couldn't figure out an easier way to increase the air to get a better ash to black stuff ratio. This did work, the ash this week looks better. Our feed rate is now 5.5 pounds per hour rather than 3.25 pounds. Let's find out what it did to our coal consumption. Stoker run time at the new feed rate, From Monday on, is 22.8 hours times 5.5 = 125.4 pounds, 20.9 pounds per day.

Well, we went from 14.16 pounds per day to 20.9 pounds per day. That's not good.

Lets see what it did to the ash percentage.
28 pounds of ash, 140 pounds of coal (that's with Monday added in) = 20%. Well, we're down from 32% to 20%. Is it worth it? Probably not, but we'll run it for another week just to be sure.
Air is still on 11 and that is probably not quite enough. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 2.0" drive pulley = 5.5 pounds per hour?
Air = 11.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

Another week goes by and the 'Ol Van Wert just keeps go'in! 24 hours of run time, 132 pounds, 18.86 pounds per day. It was a bit chilly this week so we have 2 radiators opened up. 23 pounds of ash, 17.4% Current settings;

Feed Rate = 2.0" drive pulley = 5.5 pounds per hour?
Air = 11.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

I finally did what I have been meaning to do for 3 years now!

The Van Wert stoker is built to burn Buckwheat size coal. I burn rice coal. Rice coal feeds faster than Buckwheat coal at any given auger speed. I have been running a smaller sized motor pulley to slow the feed down but that also slows the fan considerably. The correct way to slow the feed down without slowing the fan down is to install a bigger pot auger sprocket. I finally got one today! This is a 25 tooth sprocket. I was running a VA-400, 21 tooth sprocket. This allowed us to bump the motor pulley up to 2.5" from 2". Now we have full range of air adjustment. The air is currently set at 4 instead of wide open at 11.

I drilled a hole through it and used a 3/16" brass rod as a shear pin and a hose clamp to hold it in there. The new feed rate is calculated to be 6.5 pounds per hour. So now we have 15, 18, 21 and 25 tooth sprockets for the auger. Here is an 18 and 21 tooth. I think 15 tooth is what the VA-600 come with originally. So, I guess we will do the numbers for the past 6 days on the old settings.

17.2 hours, 94.6 pounds, 15.766 pounds per day. FIRE! Current settings;

Feed Rate = 2.5" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket = 6.5 pounds per hour.
Air = 4.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

We have gone through day one with the new settings. The 25 tooth auger sprocket is working well. 3.6 hours X 6.5 pounds per hour = 23.4 pounds in a day. The cold front blew in late yesterday so today was actually a heating day. Only made it to 51 but rainy and breezy all day. The gofer has been creating some interesting outcroppings in the coal bin. It's hard to see but there are cliff like structures in there. Current settings;

Feed Rate = (calculated) 2.5" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket = 6.5 pounds per hour.
Air = 4.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

OK, we've gone over a week now with the new settings. It's been wet, rainy and cold so we are actually heating the house. 26.4 hours x 6.5 = 172.25 pounds, 24.6 pounds per day. 30.5 pounds of ash, 17.7% The Gofer has been producing some interesting artwork with this Rice coal. There are very vertical slopes with outcroppings. This one looks like a nose, mouth and chin. At some point gravity will pull them down to the auger.

With these settings the stack temperature has been running 230 - 240 on long runs. FIRE! Current settings;

Feed Rate = (calculated) 2.5" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket = 6.5 pounds per hour.
Air = 6.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

Phil better watch out your gofer does art Don lol!

Toddburn wrote: ↑

Sun. Nov. 01, 2020 7:34 pm

Phil better watch out your gofer does art Don lol!

My Gofer is pretty amazing! I have never seen him though. He must do his work when I'm not around.

In other news, it was windy and cold today. I came home from work and the clocks were blinking. Turns out we had a power outage for about 3 hours. The 'Ol Van Wert didn't even care. It just woke up from it's nap and continued onward.

-Don

Another week in the books! 30.45 hours x 6.5 = 197.925 pounds, 28.275 pounds per day. 34 pounds of ash, 17.2% That Gofer is at it again! I have never seen a coal bin with such vertical structures in it. That there is actually a cave! The coal on the bottom has fallen out but the coal on top is still there. I don't know how that Gofer does it!

Current settings;

Feed Rate = (calculated) 2.5" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket = 6.5 pounds per hour.
Air = 6.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

SHUTDOWN!!!

Yesterday we shutdown the VA-600 in favor of the Axeman Anderson 130M in the garage. 25.7 hours of run time, 167.05 pounds, 23.86 pounds per day. 30 pounds of ash, 17.99%.

The Gofer has been doing some of his best work this week. Unfortunately, there were some avalanches so a lot of it is gone. Here is what's left. Current settings;

Feed Rate = (calculated) 6.5 pounds per hour. (2.5" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 6.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don