The Van Wert VA600 Project

No outfire again this week! We even survived a 6 hour power outage due to Hurricane Ida! 558.6 - 536.4 = 22.2 hours, 122.1 pounds, 3.17 hours per day, 17.44 pounds per day. That's Low!
16.0 pounds of ash, 13.1% That's still Low!!! The Gofer must not be very hungry these days. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 7.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

Another 7 days... 582.3 - 558.6 = 23.7 hours, 130.4 pounds, 3.39 hours per day, 18.62 pounds per day.
14.5 pounds of ash, 11.1% That's way Low!!!
For some reason the ash has been getting lighter and lighter. Nothing has changed, still just heating DHW. It will be a while before we see any Gofer action! Got 2.5 ton on Monday. That's about 5 ton total in the bin. Out in Axeman land, we had the top of the chimney cap blow off this week. It's only 2 or 3 years old. We'll see how long this one lasts. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 7.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

7 more days of Summer coal burning. 607.9 - 582.3 = 25.6 hours, 140.8 pounds, 3.66 hours per day, 20.11 pounds per day.
14.0 pounds of ash, 13.4%. Very light looking ash! The Gofer is Back! You can see where he has been working. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 7.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

The Mighty Van Wert goes through another week of trouble free operation! The HOT weather is gone for now. We're still at least couple weeks away from any heat calls though.
633.2 - 607.9 = 25.3 hours, 139.2 pounds, 3.61 hours per day, 19.88 pounds per day.
13.0 pounds of ash, 9.34%. The Gofer has a sizable hole dug in there now. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 7.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

Well so much for Fall weather!

Temps in the 80's today. Looks like 70's all week with low's in the mid 60's. The AC is running now. I put the Fire View Door on earlier this week. This gave me the first real look at the fire in a few months. It was actually sunk down in the pot on long runs. Friday I lowered the air from 7.5 to 4.5. That helped but not quite enough. Yesterday I lowered it to 3.5. It looks good now, if it stays good we'll leave it. 658.0 - 633.2 = 24.8 hours, 136.4 pounds, 3.54 hours per day, 19.49 pounds per day.
13.5 pounds of ash, 9.9%. Gofer action. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 3.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

Here's a video update!


And a bonus Military Diesel generator video.

I would recommend anyone who needs coal

Sorry for the delayed reporting. My little part of the world had an internet outage for the past Two and a Half weeks. Here are the numbers from the 2 Sundays we missed.

10/10/2021.
682.4 - 658.0 = 24.4 hours, 134.2 pounds, 3.49 hours per day, 19.17 pounds per day.

18.5 pounds of ash, 13.8%

Increased air from 3.5 to 4.5 10/17/2021.
710.6 - 682.4 = 28.2 hours, 155.1 pounds, 4.03 hours per day, 22.16 pounds per day.

19.0 pounds of ash, 12.3%

Air still at 4.5 Gofer action. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 4.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

7 Days go by... 739.0 - 710.6 = 28.4 hours, 156.2 pounds, 4.06 hours per day, 22.3 pounds per day.
19.0 pounds of ash, 12.2% Gofer action. This week the boiler pressure has been creeping up. Looks like it is most likely the Amtrol BoilerMate failing. I have been using it for over 7 years and it has worked very well. I got it used for real cheap so, no complaints. Water heaters don't last forever.

Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 4.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

Any idea at what brand indirect you will get to replace it?

ziggy87 wrote: ↑

Sun. Oct. 24, 2021 9:49 pm

Any idea at what brand indirect you will get to replace it?

We have a 20 plate heat exchanger in front of it now. The coil in the BoilerMate is capped off. Been a little cool this week. We have the Livingroom zone ON and the bathroom radiant ON. 769.6 - 739.0 = 30.6 hours, 168.3 pounds, 4.37 hours per day, 24.0 pounds per day.
21.5 pounds of ash, 12.8% Gofer Action! Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 4.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

OK, it's been a cold week. Lets see how bad it was. Yesterday we managed to get control of our DHW zone by lowering the setpoint from 130 to 125. Now the zone actually satisfies instead of running constantly. It's been cold enough that we needed to push heat into the garage just to be sure nothing froze. Nighttime lows in the low 30's and upper 20's. This was accomplished by opening the garage zone at night and closing it in the morning.

We are using the Axeman and the monster radiator to heat the garage by pushing heat from the Van Wert in the basement. Today, I wired up a Honeywell 4006 in the Axeman to operate a zone valve in the basement. I have it set to 100 degrees. That should keep the Axeman warm enough. The monster radiator just runs on its own thermostatic zone like normal. OK, time to see what the damage is...

832.0 - 769.6 = 62.4 hours, 343.2 pounds, 8.91 hours per day, 49.0 pounds per day. That's a BIG increase!
43.5 pounds of ash plus whatever fell out, 12.7% WHOOPS!!! This was one of those 2 ashpan weeks and I didn't know it! A bunch fell out when I pulled the pan out. It will be a little warmer this week and having better control over the DHW and garage zones should use less coal.

Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 4.5.
Aquastat = LO = 155, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = 2 minutes every hour.

-Don

Yesterday we shut down the Van Wert in favor of the Axeman Anderson in the garage. After 6 days of running this week...
865.2 - 832.0 = 33.2 hours, 182.6 pounds, 5.53 hours per day, 30.4 pounds per day.
Wow, that's pretty good! 23 pounds of as, 12.6% The gofer will have to move out to the garage now! -Don

It's the beginning of February and it's cold out!

I decided to shut down the Axeman out in the garage and fire up the Van Wert!
It will be interesting to see if the Van Wert on the Low & Slow settings will keep up with heating the house, garage and DHW. Low & Slow settings = 5.5 pounds per hour, Air = 4.5. I brushed it out and cleaned the ash out from between the rings. Then it was time for some FIRE! Plenty of coal still left in the bin. 865.2 hours on the meter. Current settings;

Feed Rate = 5.5 pounds per hour. (Rice coal, 2.0" drive pulley, 25 tooth auger sprocket).
Air = 4.5.
Aquastat = LO = 170, HI = 200, DIFF = 10.
Timer = About 15 seconds every hour.

-Don

We shot some video of todays Festivities too!