LL AA-220 Relocation

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:27 am

It sounds like you do not have the timer cycle set correctly. Rather than adjusting the max feed rate you should be adjusting the timer. I am pretty sure the manual for the 220 has detailed steps about how to do this.

AA and EFM timer settings are simple, some guys don't use a timer at all - others just set it according to the manual and leave it alone. I have not touched mine in 4-5 years.


 
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swyman
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Post by swyman » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:30 am

Rob R. wrote:
Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:27 am
It sounds like you do not have the timer cycle set correctly. Rather than adjusting the max feed rate you should be adjusting the timer. I am pretty sure the manual for the 220 has detailed steps about how to do this.

AA and EFM timer settings are simple, some guys don't use a timer at all - others just set it according to the manual and leave it alone. I have not touched mine in 4-5 years.
You nailed it Rob, LL has a video I believe on how to correctly set this up. I have never touched it since it was in the barn but worked so I never messed with it. Now would be a great time to go through the procedure and set it up correctly.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:33 am

Sounds like a good afternoon project.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:37 am

I found the video on their website:


 
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swyman
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Post by swyman » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:38 am

Thank you, time to study and implement!

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:47 am

I did not realize you could adjust the feed rate and air for the idle circuit separately from the high-fire. I would use whatever on/off times they recommend, and then tweak the rheostat knobs to get the right idle fire. You might just need a little more combustion air at idle.

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:48 am

swyman wrote:
Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:22 am
These stokers have to run every so often to stay lit while in idle fire. I can't remember what my settings are since I have not touched them in years but I think they are 2 minutes on every 7 minutes.
Yes, and this should cause the fire to get very small. I think Rob is right, your timer seems to be pushing as much coal as a heat call. If there is no heat call for 1 or 2 hours you should have more than 50% dead ash on the grate and a small band of lit coal.

That being said, when I was running a stoker this size in a boiler, 10 minutes was the most I could get between timer cycles without loosing the fire. You could probably trim back the 2 minutes though. Don't rely on what the dials say, actually test it yourself so you know what the timer settings are.

-Don


 
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Post by swyman » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 10:02 am

This reminds me, I believe I have anther issue that affects the fire in idle mode.....the power vent. When this goes into idle fire my breech draft doesn't change but my over fire draft goes to whatever the breech draft is which is -.05 right now. So if I had a chimney and the boiler went into idle fire, would a chimney draft reduce since the draft temps would drastically be reduced? The draft pulls through the grate and the coals glow pretty bright while in idle fire. Normal running over fire draft is -.015

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 10:04 am

Rob R. wrote:
Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 9:47 am
I did not realize you could adjust the feed rate and air for the idle circuit separately from the high-fire.
That is interesting. It also makes the idle adjustment a bit more complicated. Good to know.

-Don

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 10:07 am

swyman wrote:
Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 10:02 am
So if I had a chimney and the boiler went into idle fire, would a chimney draft reduce since the draft temps would drastically be reduced?
YUP! Chimney draft is a direct function of how much heat you put into it. At idle your putting very, very little heat into the chimney so the draft drops off.

-Don

 
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Post by nepacoal » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 10:09 am

My over fire draft at idle goes to -.04 and even a little higher if it's been running hard. It's normal. My over fire draft during a long run is right at -.02. During long idles it might drop to -.025.

 
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Post by swyman » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 11:38 am

That explains it.....here is a pic of my stoker beds with the stokers turned off with power vent on. Took pic with the refractory cover off looking straight down on top of the stokers.
20181123_095228.jpg
.JPG | 282.4KB | 20181123_095228.jpg

 
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Post by McGiever » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 11:51 am

Lots to learn with these set up...
Last edited by McGiever on Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 12:36 pm

swyman wrote:
Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 11:38 am
That explains it.....here is a pic of my stoker beds with the stokers turned off with power vent on. Took pic with the refractory cover off looking straight down on top of the stokers.20181123_095228.jpg
So, what are we looking at? Is this while on idle, with no heat calls for 2+ hours? If so, it's time to tweak that idle setting.

-Don

 
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Post by lzaharis » Sun. Feb. 03, 2019 12:55 pm

Hello Swyman,

The thermal hand held gun would work but you would have to hash tag every leak with paint or heavy tape and you will not know if the leak is sealed until the repair work is done and the house is checked again.
The equipment to scan houses used by heating contractors uses a huge IR camera and all the places that are emitting heat are logged on the camera scanner and compact disc or thumb drive if it uses that method to store the data collected.
A good handheld non contact laser thermometer would work well too but the issue is whether the leak is coming from the inside or entering the home with a cold draft.
A door fan to create positive pressure used along with an IR camera is how most of the leak finding is done these days unless you have air gaps that can be seen with a flashlight beam from the outside. once you know where all the leaks are you can go back and fix them one at a time.


After you fix the leaks you may end up using a piece of PVC pipe with a pair of elbows and mosquito screen to add combustion air to the basement for the coal stoker and the propain furnace

One step at a time.


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