Coalpail.com Forum

Rob R. wrote:

coalkirk wrote:I've had no out fires or draft issues during the warm days. This morning it was 14 degrees. Went down to check the boiler. It was just SITTING there, not even running. This is going to take some getting used to.

EFM uses very realistic (conservative) BTU ratings for their equipment. Unlike some other stoker boilers that are rated based on some sort of mystery number, or on input BTU's rather than net output.

EFM says on 4 teeth that unit puts out 75,000 BTU's per hour. How does that compare to the Harman?

Four teeth sure seems like a lot more than 75,000 btu's. I would guess more like 125,000 BTU's I haven't moved off of 4&4. I am so glad I found this boiler.

So much for the nice shinny paint inside!

Sounds like it's doing it's job better than expected!

-Don

I'm glad you did too!
I'm running 4 teeth feed and around 5 or 5.5 on the air.
Quite amazing machines.

Well after running for a month I discovered last night that I've actually been running 5 teeth. It's hard to count the clicks in real time. I took a video of the gear in action with the slo-mo feature of my phone and counted the clicks. So I assume I should adjust the air up to 5 too?

4.5

Turn up the heat, take a shower, do some laundry, etc - then take a peak at the fire. Should have 1.5-2" ash ring.

coalkirk wrote:Well after running for a month I discovered last night that I've actually been running 5 teeth. It's hard to count the clicks in real time.

I guess that explains why the ash ring was a little on the small side. It wasn't throwing any lit coal over the side so the air was close to being right. You probably need to slightly increase the air. Try 4.25 then 4.5. Put a good load on it, like Rob said and check the ash ring after a long run.

-Don

Coalkirk, check your barrel!!!

You are probably using more coal now than when we fire this thing up. I filled my GJ up on Tuesday, normally it lasts about 5 days. I just took a look in the trashcan and I could see auger!

-Don

Yes I'm burning more coal for sure. Also the bagged coal I'm using is a white ash coal and it seems to really chew through it. Thanks for the reminder!
These bags weren't marked so I don't know whose coal it is but there is a *censored* load of ash with it too.

My EFM520 is on its last 55 gallon drum of coal for this heating season. Will be out and shutting down within a couple days and switching to oil. Next project is to repeal and replace my coal bin. It will be larger (7x7) and have two sloped walls to the auger. It will allow coal to fall to the middle of the bin but when it gets low will require some raking toward the auger. I'm only using 2 sloped walls this time. Depending on how it works out, I may add sloped walls on the other sides next time. Per my calculations even with the sloped sides the bin will end up holding more coal than my present one.

I took a trip over to visit CoalKirk and his DF520 today. We have had some very cold weather down here this week and the 520 has been pulling it's weight with no fuss or drama.
The EFM has a new "V" bottom bin. The mouth of the auger is right in the middle. 4 tons of Lehigh Rice is in there. Still room for another ton.
We did an update video. I will get this uploaded to the Youtube playlist for this project as soon as I can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl3B2U46nXU&list= ... h6xa9WgMOG

-Don

So just about the end of the first full heating season with this EFM520. Once the coal is in the bin this is truly automatic heat as the emblem on the front says. Literally all I have to do is empty the ash every 2-3 day and hold the fines handle for 15 seconds a day.I've been using a 30 gallon contractor bag in the ash pans all winter. Pull out the ash tub and close the bag. Couldn't be any easier. I lit the fire on 11/10/17 and it is still burning. Makes the one match club seem way too easy. When all is said and done i will have used just a hair under 5 tons from 11/10 through early March. Hard to judge but I problably have another week or two worth of coal left.
The coupling on the shaft between the blower and gear reducer has become noiser and I'm going to replace it in the off season. I did insulate the boiler about 6 weeks ago. Dropped the boiler room temp by about 10 degrees to 80. The new V bottom coal bin has worked perfectly and will hold a little over 5 tons. Now that the coal level is getting low, I do have to rake some coal from the rear of the bin toward the gopher hole every few days. Just takes a few seconds. I'm anxious to see the metal box at the bottom where the worm lives to see how much fines are packed in there. I didn't build it with any provision to purge fines. I plan to add a way to do so during the off season. StokerDon and me added a basement radiator a few weeks ago to the far end of the basement. I really like it! It has a circualtor pump but will flow via convection when the pump is off.

Sounds like the entire system is working very well for you.

The coupling on the shaft between the blower and gear reducer has become noiser and I'm going to replace it in the off season.

Before you buy any parts, make sure the set screw(s) are snug.

Yesterday we replaced the coupler in the DF 520. I added 2 very short videos about replacing the coupler and 2 videos of the before and after sound level to the playlist.

-Don

Looks like you switched to the new style coupler. Snug the set screws after a week or so.

Who is in charge of the wiring? You guys down South should research armored cable and junction boxes.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Sun. Mar. 25, 2018 10:00 am

Looks like you switched to the new style coupler. Snug the set screws after a week or so.

Who is in charge of the wiring? You guys down South should research armored cable and junction boxes.

Yes you are right. I bought the wiring, boxes, etc but haven’t gotten around to actually doing it. This is still the temporary wiring from the quick and dirty install. Boiler room was 90 degrees most of the winter. Too warm to work on it. Since I insulated the boiler it’s more like 80. Wiring and “full metal jacket” will happen in the off season. Winter I’m sitting in a chair nearby swilling Yuengling when I wasn’t at work.