Coalpail.com Forum

So are we saying I need to replace the stoker portion of the unit. I do want to get this thing running right and am willing to give it one more year before the C4 comes out. I would just assume put new aqua stat and timer on it as well as they ones I bought from Mike are old, so might as well do it now.

Don, youve put together almost every imaginable FrankenBoiler out there, don't you have a work-around here?

You just need to remove that spacer, not replace the stoker.

Generally x2, but I'd suggest first checking whether the pot is centered L-to-R in the combustion chamber. If not needed or if counterproductive in pot centering, AFAIK the spacer plate can/should be removed and this would leave everything properly aligned. If the spacer plate is useful and the auger pipe is aligned properly in the stoker, the presence of the spacer plate moves the auger pipe "down" slightly relative to the opening in the side plate of the base. If the movement is more than amount of slack available, you might be able to accommodate it by repositioning/fiddling with the pipe collar or side panel. This should leave everything properly aligned.

Maybe I missed it, but I haven't heard of any issues that would relate to the aquastat or timer. If it ain't broke I wouldn't fix it, esp. if you aren't sure about keeping the unit for the longer term.

Mike

Well it looks like Scott can stop by this spring on some of his travels to fix me up. I just want to make sure I have everything here that we may need to get it done while he is here.

Mike, The timer and aquastat are probably older than me as well, they were ones that you had taken out somewhere. I do not want to get this thing up mechanically and then have trouble with that. So I am willing to drop some cash on new. I realize the timers are $400 or so, but worth it to not have to worry about an old one dying. I can not even read some of the adjustment numbers on it and the aqua stat is about 15 degrees off, I hAve to set it 15 degrees higher.

I do not mind throwing $2000 grand at this to make it work right. It has already paid for itself in savings over LP

waldo lemieux wrote:Don, youve put together almost every imaginable FrankenBoiler out there, don't you have a work-around here?

I did notice the 350 stoker spacer but I was thinking the same thing Scott was thinking, Is it a 350 boiler?

If we are still thinking the stoker spacer could be a problem, Remove the bin auger/pipe, remove the sealing ring from the boiler side plate, loosen the feed pipe bolts. Then you can check if the feed pipe is bound up from the spacer being wrong.

If the pipe is bound up, just take a die grinder or large half round file, to the hole and make the pipe fit. Drill new holes for the sealing ring and put it back together.

-Don

But,,,,,, I mention this because this is something I have seen before. It could be rocks in the coal. That is the best thing. But,,,,, it could be that the pot bushing is worn and the pot itself is worn from the additional torque by the auger being forced up. I say this because all the stokers I've restored were easily turned by hand. A couple fingers usually. I've had several come thru that had severe auger wear and the same issue we are talking about. It's a hard fix at the machine shop to ream the hole out and put in a bushing to fit the pot bushing. Expensive by me. That scene gives the auger a whole bunch of pressure just to turn. A tough piece of coal, a bigger piece of buck, could be just enough to shear the pin.
All bet's off if there are rocks in the coal. The pins are doing their work if there is.

Scottscoaled wrote:All bet's off if there are rocks in the coal. The pins are doing their work if there is.

YUP!

I wonder how high off the floor of the bin the mouth of the auger is? If it's to low you can pick up junk from the bottom.

-Don

I wonder how high off the floor of the bin the mouth of the auger is? If it's to low you can pick up junk from the bottom.

-Don

About 2" above the floor
Brent

Ok, so I have finally freed up enough time to get back to stoker. I cleaned out coal enough to ger to the bottom and see the end of the worm. When you look at the blown up picture you are looking at the end of the worm. It is about 3 1/2-4" off the floor.

Is that plywood always that close to the end of the auger?

No, it is a drop down door I put in when I built the bin so that I could separate the main bin from the little dog house. Normally it is 8-12" above auger

I do not believe these show much, but they are pot tube after I pulled it out of pot.

I believe this is the bushing somebody mentioned that goes into the pot. This is on the pot auger, it is a new shaft that I put in last dec. It does look a little banged up on the grooves that are in it, like they have been grinding on something

Picture of coupler from clutch shaft connecting into pot auger. I have been using shear pins here, but you guys said to switch to cotter pins, will do so.