Another VA-600 Project

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Jun. 24, 2017 9:59 pm

THIS ONE IS A COAL VIRGIN!

I picked up another Van Wert VA-600 today. This one was installed in the house right after it was built in 1983. This is a dual fuel unit and from what the owner told me, it has never had an ounce of coal burned in it! They ran it on oil it's whole life!
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The covers are real nice. It even came with the doghouse to go over the stoker. Most of the insulation is still good on this one!
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Original, unused coal shovel and ash pan.
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All this stuff came apart with no problems.
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The augers and gears show no ware at all.
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I spent about an hour or so with the pressure washer to get most of the oil filth out of it.
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I left the pot in on this one, that made it a lot easier.
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The DHW coil gasket has been leaking for quite a while. This one might need to visit the welder.
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All in all, a good day!

-Don


 
unhippy
Member
Posts: 512
Joined: Mon. Dec. 27, 2010 1:59 am
Location: New Zealand
Stoker Coal Boiler: MK2 #1

Post by unhippy » Sun. Jun. 25, 2017 3:30 am

I find it somewhat astonishing that people could buy something and then never try it out to at least ensure it works and is on the right settings :o ....if i own something i at the very least try it out to see how it runs.

 
Jhunter13
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat. Mar. 11, 2017 12:12 pm
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert

Post by Jhunter13 » Sun. Jun. 25, 2017 6:15 am

Glad to see you made it home! Great meeting you and best of luck with your new boiler.

 
User avatar
StokerDon
Site Moderator
Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sun. Jun. 25, 2017 8:47 pm

Jhunter13 wrote:Glad to see you made it home! Great meeting you and best of luck with your new boiler.
It was great to meet you to Jon, and thanks for all the help. It would have taken a lot longer by myself.

-Don

 
User avatar
StokerDon
Site Moderator
Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sun. Jun. 25, 2017 9:08 pm

More pics of the boiler and parts.
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The boiler serial number is 1313, SPOOKY! If I didn't know where this came from I would be wondering if The Munster's ever owned it!
Strangely, this boiler has no "H" stamp tag. The tag would have been right where the serial number is stamped.
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Stoker, gear box and motor data plates.
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The controls. Timer, relay, 2 fused power switches and aquastat.
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A bag of shear pins and extra bolts. Also included were 2 bags of starter mice circa 1983.
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Here is the oil burner plate with the mercury switch.
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This came with the documents that pertain to installing, wiring and running the oil burner. I have never seen these before.
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-Don

 
alpineboard
Member
Posts: 302
Joined: Thu. Jan. 20, 2011 8:12 am
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert 600
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Tarm 202
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman HXL, 150, Crane 88, Crane 404
Other Heating: Solar

Post by alpineboard » Tue. Jun. 27, 2017 8:38 pm

Great find!

 
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Rob R.
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Posts: 17979
Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
Location: Chazy, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr

Post by Rob R. » Tue. Jun. 27, 2017 8:47 pm

That looks like a nice one...would be mint if not for the coil. What do you plan to do with it?

Thanks for posting the pictures of the original documents.


 
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StokerDon
Site Moderator
Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Wed. Jun. 28, 2017 7:46 pm

Rob R. wrote:That looks like a nice one...would be mint if not for the coil. What do you plan to do with it?
Thanks A.P. and Rob! These stupid coil gaskets are getting pretty annoying. For right now it will be another addition to my coal stoker museum. Winter is six months away, by then I should have a plan for it.

Right now I am about to get the parts needed to install the other VA-600. It doesn't hurt to have 2!

-Don

 
User avatar
StokerDon
Site Moderator
Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Aug. 18, 2018 8:09 pm

Last night I pulled the DHW coil out of Van Wert #2. The boiler plate has a bit if ware to the right of and underneath the coil mounting surface. So I put it on the truck and hauled it up to Scrapper's place.
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Scrapper is going to weld a plate over it so it will never leak again.

I still don't have a plan for this boiler. Never the less, when I get it back it will get cleaned up and painted.

-Don

 
User avatar
StokerDon
Site Moderator
Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Dec. 15, 2018 8:13 pm

We got the boiler back today!
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He had to go down below the stay rods to get all the rot out on this one.
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Well, that will never leak again!

Next will be a little cleaning, flushing and painting.

-Don

 
Qtown1835
Member
Posts: 705
Joined: Sat. Nov. 08, 2014 11:47 am
Location: Quakertown, PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker '81 KA4 (online 1/16/17)
Coal Size/Type: WAS Lehigh Rice (TBD)
Other Heating: EFM SPK600

Post by Qtown1835 » Sat. Dec. 15, 2018 9:46 pm

Looks like a nice repair. Quick turnaround too

 
lzaharis
Member
Posts: 2365
Joined: Sun. Mar. 25, 2007 8:41 pm
Location: Ithaca, New York
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4-1 dual fuel boiler
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: former switzer CWW100-sold
Coal Size/Type: rice
Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused

Post by lzaharis » Sat. Dec. 15, 2018 11:24 pm

For shame, where is kittycat???

 
Joelharris58
Member
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon. Oct. 22, 2018 8:47 pm
Stoker Coal Boiler: Yellow flame
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Sears homart
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by Joelharris58 » Sun. Dec. 16, 2018 5:34 pm

Amazing I love to see your progress on these builds I wish I had the time and resources to be able to do something like you but I guess for now I’ll just stay tuned and watch everything you put out any ideas on what comes next or does it just all depend on what falls into the bed of your truck next lol

 
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StokerDon
Site Moderator
Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sun. Dec. 16, 2018 7:32 pm

Joelharris58 wrote:
Sun. Dec. 16, 2018 5:34 pm
any ideas on what comes next or does it just all depend on what falls into the bed of your truck next lol
That's pretty much it! Watch CL until something interesting pops up for cheap. It happens all the time. There are a couple of them out there now but we have reached critical mass here, no more room. That means it's time for a purge.

-Don

 
User avatar
StokerDon
Site Moderator
Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Thu. Dec. 27, 2018 7:48 pm

This morning I wire wheeled the boiler real good. then pushed it outside for some cleaning.
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After some cleaning I hosed it down with some Hi Heat Silver.
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I taped up the flue outlet after painting it black.
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The stokers eye view of the inside.
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Then the fire door and frame got wire wheeled, cleaned and painted.
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The Ol' Axeman was hard at work keep'in the paint cans warm.
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We managed to get the ash pan door cleaned up and painted too before it got dark.
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Everything is drying right now. The Monster radiator in ON and it's over 80 degrees in there!
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It's going to rain tomorrow so cleaning and painting stoker parts will wait for another day.

-Don


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