AA130

 
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McGiever
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Posts: 10130
Joined: Sun. May. 02, 2010 11:26 pm
Location: Junction of PA-OH-WV
Stoker Coal Boiler: AXEMAN-ANDERSON 130 "1959"
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: BUCKET A DAY water heater
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar

Post by McGiever » Sun. Apr. 22, 2018 1:51 am

Looks like some elves brought you some buckets of coal. ;)


 
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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. Apr. 28, 2018 8:16 pm

This time we went 22.6 hours and 6.5 days on 268 pounds. That comes out to 11.86 pounds per hour and 41.23 pounds per day.
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After running for a half a day, the coal level is just a shade below the bottom rib.
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I threw in about 25 pounds.
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Then it was time to drain the water out of the 5 Fifty pound bags of Kimmels' that was holding down the back of my truck all Winter. It's a pretty safe bet that we won't get any more snow for a while.
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After they drained for a while I dumped them in. We'll call it 275 pounds.
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The ash has less clinkers in it these days.
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Ready for another week. I am hoping to see the coal consumption go down soon. There is a whole bunch of 80's in the forecast for the coming week. We hope to go at least 7 days on a barrel full now.

-Don

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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. May. 05, 2018 6:22 pm

This time around we only went 19.1 hours on 275 pounds. 14.4 pounds per hour? That don't seem right, maybe my old clock has gone whacked. 39.3 pounds per day, this week we had everything from one 56 degree day to a couple of 90 degree days.

I mined 9 more buckets of Rice coal out of the basement.
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I managed to stuff 9 buckets in the barrel. Mounded up pretty good.
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Not much ash this week, only partly full tubs.
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All ready for another week!
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-Don

 
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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. May. 13, 2018 11:52 am

As of yesterday, still going on last Saturday's fill up of 302 pounds.

Looks like we will make it til Monday.
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7 days worth of ash.
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I have not heard a puff back since lowering the ashing temp a few weeks ago. That means the fire view door is back!
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I'm a little concerned about our fuel consumption. If the 302 pounds loaded last week goes until Monday, that would be 9 days. 9 days for 302 pounds is 33.56 pounds per day. Down here, the heat has been off for over 2 weeks now. Theoretically, we are only heating DHW and the pipe loop to the indirect water heater.

Comparatively, the BairMatic/Van Wert got down as low as 14 pounds per day for DHW only. The VA-600 used about 15.5 per day.

-Don

 
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lsayre
Member
Posts: 21781
Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
Location: Ohio
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75

Post by lsayre » Sun. May. 13, 2018 12:01 pm

Over the years I've tracked my S130 Coal Gun's summer (DHW only) consumption at about 14.25 lbs. per day. Sometimes a tad less, and sometimes a tad more. The quality of the coal seems to be the key to this, but the absolute extremes seem to be within ~0.5 lbs./day, and the more typical extremes are within 0.25 lbs./day. Only the no longer available UAE Harmony coal got me down to a measured 13.75 lbs. per day.

Based upon their similarity, I would assume that an AA should perform roughly the same for DHW. Were the other boilers plumbed similarly and also situated in the garage? Shut off the "fluff" timer if you have one. Are all of your T-Stats off?

 
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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 » Sun. May. 13, 2018 1:45 pm

lsayre wrote:
Sun. May. 13, 2018 12:01 pm
Were the other boilers plumbed similarly and also situated in the garage?
Larry,
No, the other two were in the basement. The VA-600 is fully insulated, the BairMatic was not insulated at all. For some reason the BairMatic did slightly better.
lsayre wrote:
Sun. May. 13, 2018 12:01 pm
Shut off the "fluff" timer if you have one.

The Axeman is not running a timer. That being said, I have noticed that it seems to fire once an hour or so. When it does, it runs for about 4 or 5 minutes. This may be because we run the pump 24/7 keeping heat in the garage to basement pipe loop.
lsayre wrote:
Sun. May. 13, 2018 12:01 pm
Are all of your T-Stats off?
Yes.

-Don

 
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lsayre
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Posts: 21781
Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
Location: Ohio
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75

Post by lsayre » Sun. May. 13, 2018 1:48 pm

The cold garage, lack of insulation, and the 24/7 running of the circulator all seem to be likely candidates.


 
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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 » Mon. May. 14, 2018 8:55 pm

The 302 pounds made it 9 days, 23.6 hours of stoker run time. That makes 33.56 pounds per day and 12.8 pounds per hour.
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I put 8 buckets in it, 268 pounds. We'll see how long that lasts.
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lsayre wrote:
Sun. May. 13, 2018 1:48 pm
The cold garage, lack of insulation, and the 24/7 running of the circulator all seem to be likely candidates.
In an effort to understand this better, I connected to TT terminals on the aquastat to the zone valve end switches. Now the pump will only run during a DHW call and when the boiler is above the LO limit.
Aquastat settings:
HI = 160
LO = 140
DIFF = 10
This may cause some boiler temp over shoots. Also, it may be a very long time between firings, I wonder if it will stay lit?

-Don

 
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hotblast1357
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Posts: 5657
Joined: Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 10:06 pm
Location: Peasleeville NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1984 Eshland S260 coal gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh anthracite pea
Other Heating: air source heat pump, oil furnace

Post by hotblast1357 » Mon. May. 14, 2018 9:02 pm

It will stay lit...

Mine went 12 hours today without firing, and I have 0 draft.

Sooo didn’t you burn 268 lbs in 9 days then?

 
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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 » Mon. May. 14, 2018 9:09 pm

hotblast1357 wrote:
Mon. May. 14, 2018 9:02 pm
Mine went 12 hours today without firing, and I have 0 draft.
Nice! Yah, my draft has been non-existent at idle too. It's been warm to hot just about every day for the past 3 weeks down here.
hotblast1357 wrote:
Mon. May. 14, 2018 9:02 pm
Sooo didn’t you burn 268 lbs in 9 days then?
Nope, 9 buckets is about 302 pounds in 9 days.

-Don

 
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lsayre
Member
Posts: 21781
Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
Location: Ohio
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75

Post by lsayre » Tue. May. 15, 2018 5:22 am

I must be lucky. I haven't seen draft below 0.02" yet this year. And I've never seen zero draft.

 
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hotblast1357
Member
Posts: 5657
Joined: Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 10:06 pm
Location: Peasleeville NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1984 Eshland S260 coal gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh anthracite pea
Other Heating: air source heat pump, oil furnace

Post by hotblast1357 » Tue. May. 15, 2018 5:24 am

I just have to put more chimney up, i only have about 10’. I’ve got another 8’ to go, it should help.

 
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BunkerdCaddis
Member
Posts: 708
Joined: Sun. Jan. 18, 2015 10:26 am
Location: SW Lancaster County
Stoker Coal Boiler: Bairmatic-Van Wert
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Van Wert VW85H
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Saey Hanover II working when I feel the desire, Waterford 105 out on vacation, Surdiac Gotha hiding somewhere
Coal Size/Type: pea/nut/rice/stove-anthracite, nut/stove bit when I feel the urge
Other Heating: oil fired hydronic

Post by BunkerdCaddis » Tue. May. 15, 2018 7:41 pm

lsayre wrote:
Sun. May. 13, 2018 1:48 pm
The cold garage, lack of insulation, and the 24/7 running of the circulator all seem to be likely candidates.
Or those long hot showers spent contemplating how to burn more coal in ever more fascinating ways... :what:

 
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. May. 17, 2018 6:40 pm

BunkerdCaddis wrote:
Tue. May. 15, 2018 7:41 pm
Or those long hot showers spent contemplating how to burn more coal in ever more fascinating ways... :what:
Well, I certainly have no reason to take short, hot showers!

 
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. May. 17, 2018 6:54 pm

Hummm,,,, What's missing from this picture??????????????
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.
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What happened to the baro?????
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Oh, there it is.
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I'm not sure what happened. The pin on one side is broke off.
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Did it just brake? OR, did a puff-back blow it out of there and cause the pin to brake???

I put a cap over it for now. We don't really need the baro much in the Summer anyway. This will give me a good excuse to buy an 8" RC, like it should have.
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It ran for just about 7 hours over the past 3 days. It's been rainy and on the cool side.
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-Don


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