Has anyone ever thought of using a longer Axeman Anderson auger assembly to feed an AHS boiler without the hopper? Lets say having the boiler at a right angle to the coal bin and dog house or with the coal bin and dog house facing the boiler?
It would take a little doing with a second electric motor and a gearbox mounted on a pedestal to support the auger and the auger spout. It would lessen the hopper fire risk is my major thought in all this.
The other side of the coin is the forced draft and the flue gasses and how the flue gasses may be blown back through the open auger into a barrel or the dog house in the bin and back into the basement.
If I have sinned I apologize
AHS boilers/hypothetical installation
- Freddy
- Member
- Posts: 7301
- Joined: Fri. Apr. 11, 2008 2:54 pm
- Location: Orrington, Maine
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 130 (pea)
- Coal Size/Type: Pea size, Superior, deep mined
Work that brain! It's always fun to build a better mouse trap. As for a hopper fire in the AHS..... they have a heat sensor at the base of the hopper. If fire starts to crawl up into the hopper, the switch shuts off ( the fan?) & the fire stops.
Anything can be done, but I think adding an auger would be more work than you think. You'd have to move the electrics of the AHS as they sit right where the auger has to go. Motor, tranny, chain, temp sensors, relays switches..... it would get deep! Also...we edon't know if an auger would just drop in, of if you'd be designing, machining & welding a receiver for the auger.
But...if you do it, we all want to see!
Anything can be done, but I think adding an auger would be more work than you think. You'd have to move the electrics of the AHS as they sit right where the auger has to go. Motor, tranny, chain, temp sensors, relays switches..... it would get deep! Also...we edon't know if an auger would just drop in, of if you'd be designing, machining & welding a receiver for the auger.
But...if you do it, we all want to see!
- 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
I can't recall where I might have come across this, but for some odd reason I seem to believe that I once heard that the very first few Eshland's produced actually had AA-like auger feeds. Whistlenut perhaps. ??? Matthaus perhaps ??? Yanche perhaps ???
Given a second motor, there is no particular reason why the auger couldn't come in from a different direction, say 90 or 180 degrees offset from where the AA's have oriented it, and similarly do away with the hopper.
I think this can be done. I've dreamed of it a few times over the past 6 years.
Given a second motor, there is no particular reason why the auger couldn't come in from a different direction, say 90 or 180 degrees offset from where the AA's have oriented it, and similarly do away with the hopper.
I think this can be done. I've dreamed of it a few times over the past 6 years.
- coaledsweat
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 13767
- Joined: Fri. Oct. 27, 2006 2:05 pm
- Location: Guilford, Connecticut
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 260M
- Coal Size/Type: Pea
It isn't forced draft in the fire tube, it is sucked on severely. There is no risk of flue gas release unless the upper end of the auger is uncapped. If it is uncapped, the release is a given but only at idle.
- hotblast1357
- Member
- Posts: 5661
- 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
The eshland did indeed come with a auger at first, the manual I had on my phone had the directions for installation, but I can’t find it now, and there was one for sale on craiglist that had the auger.
What’s your point in this question?
Why not just feed the hopper with a auger? That’s what AHS offers now, and it still allows u to feed from the hopper manually if something happens.
Like said before, there’s a temp sensor on the bottom of the hopper so it can’t burn into the hopper, unless the sensor failed, and the fan ran 24/7 cuz the aquastat failed, and the ash motor quit working due to some malfunction on that side also, a lot has to happen there...
What’s your point in this question?
Why not just feed the hopper with a auger? That’s what AHS offers now, and it still allows u to feed from the hopper manually if something happens.
Like said before, there’s a temp sensor on the bottom of the hopper so it can’t burn into the hopper, unless the sensor failed, and the fan ran 24/7 cuz the aquastat failed, and the ash motor quit working due to some malfunction on that side also, a lot has to happen there...
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7496
- 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
Whistlenut's comments about this very early auger fed Eshland below.
The blower is an indirect (belt driven), can't see the other end, so I don't know about the timer. If you do take this one apart, take your time and remove the wires or mark them. After the piping and auger are removed, then the two outer jackets, there are only 4 bolts that hold it to the base. Remove the blower assembly ( 4 bolts that could be rusted, so soak them before twisting them off.) Two real rugged guys can move the top section a short distance, 3 or 4 would be a cake walk, get it in the truck or trailer and go find another one! I'll bet that unit will look like brand new inside. The AA's, AHS's, EFM's and Keystoker's' are lifetime units. If the tankless unit was used, don't forget to blow it out to keep anything from freezing up. Winter isn't over yet!"
Here is a link to the original thread.
Eshland Coal Gun 130
-Don
"This a real early one. The auger is a copy of the AA unit, not the current hopper variety. That auger is independent.The blower is an indirect (belt driven), can't see the other end, so I don't know about the timer. If you do take this one apart, take your time and remove the wires or mark them. After the piping and auger are removed, then the two outer jackets, there are only 4 bolts that hold it to the base. Remove the blower assembly ( 4 bolts that could be rusted, so soak them before twisting them off.) Two real rugged guys can move the top section a short distance, 3 or 4 would be a cake walk, get it in the truck or trailer and go find another one! I'll bet that unit will look like brand new inside. The AA's, AHS's, EFM's and Keystoker's' are lifetime units. If the tankless unit was used, don't forget to blow it out to keep anything from freezing up. Winter isn't over yet!"
Here is a link to the original thread.
Eshland Coal Gun 130
-Don
- McGiever
- Member
- 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
It has been my understanding that the hopper outlet discharge gets hot more so from running out of coal...so hopper fire is very rare there since no coal in there when it overheats anyway.
I guess if there were coal bridging higher up from bottom neck in hopper there could be a over heating situation while still holding coal above the bridging.
Guess that's where the safety snap switch w/ manual reset comes into play to force the burner off until situation gets fixed.
I guess if there were coal bridging higher up from bottom neck in hopper there could be a over heating situation while still holding coal above the bridging.
Guess that's where the safety snap switch w/ manual reset comes into play to force the burner off until situation gets fixed.