Axeman Anderson 1959 130M

Looks real good Don!! Curious, does the glass slam shut pretty hard against the steel? Do you think it could crack or break? I want one for mine

I've been running this for a year and a half with no problem. Currently, this is the loudest noise the Axeman makes. When the fan comes on the door is sucked shut, this make a noticeable "Clank!".

-Don

Isn't it PYREX or similar?

coaledsweat wrote: ↑

Mon. Sep. 16, 2019 6:45 am

Isn't it PYREX or similar?

Pyrex would shatter. It needs to be what is referred to as zero expansion glass. The same stuff that stove windows are made of.

When I installed a window in my furnace I used a material called neoceram. Strangely it cracked during the summer and don't know why.

Stress most likely.

Lightning wrote: ↑

Mon. Sep. 16, 2019 5:12 pm

When I installed a window in my furnace I used a material called neoceram. Strangely it cracked during the summer and don't know why.

coaledsweat wrote: ↑

Mon. Sep. 16, 2019 5:36 pm

Stress most likely.

Needs to "float', as in no binding in mounting and frame, fixed or tight screws or bolts are prime culprits... thin clips are best.
It is rather strange though of cracking in the off season.

Yeah strange lol, I did mount it between steel bars with fiberglass gaskets to cushion, but maybe I bolted too tight.

Another 7 days of burning Rice coal in the 'Ol Axeman. No feeding problems this week either. 5250.1 on the meter. 26.5 hours, 3.79 hours per day. Yesterday we sped the fan up by changing out the 3" motor pulley with a 4" motor pulley yielding 2300RPM fan speed. It was 1725 RPM.
Today, since we have not had any feeding problems in 2 weeks, we changed the auger gearbox pulley from 4" to 5". This gives us an auger speed of 2.76 RPM. Ash, still granola like with some powder and a few clinkers. Last weekend I added an small 120 volt LED light inside the box that powers the house/DHW pump. Now I can actually tell when the pump is running! Soon it will be time to sit and watch the Mighty Axeman coal fire! You would think the end of September would be a good time to look at burning coal. Unfortunately, it was 90 today, it will be 90 tomorrow and the rest of the week it will be in the mid 80's.

Current settings,

Anthrastat = 110
Fan RPM = 2300 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 1.0 Teeth
Auger speed = 2.76 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 3.31
Pounds per hour = Unknown
Aquastat = 160

-Don

It’s 80 here today but going to be a balmy 55 here Tuesday!

CLEANING DAY!!!

It's been almost 1 year since we fired this thing up so it is time for a cleaning. We are going to rearrange the stovepipe a bit to get a steeper angle. Flyash was settling in the pipe and we don't want that. We are also going to turn the Tee so that it will be one strait shot down to the boiler for quick and easy, mid-Winter cleaning. Shut the power off and forced the pump on for a couple hours to pump the heat out. Pulled the stovepipe and blew it out with compressed air. Just some flyash buildup on the walls of the cyclone separator. A quick brushing will take care of that. Pulled the fan and fan bearing box by removing the fan plate bolts and the bearing box bolts that hold it to the pedestal. My home made fan plate gasket still looks good so we will re-use it. Yes, I did get bearing box oil on my foot and pant leg again! Nothing much in the swirl chamber either. A quick brush and vac and it's time to put it back together. All back together and ready for another year! The fire didn't survive the 6 hour shutdown so we had to relight it. Cleaned up the fire view door so we can see it. I shot 8 videos of the action. It will take a long time for them to upload.

-Don

That's awesome! So to relight the fire do you have to empty the fuel chamber? Or can you build a new fire on top?

Lightning wrote: ↑

Fri. Sep. 27, 2019 7:53 pm

That's awesome! So to relight the fire do you have to empty the fuel chamber? Or can you build a new fire on top?

I just stuffed some Cowboy Charcoal and part of the bag down under the coal and torched it. Then threw my dirty close in the washer on "Power Wash". It ran for about an hour and now it is sleeping. I'm going to take a long, hot shower now to wash all the flyash out of my hair.

One thing I have noticed about this new stovepipe configuration is the draft is noticeable better.

-Don

I created a new video playlist for the fall cleaning. It's not complete yet, still 3 more videos to upload.

-Don

I decided to do the ash and a little more maintenance this evening. 5271.9 on the meter. 21.8 hours over the past 6 days, 3.63 hours per day. This is not accurate due to the fact that we tried to recover the fire after yesterdays cleaning and it needed a re-light. Ash. The draft when it is sleeping is about -.015 to -.020. this is more than it has ever been. It used to sleep at -.01 or less. Full fire is still about -.035. I am thinking that this improved idle draft is due to the new stove pipe arrangement. I cleaned out the ash from the base a jacked up the grate to get a look at the rollers. The front ones move freely but the back left one was stuck. I was able to pry the grate over to one side in the back to remove, lube and reinstall the rear rollers. We will lube the fronts at another time. We sill have 3 more videos to upload.

-Don