Axeman Anderson 1959 130M

I posted an update video with the ash mess and the barrel in the bin.


-Don

Went through a whole barrel of coal this week. 6397.7 on the meter. 59.8 hours, 388.7 pounds, 55.5 pounds per day. That should come down a lot this coming week. Temp will be 60's and 50's all week. 20 hours of ashing time. The Barrel is filled and ready to go! Current settings,

Auger motor = Runs with fan motor
Anthrastat = 100
Fan RPM = 2012.5 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 1.1 Teeth
Auger speed = 3.94 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 5.2
Pounds per hour = 6.5 pounds per fan run time hour?
Aquastat = 160

-Don

Spring of 2020 is just about here! 6444.6 on the meter. 46.9 hours, 304.85 pounds, 43.55 pounds per day. 15.25 hours of ashing. 38 pounds of ash, 12.5%. Current settings,

Auger motor = Runs with fan motor
Anthrastat = 100
Fan RPM = 2012.5 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 1.1 Teeth
Auger speed = 3.94 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 5.2
Pounds per hour = 6.5 pounds per fan run time hour?
Aquastat = 160

-Don

I've heard that Anthracite coal dust and ash kills Corona Virus! In that case, I think I'll be OK! 6488.8 on the meter. 44.2 hours, 287.3 pounds, 41.0 pounds per day. 13.4 hours of ashing. 35 pounds of ash, 12.18% Filled the barrel with the auxiliary bin auger. Current settings,

Auger motor = Runs with fan motor
Anthrastat = 100
Fan RPM = 2012.5 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 1.1 Teeth
Auger speed = 3.94 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 5.2
Pounds per hour = 6.5 pounds per fan run time hour?
Aquastat = 160

-Don

With all this stuff going on here and the corona virus lock-down, I almost forgot it is Sunday and time to feed the Axeman! 6535.5 on the meter. 46.7 hours of fan run time, 303.5 pounds, 43.4 pounds per day. 14.2 hours of ashing. 38 pounds of ash, 12.5% Still a bit left in the barrel. Current settings,

Auger motor = Runs with fan motor
Anthrastat = 100
Fan RPM = 2012.5 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 1.1 Teeth
Auger speed = 3.94 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 5.2
Pounds per hour = 6.5 pounds per fan run time hour?
Aquastat = 160

-Don

It's been 2 weeks!

And it's Spring time so we have to remove the "Winter Weight" from the back of the truck. 10 bags of Blashchek Pea coal. 6621.1 on the meter. 85.6 hours over 2 weeks, 556.4 pounds, 39.7 pounds per day. This will be a bit tougher to figure out. I don't really know how many times that clock has gone around! I'll take a stab at it and say it whent around 3 times, plus the 2 hours makes 38 hours of ashing.

The barrel is still about half full. I filled it last Monday. Some of the bags were leakers. I tossed them in the barrel. That should be interesting once the Pea makes it to the fire!

Current settings,

Auger motor = Runs with fan motor
Anthrastat = 100
Fan RPM = 2012.5 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 1.1 Teeth
Auger speed = 3.94 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 5.2
Pounds per hour = 6.5 pounds per fan run time hour?
Aquastat = 160

-Don

Another week goes by... 6669.4 on the meter. 48.3 hours, 313.95 pounds, 44.85 pounds per day. That should be coming down now that it's Spring. 18.9 hours of ashing. 38 pounds of ash, 12.1%. I had a cut in half barrel so I decided to stack it on top of the other barrel. Just put about 600 pounds or so of Rice with 3 bags of Pea mixed in. This should get us 2 weeks in this weather. Current settings,

Auger motor = Runs with fan motor
Anthrastat = 100
Fan RPM = 2012.5 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 1.1 Teeth
Auger speed = 3.94 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 5.2
Pounds per hour = 6.5 pounds per fan run time hour?
Aquastat = 160

We're just emptying the ashes this week! I checked the barrel and a half yesterday and we still had coal in the half on top. Over the past 24 hours we have broken in to the bottom barrel. That should easy last til next Sunday.

Lets do the numbers. 49.8 hours of fan run time. 323.7 pounds, 46.2 pounds per day. It's been a little colder than normal and very windy most of the week. 19.4 hours of ashing. 38 pounds of ash, 11.7%. Current settings,

Auger motor = Runs with fan motor
Anthrastat = 100
Fan RPM = 2012.5 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 1.1 Teeth
Auger speed = 3.94 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 5.2
Pounds per hour = 6.5 pounds per fan run time hour?
Aquastat = 160

-Don

AXEMAN ENTERS THE 21st CENTURY!!!

I finally got around to buying 3 Inkbird PID temperature controllers. First I tried one in place of the aquastat to control the boiler termp. I got scared when it started turning the stoker on and off! Turns out, that's what it should do. Since I didn't know that I turned off the PID function and ran it in ON/OFF mode. After realizing it was kind of OK, I switched it back to PID mode. Then I connected one up in place of the Anthrastat. We'll see how this goes. Here is the first video of ON/OFF and later PID action.


-Don

I managed to capture the PIDs in high speed action!

The one on the left is the boiler temp control. The one on the right is the ashing temp control.


This is most of a heating and ashing cycle, both controllers running in PID mode. I ran the video in fast motion through a lot of it. Near the end, there is an interesting battle between the ashing arm and solenoid.

It seems to me that the PID actions should start at lower temps and should have a longer "ON" time to keep from bashing things around.

-Don

Don,

George from Barley and Hops on YouTube has some great knowledge of the PID. Give him a call, (254) 681 1760, He will call you back.

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Thu. Apr. 30, 2020 10:24 am

It seems to me that the PID actions should start at lower temps and should have a longer "ON" time to keep from bashing things around.

-Don

They have to be tuned.

Holdencoal wrote: ↑

Thu. Apr. 30, 2020 12:53 pm

George from Barley and Hops on YouTube has some great knowledge of the PID.

Thanks! I have watched some of his videos, great information. They seem to be controlling heating elements though. I haven't seen anyone controlling single phase electric motors.

-Don

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Thu. Apr. 30, 2020 1:15 pm

They have to be tuned.

That's what i'm hoping. I've tried changing all the PID settings and nothing seems to effect the ON/OFF time.

-Don

PID's in action, re-run.