Axeman Anderson 1959 130M

swyman wrote: ↑

Tue. Jan. 12, 2021 6:43 am

That ash pic with stock settings is exactly what mine looks like. I take that as my boiler is running as it should.

Pretty much. You could possibly get a little more complete burn if you made it run a little longer per day.

Time to get that hour meter hooked up!

-Don

Have you ever weighed the coal going into this?

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Tue. Jan. 12, 2021 1:11 pm

Looks like it would be 50 pounds per day at a fan speed of 1293.75 RPM (12% ash) Vs. 57.8 pounds per day at a fan speed of 2875 RPM (15%ash). The math says we saved 7.8 pounds per day. That's probably a little optimistic though.

I couldn't resist doing a little more tinkering though. I put a 2.5" pulley in place of the 3" pulley. The new fan speed is 1078.13 RPM. We'll run it like that for a few days to see what happens.

-Don

At some juncture the flapper won't pull in during the fan cycle.

I would have thought you’d save more coal than that. Up to 25 lbs maybe.
You have done a thorough job to reduce consumption and try to do even better than factory!

lsayre wrote: ↑

Tue. Jan. 12, 2021 3:10 pm

At some juncture the flapper won't pull in during the fan cycle.

Your correct Larry. Once we get under 1300 RPM on this unit, the door is prone to hang open on a re-start if there is a good fire going. It's not much of a problem if it's been off for more than 10 minutes.

hotblast1357 wrote: ↑

Tue. Jan. 12, 2021 1:29 pm

Have you ever weighed the coal going into this?

Yes, but not during the Winter, only Spring and Summer.

dbsuz05 wrote: ↑

Tue. Jan. 12, 2021 5:45 pm

You have done a thorough job to reduce consumption and try to do even better than factory!

Thanks!
But to be fair, they designed it to put out 130,000 BTU. I just optimized it to run under 60,000 BTU. As Rob stated earlier in this thread, by making the stoker run for longer periods of time, we have moved it further up the efficiency curve.
Of course this will all fall apart when it gets warm out.

-Don

Ditto with swyman, the fast setting ash looks just like my stock ahs 260.

4 days of running the "Super Low & Slow" settings with the fan at 1078.13 RPM. Over the past 4 days;
Fan reading, 118.9 - 71.8 = 41.7 hours of fan run time, 11.775 hours per day.
Ash reading, 74.7 - 51.6 = 23.1 , hours of ashing, 5.775 hours per day. 27 pounds of ash. Ash looks good with some big clinkers. There are some rocks, probably due to the mild weather we are having. Coal usage by ash weight estimate. Ash is closer to 12% than 15%.
12% = 225 pounds, 56.25 pounds per day. 5.39 pounds per fan hour.
15% = 180.00 pounds, 45 pounds per day. 4.32 pounds per fan hour.
18% = 150.00 pounds, 37.5 pounds per day. 3.60 pounds per fan hour.

Back to the original Low & Slow fan speed of 1293.75 RPM. The fire door closes better now. Current settings,

Fan RPM = 1293.75 RPM (Stock is 2875 RPM)
Ashing = 3.0 Teeth
Auger speed = 3.45 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 10.35
Pounds per hour = Between 4.60 and 6.90 pounds per fan run time hour
Aquastat = 160*F (Inkbird), PID
Anthrastat = 125*F (Inkbird), Hysteresis = 0.5*
Low flue temperature cut off = 160*F, Hysteresis = 0.1*

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Fri. Jan. 15, 2021 6:31 pm

Back to the original Low & Slow fan speed of 1293.75 RPM. The fire door closes better now.

When my fan comes on it sounds like the glass is going to break!

swyman wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 16, 2021 6:47 am

When my fan comes on it sounds like the glass is going to break!

Currently the door is the loudest noise it makes. Boiler is in the garage but I can hear the door CLANK! shut in the living room. The CLUNK! from the solenoid used to be the loudest thing.

-Don

I think in the offseason I will get rid of the solenoid with the addition of a auger motor and possibly slow it down some. It is running so well and the temps here are ridiculously warm so this thing has had an easy life so far but it has proved it can run in these warm conditions without a hitch. Hopefully we get those -10* ambient temps with a 30mph West wind, then I will know if I should play with the speeds. From what I've seen the boiler will still short cycle. So giddy over this thing but there is just nothing to do but take out ash, which lately I'm going 4 days to a 2/3rds full pan!

swyman wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 16, 2021 9:38 am

then I will know if I should play with the speeds.

If you want to see it run longer you could do what Coaldsweat did. Swap the fan and motor pulleys. You don't need to buy anything and the only tool you need is an Allen key.

If it doesn't work out, just swap it back.

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 16, 2021 10:35 am

If you want to see it run longer you could do what Coaldsweat did. Swap the fan and motor pulleys. You don't need to buy anything and the only tool you need is an Allen key.

If it doesn't work out, just swap it back.

-Don

That is as simple as it gets, might try that Monday while I'm off. Does the counterweight come off the fan shaft easy?

swyman wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 16, 2021 11:23 am

Does the counterweight come off the fan shaft easy?

How would I know? You're the 260M guy!

130M's don't have the fancy heat sink or the counterweight so, I have never seen one in person.

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 16, 2021 11:50 am

130M's don't have the fancy heat sink or the counterweight

-Don

Didn't know that, my bad

Yes, but mark everything before you take it off so it goes back exactly as it was.