Suddenly Experiencing Puff-Backs in AHS S130 Coal Gun
- lsayre
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- Location: Ohio
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
- Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
- Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75
The only potential positive I can think of in this situation is that my flue pipes and chimney (if they survive) may benefit from intermittent blast cleaning.
I believe that a fair number of years ago Jeff Gingrich (the past and once again the present owner of AHS, after having sold it once and then re-purchasing it) once asked Yanchee if he knew that his boiler came with a self cleaning feature. As I recall the story, this came right after they heard a blast and saw an O-ring of smoke exiting the chimney of Yanchee's Coal Gun.
I believe that a fair number of years ago Jeff Gingrich (the past and once again the present owner of AHS, after having sold it once and then re-purchasing it) once asked Yanchee if he knew that his boiler came with a self cleaning feature. As I recall the story, this came right after they heard a blast and saw an O-ring of smoke exiting the chimney of Yanchee's Coal Gun.
-
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Hello all, I have not seen a AHS running but will tell you what a customer told me that had the same trouble. He had cleaned the unit ( brushing, scraping and vacuuming) He had bent the bracket that holds the ashing sensor, Witch caused to much coal to load at a time. It caused some huge booms ( took the chimney cap right off !) He fixed the bracket and all was well. Hope this helps.
- StokerDon
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- 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
Does that mean a bit of over fire air helped?
-Don
-Don
- lsayre
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- 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'm not yet confident of that. Not enough time has gone by to make a determination.
My wife has super human hearing and claims that she can hear a tiny woosh at the end of each fan cut-off cycle, and she says she can also hear the flapper hitting the tombstone cover in conjunction with each tiny woosh, neither of which I can hear due to combined terrible hearing and a bad case of tinnitus. So my wife just corrected me and said no booms, but the woosh is still there....
My wife also possesses a tremendous super-power which our 3 kids (this being roughly 30 years ago) quantified as "Dirt-Ray Vision".
- 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
Still no puffs since I opened the over the fire air hole by ~80%. No other changes have been made.
- 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
That's good, less puffs the better.
Had your wife hit you with the "Dirt Ray Vision" yet?
-Don
Had your wife hit you with the "Dirt Ray Vision" yet?
-Don
- 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
Constantly! I can clean a room or a floor, etc..., only to have her enter and apply her power and instantly discover that I really missed a lot of dirt. This amazing power to expose the futility of mere mortals attempting to clean things really bugged my children while they were growing up, and continues to baffle me to this day. I suspect that other women may also posses this amazing power to see dirt where no one else can see it, but likely none exhibit this power to the degree that my wife does.
Dirt-Ray Vision can even conceive of potential dirt from the as yet unrealized future. It is the main reason why to date the ComfortMax has only ever been fed wood.
- 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
Still no puff-backs. I'm now fully willing to state that opening the over the fire air inlet solved the brief period of puffs experienced when I transitioned from Blaschak to Lehigh. Lehigh is running fine.
- hotblast1357
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- 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
great glad to hear!
- McGiever
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- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
- Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
- Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar
Doesn't the manual state this already as just that to be the cure?
- lsayre
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- Location: Ohio
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
- Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
- Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75
No, it states for the highly specific case of coal gas ignition at the end of a fan cycle:
Cause: Excess chimney draft resulting in delayed release of the sight tube cover
Cure: Install barometric damper or adjust existing damper to 0.04" water column
It states that if you are getting ignitions during specifically an active fan cycle that the over the fire air port should be opened.
My damper just begins to barely crack open at 0.045" of water column. My flapper doesn't spring open until the fan has wound down for a few seconds after motor cut-off though. This may be what they are calling delayed release.
- 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
Bummer, I just had a puff-back this morning, almost immediately following fan cut-off. The first puff that I'm aware of since ~80% opening the over the fire air port. I'm now contemplating opening it 100%. Perhaps I need to adjust (increase) the spring tension on the flapper so it springs open a bit more forcefully and also a bit wider than it is opening at present. I don't think AA's use spring tension, but rather I presume they only use gravity. I could be wrong here. The AHS has a very weak spring on the flapper hinge, and at fan start-up the spring tension as well as gravity must be overcome in order for it to snap shut. But my spring is presently adjusted (tension loosened) such that mainly gravity is opening the flapper.
Freddy, what does your electro-mechanical device on your AA-130 do? Does it force open the flapper a few seconds before fan cut off?
Freddy, what does your electro-mechanical device on your AA-130 do? Does it force open the flapper a few seconds before fan cut off?
- coaledsweat
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- Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 260M
- Coal Size/Type: Pea
How about a picture of this fire at shutdown?
- 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
Hard to see the fire when there is a full column of fresh hopper coal sitting directly on top of it, but the fire is 1 to 2 layers of coal below the inspection port opening. But then it's been this way for years on end without encountering this problem.