AHS130 VS Current Boiler Plumbing Ideas

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Trumpeterb
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Posts: 229
Joined: Sun. Feb. 10, 2019 8:37 am
Location: West Middlesex, PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Pea
Other Heating: Electric baseboards (hopefully never use these again)

Post by Trumpeterb » Sat. Jun. 08, 2019 11:36 am

I am picking up my AHS130 Coal Gun next week, and will begin to plumb it in over the coming weeks. I currently heat with a gasification wood boiler (which is being replaced with the 130). I am thinking ahead to the plumbing schematic, and I have to think it will be different from my wood boiler. Currently, I have a main loop that circulates all the time once the water temp is over 140 degrees. The loop runs to a sidearm heat exchanger on my hot water tank, then back to the boiler. The copper pipes running this loop tend to heat the basement enough to make it bearable in cold weather. There is a secondary loop off of the main loop with 4 zones. The loop has its own pump, and each zone is controlled via zone valves. I have an aquastat in the main/continuous loop that opens the largest of the 4 zones if the water exceeds 190 degrees (this is my dump zone). My guess is that a similar setup may work for the 130; however, everything I have seen online looks a bit different in terms of schematic. I was considering installing actual hydronic baseboards in the basement and creating a 5th zone rather than having a continuous loop, and it appears there is a domestic water coil already included with the 130, yes? So rather than a sidearm heat exchanger, I could probably just run the water through that coil and into the hot water tank. This raised the question, if I do not have a continuous loop running, does the create a dangerous situation where, in low demand situations, the boiler could overheat? I would assume a dump zone would help to alleviate this, but I can imagine the dump zone could be very busy at times. I have not yet read the manual on the 130, so I don't know if they offer guidelines for plumbing this in or not, but I know that many of you have expertise in this area. Also, I currently have a danfoss valve plumbed into my wood boiler to avoid cold water from rushing into the unit and cracking the boiler. I was planning on keeping this on the coal gun...is this also common? Any feedback or suggestions on how I might plumb in a 130 with 5 zones (or even 6 if I place a heater in my garage---maybe even use the garage as the dump zone), and your thoughts on a continuous vs non-continuous main loop would be very helpful.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Jun. 08, 2019 1:05 pm

Your existing setup will work fine.

Your continuously running loop...is it all inside the home?

 
Trumpeterb
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Posts: 229
Joined: Sun. Feb. 10, 2019 8:37 am
Location: West Middlesex, PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Pea
Other Heating: Electric baseboards (hopefully never use these again)

Post by Trumpeterb » Sat. Jun. 08, 2019 1:15 pm

The continuous loop is all inside the home. I just have to figure out a way to activate the main circulation pump. Right now it is tied into the boiler controller. Once it hits 140 degrees, the pump kicks on. Do the 130s have this capability? Sorry to sound like a noob....but I am a noob, lol.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Jun. 08, 2019 1:25 pm

You can do the same thing with a L4006B aquastat, or just run the pump all the time with no regard to boiler temperature.


 
lzaharis
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Location: Ithaca, New York
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4-1 dual fuel boiler
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: former switzer CWW100-sold
Coal Size/Type: rice
Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused

Post by lzaharis » Sat. Jun. 08, 2019 11:42 pm

A couple of things to consider before you go too far.

Unless you purchased the coil in your sales order the AHSS130 will have a large pipe plug in the boiler where the coil would be.
Do you have a low water cut off control? If not I can recommend the B+G RB-122-E low water cut off which is a direct water contact conductive unit. I have wired this low water cut off as the first electrical control that the power is wired into the boiler to shut the boiler off in the event of a water loss from a boil off or leak.

If you purchase the indirect belt drive for the combustion fan instead of the direct drive set up it will prolong the life of the blower motor, as it will not be subject to the fire box temperatures coming through the combustion air blowers metal fan and you will have reliable belt drive for the combustion blower.

Your owners manual will also have suggested plumbing diagrams in it.

On of my many mistakes with the purchase of the kaa-4 was buying an internal domestic hot water coil.
After four years of use it has failed. An external coil would have lasted me another 33 years at least like the first one I had for my hand fed boiler. I was told a replacement coil would cost me $308.00 plus freight and sales tax. It is not worth the aggravation or expense for me as an external shell and tube domestic hot water coal coil is easier to plumb in and use. Thank you very much keystoker.

Your installation and owner manual will have wiring and plumbing diagrams in it.

It would be a good thing to pick up another ash drawer too and in so doing you have one as a spare to let you exchange ash drawers with an empty one and let the ashes cool in the one you just removed before you dispose of them.

I stopped using the galvanized bushel baskets as they rotted out too quickly and at almost $40.00 each they became to expensive to buy. I use the Kimmels Brothers coal bags which are polyester open mouth sewn coal bags for this rather than having just thrown them out as I knew I would need them for this.

 
Trumpeterb
Member
Posts: 229
Joined: Sun. Feb. 10, 2019 8:37 am
Location: West Middlesex, PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Pea
Other Heating: Electric baseboards (hopefully never use these again)

Post by Trumpeterb » Sun. Jun. 09, 2019 3:52 pm

All great points. The unit I purchased is a used/new unit...in other words, someone bought it, but never installed or fired the unit for whatever reason. AHS purchased it back or otherwise reacquired the 130. They went over the entire boiler at their factory and assure that it is in new condition. That being said, I do not know if it comes with a domestic coil or not...i have a sidearm exchanger now, and can just keep that. It works great with my wood boiler, and I am sure it has many useful years left. I am not sure about the fan drive. I think the 130s come stock with a direct drive, but Te pictures of the unit that they sent me didn’t really show which drive it has. I emailed them and asked about it. Depending on the cost, I may have them switch the motors out. I do not currently have a low water shutoff, but it does sound like a great idea to have one. How do those plumb into the boiler?

 
lzaharis
Member
Posts: 2366
Joined: Sun. Mar. 25, 2007 8:41 pm
Location: Ithaca, New York
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4-1 dual fuel boiler
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: former switzer CWW100-sold
Coal Size/Type: rice
Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused

Post by lzaharis » Sun. Jun. 09, 2019 8:52 pm

Trumpeterb wrote:
Sun. Jun. 09, 2019 3:52 pm
All great points. The unit I purchased is a used/new unit...in other words, someone bought it, but never installed or fired the unit for whatever reason. AHS purchased it back or otherwise reacquired the 130. They went over the entire boiler at their factory and assure that it is in new condition. That being said, I do not know if it comes with a domestic coil or not...i have a sidearm exchanger now, and can just keep that. It works great with my wood boiler, and I am sure it has many useful years left. I am not sure about the fan drive. I think the 130s come stock with a direct drive, but the pictures of the unit that they sent me didn’t really show which drive it has. I emailed them and asked about it. Depending on the cost, I may have them switch the motors out. I do not currently have a low water shutoff, but it does sound like a great idea to have one. How do those plumb into the boiler?
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Using my B+G/McDonnell & Miller RB-122-E as an example it can be plumbed directly in the steam chest with an unused 3/4" tapping or it can be plumbed in a T on the pressure side of the circulator. The B+G folks have a complete explanation of how this should be done in their installation manual and you can also read about it on the Xylem B+G web site as well.

The power for the boiler is fed from a dedicated stoker outlet box or circuit breaker through the RB-122-E to the control box on your S130 using 14/3 BX cable which is recommended.

You will not need a probe well as it is not required with the RB-122-E as it is a "wet" sensor low water cut off as I mentioned before and it is best to wire it as the very first control that manages the boiler as it will shut the boiler down completely in the event of a water loss.

The low water cut off has to be removed every three years or so to make sure that the conductive tab has no residue/buildup that could interfere with the conductance sensitivity of the low water cut off.

With my past experience with 2 bad hydrolevel 3250 units, a direct water contact conductive low water cut off is much more reliable and safer to use than a combination sensor bulb in a dry probe well.

The test button on the RB-122-E allows you to test the low water cut off to make sure it will shut the power off to the stoker as well and it has a green light to indicate that is working correctly for you.

Any B+G reseller can obtain an RB-122-E for you in a short time if they do not have one in stock so no worries there.

The B+G web site has a dealer locator page as well so you can find a B+G retailer or the regional representative that can direct you to a B+G retailer.

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