The Epoch of the Axeman

 
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swyman
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman-Anderson 260M Leisure Line AA-220 Boiler (FOR SALE)
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Pea

Post by swyman » Wed. Oct. 06, 2021 11:42 am

Lightning wrote:
Fri. Sep. 24, 2021 1:16 pm
If I recall correctly, I just used a rope stove gasket for that.

Still lovin the Axe260 I take it? Did you end up using a little less coal than the rice burner? Or did you increase the heat demand..
I started the fire on December 9th last year, burned 8 ton till I shut it off in April. Not 1 time did my furnace fire need to kick on to "help" the boiler keep up, actually while the furnace would be on a heat call the 260 would cycle off after 6 minutes! In comparison I burned 10 ton in the Leisure Line and 20% propane usage on a 500 gallon tank. While the furnace fan would cycle the boiler temp would plummet and require the furnace fire to kick on to keep the boiler temps from dipping to low. This would only happen on the coldest/windiest days when there would be long fan cycles to keep house at set temp. Still, the fact that I burned 2 ton less and never needed help, no comparison in my opinion. My neighbor bought a 260 from Ziggy so I'll be working on getting his setup this winter!

Oh, I'm just going to reach down in and put some high temp silicone around it with my finger.


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Oct. 06, 2021 8:24 pm

swyman wrote:
Wed. Oct. 06, 2021 11:42 am
Oh, I'm just going to reach down in and put some high temp silicone around it with my finger.
Unless we're not referring to the same connection, I don't believe you'll be able to reach down in from the top to seal the pope's hat to the boiler. If its the same design as the 130, the Pope's hat extends down past that point probably 6-8 inches inside the cyclonic fly ash separator. Assuming its the same design, you'll need to undo the 2 bolts that hold the Pope's hat down and seal it where it meets the boiler. A simple task, but I would still recommend using a fiberglass rope stove gasket for that seal. :D

Happy to hear you love the 260. Awesome machine!!

 
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swyman
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman-Anderson 260M Leisure Line AA-220 Boiler (FOR SALE)
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Pea

Post by swyman » Thu. Oct. 07, 2021 9:28 am

Lightning wrote:
Wed. Oct. 06, 2021 8:24 pm
Unless we're not referring to the same connection, I don't believe you'll be able to reach down in from the top to seal the pope's hat to the boiler. If its the same design as the 130, the Pope's hat extends down past that point probably 6-8 inches inside the cyclonic fly ash separator. Assuming its the same design, you'll need to undo the 2 bolts that hold the Pope's hat down and seal it where it meets the boiler. A simple task, but I would still recommend using a fiberglass rope stove gasket for that seal. :D

Happy to hear you love the 260. Awesome machine!!
The clearance is pretty tight and not centered and pope's hat seems to be inside pipe. I can reach it from the top and there doesn't seem to be anything that would hole the rope in place looking at it from the top. I tried to seal it up from the bottom last year but couldn't do a very good job while boiler was hot and full of ash

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Oct. 08, 2021 5:42 pm

swyman wrote:
Thu. Oct. 07, 2021 9:28 am
The clearance is pretty tight and not centered and pope's hat seems to be inside pipe.
So here is what mine looks like. 2 bolts hold the Pope's hat down. Once it is removed, it reveals a surface for a gasket to be placed underneath. Again, I'm not sure yours being the big brother is the same design. Maybe you could get a pic of yours for me to see. ;)

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nepacoal
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Post by nepacoal » Fri. Oct. 08, 2021 6:06 pm

I'm pretty sure Shane is talking about sealing the funnel at the bottom, not gasketing under the Pope's hat... He didn't know to seal up the funnel during his refurb and already had it fired up last year.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Oct. 08, 2021 7:42 pm

Oh! Well that would make more sense lol

 
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swyman
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Post by swyman » Wed. Oct. 13, 2021 2:11 pm

nepacoal wrote:
Fri. Oct. 08, 2021 6:06 pm
I'm pretty sure Shane is talking about sealing the funnel at the bottom, not gasketing under the Pope's hat... He didn't know to seal up the funnel during his refurb and already had it fired up last year.
Yup, nepa is correct but thank you for posting Lee. I didn't know there was supposed to be a gasket under that top piece with the 2 bolts! I just used high temp silicone but it worked. I do need to seal the bottom up around the top of that funnel!


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Oct. 13, 2021 3:33 pm

It's all good Shane :D

 
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swyman
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Post by swyman » Fri. Oct. 15, 2021 3:16 pm

Lightning wrote:
Wed. Oct. 13, 2021 3:33 pm
It's all good Shane :D
Can't wait to fire it up!

 
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 1:48 pm

I fired up the Axe yesterday since it had been shut down while we had nice weather for the first couple weeks of October. This afternoon, I came down to the basement to admire this wonderful piece of equipment to notice that it was suspiciously quiet upon firing up. There was no tinkle tinkle of tumbling coal in the feed tube. Heartbroken and confused, I pulled the plate off the back of the auger to see it spinning but no coal. Hmmm.. looking down the auger center inside, I could see no churning of coal at the bin end. Apparently, fines are causing a bridge underneath 4 feet of coal in the bin. So I stabbed down thru the coal with my coal sword to free up the bridge. It didn't go well.. it was very difficult to get right in front of the feed tube at the bottom of the bin. Coal would start to feed up the tube then it would bridge again in a few minutes. This went on for about an hour. Finally it seemed that I freed up the bridge.

In my after thoughts on the matter, I came up with this clever plan that it might be a whole lot easier to free up another bridging by probing some sort of tool right down thru the center of the auger. Here's what I came up with. I fashioned this 10 ft length of plastic electrical conduit that fits nicely down the feed tube all the way to the bin end. Once there, a simple twisting motion should free up even the most stubborn of coal fine bridges. I'll follow up with my results.

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ziggy87
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Post by ziggy87 » Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 8:04 pm

I have a ridgid vacuum cleaner house that I put down the center of the auger. I then put the lid back on the transfer head and let it in for 2 minutes or so. This helps get the fines fed up the tube as well. Looks like your idea is better then mine. My only concern would be if one of the pieces breaks off the end of the pvc, it could clog the end of the auger. Good luck.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Oct. 24, 2021 11:12 am

So I thought I'd move some things around to get more information out of my IP cam. First pic is previous view, second pic is current view, third pic is the new position of the cam in relation to the monitoring equipment. Still debating on how or if I'm gonna add the Mano.

Top left is supply temp
Top right is return temp

Then the modules in the box-
Top red is internal flue temp
Bottom red is ashing temp
The green digits are set temps

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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Oct. 24, 2021 11:20 am

Looks good. Where did you get the digital temperature displays?

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Oct. 24, 2021 1:53 pm

Rob R. wrote:
Sun. Oct. 24, 2021 11:20 am
Looks good. Where did you get the digital temperature displays?
Thanks partner! It was an eBay find. I currently couldn't find the exact same that went to tenths of a degree but here is something similar

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Thermometer-Temp ... 1543927510

 
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Post by Lightning » Sat. Nov. 06, 2021 7:05 pm

Ooooo.... Today I noticed the Mano going positive upon startup of a combustion cycle. It usually does during warm weather for a very brief moment but this was different. It stayed positive pressure for a long time, then finally went slightly negative but not very far. It was to the point that I could smell the coal exhaust. I had a hunch that there was a partial blockage somewhere along the exhaust path.

So I went up on the roof and inspected the chimney cap. Most of the cage was plugged with compacted black dust. I brushed it off noticing also the cage was in pretty bad condition but it'll do for now. I'll want a new chimney cap next summer. I also surmised that this wasn't the only issue.

So about 30 minutes after a combustion call I went to the basement prepared to pull the stove pipe while the Axe was sleeping. I poured about 10 pounds of raw coal dust out of it and saw that the base of the chimney was 90+ percent blocked with more coal dust. I then cleaned it all out.

Hmmm.. I better check that cyclonic seperator and see if it's plugged. Sure enough it was half full with 8 inches deep of coal dust. I shoved the shop vac hose down there and cleaned it all out good. In the end I filled an ash tub 2/3s full with raw coal dust from the chimney base and stove pipe plus what the shop vac sucked outta the cyclonic seperator.

Now that I think about it, I haven't been seeing any raw coal dust on that side of the ash tub. That shoulda been my first clue, but apparently I'm not a very good detective.

I'm lucky that I noticed it on the mano. Just more evidence that it's such an important instrument to have, even if it's not really needed for operation :)

Upon startup after the cleaning, the mano held a very healthy negative pressure reading.

Disaster averted..

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