The Epoch of the Axeman

swyman wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 31, 2022 6:56 am

How are you reading the supply and return temps as far as the sensors?

Thanks Shane.. are you referring to placement? The probes are located directly on the main supply and return black iron pipes about 6ft from the boiler.. I have them tucked under the pipe insulation.

Lightning wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 31, 2022 3:48 pm

Thanks Shane.. are you referring to placement? The probes are located directly on the main supply and return black iron pipes about 6ft from the boiler.. I have them tucked under the pipe insulation.

I was referring to how they are read. Didn't know if it was a well type or like a strap on if that makes any sense? I would love to have this reading!

swyman wrote: ↑

Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 11:45 am

I would love to have this reading!

They were pretty inexpensive. Mine have about a 6 ft line for the probe. The probe is just a tiny cylinder shaped thing that is strapped over the pipe covered with insulation and taped tight so that it doesn't read any external influences. Powered with a small 12DC adapter, that I bought separately. I found what looks like mine but the description says green lol

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Green-LED-Digital-Thermo ... 632-2357-0

Lightning wrote: ↑

Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 2:44 pm

They were pretty inexpensive. Mine have about a 6 ft line for the probe. The probe is just a tiny cylinder shaped thing that is strapped over the pipe covered with insulation and taped tight so that it doesn't read any external influences. Powered with a small 12DC adapter, that I bought separately. I found what looks like mine but the description says green lol

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Green-LED-Digital-Thermo ... 632-2357-0

Do these have a switch for Celsius or Fahrenheit?

Greg A. wrote: ↑

Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 2:50 pm

Do these have a switch for Celsius or Fahrenheit?

I don't think these are the same ones I have.. although the pictured thermometer in the ebay auction is the ones I have. The listing doesn't seem to follow the pictures.. I can't say for sure if they will display Fahrenheit. It appears not by the the description.

But there are plenty others, just do a search for "digital led thermometer"

These temperature sensors work on one wire, add as many as you desire. Read, store and graph in many different way. Will work in apps with or without Arduino.
Do your whole house inside and out!

https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/iotboys/how- ... sor-2adecc

Another 2 full ash tubs and another 7 day period. Averaging 85 pounds per day. Those days of 4 and 5 degree averages were chewing up about 110 pounds per day. Still scoring an awesome coal vs ash percentage of 8.9%. This period was only a few degrees warmer overall than the last. Pounds per HDD is up by .3 pounds compared to last period. I attribute that uptick to the 4 nights of below zero temps with one of them being -7 and another -9. The outbuilding set at 40 is showing some demand on those below zero nights.


01/26 2:00pm bin level/empty tubs
Date.........#'s....OAT...HDDs
01/27.......80.....13......52
01/28.......80.....17......48
01/29.....120.......4......61
01/30.....120.......5......60
01/31.......80.......5......60
02/01.......40.....24......41
02/02.......73.....31......34

Period of 7 days
Coal used 593#s ..... 85#s/day
Total HDDs = 356
DHW = 70 gallons/day = 4.33 pounds/day
DHW = 30 pounds for period
1.82 pounds per HDD
Average OAT for period 14.1 degrees

Ash 53
Ash/coal used 8.9%

Today I wired in the relay for the boiler temp PID. I have it set at 157 with 4 degrees hysterics which just simply means that it turns the combustion fan on at 153 and shuts it off at 161. This is about the same proximity that the aquastat was running it.

In the pic below it had just shut off a few minutes prior so its reading an over shoot temp.

NICE!

Is that the view from your web cam?

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Sun. Feb. 06, 2022 7:47 pm

NICE!

Is that the view from your web cam?

Thanks Don yep, that's a screen shot of my smart phone. I can view that live in real time, anywhere I have cell service when I'm not at home.

Remember my post earlier about the relay confusion? Turns out I was all wrong about that. This PID does in fact have the 12 volt DC output for an external relay. Its a dam good thing I checked things with the volt meter before wiring it up. I would've most certainly fried something

This period was 8 days, which means 2 roughly full ash tubs. It averaged 9 degrees warmer than last period of 7 days so I was able to get another day out of it. Another interesting trend I'm seeing in this data is that the colder the average is, the lower the ash/coal used percentage is. I realize we can see it in the ash but its really cool seeing it reflect in the numbers. Here is a list of average temps and ash/coal used percentages of periods since I started recording in December. In my opinion its unlikely to get any lower than 8.9% no matter how much colder it gets.

Not that lower percentages is the holy Grail of efficiency. I'm impressed because with the hand fed furnace I was getting more like 14-18%. But I was quite aggressive with clearing ash, can't deny that

33.8 OAT - 11.6% Ash
20.9 OAT - 9.6% Ash
23.4 OAT - 9.5% Ash
11.9 OAT - 8.9% Ash
14.1 OAT - 8.9% Ash
23.1 OAT - 9.7% Ash



02/02 2:00pm bin level/empty tubs
Date.........#'s......OAT......HDDs
02/03.......80.......27........38
02/04.......80.......17........48
02/05.......80.......10........55
02/06.......80.......16........49
02/07.......80.......26........39
02/08.......80.......24........41
02/09.......40.......32........33
02/10.......56.......33........32

Period of 8 days
Coal used 576#s ..... 72#s/day
Total HDDs = 335
DHW = 35 gallons/day = 2.16 pounds/day
DHW = 17 pounds for period
1.67 pounds per HDD
Average OAT for period 23.1 degrees

Ash 56
Ash/coal used 9.7%

9.7% ash is really, really good!

You are absolutely right about it not getting any better than this. This week we passed through the middle of Winter so the outside temps are only going to get warmer. That means we can look forward to higher ash percentages in the coming weeks and months.

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Fri. Feb. 11, 2022 10:51 pm

9.7% ash is really, really good!

Thanks! And those measurements are as precise as I know how to get.

I'm wondering if altering the fan speed and tightening the boiler differential will help maintain a low ash percentage in shoulder and summer months. We're gonna find out!

Lightning wrote: ↑

Sat. Feb. 12, 2022 11:30 am

Thanks! And those measurements are as precise as I know how to get.

I'm wondering if altering the fan speed and tightening the boiler differential will help maintain a low ash percentage in shoulder and summer months. We're gonna find out!

Sounds good!

I don't think it will help but it is always a good idea to have an independent lab verify my results!

-Don