Looking for thoughts from the Van Wert folks

I recently started a thread over on the chimney board [please see the link at the end of this message] which, naturally, began as a chimney discussion. As I learned more about the boiler system in our newish house, the discussion took a turn toward coal furnaces and, long story a bit shorter, it ended up as a stoker boiler thread...which brings me [here] to the stoker boiler board.

Although we're certainly going to move away from the ultra-expensive propane boiler and hydronic baseboard system we have in our house, monetary considerations seem to be sort of "pushing us" toward a used anthracite stoker boiler that can be rebuilt and used with our finned baseboard "emitters." Although I've heard a lot from the EFM and the A-A folks on the thread I just mentioned, I haven't heard much from the Van Wert owners on the forum...and the reason I'm asking about VW, in particular, is because we presently have a line on a used VW 800 system.

Needless to say, I still want to learn as much as possible about all of the great coal stoker boilers in use out there in CoalPail world, but, at this point in time, I want to ask for more input from the Van Wert folks...and I'd especially be interested in hearing from anyone who's rebuilt an older VW stoker boiler for use in their home. Thank you very much for your time and your kind consideration ~ HandLogger

Click here to see the Southerner Needs a Primer thread: Southerner Needs a Primer

I found Van Wert's to be really high-end machines. I rebuilt a smaller one, the 400, and it was more than enough to heat my house. My house is a little over 3500 feet but well insulated. I have experience rebuilding several others for sale and I cann say the 800 is a heating machine. It is larger. Typically, it is used to heat large drafty houses or apartment buildings. The last one I rebuilt,ended up heating an apartment building in Maine. I don't rebuild them any more but if you choose that route, Arnie, the guy that owns AB stokers is great. A good source of parts and help. I had a pretty good thread on my rebuild. Don't have much luck attaching it though.

Scottscoaled wrote: ↑

Tue. Feb. 18, 2020 5:56 pm

I found Van Wert's to be really high-end machines. I rebuilt a smaller one, the 400, and it was more than enough to heat my house. My house is a little over 3500 feet but well insulated. I have experience rebuilding several others for sale and I cann say the 800 is a heating machine. It is larger. Typically, it is used to heat large drafty houses or apartment buildings. The last one I rebuilt,ended up heating an apartment building in Maine. I don't rebuild them any more but if you choose that route, Arnie, the guy that owns AB stokers is great. A good source of parts and help. I had a pretty good thread on my rebuild. Don't have much luck attaching it though.

Scottscoaled: Thanks very much for the post. Will you please give me a hint about where on the forum I can find your rebuild thread? I'd really like to study it. Thanks again and have a great evening ~ HandLogger

HandLogger wrote: ↑

Tue. Feb. 18, 2020 6:40 pm

Will you please give me a hint about where on the forum I can find your rebuild thread?

Go to the top right side of this web page. Find the "Search" bar, click on the gear on the right side of the search bar. This will bring up the advanced search window.

Type Van Wert into the search bar.

Under search options select the "Coal Stoker Boilers Using Anthracite" forum.

Where it says "Search Within" select "Topic Titles Only"

Click the "Search" button at the bottom of the page.

That will give you every thread that has "Van Wert" in the title since the beginning of the forum.

There are lots of good restorations and info in there. I found Scott's with no problem.
Post by Scottscoaled - Restoration and Installation of a Van Wert 400

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Tue. Feb. 18, 2020 7:15 pm

Go to the top right side of this web page. Find the "Search" bar, click on the gear on the right side of the search bar. This will bring up the advanced search window.

Type Van Wert into the search bar.

Under search options select the "Coal Stoker Boilers Using Anthracite" forum.

Where it says "Search Within" select "Topic Titles Only"

Click the "Search" button at the bottom of the page.

That will give you every thread that has "Van Wert" in the title since the beginning of the forum.

There are lots of good restorations and info in there. I found Scott's with no problem.
Post by Scottscoaled - Restoration and Installation of a Van Wert 400

-Don

Thanks for the tips, Don. When I searched posts by Scottscoaled, I got about 173 pages of return hits. Obviously, I don't know much about forum tools (yet), but I know that I don't have enough computer time in any work day to search that many forum pages.

Scottscoaled: Forget about the question relating to finding your Van Wert 600 restore project -- I've got it now. Looks like a very good read for sure.

I understand that the Van Wert coal stokers like Buck size coal the best. The easiest source in our area sells Pea size anthracite. Will a Van Wert coal stoker work well with the larger Pea size coal?

Thanks for your time,
HandLogger

Buck or rice that's it .

Den034071 wrote: ↑

Wed. Feb. 26, 2020 2:55 pm

Buck or rice that's it .

Thanks very much for the response, Jack.

HandLogger wrote: ↑

Wed. Feb. 26, 2020 2:52 pm

Will a Van Wert coal stoker work well with the larger Pea size coal?

I have experimented with Pea in a Van Wert but I wouldn't recommend running it in your primary heating system. The Van Wert was designed to run on Buckwheat coal but it will also burn Rice. Technically Pea size will run through the auger but its a tight fit. If your Pea coal has the occasional oversized piece, you will be breaking sheer pins.

In this experiment I ran my VA-600 on Pea coal for 8 days with no problems.
The Van Wert VA600 Project

To answer your question more directly, it will work well until the first sheer pin breaks. Then it will be frustrating.

If your local-est, best and cheapest coal supplier carries Pea but not Rice or Buckwheat, you need a boiler that will burn Pea. The Axeman Anderson, AHS and possibly the 3" auger Gentleman Janitors are your best choices.

-Don

Thank you for the thoughtful response, Don.

Handlogger,
I run rice coal only in my Van Wert VA-600. Rice is better, smoother, quieter and in good supply.

In times past I have run buckwheat
buckwheat is slightly larger size coal and it does not go through easily on the stoker mechanism
a lot of crunching and hacking... I am afraid of premature wear from using buckwheat. With rice
coal it slides through the stoker mechanism, and it runs much quieter without all that darn crunching, etc... and rice burns very nicely and stays lit in fire pot for six to eight
hours at a time if you have a power out....and another big plus is that rice coal is in plentiful supply.

My Van Wert I have been running for 20 years never a problem and it runs great. Heats the house fine with hot water baseboard and heated floor in den and garage. I also have oil burner where I can run both of them if it is a cold windy night 5F and below. Van Wert Stoker runs from first week of September to about Mid June each year, fire stays in all that time, no out fires.

Where the heck are you located ? We aren't gonna steal ya ! (Right F Fred ? )
Ken

Ken: Thanks for the great post. I'm happy to hear from someone who's been running a VW for a long time.

I'm especially happy to hear from someone who's running a VA-600 because it looks like that's what we're going to go with. At this point, the word "buck" has been beat into my noggin,' but your experience with "rice" is very comforting indeed. I've got a funny feeling that rice size anthracite is going to be a whole lot easier for us Berkshire mountain folk to get.

I'm also glad to read that you're running a hydronic baseboard system, which coincides with what we have. With any luck, I'll soon be able to tell our local cord wood thief to go sit on one of his punky excuses for split heating wood. Do you think that Arthur Fonzarelli had that in mind when he would tell the "uncool" kids to sit on it?