Looking for information on my Allen stoker
- StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7486
- 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
Great! Thanks for reporting back in. The Allen is a really nice stoker but there is hardly any info about them on the internet. I think your pictures are the best I have seen!
I know forum member "Scrapper" is a fan of the Allen stoker. I also know that he helped DS Machine design the new stoker for their Aquastoke boiler. The new stoker definitely resembles the Allen.
-Don
I know forum member "Scrapper" is a fan of the Allen stoker. I also know that he helped DS Machine design the new stoker for their Aquastoke boiler. The new stoker definitely resembles the Allen.
-Don
-
- Member
- Posts: 788
- Joined: Tue. Nov. 13, 2012 9:05 am
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1948 International boiler, EFM S-20 stoker
- Coal Size/Type: Buck,
So...... Now on to dialing this unit in .
Check on ebay, look for ''manometer'' . You need that next.
This way , you can set the draft. With-out one, it's like being at bat with a blindfold on.
Check on ebay, look for ''manometer'' . You need that next.
This way , you can set the draft. With-out one, it's like being at bat with a blindfold on.
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
-
- Member
- Posts: 788
- Joined: Tue. Nov. 13, 2012 9:05 am
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1948 International boiler, EFM S-20 stoker
- Coal Size/Type: Buck,
A stoker setting is 3 fold . And like setting a carb on a motor.
One, the feed of coal vs fan-forced air needs to be right. You can see that by the ash ring. Next , at rest you want to keep the coal burning , but with as little air ''pull'' from your stack as possible, that ''pull'' keeps the coal burning, but will take the boiler heat away. The barometric dampener in your stack controls the ''pull'', ie, draft. So a manometer is needed to measure that ''pull''. With the manometer you can set the barometric dampener.
They are not expensive.
Your boiler needs a small amount of negative pressure all the times.
And lastly, do you have a couple of CO detectors in the house ?
One, the feed of coal vs fan-forced air needs to be right. You can see that by the ash ring. Next , at rest you want to keep the coal burning , but with as little air ''pull'' from your stack as possible, that ''pull'' keeps the coal burning, but will take the boiler heat away. The barometric dampener in your stack controls the ''pull'', ie, draft. So a manometer is needed to measure that ''pull''. With the manometer you can set the barometric dampener.
They are not expensive.
Your boiler needs a small amount of negative pressure all the times.
And lastly, do you have a couple of CO detectors in the house ?
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
I do not have a baro. I do have 2 CO detectors one with a digital read above the stoker and conventional at the top of the basement stairs.Dave 1234 wrote: ↑Wed. Dec. 09, 2020 5:54 pmA stoker setting is 3 fold . And like setting a carb on a motor.
One, the feed of coal vs fan-forced air needs to be right. You can see that by the ash ring. Next , at rest you want to keep the coal burning , but with as little air ''pull'' from your stack as possible, that ''pull'' keeps the coal burning, but will take the boiler heat away. The barometric dampener in your stack controls the ''pull'', ie, draft. So a manometer is needed to measure that ''pull''. With the manometer you can set the barometric dampener.
They are not expensive.
Your boiler needs a small amount of negative pressure all the times.
And lastly, do you have a couple of CO detectors in the house ?
I plan on installing a baro next year
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
Just wanted to resurrect this thread. After all the work I did to this stoker last year it paid off she is running like a top this year. Lit it up in the end of October been cruising along ever since. Never got to installing a Baro yet but I still plan to. I was lucky enough to find a forum member who has a friend who is willing to sell me an entire stoker unit out of an allen so I wont have to worry so much if something breaks on me.
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
Well its that time of year again that my procrastination of cleaning out the stove from last season has come to and end. Today I decided it was time to pull the stoker unit on the Allen and give it a through cleaning under the grates and the air tube. Once I got the unit out I noticed that i could not spin the main shaft for the screw. Upon further inspection I noticed some rust where the shaft goes through the bushing in the pot and where the fines dump out.(Must've gotten some moisture inside while it was off for the warmer months) Luckily all it took was a larger pipe wench and I was able to break it free. On another note the top ash ring I made 2 years ago is in great shape still. I did find a very large pile of fines under the grates (I did not pull the stoker unit out last year for cleaning I definitely should've.) vacuum took care of them quickly. I'm not a huge fan of my rigid copper air tube from 2 years ago I am going to try to make one out of conduit for a nicer bend and better flow. Tomorrow I pull off the access cover and clean the fly ash out of the inside of the boiler and the stove piping. Here is some pics.
Last edited by Idlorah on Wed. Oct. 12, 2022 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
A few more pictures.
- freetown fred
- Member
- Posts: 30293
- Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
- Location: Freetown,NY 13803
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
- Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
Place your bets now..... we will see how lazy I am next year
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
Today I was able to get the stoker unit reassembled. Made a new air tube out of 3/4 EMT conduit this has a much nicer bend then the rigid copper one I made 2 years ago with multiple kinks in it. Wire brushed off all of the pot rings and reassembled the pot with new gasket under the ash ring. Then I got out the brushes and vacuum and got to cleaning the fly ash out after removing the inspection panel. About 4" of ash in the back of the stoker where the baffles are. And only found one bird, had one last year as well. I finally got up on the roof and measured for and made a chimney cap so I wont have any more birds in my stoker next year. All that is left is to pop off and clean the stove pipe. That will get done tomorrow. here's some pictures. I like to share pictures of my stoker because I believe I am the only Allen stoker on this forum anymore.
Attachments
- Rob R.
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 17977
- Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
- Location: Chazy, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr
Take good care of that stoker.
How hard is it to remove that cleaning panel? After a few weeks of burning if you could sneak in there for a quick brushing it would really get you ready for the cold weather.
How hard is it to remove that cleaning panel? After a few weeks of burning if you could sneak in there for a quick brushing it would really get you ready for the cold weather.
- Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 520
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
Not hard at all. I gave it a good brushing today and vacuumed it all out. I forgot to take after pictures.