Axeman 130 Heats Wood Boiler

McGiever wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 15, 2022 11:50 am

As a side, 24 volt control circuits are the standard in most all HVAC controls so no issues there.

Yes, and that is very important. This is not my house and someday a normal HVAC tech might be called in to fix something. When he looks at that R845A box, he will know what it is and know how to test it.

I actually have a couple relays similar to the one you listed but by the time you put it in a box with the other components needed it is way quicker and easier to pop in the R845A.

BlackBetty06 wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 16, 2022 3:56 pm

just wanted to say though that 120v or 24v in a setup like this doesn’t really matter.

I don't agree with that. Voltage is Potential, a higher potential is always more likely to jump a spark gap regardless of the current. We are talking about contacts that are more than 30 years old. We want to make life as easy as we can on those contacts because a new Anthrastat is Big Bucks.

BlackBetty06 wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 16, 2022 3:56 pm

This is a neat project to read about. I’m hoping someday to install one of my own but my current house doesn’t allow. I’ve always wanted a boiler system in my house and would love to parallel a coal boiler in on one.

Thanks there BB! I'm glad you enjoy this kind of stuff. I just do it for fun to help friends out.

You know, if your house has heating or cooling ductwork you can put in a heat exchanger plumbed to a boiler. That's how I got started with Coal Stoker Boiler Madness!

-Don

I would like to add that my solenoid would stutter when engaging with the old anthrastat. Since using the PID its one "tick" to engage. So, I have reason to believe that the contacts in the old anthrastat are a bit glitchy..

Don, Yes exactly. Voltage is easy to explain to people if you equate it to electrical “pressure”. More pressure the more you can ram down the line. For instance a standard 200 amp electrical panel in a house could be fed with 16 gauge wire at 4,160 volts. Anyway in small stuff like this 120 has a potential to spark(arc) more than 24 volt. You could always pop an isolation relay on there some day if need be assuming the anthrastat puts out 24 volts and waits to see it come back like on a normal oil boiler primary control let’s say. I am not familiar with them. But as a side note, In power supply voltages higher is actually safer. Strange but true!

Believe me I’ve been tempted to install an aquacoil on top of my hybrid heat system but I have no space in the basement for a boiler setup. Threads like this make me want to. I thought about making a little boiler house outside and piping it in but all I’d think about is the heat I’d be losing having the boiler outside lol and not sure how long I’m staying here. I’ve actually installed many boilers and furnaces over the years. HVAC is what I do although now I’m working primarily in the industrial side with centrifugal chillers.

What part of south western PA you from? Fayette or Greene county area?

ANOTHER AXEMAN ANDERSON 130 ENTERS THE 21st CENTURY!!!

The project for this week is to wire up a box containing 3 Inkbird ITC-106 VH's. Inkbird 1 = Boiler Control.
Inkbird 2 = Ashing Control.
Inkbird 3 = Stack Temperature Ashing Inhibit Control.

There is also an hour meter for Fan, Pump and Ashing. ON - OFF switch for the Fan and an ON - OFF - ON switch for the ASH. The ASH ON - OFF - ON switch contols weather the auger motor runs when the fan motor runs (Down) or only when ashing (UP). Yesterdays progress... This morning we gave it some power to see if the Inkbirds would power up. SUCCESS!!! Nothing blew up! Next will be connecting the thermocouples and then jumper the HI LIMIT connections so the output gets power. Then we can test if it all actually works like it should.

-Don

Dude, you Rock! I love it

Lightning wrote: ↑

Sun. Nov. 19, 2023 9:33 am

Dude, you Rock! I love it

Thanks!

It will Rock a lot more if it all actually works when its done!

Today we got it pretty well finished up.
Tested everything out with 3 lightbulbs and a cigarette lighter to heat the thermocouples.
The lightbulbs represent 1) Fan Motor, 2) Ashing Solenoid, 3) Auger Motor.
The lights come on, so it works! The video does a better job explaining how it works.

The plan is to install it all on Tuesday.

-Don

Yesterday we wired in the new Inkbird digital control box at the Axeman Heats Wood Boiler Project.

Just a quick re-cap of the project.

Friends' of mine were interested in switching from a huge Mahoning 5000 wood boiler to an automatic feed Axeman coal boiler. They thought they would need a 260. I convinced them to try a 130 since it would probably carry their heat load and would be less expensive.

We ended up temporarily installing the 130 in the basement of the out building and back feeding it to the wood boiler just to see if it would carry the full load.

It ended up working very well heating the whole 4900 sq. ft. living space and DHW with no problem.
Out building. House. Boiler room. Mid day wiring progress. In the end, we didn't make any wiring mistakes and it all works like it should!
But, we had a couple head scratching moments trying to figure out exactly how it should work.

Once we had it figured out, we lit the fire and tested everything for real.
It all works! ROLL THE VIDEO!!!

For lunch we had some fantastic Moose Stu! YUM,

-Don