Coal Stoker - Van Wert Anthratherm

Hello all! I am looking to service or replace my old Van Wert Anthratherm coal stoker that is 40-50 years old (at least). I did some research on the site and found the following information:

AB Van Wert is Arnie Huntley. Home Phone 1- 315-653-7883; Cell Phone 1 -315-440-0851 in South Otselic, NY

Art's Mechanical Services, Inc. , Phone # 315-761-1192 in Bouckville NY

Which of these two would be the best to contact to take a look at my stoker and see if it worth putting money into and possibly service it or start to look at replacing it? Both of the above options are around 2 hours away from me since I am located in Northeast PA. The stoker is in OK shape but I find it hard to get parts and the pot is now cracked and needs repair or replacement after this winter. It actually had been running like a champ since last year when I replaced the transmission and augur, but the pot is now in pretty bad shape. Also, if a newer model would be more efficient I may consider replacing the unit but it needs to heat 3,000 - 4,000 square feet with three zones.

Any thoughts from the group? I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions on the two options noted above or any additional options that might be closer to me in Scranton, PA.

P.S. - I would also agree with a few posts on the site that the coal I have been getting is not what it used to be. I have used several local suppliers and the best I have found is Agel Coal in Scranton, PA.

As a follow-up, I have been burning about 160-180 pounds per day with it being this cold out and the problems with the pot (coal is not fully burning). I normally burn 100-120 pounds per day in the winter when it is running properly. I attribute some of this to the lower quality of the coal when compared to just 5 or 10 years ago.

As far as I know Arnie is the only one having new pot rings made. I would give him a call, if there is someone closer to you that can help he will know where to point you.

Is your boiler still in good shape? If it is, it might be best to remove the entire stoker and bring it to Arnie for a rebuild.

Hey Paulie, are the rings cracked or the actual pot itself? If it's a VA600, that's what I just removed due to the coil area too far gone.
VanWert VA600 to an EFM 520 install

If you need a whole pot and rings, Wilhelm's Northeast Anthracite Heating (570) 345-6302 might be able to help you out. I replaced my VA600 with an EFM from them and I passed the VA600 stoker on to them. Only thing is I forgot 2 rings in my basement when I was packing it all up and just found them last week.

Mike

Arnie is probably your best bet as he owns the rights to Van Wert. As far a I know he even has new stokers and parts but you'll have to call to find out what he has.

If the pot is cracked that could be a big problem and expense but as already asked is the pot cracked or is it the rings? They are stacked up inside the pot. It's common for them to crack after many years of use, they are replaceable and not that expensive. It is a lot of work. If you went 40 or 50 years without replacing them you did well. Even if the pot is cracked it may be worth it to find an entire used stoker assembly, that is not something I would try and fix or replace piecemeal.

As far efficiency goes I doubt you'll find anything as efficient.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 2:54 pm

As far as I know Arnie is the only one having new pot rings made. I would give him a call, if there is someone closer to you that can help he will know where to point you.

Is your boiler still in good shape? If it is, it might be best to remove the entire stoker and bring it to Arnie for a rebuild.

The boiler is in decent shape, but I don't know enough about it to see if it is worth putting $$$ into or just replacing it with an EFM or a newer Van Wert. I would love to keep it since I worked on it with my old man. I had an old timer replace the rings about 10-12 years ago but he has passed on and not many people want to work on the old stokers or have the knowledge these days. I only know enough to be dangerous but I did replace the transmission, augur, and barrel setup in the past two years. I found a local guy who was able to take 2-3 old transmissions and make a new one with some new gears etc. It has run really well until recently due the the cracked rings/pot and seemingly lower quality of the coal. Thanks for the response and the info Rob! I am going to try Arnie since everyone says he has the most knowledge about the Van Werts.

LTStorm07 wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 5:30 pm

Hey Paulie, are the rings cracked or the actual pot itself? If it's a VA600, that's what I just removed due to the coil area too far gone.
VanWert VA600 to an EFM 520 install

If you need a whole pot and rings, Wilhelm's Northeast Anthracite Heating (570) 345-6302 might be able to help you out. I replaced my VA600 with an EFM from them and I passed the VA600 stoker on to them. Only thing is I forgot 2 rings in my basement when I was packing it all up and just found them last week.

Mike

It may just be the rings but I will probably have to wait until the spring or warmer weather to shut it down so I can check it out properly. I really like the Van Wert but I have heard good things about the EFM as well. I will give Wilhelm's a try and maybe talk to Arnie since he seems to know the most about these types of stokers. Thanks for the info Mike!

I also checked out your pics Mike. That is a great setup and the new unit looks like a beaut! How is it running for you?

paulied wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 7:47 pm

The boiler is in decent shape, but I don't know enough about it to see if it is worth putting $$$ into or just replacing it with an EFM or a newer Van Wert.

What size is it? Just for perspective I recently sold a 1976 VA-1200 for $1500 and they took it out of the basement. It was in working order when I sold it but they rebuilt the whole stoker mechanism, shipped it off to NY and probably sold it for $5K.

This is not a recommendation because I don't know him that well but he certainly has experience with one Van-Wert. He is in Carbondale so it's really close.

https://www.regalplumbingandheating.com/

paulied wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 7:47 pm

I am going to try Arnie since everyone says he has the most knowledge about the Van Werts

He owns Van-Wert, he has the casting dies and whatever else. When Van-Wert folded he bought everything up.

Hey Richard...interesting about the guy in Carbondale. Good to know there is someone close that has some experience. I also was able to find a Matt DiRenzo in Pottsville who works on coal stokers and is highly recommended. I will post some pics of my Van Wert stoker...I believe it is a VA-600 but all of my pics are on my old phone. I will get some new ones this weekend and post them with an update after I give Arnie a call and maybe this guy in Pottsville. He recommends and gets parts from Mark's Supply in Shenandoah which is not too far. Glad I found this site since finding info and knowledge about coal stokers is hard to find. Thanks again Richard...will post some pics of the stoker this weekend.

paulied wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 7:54 pm

I also checked out your pics Mike. That is a great setup and the new unit looks like a beaut! How is it running for you?

Thanks! Scrapper Jr referenced in that post is the owner of Wilhelm's Northeast Anthracite Heating. Amazing work he does for sure. It literally looks and runs as if it is brand new. I had to do a new gasket in the back, but Steve took care of me and it has been running great. I can tell you that with my house, when the boiler kicks on to feed the heat exchanger, the house will make tstat temp in around 20 minutes. This includes recovering from a set back when its 0 out and blowing. It's a heating monster and I actually have seen it heating the garage and house at the same time with loads of BTUs to spare. I was sad to send the VanWert off to the scrap yard since they're a great unit, but the inside of it was wrecked from a leaking DHW coil that previous owners didn't know of and it kept running fresh makeup water in it. It was bad - the coil area was gone and the entire inside was rusted and pitted on the waterside. I certainly don't regret going with an EFM. I truthfully think EFM, AA, VanWerts are all excellent. EFM just fit the bill for me due to availability (live not far from Scranton).

LTStorm07 wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 9:20 pm

Thanks! Scrapper Jr referenced in that post is the owner of Wilhelm's Northeast Anthracite Heating. Amazing work he does for sure.

You can check but I don't think he has a lot of Van Wert stuff. The Van Werts were made in Peckville which is the Scranton/W-B area. While the EFM's were/are pretty common in this area I don't believe the opposite is true of the Van Werts.

I truthfully think EFM, AA, VanWerts are all excellent. EFM just fit the bill for me due to availability (live not far from Scranton).

My advice would be fix the Van Wert if possible, if you are looking for something new/used to buy certainly look at the EFM only because the parts are are more readily available.

I am definitely going to try to repair the Van Wert stoker. Hopefully I can get someone to look at it to see what else if anything it needs besides the rings/pot repair. I am willing to put some money into it but would like to get an estimate of the cost. Can't really switch to gas since that would be 50% or more expensive to heat the area which is 3,000 to 4,000 square feet depending on if you count all 3 floors and the sub-basement (where the stoker is). I will post some pics when I get a chance this weekend. Thanks to all for the info...this is a great site BTW and I am so glad I found it!

I'll second any idea to repair and get the van wert back up to snuff. The mechanical design is very simple. That means less failure or wearable items. Gearbox, fan and some rings for the pot. I change the belt every other fall, usually find some dry rot cracks. Very good cleaning and check the lube each season. That's it, take out ashes and feed bin. I almost pulled the trigger on an EFM but found the van wert at a better price and the rebuilder had great reviews. I really had a crush on the Axeman Andersons but the twilight disappeared when I learned all the components. Good units, they do lightly nibble coal when dialed in correctly but stick with simplicity. And you've already seen this with the VW. How many oil/gas boilers make 40-50 years and still maintain a good efficiency?

paulied wrote: ↑

Thu. Jan. 27, 2022 6:04 am

I am definitely going to try to repair the Van Wert stoker. Hopefully I can get someone to look at it to see what else if anything it needs besides the rings/pot repair. I am willing to put some money into it but would like to get an estimate of the cost. Can't really switch to gas since that would be 50% or more expensive to heat the area which is 3,000 to 4,000 square feet depending on if you count all 3 floors and the sub-basement (where the stoker is). I will post some pics when I get a chance this weekend. Thanks to all for the info...this is a great site BTW and I am so glad I found it!

If your boiler is still good it makes a lot of sense to just keep the Van Wert and fix the stoker. The Van Wert boiler is one of the best designs out there. Heating 3,000 to 4,000 sq ft is about perfect for the VA-600. It will push 18 pounds of coal per hour when fed Buckwheat.

These are pretty easy to work on. This shows how to remove the grates. It's not a Van Wert boiler but it is a Van Wert stoker.

And this one is putting the grates back in...


-Don