VA-600 Air Adjust

 
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StokerDon
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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

Post by StokerDon » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 9:55 am

mjm4jc wrote:
Mon. Nov. 21, 2022 8:31 pm
What is this tube? It's preventing me from pulling the transfer head out further.
Its not preventing you from doing anything. Just loosen the set screw and pull it out. :lol: Its a piece of BX wire covering that they use to push a little combustion air into the auger pipe. It helps keep the fire from migrating down into the auger pipe.
mjm4jc wrote:
Mon. Nov. 21, 2022 7:04 pm
Is there any way to remove the bin auger without removing the pipe? That pipe is not coming off.
This is where working on a Van Wert becomes a puzzle. The bin pipe is in the coal bin and can't move much, but you need to get the transfer head out far enough from the boiler to change the auger and pipe.

Probably the easiest way to do this if the bin pipe is stuck in the transfer head is;
1) Remove the idler gear by removing the shaft set screw.
2) Remove the bin auger shear pin.
3) Remove the bevel gear from the end of the bin auger.
4) Remove the 3 brass screws holding the bin auger bearing plate in place and pull the bearing plate off.
5) You should now be able to pull the bin auger out of the pipe and transfer head.
6) Cut the Bin pipe off a couple inches from the transfer head.
7) Remove the 2 set screws securing the pipe to the stoker back plate. Now you should be able to pull the transfer head, pot auger and pipe out in one piece. Sometimes the pipe will stick in there so you might have to get creative to get it.

You will need to replace the bin pipe doing it this way. Bin pipe and pot pipe are 2.5" schedule 40. You can use aluminum, steel, stainless or whatever you wallet will handle.

You should also look at the bin auger for and sharp flighting. Look at the end where it goes in the bin and where it dumps coal into the transfer head.

And don't forget to put a load of anti-seize on the pipes where they go into the transfer head. You might be the next guy working on it! :D

-Don


 
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Post by mjm4jc » Tue. Nov. 29, 2022 7:55 pm

Thanks Don,
I had to take a break from it for a while. I plan to tackle it again Friday eve. I tried heating the housing and using a stuff call Freeze-Off by CRC on the pipe. But it's pretty much worthless, as it mostly is just a lubricant with very little "freeze" in it. I'm going to try one more thing before I begin to follow your advice. I'm going to torch the housing again and use refrigerant to ice the pipe. If this doesn't work, then I'll be prepared to cut the pipe. Funny thing is about 10-12 years ago, I replaced that bin pipe. The old one was rusted that it actually came out easy. If I remember correctly, I think I actually did put some anti-seize on the new pipe. I think when I install this pipe again (or a new pipe), I'm going to take it to a machinist and have a few millimeters shaved off. It will still fit snug, but also come out when I need it to. I already purchased a new pot auger from Joe in Shenandoah. Don't ask how much it cost!!!!!! Whew!!!!

I can't wait to get this project done. I also can't wait to see my ashes fully burned and looking a little like a light brown crumbled granola with some gray mixed in, lol.

As always, I welcome your comments and criticisms.

Thanks!
Mike

 
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Post by mjm4jc » Thu. Dec. 08, 2022 11:32 pm

Going to tackle the bin pipe again Saturday. I read on here that some people have had success with pvc pipe. That would save some money and a some time for me. Does anyone have any objections to my using schedule 40 pvc?

 
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Post by mjm4jc » Sat. Dec. 10, 2022 5:23 pm

ok so I got the bin pipe off today. It was pretty solid except the end where it goes into the transfer head. That was corroded. When I took the transfer head off, the transfer pipe was in bad shape. I'm going to cut a good section out of the old bin pipe to use for that. Can anyone tell me the length of the transfer pipe? I can guess at about 13" long in light of what I cut off and what I had to take out piece by piece inside the housing. I just want to get it really close to the original length of the pipe.
Thanks!!

 
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Post by mjm4jc » Sun. Dec. 11, 2022 8:30 am

Happy Sunday everyone. I got everything done yesterday. New pot auger and pipe, and new bin pipe (pvc). I also had to buy a new worm gear, since I cracked it trying to hammer it off. I'm glad I got everything back together, but unfortunately, I still have the same dead spot in the front left side of the firepot along with unburned coal. I am at my wits end here. Thanks to all for the helpful tips and instruction. Much appreciated. I don't think there is anything else for me to replace or do. I had the firepot apart twice and cleaned all the rings, which were in good shape. I replaced the rope gasket and tightened the bolts/nuts evenly and fairly tight. Not sure what else to do. I may have to consider a heat pump. I don't want to keep wasting my money on unburned coal, nor do I like carrying out ash cans that are 3 times heavier than normal. This is really unfortunate.

 
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StokerDon
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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

Post by StokerDon » Sun. Dec. 11, 2022 9:00 am

What feed and air settings are you running?

That would have to include pulley sizes and pot auger sprocket size in teeth (18, 12, 25?).

Are you burning Rice coal instead of Buckwheat? Is it different coal from what you were burning?

With a clean pot and good augers and pipes, a dead spot is probably caused by fines in the coal. You should be able to fix it by gradually bumping the air up once a day until it clears up.

-Don

 
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Post by mjm4jc » Mon. Dec. 12, 2022 12:30 pm

Thanks Don. I can give you sprocket info when I get home later, but I'm thinking that it may be irrelevant. This problem that I am having is a rather new phenomenon, which leads me to believe that the feed rate would be the last thing to look at. The air is at 6----I have the up and down slide plate ranging from 0-11. I can bump it as per your suggestion. I only ever use buck and have used buck with no issues for the last 24 years. I think fines may be a possibility, like you said, but then I would have to figure out how they're getting into the pot in light of a new pot auger and pipe. And if it's small fines that are the issue, I'm perplexed as to why the issue is only on that one side of the pot. Perhaps it has something to do with the way the auger brings the coal into the pot? I guess I can empty the barrel again and start with fresh coal to rule out fines coming in from the barrel.


 
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Post by mjm4jc » Mon. Dec. 12, 2022 2:15 pm

In the process of doing all the repairs, I lost the shear pins. If I remember correctly, they're 3/16" for Van Wert???

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Dec. 14, 2022 9:19 am

mjm4jc wrote:
Mon. Dec. 12, 2022 12:30 pm
Perhaps it has something to do with the way the auger brings the coal into the pot? I guess I can empty the barrel again and start with fresh coal to rule out fines coming in from the barrel.
That sounds like a good place to start.

 
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Post by mjm4jc » Fri. Dec. 16, 2022 12:18 pm

Emptied the barrel and put fresh coal in. I even threw the coal around a bit to shake out any fines before I filled the barrel. I still have the same issue. I'm now going to consider re-checking the bin auger. I didn't notice any sharp edges when I put it back in, But maybe I overlooked it.

 
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Post by Jskursky64 » Thu. Dec. 22, 2022 2:17 pm

I am having similar air burn issues tons of fines in the same area of the pot but my shear pins keep breaking and I keep having to pull my worms and I’m finding no big pieces or what is jamming it up. Would the fines do this?

 
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Idlorah
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Post by Idlorah » Thu. Dec. 22, 2022 2:38 pm

Jskursky64 wrote:
Thu. Dec. 22, 2022 2:17 pm
I am having similar air burn issues tons of fines in the same area of the pot but my shear pins keep breaking and I keep having to pull my worms and I’m finding no big pieces or what is jamming it up. Would the fines do this?
I am not very familiar with van werts but how is the condition of your augers? are the grinding the coal and creating fines? also how are the auger bushings if those are worn they could be a contributing factor to broken shear pins along with bad bushings.

 
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Post by Dave 1234 » Thu. Dec. 22, 2022 3:03 pm

If you look at the last flight of the auger it must not be to far into the center of the pot . If it extends into where the pot begins its radius up the coal will crush as the last flight comes down to the bottom of its rotation.

 
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Post by mjm4jc » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 11:15 pm

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a good Christmas and were able to stay warm thanks to the precious anthracite coal. I just wanted to give you all another update. Please refer to the link below to see the video. Long story short-----my problem all along was the coal. It had nothing to do with the quality of coal however. I have tried 3 different suppliers since this problem occurred almost 2 years ago. All 3 suppliers are known to have the best anthracite, arguably, on the planet. The problem seems to be that the coal is no longer sifted like in the past, or the coal trucks are bringing far too much dirt with their loads. This could be intentional too, since dirt adds weight............really don't like to think this way, but........

Anyway, when you watch the video, you'll see a dark, even patch in the center. That's b/c I added a scoop on top right after I cleaned out the barrel and auger.

Thanks again to everyone on this forum. I hope that through my experience, I can offer some help to other Van Wert owners.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN-s0nZuIrBs ... RYV1FUbFpR

 
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Post by Jskursky64 » Tue. Dec. 27, 2022 11:33 pm

Hey I probably should have started a separate thread. But I want to formally thank everyone in this thread. I help maintain a property for an elderly person who runs a Van wert 1500 for heat and hot water. The unit was breaking shear pins left and right ever two days. Multiple break downs fines in pot not burning. Binding in knuckle. It went out of duty last Wednesday and with no repair man available and no clue how to treat. these machines I turned to google. It lead me to all of you. You saved the house and all the pipes inside. I managed through this thread to get the name of marks supply co in Shenandoah Pa. Name of the guy was joe. Highly recommend. I took apart the back end of the unit brought the internal pot worm the knuckle and barrel worm to him. He had all these parts in stock and helped me get my unit back up and running by explaining what I needed and what to do. If it wasn’t for this thread I hijacked a bit all those pipes would have been gone. All units probably destroyed total of 5 people living in her house. Two days before Xmas. I survived the single digit cold have a few new parts and hopefully will help her get a few more years of use after a finer tuning once winter is over. So thank you all. The pot worm was the main issue and as you can see the old knuckle was so worn with use that needed to be changed. First timer btw. With some photos of fire burning with fines before and then the better fire after. Now time to adjust air flow and do a better clean out with the warm weather snap

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