How low can you go?

 
MINO
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Post by MINO » Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 8:59 am

Guys with ahs boilers and im sure a couple axeman guys can chime in too but now im only pulling domestic water out of my s 260 and i have been getting a good bit of unbured coal in the ash I know how big the fire chamber is and this is to be expected but how low can you go on the ashing temp/cycle to help keep the fire on the sled a bit longer?? normally I could care less about this happening but the recent spike in price i would like to conserve a bit more... current settings are 113 on the ash it was 118 for awhile but i have been dropping it in 5 degree increments ...... just looking for some insight......


 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 9:22 am

You should raise it, no?

 
MINO
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Post by MINO » Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 9:32 am

mine will keep ashing until 113 once the temp is above 113 it will stop ashing... factory setting they say is 130 but dont want to get too crazy with the threshold

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 10:54 am

Yes, that's how it works. Lowering the temp will have it ashing sooner rather than later, no?

 
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nepacoal
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Post by nepacoal » Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 12:16 pm

Per the manual, you lower the temp during periods of lighter demand to improve the fire...

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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 12:32 pm

Hmmm, I see.

 
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Retro_Origin
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Post by Retro_Origin » Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 5:52 pm

Are you AHS boys using the "stoker don patented" dipstick system to check your fire height or is there another method?


 
MINO
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Post by MINO » Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 8:24 pm

Retro_Origin wrote:
Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 5:52 pm
Are you AHS boys using the "stoker don patented" dipstick system to check your fire height or is there another method?
I haven’t tried that yet…. I’m just going to try cpl degrees every other day until it starts looking like better burn and keeping an eye on how close it gets to the throat where fresh coal comes in… I know everyone has different conditions but just looking for a number that’s a good start point to dial in a bit better

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sat. Jun. 18, 2022 8:51 am

MINO wrote:
Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 8:24 pm
I haven’t tried that yet…. I’m just going to try cpl degrees every other day until it starts looking like better burn and keeping an eye on how close it gets to the throat where fresh coal comes in… I know everyone has different conditions but just looking for a number that’s a good start point to dial in a bit better
The ash is never going to "Look" better in warm weather. There will always be black, partly burn rocks in the ash, especially with a 260. You really need to figure out if you are burning less coal by reducing the ash temp.

I've run into situations where I played with the settings to get the ash to look better only to find out that I was using more coal. I switched the settings back and used less coal. You can't tune it by by trying to get rid of black rocks in the ash.

Your ashing controller should have a Historysis or Differential setting. You can reduce it to more tightly control the ash temp. Lowering the ash temp like you are doing will eventually lead to a high, thin fire which creates more unburnt coal and can cause an outfire.

-Don

 
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Post by Retro_Origin » Sat. Jun. 18, 2022 9:24 am

StokerDon wrote:
Sat. Jun. 18, 2022 8:51 am
The ash is never going to "Look" better in warm weather. There will always be black, partly burn rocks in the ash, especially with a 260. You really need to figure out if you are burning less coal by reducing the ash temp.

I've run into situations where I played with the settings to get the ash to look better only to find out that I was using more coal. I switched the settings back and used less coal. You can't tune it by by trying to get rid of black rocks in the ash.

Your ashing controller should have a Historysis or Differential setting. You can reduce it to more tightly control the ash temp. Lowering the ash temp like you are doing will eventually lead to a high, thin fire which creates more unburnt coal and can cause an outfire.

-Don
Thanks for that good info Don, now that you spell it out is clarifies what my mistakes were last summer with my flat grate, dropping the feed to try to burn everything properly, just burnt everything up all together!! Do you think at a low demand the fire ends up being more of a ball in the center or a ring around the outside?

 
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Post by MINO » Sun. Jun. 19, 2022 6:06 pm

StokerDon wrote:
Sat. Jun. 18, 2022 8:51 am
The ash is never going to "Look" better in warm weather. There will always be black, partly burn rocks in the ash, especially with a 260. You really need to figure out if you are burning less coal by reducing the ash temp.

I've run into situations where I played with the settings to get the ash to look better only to find out that I was using more coal. I switched the settings back and used less coal. You can't tune it by by trying to get rid of black rocks in the ash.

Your ashing controller should have a Historysis or Differential setting. You can reduce it to more tightly control the ash temp. Lowering the ash temp like you are doing will eventually lead to a high, thin fire which creates more unburnt coal and can cause an outfire.

-Don
I understand what your saying but seems like I have a deep fire yet according to the poker … I finally got around to doing it … actually painted it and looked where the paint burned because it’s kind of hard to get it cherry red with no demand… I get that a 260 is hard to throttle down on standby…. Seems last day or so it seems to be more ash… so I’m getting there I’m not making drastic changes but every 3 days or so I check and adjust so it has time to settle in…. Do you think buck coal would be a good option in summer months?

 
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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. Jun. 19, 2022 7:35 pm

MINO wrote:
Sun. Jun. 19, 2022 6:06 pm
Do you think buck coal would be a good option in summer months?
I know that Buck and Rice work fine in an Axeman 130. A 260 might have a though time keeping the fire spread out over that large area.

-Don

 
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Post by MINO » Tue. Jun. 21, 2022 7:20 am

StokerDon wrote:
Sun. Jun. 19, 2022 7:35 pm
I know that Buck and Rice work fine in an Axeman 130. A 260 might have a though time keeping the fire spread out over that large area.

-Don
I would agree..... It seems pretty dialed in on what I have now when i get a chance I can upload a pic of the ash pan. consumption seems to have slowed a bit and that I can live with with the current prices of coal....

 
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Post by Retro_Origin » Tue. Jun. 21, 2022 8:13 pm

MINO wrote:
Tue. Jun. 21, 2022 7:20 am
I would agree..... It seems pretty dialed in on what I have now when i get a chance I can upload a pic of the ash pan. consumption seems to have slowed a bit and that I can live with with the current prices of coal....
Bro you're in Mahanoy city, you probably could drill a hole in your basement and find coal!

 
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Post by MINO » Wed. Jun. 22, 2022 9:50 am

Retro_Origin wrote:
Tue. Jun. 21, 2022 8:13 pm
Bro you're in Mahanoy city, you probably could drill a hole in your basement and find coal!
3/4 of a mile from Blashack Breaker :D still want to achieve the best burn tho


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