Restored 1959 Axeman 130

Got 5 days out of a barrel this time. That would come out to about 30 pounds per day. Better, but not great. Over the past 4 days;
Fan reading, 3544.3 - 3530.0 = 14.3 hours of fan run time, 2.04 hours per day.
150 pounds over 5 days is 30.0 per day. About 10.5 pounds per hour. The ash is looking better too. Not great, but it is Summer down here so it will never look great. I decided to actually measure what I put in this time.
The bucket is 3 pounds. I measured 140 pounds. In the barrel it's a bit more level than what I have been filling it to. That means our estimate of 150 pounds per previous fill up is good. Current settings,

Fan RPM = 2208 RPM (Stock AHS is 1725 RPM?)
Auger speed = 5.03 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = ? (1 tooth on the ashing gear)
Aquastat = 160*F (Inkbird), ON/OFF, Hysteresis = 5*
Anthrastat = 120*F (Inkbird), Hysteresis = 0.3*
Low flue temperature cut off = 185*F, Hysteresis = 0.1*

-Don

The Rice Coal Experiment Ends... Over the past 7 days;
Fan reading, 3570 - 3544.3 = 25.7 hours of fan run time, 3.67 hours per day.
245 pounds over 7 days is 35.0 per day. About 9.5 pounds per hour. 37 pounds of ash, 15%. Since I was running the higher fan speed and needed overfire air for the Rice Coal I put the heavier fire door on with the hole in it. Last of the Rice Coal. Switching back to Pea Coal. Once the Pea Coal fully feeds in we will switch the settings back to where they were before the Rice Coal.

Current settings,

Fan RPM = 2208 RPM (Stock AHS is 1725 RPM?)
Auger speed = 5.03 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = ? (1 tooth on the ashing gear)
Aquastat = 160*F (Inkbird), ON/OFF, Hysteresis = 5*
Anthrastat = 120*F (Inkbird), Hysteresis = 0.3*
Low flue temperature cut off = 185*F, Hysteresis = 0.1*

-Don

OUTFIRE!!!

Well, I was lazy and didn't change the settings back to the Pea Coal setting on Sunday like I should have. I came home from work Monday and it was out.
The good news is that once again, Low flue temperature cut off worked and no coal was pushed into the ashpan. The fan ran for a lot of hours during the outfire.
Over the past 5 days,
Fan reading, 3595.8 - 3570.0 = 25.8 hours of fan run time, 5.16 hours per day. The ash looks pretty good. Empty barrel. Full barrel. Current settings,
Fan speed = 2195 RPM (Stock AHS is 1725 RPM?)
Auger speed = 4.31 RPM (Stock is 8.05 RPM)
Grate cycles per hour = 10.35-ish (2 tooth on the ashing gear)
Aquastat = 160*F (Inkbird), ON/OFF, Hysteresis = 5*
Anthrastat = 120*F (Inkbird), Hysteresis = 0.3*
Low flue temperature cut off = 180*F, Hysteresis = 0.1*

-Don

Interesting that your ash looks pretty good but your daily consumption is highish. I have the reverse problem! Which Im ok with! Thanks for sharing!

Retro_Origin wrote: ↑

Thu. Jun. 15, 2023 8:17 pm

Interesting that your ash looks pretty good but your daily consumption is highish. I have the reverse problem! Which Im ok with! Thanks for sharing!

That actually makes sense to me.

A couple years ago, running the Van Wert in the Summer, I was using 13 to 14 pounds per day but the ash had a lot of black in it. I turned the air up a little and the ash looked great. But I went up to 20 pounds per day.

The Van Wert VA600 Project

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Sat. Jun. 17, 2023 7:40 am

That actually makes sense to me.

A couple years ago, running the Van Wert in the Summer, I was using 13 to 14 pounds per day but the ash had a lot of black in it. I turned the air up a little and the ash looked great. But I went up to 20 pounds per day.

The Van Wert VA600 Project

-Don

Yup Don , keeping them BTU's where they belong is a balancing act !

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Sat. Jun. 17, 2023 7:40 am

That actually makes sense to me.

A couple years ago, running the Van Wert in the Summer, I was using 13 to 14 pounds per day but the ash had a lot of black in it. I turned the air up a little and the ash looked great. But I went up to 20 pounds per day.

The Van Wert VA600 Project

-Don

Proof is in the pudding but now I'm more confused! Apparently eliminating unburnt is not the final end all approach to using the least amount of coal. Does this mean that when you increase the air you're increasing the velocity and pushing more heat out the chimney? Is that why the increase or is it something else? Boy, just when you think you have it figured!

Retro_Origin wrote: ↑

Sun. Jun. 18, 2023 8:13 pm

Does this mean that when you increase the air you're increasing the velocity and pushing more heat out the chimney?

Whenever you increase the combustion air, the stack temp goes up, so, yes.

That's not really the problem when running for DHW only. The problem is intermittent running. The coal would burn much more efficiently if you could burn it constantly. Thats not possible with a 130,000 BTU boiler serving a 30,000 BTU load twice a day.

-Don