First fire of season switched to RICE tweaking....

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
Other Heating: Oil Boiler

Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 7:07 pm

Well here it is December 18th and 26F outside, dropping to 23F overnight and I'm just firing up my "Gold Smelter" Lol.

I am planning to list the steps I take to make the change in settings from buckwheat to rice coal, which will cover some feed and draft items that may be of interest to someone. Same Reading coal from same supplier.

I cleaned and services the stoker but did not scrape or clean the inside of the boiler. That will have to wait until a decent day to shut down. I take things in smaller bites these days.

Lighting the fire the same as always, I opened the full-time fan draft about double its normal sliver and the main draft about 20% to start. I was loosening the screws so they would be easier to adjust and it seemed like a good place to start.

Feed rate was set the same as last year to begin.

After about 10 mins of watching it light, adding some coal on top of the cowboy charcoal to get a good start, I let it go for 20 mins by my timer. When I checked it, the hottest coals were at the end of the bed with lesser hot coals over most of the rest of the bed.

I turned the feed down 3.25 turns and let it go for 45 mins.

Draft is at .025 with last season's settings. I expect more due to more feed air. I believe it will need more pressure for the denser coal size and will back it down as the last steps.

Stay tuned.
Last edited by CoalisCoolxWarm on Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.


 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 7:26 pm

It's about an hour and a half since lighting and here is the the fire:
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You may notice the thickness of the ashes with unburnt coal on top. I cut the feed back another 2 turns and will wait another 45 mins.

Here are some other readings:
20221218_191221.jpg
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20221218_191318.jpg
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I am impressed that in this short time from scratch the boiler water is up to 149F already.

Living room started at 61F and is now 63F. I have set the thermostat to 65F so everything can heat up and get a good heat soak and higher boiler temp before resetting back up to 70F.

The indirect hot water heater will need to warm up, too.

I posted a pic of the timer, though it isn't relevant at the moment with everything running full bore. I'll likely have to tweak that, too as things settle down.

About 34 mins until the next update....

 
lzaharis
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Post by lzaharis » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 7:37 pm

You will have to cut the coal feed at least 2 more threads.

What are your hold fire timer settings?
Last edited by lzaharis on Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 7:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 7:43 pm

lzaharis wrote:
Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 7:37 pm
You will have to cut the coal feed at least 2 more threads.

What are your hold fire timer settings?
At -5.25 turns now ;)

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 8:10 pm

Here is the fire after that 45mins.
20221218_200116.jpg
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See the thick crust of ashes underneath....

I cut back the feed another 2 turns as suggested ;)

I cut the full time air back to last season's slim rate and cut the main block back a bit, too.

Also broke up the ash-cake and set the timer for another 45 mins.

Living room is at 65F, just turned it up to 68F.

Next update in about 40 mins....

 
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Retro_Origin
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Post by Retro_Origin » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 8:26 pm

CoalisCoolxWarm wrote:
Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 8:10 pm
Also broke up the ash-cake
This is why I had to go away from rice, buck works best for me.

 
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Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 8:39 pm

Retro_Origin wrote:
Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 8:26 pm
This is why I had to go away from rice, buck works best for me.
I remember your troubles. I hope that isn't a problem for me. I had good luck with buckwheat but think I will have better success with a coal vac with rice and it stores a bit more in the same space.

I don't seem to need as high a fire rate as I did initially. The buck is very good at firing at different rates. I don't think I hit the top end ;)

Guess we'll find out!


 
lzaharis
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Post by lzaharis » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 8:59 pm

When I tried both the buckwheat coal alone and the buckwheat rice mix coal I could never get a good burn
and good heat.

I have half of my hoppers draw point covered with 2 pieces of 2 inch wide flat stock covering half of the hoppers draw point width and it is performing very well.

With rice coal I think you will want to shut the coal feed gate by half to slow the coal delivery rate down and prevent too much coal from burning too quickly.

My stoker is set with 8 threads out and I have a very good fire when there is a heat call or during a hold fire cycle.

I have my high limit set at 170 and the low limit at 150.

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:01 pm

After that 45 mins stretch:
20221218_204950.jpg
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Living room didn't heat up during that period, though it is calling for heat.

So I turned the feed up one turn.

We'll see how this goes....another 45 mins.
Last edited by CoalisCoolxWarm on Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:04 pm

Thanks, Leon. I haven't messed with the bar height at all.

 
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Post by Retro_Origin » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:06 pm

Never had any success violating the typical 9-10 threads out or 10-12 threads (for rice I think), my fire would go out. I'm pretty sure the KA4 is quite different as far as the turn count goes. I'm not a big fan of the HUGE tank, 55 gallons sheds a lot of heat in the summer and winter. My basement is well above 75degrees, I'm losing a lot since not insulating my boiler.

As far as the bar height goes, I have mine set so the coal doesn't overflow out the sides, although I get kind of a rolling wave action with buck (variable depth) that I did not get with rice.

 
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Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:12 pm

Retro_Origin wrote:
Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:06 pm
Never had any success violating the typical 9-10 threads out or 10-12 threads (for rice I think), my fire would go out.
That will be next after I find the optimum feed rate for extended full burn.

Finding the spot where the fire won't die down too far and not wasting too much coal ;)

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:15 pm

I have set a few of the bigger units up, the factory settings (listed in the manual) should be very close. I suggest starting with the factory settings and only modifying if needed.

 
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Post by lzaharis » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:15 pm

coaliscool-I think you should back it off one turn and partly close the feed gate and it will burn better.
Was this image at the end of a heat call?? Its looks lop sided almost as if you have fly ash/coal dust under the fire grate.

Keith-the buck will do that because it is larger than rice and will not settle as much and bounce around as much and as it draws it down the pieces of coal drop down and fits in the draw point as the stoker works. You could close both ends of the gate by an inch and save coal and get a better fire as well.

 
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Post by Retro_Origin » Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:16 pm

CoalisCoolxWarm wrote:
Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 9:12 pm
That will be next after I find the optimum feed rate for extended full burn.

Finding the spot where the fire won't die down too far and not wasting too much coal ;)
If you're using it for domestic over the summer, get your logbook out. I struggled a lot to keep the fire lit and yet not burn a lot. Couldn't get lower than about 20lbs a day, did a partial insulating of the boiler but it still warmed up my upstairs a bit, rice did much better.

Honestly, I disconnected the secondary blower for winter and I don't think I'll ever put it back on...it allows TOO much air in and let the fire burn out premature, I had to run it shut till it was beneficial. One of the main dislikes of this boiler is the outfires (that's with buck mind you). I won't disconnect the timer until it stays below 30's all the time. I just don't trust it, nor like relighting the boiler!


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