New to the forum. Harman Magnum Stoker with a few questions

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J8404
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Posts: 1
Joined: Sat. Dec. 17, 2022 11:26 am
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Harman Magnum Stoker
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Other Heating: HVAC

Post by J8404 » Wed. Dec. 28, 2022 7:02 am

Good morning.

This forum has been an absolute godsend. Thanks to this group and the techs at the local furnace store, I’ve finally been able to run the furnace without any CO alarms for several days.

Some stats:
-Furnace: Harman Magnum Stoker (Not the cool one with the the air filter)
-House size: About 1300 sq ft. Split level.
-Furnace location: basement.
-Chimney type: Masonry with stainless steel liner.
Age of chimney: about 10-11 years
-Age of furnace: About 20ish years old.
-House age: Built in early 80s
-Insulation: Upgraded to retrofoam. Have reduced infiltration by a lot.
Furnace has currently heated the house to 70 with a drop by 1 degree per 1-2 hours when the basement doors are closed. (Now it’s too hot for my wife. Just like DJ Khalid, I am suffering from success)

Problems: CO leaks and alarms.
Solution: Fireblock’d the area around where the furnace flue connects to the chimney liner. CO ppm at that area will fluctuate between no reading and 50ish given, honestly I don’t know. Only seems to alarm now when the heat dies down due to a lack of fuel.

Future intentions: Reduce amount of coal being used, or use the coal in the most efficient manner.
Background: currently going through about a hopper a day. Maybe a little less.
Settings on the original controller are as follows:
On: 4. Off: 12. Distribution blower: 12
Stoker is currently set to max push: 3 holes. I am currently playing with these settings and if anyone has any ideas on the most efficient numbers, please let me know.

Current ash line is about 1-1.5” on grate. Fire itself is a good 1-2” wide and runs the length of the grates. Blue flames are the correct height, and according to the pictures I am not over or under firing the machine.

I have done the following:
Cleaned and drilled out the grate holes (thanks dude who posted that idea)
Cleaned the fins on the combustion blower.
Opened a window next to the furnace to allow for cold air.
Sealed up the seams on the flue
Replaced rope on stove door and ash door.
Polished the stove (it works, and it should look good while it does it’s job)
Replaced blower and blower motor
Checked and set stoker (forks?) to the correct distance.
Weekly maintenance as per the manual.

I do not have:
Barometric damper
Manometer (draft has not been checked)
Draft induction fan
Coaltrol (will purchase when able to)
Restrictor plate (tech said it was unnecessary as I was getting a new blower motor. Not sure if that’s true)

I’ll continue to read the forum, but if anyone has any ideas on how to increase efficiency or completely eliminate all CO infiltration, it would be greatly appreciated.

Also how do I dry coal quickly? It just does not want to completely dry out even when I keep a few buckets directly in front of the furnace.

I do apologize for the novel of a post, but getting the background of an issue is always helpful.

Thank you!

 
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WNY
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90K, Leisure Line Hyfire I
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Post by WNY » Wed. Dec. 28, 2022 8:37 am

You definately need a draft gauge and baro damper to keep a constant draft on the stove and adjust for different burning, wind, temperatures, etc....and gauge to make sure you have enough draft and it's set correctly.

Sounds like you are loosing a little draft at idle. maybe turn it up a bit, or adjust feed screw, etc..... if your co is reading at low burn/idle, you chimney might not be staying hot enough to keep the drafting going. sounds like you are getting it dialed in.

cut holes in the buckets to let water drain or have a fan blow over the coal. wet coal is not good for them.

 
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McGiever
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Location: Junction of PA-OH-WV
Stoker Coal Boiler: AXEMAN-ANDERSON 130 "1959"
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: BUCKET A DAY water heater
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar

Post by McGiever » Wed. Dec. 28, 2022 10:59 am

All the above excellent info!!

I’ll only add that that your mentioned air intake restriction plate is a key component to get the baro and manometer dialed in.

Without that plate adjusted proper you may be causing the firebox to go “positive” pressure…pushes exhaust and Carbon Monoxide out through the path of least resistance gaps cracks seams and joints.

Your low idle needs to use enough coal to keep a healthy negative draft when it’s not firing full. Otherwise here comes that nasty “positive”
again.

HTH


 
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coalkirk
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Posts: 5185
Joined: Wed. May. 17, 2006 8:12 pm
Location: Forest Hill MD
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1981 EFM DF520 retired
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Jotul 507 on standby
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh anthracite/rice coal

Post by coalkirk » Wed. Dec. 28, 2022 5:34 pm

Agree with all this advice. Your coal usage is very reasonable. I assume the chimney was checked and deemed to be good? Is the chimney masonry or metal? The coaltrol is a nice to have but you don’t need it to operate that stove( yes it’s a stove not a furnace). Most important is draft. You can’t set and control draft without the restrictor plate, manometer and barometric damper. Get those things and get it dialed in. You should zero CO around the stove and vent. You need to run it hard enough to maintain good draft.

 
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davidmcbeth3
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Coal Size/Type: nut/pea/anthra

Post by davidmcbeth3 » Thu. Dec. 29, 2022 4:43 pm

Recommend getting a 2nd CO detector .. could be current one is acting up.

 
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coalkirk
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Posts: 5185
Joined: Wed. May. 17, 2006 8:12 pm
Location: Forest Hill MD
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1981 EFM DF520 retired
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Jotul 507 on standby
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh anthracite/rice coal

Post by coalkirk » Sat. Dec. 31, 2022 12:48 pm

Good point David. CO alarms and smoke alarms have a sensor with a design life. At end of life they are programmed to alert you to that. I’m big on redundancy anyway. Belt and suspenders.

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