Va-600 Water Pressure ?
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- Member
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Sun. Jan. 23, 2022 9:34 am
- Location: Port Matilda, Pa. Area (Stormstown)
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert 600
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 30-95
- Coal Size/Type: chestnut , buck
Been running fine till the other day, keep water at about 180 and pressure @ 20. When stoker is not running and water temp goes down to around 160 the pressure drops to 0. Soon as she fires and goes back to 180 the pressure returns to 20 again. Is this normal? It's heating the house just fine. I'm also gonna try the 2" pulley on the motor deal to see if I can cut coal usage a bit? Any thoughts on this is appreciated.
- nepacoal
- Member
- Posts: 1696
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 21, 2012 7:49 am
- Location: Coal Country
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4 / "Kelly" and an EFM 520 at my in-laws
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF-260 - retired
- Coal Size/Type: Buck
Does your boiler have an air vent on top? Our EFM's pressure does odd stuff (usually higher) when there is air in the boiler. We have a manual coin vent on the top. Not sure why yours drops to zero at 160° but our pressure will drop from 20 to 15 by just letting the air out.
- Rob R.
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 17981
- Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
- Location: Chazy, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr
Do you have an automatic water feeder on the system? If you do not, or it is turned off, you probably need to add a little water to the system. It is not uncommon to need some makeup water after the air from the initial fill is removed.
- Rob R.
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 17981
- Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
- Location: Chazy, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr
That is your issue, the system needs some water added.
Get yourself a fill valve and install it. You can always valve it off if you want to monitor for leaks.
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Boiler-Fill-Valves-17081000