Coal Boiler Draft Setting
- imaddicted2u
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- Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 3:02 pm
- Location: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: American Standard Severn (1957) on bituminous
- Coal Size/Type: Unscreened-Fist sized lump to powder-Bituminous
My coal and oil boilers share the same chimney. Here is a pic of how it's setup. Thanks to a member of this forum I finally have a set of replacement grates so this is the first year we will be using the coal boiler since we bought the house.
I plan on burning coal when the weather turns colder but I've been burning a bit of wood during the milder fall weather. This old 1957 coal boiler is not very air tight. Even with the baro-damper from the oil boiler set to stay closed, I can't close the manual damper on the coal boiler at all because smoke rolls out around the door, so we won't be using that...lol.
I got a good deal on a draft gauge so as an experiment I set the draft on the coal boiler breech to 0.05 using the baro-damper on the oil boiler which enters the chimney above the coal boiler smoke pipe.
The wood fire is much more controllable and I seem to get more heat to the house and a longer burn from the wood.
I'm a little concerned that the air entering the chimney through the baro-damper might cool the smoke enough to cause creosote buildup.
What do you think? What are your thoughts on how it is set up and how I should run it?
I plan on burning coal when the weather turns colder but I've been burning a bit of wood during the milder fall weather. This old 1957 coal boiler is not very air tight. Even with the baro-damper from the oil boiler set to stay closed, I can't close the manual damper on the coal boiler at all because smoke rolls out around the door, so we won't be using that...lol.
I got a good deal on a draft gauge so as an experiment I set the draft on the coal boiler breech to 0.05 using the baro-damper on the oil boiler which enters the chimney above the coal boiler smoke pipe.
The wood fire is much more controllable and I seem to get more heat to the house and a longer burn from the wood.
I'm a little concerned that the air entering the chimney through the baro-damper might cool the smoke enough to cause creosote buildup.
What do you think? What are your thoughts on how it is set up and how I should run it?
- Lightning
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- Location: Olean, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
- Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite
Many say NO to have a baro in use with a wood fire...
If a chimney fire starts due to creosote build up, the baro will feed it fresh oxygen and you will be in serious trouble my friend...
If a chimney fire starts due to creosote build up, the baro will feed it fresh oxygen and you will be in serious trouble my friend...
- imaddicted2u
- Member
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 3:02 pm
- Location: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: American Standard Severn (1957) on bituminous
- Coal Size/Type: Unscreened-Fist sized lump to powder-Bituminous
Nope, coal/wood is a single appliance. I'll be burning either coal or wood in it.Rigar wrote:just to be clear- do you have oil...coal...and wood burning sharing the SAME flu pipe???
The pic shows how the 2 appliances are feeding into the chimney. The coal/wood boiler enters the flue on one side and the oil boiler enters above and on the opposite side of the flue.
- imaddicted2u
- Member
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 3:02 pm
- Location: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: American Standard Severn (1957) on bituminous
- Coal Size/Type: Unscreened-Fist sized lump to powder-Bituminous
Thanks, that is certainly a big safety concern. I had the baro-damper weight set so it would never open. I tried setting it so it would control draft to 0.05" as an experiment.Lightning wrote:Many say NO to have a baro in use with a wood fire...
If a chimney fire starts due to creosote build up, the baro will feed it fresh oxygen and you will be in serious trouble my friend...
I was rather surprised at the increase in efficiency and burn time. However, safety will have to trump cost.
- imaddicted2u
- Member
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 3:02 pm
- Location: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: American Standard Severn (1957) on bituminous
- Coal Size/Type: Unscreened-Fist sized lump to powder-Bituminous
I have been setting the weight on the baro to keep the flapper closed. Covering it is a safer solution.Rob R. wrote:You should cover the baro when burning wood.
I hate to lose the increased efficiency, the boiler literally sucks the wood up the chimney when the baro-damper is held closed, but safety comes first.
- imaddicted2u
- Member
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 3:02 pm
- Location: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: American Standard Severn (1957) on bituminous
- Coal Size/Type: Unscreened-Fist sized lump to powder-Bituminous
I installed a manual damper but if I close it, even a little, smoke comes rolling out the air intake in the door and around the door. As a matter of fact, smoke rolls out the door whenever I open it, whether the barometric is set to open or when it is forced to remain closed, even though I measure plenty of draft both at the breech and over the fire.Lightning wrote:I hear ya lol. I love my barometric.... How about a manual damper? You could control draft with that too, safely using wood.
-
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- Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker A 150
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...something is amissimaddicted2u wrote:I installed a manual damper but if I close it, even a little, smoke comes rolling out the air intake in the door and around the door. As a matter of fact, smoke rolls out the door whenever I open it, whether the barometric is set to open or when it is forced to remain closed, even though I measure plenty of draft both at the breech and over the fire.Lightning wrote:I hear ya lol. I love my barometric.... How about a manual damper? You could control draft with that too, safely using wood.
...got a better pic of ur set up?
...is the oil boiler running when this happens ????
- Lightning
- Site Moderator
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- Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
- Location: Olean, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
- Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite
Hmmm..... wow ya know that tells me your chimney is restricted since it can pull hard, but at the same time won't take a big volume, like when the load door is open. But at the same time, the manual easily chokes it too. Something don't add up. I would check the whole length, from the breech of the furnace all the way to the chimney top. How do you prevent the oil burner from allowing room air into the chimney when it's not in use?
Edit: I saw the mano.
Edit: I saw the mano.
Last edited by Lightning on Fri. Oct. 25, 2013 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- Member
- Posts: 856
- Joined: Tue. Dec. 04, 2012 6:30 am
- Location: central new york (syracuse area)
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker A 150
- Coal Size/Type: anthracite rice
re read ur first post...
you got a good deal on ur draft guage..??
is it used ??-more importantly....is it working accurately?
you got a good deal on ur draft guage..??
is it used ??-more importantly....is it working accurately?
- imaddicted2u
- Member
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 3:02 pm
- Location: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: American Standard Severn (1957) on bituminous
- Coal Size/Type: Unscreened-Fist sized lump to powder-Bituminous
...something is amiss
...got a better pic of ur set up?
...is the oil boiler running when this happens ????[/quote]
There is a pic at the start of this thread.
No, the oil boiler is not running.
...got a better pic of ur set up?
...is the oil boiler running when this happens ????[/quote]
There is a pic at the start of this thread.
No, the oil boiler is not running.
- imaddicted2u
- Member
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 3:02 pm
- Location: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: American Standard Severn (1957) on bituminous
- Coal Size/Type: Unscreened-Fist sized lump to powder-Bituminous
The good deal was for a brand new Dwyer manometer as shown in the pic. I got it on ebay.Rigar wrote:re read ur first post...
you got a good deal on ur draft guage..??
is it used ??-more importantly....is it working accurately?
The draft gauge is a Dwyer manometer filled with the proper gauge oil. It has been properly zero'd. Being a simple device with no moving parts, I see no reason to question its accuracy.