It does need somewhere to send heat. It's a huge boiler with hardly any heat load on it.
Central Boiler FORGE 3500 Outdoor Coal Boiler
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How hard would it be to decrease the size of the fire bed?
Perhaps also increase the water temp to 200?
Perhaps also increase the water temp to 200?
- Lightning
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Those are both thoughts that have crossed my mind Richard. I guess it would just take a plate of steel, cut to the right dimensions and then sealed in place with fiberglass. Seems easy enough.
The controller will not let the boiler go over 200 degrees, otherwise it seals the combustion air completely until it cools down. If cool down takes too long, the fire will suffocate. The high limit is currently at 185 but occasionally the pulses will over shoot it up to 200. It just depends on how frisky the fire is feeling.
Can you imagine a Peterbuilt tractor pulling a garden wagon in first gear?
- Lightning
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Case in point of this "friskyness" I speak of. Keep in mind the heat load is constant and steady. Now look at this graph between midnight and 6am. The water temp didn't wanna fall compared to the right side of the graph where you see steady slopes of water temp, then it firing to bring it back up. Between midnight and 6am it was really thinkin hard about over shooting just from the pulses. Notice how short the combustion blower ran to bring it up to high limit just prior. You can just tell the fire was chompin at the bit to produce heat. He tends the boiler around 6am and 6pm which is quite pronounced in the graph also. How cool is that? I love this thing haha. Can I get one of these controllers for my AA next year?
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- lsayre
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My first thought is that since the AA/AHS design sips coal at idle, and this control will not let it idle, expect to burn more coal than you should. You are putting the cart ahead of the horse. You only need to fix a problem when you definitively conclude that you have a problem.
- Lightning
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I know lol. It was just a whim. So the boiler over shot last night and flat lined the fire. He had to throw wood in to rekindle it.
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- Lightning
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This might be an unorthodox solution, but what about just setting a modine in the house somewhere for now? He might be able to use it later to heat a garage or something.
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Why a Modine? (unless he already owns it) It will be crazy loud in a living space and it's no easier to plumb than a radiator.
I think he should start saving for a fairly large size plumbing project.
I think he should start saving for a fairly large size plumbing project.
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Couple of cast iron radiators...
Get some radiant mass in an uninsulated block house...
Get some radiant mass in an uninsulated block house...
- McGiever
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Does the house stay warm?
It overshot, because it needs more rads???? Help me understand this...did he open all the windows as the temps rose?
If he wants a dump zone use his baseboards till better comes.
Details are fragmented and not clear enough to give good advice from afar.
Even then, whom is able to execute advice given...
Let's not forget this a 350K solid fuel boiler w/ tiny load and even tinier rads...
It overshot, because it needs more rads???? Help me understand this...did he open all the windows as the temps rose?
If he wants a dump zone use his baseboards till better comes.
Details are fragmented and not clear enough to give good advice from afar.
Even then, whom is able to execute advice given...
Let's not forget this a 350K solid fuel boiler w/ tiny load and even tinier rads...
- Lightning
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I've explained it all partner. One loop, out the boiler, thru the house, back into the boiler. 90 ft of baseboard on constant circulation. No primary, secondary loop, no dump zone, that's it... The house isn't warm enough and the boiler is hardly idling. The loop isn't enough heat load to do much of anything.
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I hope he has some funds available to fix this, b/c it is not going to be cheap. I really wish he had stopped by this forum and asked a few questions before buying this huge & expensive boiler that is not needed. A much smaller stoker boiler setup in a shed would heat that house easily, and there would have been enough money leftover to split the baseboard loop in the house (90' is too long for 3/4"), and add some radiation where needed.
Since it seems he is stuck with the Central boiler for this winter, I would focus on some piping changes in the house.
Since it seems he is stuck with the Central boiler for this winter, I would focus on some piping changes in the house.
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What would it take to lessen the heat loss of the house? Long term that seems necessary anyway. Pictures outside and some inside might help to judge costs.
- lsayre
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As I understand it, the boilers flow through the homes HWB's never stops, whether or not the home needs the heat, and this is the reason why the windows are left open when it's warm outside. The T-Stat is set to its highest setting in order to call for heat 100% of the time so the loop always circulates and thereby doesn't ever freeze anywhere. Is this correct?