natures comfort 175c

 
NCB175C
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Post by NCB175C » Mon. Nov. 18, 2019 3:57 pm

hopefully I'm in the right thread!

burning anthracite coal in a Natures Comfort 175c with the shaker grates form factory and proper blower

what are your opinions of my boiler ( furnace ?).

what mods should I look into?

what size coal should I be burning? currently NUT. got 5 tons ready

do have trouble with fire going out and have been adjusting the air inlet but seams to be a very fine line of boiling over

anyway thanks for any help and advise I'm all about learning so fire away good or bad.

thanks
Rich


 
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artbaldoni
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Post by artbaldoni » Mon. Nov. 18, 2019 8:08 pm

What is your aquastat temperature set at and what is the differential?

 
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Post by NCB175C » Mon. Nov. 18, 2019 8:34 pm

165 and 5 deg diff

 
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artbaldoni
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Post by artbaldoni » Mon. Nov. 18, 2019 8:46 pm

You may try dropping the differential to 2 degrees. It will keep a more consistent air supply to the coal. It may be idling too long and allowing the coal bed to cool down too much. My NCB175 is a wood unit I modified to use coal or wood. I have a small (1/4") vee cut in my draft fan motor flap to allow some draft even when the fan is off. I burn nut.

Are you keeping a deep coal bed? 8" minimum? Keeping the ash cleared?

 
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Post by NCB175C » Mon. Nov. 18, 2019 8:59 pm

ok ill try 2deg. ive been adjusting the flap spacing so when its in the off position I'm still drafting air, I would say ive got around 1/16"-1/8" air gap, again its seems very touchy. ive been playing around with coal depth and feel like I'm getting more confused. but after reading more and more it seem more coal is the answer not less. it is a V type shaker fire brick style and I do see clinkers so are quite large (soft ball size) should ash only be shaken when the coal is hot ? how often then? seems like most of the coal is good and hot in the center shaker area not on the perimeter of the coal bed but maybe I'm not putting in enough coal.
I shake the ash 4 times a day but maybe I'm doing it wrong.

 
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Post by NCB175C » Mon. Nov. 18, 2019 9:31 pm

tried going to 2deg but the old Honeywell stat only goes to 5 and up. I install Ranco digital stats a lot so I can always put one in if that will solve the issue.

 
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Post by Jlinde37 » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 11:55 am

Is that a pressurized boiler? If so what is your pressure at 180°F. As pressure increases so will boiling temperature. Do you have a dump zone set up?


 
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Post by NCB175C » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 12:04 pm

not pressurized which is why I questioned if this is the right forum but everyone calls them boilers and not a furnace which from what I hear that's technically what it is a furnace. 175 gallons with a 3" stack that has a float for water level

 
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Post by NCB175C » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 12:11 pm

to clarify the water can flow freely out the float stack if it starts to boil

 
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Post by Jlinde37 » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 4:36 pm

Furnace heats air. Boiler heats water. Is it outside unit? Should be a dump loop installed if water gets over set point it dumps hot water somewhere like a lower lever zone or radiant loop. Whichever is the largest heat zone.. I have no experience with unpressurized systems. Maybe someone with more experience will chime in.

My setup has a strap on aquastat that opens the 1000sq foot radiant floor loop to keep boiler from overheating.
What controls your under fire air? And what is your draft?

 
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Post by NCB175C » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 4:53 pm

ok. we will call it a boiler. outside unit, no dump loop, although I like that method. too late to do that being its outside and the lines are buried 6' down.

under fire air, yes.

blower motor has a round rubber damper that is actuated by a solenoid when the water temp on the aqua stat calls for heat the fan turns on and the rubber stopper over the fan inlet opens. when its closed ( fan off ) the rubber slams down over the inlet stopping the air from coming into the ash pan area. so my draft is controlled via the amount of gap on the rubber stopper either 0 gap for wood or 1/8" or less for coal to allow air to move past the blower motor and into the ash pan area

 
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Post by artbaldoni » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 5:32 pm

If you are over firing, it means you have too much air when idling (fan off). My flap closes completely. As I said before, I cut a vee into the rubber to allow minimal air when idling.
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There is also an air control door where the fan blows into the ash pan. I have that set at about a ¼" down on the adjustment.
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The key is to find the right amount of idle air.

I shake and load 2x per day. 4 times may be too much, which may be causing your out fires.

I also find that the coal is not ideal if temps are not below 35°f. I use wood if above 35.

I have also changed to a Johnson A421 aquastat so I can tighten the differential.
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Post by Jlinde37 » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 5:54 pm

You should still be able to add a dump zone in whatever building you are heating just add aquastat (honeywell L6006c) at building supply entrance. Wire it to zone pump controller or zone valve to open a large zone.
But like artbaldoni said, overfire from too much under fire air at idle.

 
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Post by franco b » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 6:02 pm

The presence of clinkers indicates over firing. I suspect that over firing is only in the middle portion of the fire bed, and is caused by ash buildup at the slanted sides, forcing the blower to overheat the center to meet the heat demand. The full bed is not being utilized.

I think that if you clear the sides with a flat poker from above you will see a more uniform burm.

 
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Post by artbaldoni » Tue. Nov. 19, 2019 6:07 pm

I actually have no shaker in mine. I slice under the coal bed and the ash falls through an expanded metal grate that I cobbled together.


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