Franks Wood Coal Boiler
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- New Member
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- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Franks Wood Coal
Hey everyone new here. I have an old Franks wood/coal boiler. I just had hooked up a few days ago and as I figured I am having a hard time controlling the heat and water temp. Right now there is no automatic damper on it, it did not come with one. I was wondering if anyone has one of these and can recommend a proper auto damper or send a pic of one. I attached a picture of what I got.
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Last edited by dustinPE88 on Wed. Nov. 16, 2022 7:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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That's a hand fed unit. You are in the stoker section. You need some more pictures and information. What settings are you using? What kind of coal are you burning. What is the problem? Temps overshooting, fire going out? Finish filling out your profile, sometimes people local to you can provide help or suggestions.
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- New Member
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- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Franks Wood Coal
Ahh didn’t even notice. Appreciate the info. I'm actually burning wood in mine. But this is the only place i've seen anywhere even mentioning these boilers. The problem is regulating the temp. Draft up water temp rises too much, draft down water drops too low. I was hoping an auto draft would fix this issue.
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No worries, we'll ask a mod to move it. How bout them pics?
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Meanwhile, run us through how this thing operates. It doesn't seem to be overly common. Spinner on ash door should be closed completely burning wood. What else do you have for adjustments?
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- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Franks Wood Coal
So this is in my garage it heats my house and garage, as you can see with the garage unit also being a dump zone.
What I’ve been doing is cracking the spinner on the ash door to get some draft. Too much and the water temp rises too much not enough and it doesn’t seem to keep up especially at night. It will stay burning completely shut down but it won’t keep up at night. And if I draft too much the water temp rises too much. As you see in the one pic it looks like there was maybe an auto draft on this at one time that someone eliminated.
What I’ve been doing is cracking the spinner on the ash door to get some draft. Too much and the water temp rises too much not enough and it doesn’t seem to keep up especially at night. It will stay burning completely shut down but it won’t keep up at night. And if I draft too much the water temp rises too much. As you see in the one pic it looks like there was maybe an auto draft on this at one time that someone eliminated.
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- New Member
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- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Franks Wood Coal
Also when I mean the water temp gets too low it drops to about 150-160. I was told to try and keep it about 180 for efficiency.
- Lightning
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Wow... Yeah, you need something to open the draft when the water temp drops to rev up the fire, then close again once the water is up to temp. I've done this in the past with a coal fired furnace by rigging an actuator to the combustion air inlet that was controlled by my living room thermostat. But instead you would want the actuator controlled by the boiler water temperature.. it can be done but seems like there should be a better way for your situation..
- nepacoal
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I wonder if that round hole is the remnants of an old oil conversion port... I bet you could find a blower motor that would fit in that hole. Then just use a simple aquastat to control it. An L6006a would work.
Last edited by nepacoal on Wed. Nov. 16, 2022 8:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Lightning
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Oh, there ya go... A little combustion blower instead of an actuator. There is also the option of running it with one of those little Inkbird PID controllers. They're only about 30 bucks on Amazon. That'd be my solution right there.
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That’s what I was thinking either a combustion blower or actuator as well. I’m thinking this had to have something on it before. That 4” round hole has a homemade plate over it. Previous owner wasn’t sure what was on it. Wonder if a simple damper controlled by an actuator would work.
- Rob R.
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I have only seen one boiler like this before and it had a small blower on it controlled by an aquastat. It looks like there are already two aquastats on the top of your boiler, so it should be straightforward to do this.
- McGiever
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You best have a carbon monoxide detector in the garage.
If the chimney has draft ability then skip the fan and use the actuator...wrong fan cfm at any time and your fire chamber goes positive pressure and you'll push exhaust out any slim crack or opening.
If the chimney has draft ability then skip the fan and use the actuator...wrong fan cfm at any time and your fire chamber goes positive pressure and you'll push exhaust out any slim crack or opening.
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2 things i noticed unrelated to draft.
1. The supply pex to the right of the boiler appears to be leaking at the fittings? Floor looks wet/damp in the first picture.
2. Not sure 2 float valves are needed for this. I see one on the supply and one on the return?
1. The supply pex to the right of the boiler appears to be leaking at the fittings? Floor looks wet/damp in the first picture.
2. Not sure 2 float valves are needed for this. I see one on the supply and one on the return?
- coaledsweat
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Moving this to the hand fired forum.