The Epoch of the Axeman

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 5:05 pm

Soon here I'm gonna start using a PID instead of the triple aquastat to regulate the boiler temperature.. Today I quickly valved off the boiler, let a couple of inches of water out and installed this stainless steel probe well into the top 1/2 NPT site glass port. I also bought some thermal grease to get good conduction to the probe. I placed the probe just for the pic. Below is what I'm using for this step.

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StokerDon
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 7:10 pm

Lightning wrote:
Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 5:05 pm
Soon here I'm gonna start using a PID instead of the triple aquastat to regulate the boiler temperature..
That's pretty cool Lee!

Is that a "K" type? You got a link to where you found it?

-Don

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 7:20 pm

Yep, K type.... I ordered it from Amazon. They list it as British Standard Pipe Thread? which is slightly different. It threaded into the SS well (NPT) just fine..

I found the SS probe well on eBay

https://www.amazon.com/Thermistor-Thermocouple-Te ... 23&sr=8-16

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swyman
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Post by swyman » Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:26 am

Lightning wrote:
Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 5:05 pm
Soon here I'm gonna start using a PID instead of the triple aquastat to regulate the boiler temperature..
Can't wait to follow this! I would like to do this but maybe I should just wait till my aquastat quits first?

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:37 am

swyman wrote:
Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:26 am
Can't wait to follow this! I would like to do this but maybe I should just wait till my aquastat quits first?
What do you hope to gain by changing the control?

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 1:10 pm

Could somebody suggest a good online store to buy pulleys? I'm gonna need a 3.5 inch and a 5 inch with a 5/8 bore, I think they need to be V belt? I need the pulleys for a new motor I'm gonna use on the Axe..

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 6:42 pm

Are these what I'm looking for? The belt specs are the same for both..

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StokerDon
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Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:10 pm

Lightning wrote:
Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 6:42 pm
Are these what I'm looking for? The belt specs are the same for both..
How are "We, out here in cyberland" supposed to know what pulley you should buy for a non-standard motor you haven't told us about yet???? :lol: :lol:

It's OK, I am a mind reader. I guess the new motor has a 5/8" shaft so the the pulley needs to have a 5/8" hole in it. The belts on an Axeman are "A" size belts.

How are you figuring out what length belt you need?

-Don

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:55 pm

StokerDon wrote:
Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:10 pm
The belts on an Axeman are "A" size belts.

How are you figuring out what length belt you need?
Thank you! That's what I was hoping for.. I'm not very well versed in the pulley/belt department lol.

The new motor shaft should end up in the same place with some adjustments since the motor is really close to the same size and I'll be using the same size pulleys. So I'm thinking the current belts won't need to be replaced.

Thank you for your help Dr. Don :)

 
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McGiever
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Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
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Post by McGiever » Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 9:17 pm

Lightning wrote:
Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:55 pm
Thank you! That's what I was hoping for.. I'm not very well versed in the pulley/belt department lol.

The new motor shaft should end up in the same place with some adjustments since the motor is really close to the same size and I'll be using the same size pulleys. So I'm thinking the current belts won't need to be replaced.

Thank you for your help Dr. Don :)

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sat. Jan. 15, 2022 4:56 pm

Rob R. wrote:
Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:37 am
What do you hope to gain by changing the control?
I'm wanting to tighten the boiler differential, for out of heating season use. I'm hoping it will replace the need for a keep fire timer.

I'm also installing a 220 - 3 phase motor with a variable frequency drive for tuning the fan speed with the guidance of Larry (McGiever) to get the boiler more in line with the variable heating load throughout the year.

I'm also considering using a side arm heat exchanger on my hot water tank to spread out the BTU load during shoulder season and summertime since a slower fan won't keep up with on demand usage. I'll leave my current plumbing in place for hot water on demand for times that I need to fill the hot tub or in the case that we all need showers at once, just turn the fan speed back up.

My goal is to see how little coal she can sip in the summer for DHW while maintaining a fire. The threshold for economic gains is 25 pounds of coal per day with no heating load based on 70 gallons of DHW per day which equals about $80 worth of electric per month.

I really don't like leaving it sit all summer in my swampy basement without a fire.. it does more damage than any good that could come from it.

So we're really gonna push the envelope and see what this baby can do by adding some modern technology and doing things a little differently with DHW heating.

I'll document my progress as I go, I'm planning to do it in a series of steps, not all at once.

 
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swyman
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Post by swyman » Sun. Jan. 16, 2022 1:01 pm

Rob R. wrote:
Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 7:37 am
What do you hope to gain by changing the control?
Just the from the complaints from the 3250 failures. When or if that happens, I will change over to a PID. It may not happen, I don't know but there are a few here that have issues but I have yet to have a problem.

 
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Post by Jkohanski » Mon. Jan. 17, 2022 7:10 pm

Lightning wrote:
Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 1:10 pm
Could somebody suggest a good online store to buy pulleys? I'm gonna need a 3.5 inch and a 5 inch with a 5/8 bore, I think they need to be V belt? I need the pulleys for a new motor I'm gonna use on the Axe..
mcmaster-carr. they are a little pricy. but they always have stuff IN Stock, and you'll get it pdq.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Jan. 19, 2022 6:30 pm

I leveled the barrel bin and measured ash weight today. Here's the specs.

I attempted to account for some of the outbuilding usage in this analysis. My wife heated the salon for a couple tans during this period. Her zone of 36 ft baseboard ran continuously for about 12 hours total. I figured 500 BTU per foot divided by 10000 BTU per pound. Its hillbilly but I needed to factor something lol

I'm still really impressed with this Jeddo Mammoth Vein coal.. great stuff!!

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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sat. Jan. 22, 2022 6:09 pm

I did a little walk around video of the Axeman so a friend of mine could have a better understanding of it.. I thought y'all might like to see lol



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