If my supplier stocked Buckwheat I wouldn't need to mess around with Pea.
GJ-5-C Gentleman Janitor
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StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7585
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- 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
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StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7585
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- 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
Thanks for the offer and at some point I might take you up on it. But my garage bin load door is 9 feet above the driveway so we can't just dump it in. It's designed for a high lift dump bed delivery.
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You can hear the draft induce working. It's a little loud.
-Don
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ASea
- Member
- Posts: 1179
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 27, 2014 8:55 pm
- Location: Richmond NH
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman TLC 2000
- Coal Size/Type: Sherman Anthracite Nut/Stove from C&T Coal
- Other Heating: Forced hot air propane
Sherman is good stuff. that's what we burn. Hardly any clinkers and burns hot to a fine ash.
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Idlorah
- Member
- Posts: 546
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
- Location: New Ringgold, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
- Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
- Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season
Not a problem I just wanted to offer, that also would give me an excuse to come and see your stokers!
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StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7585
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- 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
Watch what you wish for. If you come down here, your not leaving with an empty truck!
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I was trying to figure out what to do about my coal situation this morning. I called up Reeses and they have bulk for $345 a ton and bagged for $9.50 per bag. If I had more buckets I could take them over and fill them up to get the bulk price.
I finally decided to go and pick up 25 bags to get me through a couple weeks. Turns out I got a better deal than I thought I was going to get.
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StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7585
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- 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
Lets see how we did this week.
The fire is still doing good. I had to turn the air down to 1.25 turns to get the ash ring to about 2".
4204.3 - 4140.8 = 63.5 hours, 9.1 hours per day.
63.5 x 6.3 = 400.1 pounds, 57.2 pounds per day.
80 pounds of ash, 20%. That ash percentage just won't go down. I guess that means it's the coal.
Emptied out the barrel and dumped the 7 bags of Lehigh in. We'll see if it has less ash than the Blaschack.
Current settings,
Motor Pulley = 2"
Gearbox Pulley = 3.5" adjustable, closed.
6.3 pounds Per Hour.
Air = 1.25 Turn, Back of the blower housing blocked off.
Inkbird Boiler control = 165 degrees, 5 degrees Hysteresis.
Timer = 36 seconds every hour.
-Don
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63.5 x 6.3 = 400.1 pounds, 57.2 pounds per day.
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Motor Pulley = 2"
Gearbox Pulley = 3.5" adjustable, closed.
6.3 pounds Per Hour.
Air = 1.25 Turn, Back of the blower housing blocked off.
Inkbird Boiler control = 165 degrees, 5 degrees Hysteresis.
Timer = 36 seconds every hour.
-Don
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StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7585
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- 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
So, now that I have more draft than I can use, I might have to re-think the past 8 years of coal stoker boiler madness. 
I can now balance the chimney draft at -.05.
Keeping a negative firebox draft of about -.005.
With an air setting of 1.5 turns out.
I've done this with a draft inducer setting of medium.
The fire looks real good, no dead spot.
The one thing that I am starting to re-think is the feed rate. This chimney and the basement chimney do not draft well at all And they are the only chimneys I have used. The most draft I have been able to get out of them is about -.025. This means I have to be very light on the combustion air setting to avoid pressurizing the firebox. That is one of the reasons I needed to run low feed rates because turning up the air to burn the coal isn't really an option.
Today I decided to bump the feed rate up to 7.7 pounds per hour. I don't know if it will save any coal but it will lead to less stoker run time per day. We'll see how well this works over the coming week.
4281.4 - 4204.3 = 77.1 hours, 11.0 hours per day.
77.1 x 6.3 = 485.7 pounds, 69.4 pounds per day.
55 pounds of ash, 11.3%. Wow, that's a big difference! 
The Lehigh coal burned a little different. Mainly it puffed up more than the Blaschack. It also has a little lighter ash. The first ashpan is Lehigh ash. It only lasted about 2.5 days.
Current settings,
Motor Pulley = 2"
Gearbox Pulley = 3.5" adjustable, 2 turns out.
7.7 pounds Per Hour.
Air = 1.5 Turn, Back of the blower housing blocked off.
Inkbird Boiler control = 165 degrees, 5 degrees Hysteresis.
Timer = 36 seconds every hour.
-Don
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Today I decided to bump the feed rate up to 7.7 pounds per hour. I don't know if it will save any coal but it will lead to less stoker run time per day. We'll see how well this works over the coming week.
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77.1 x 6.3 = 485.7 pounds, 69.4 pounds per day.
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The Lehigh coal burned a little different. Mainly it puffed up more than the Blaschack. It also has a little lighter ash. The first ashpan is Lehigh ash. It only lasted about 2.5 days.
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Motor Pulley = 2"
Gearbox Pulley = 3.5" adjustable, 2 turns out.
7.7 pounds Per Hour.
Air = 1.5 Turn, Back of the blower housing blocked off.
Inkbird Boiler control = 165 degrees, 5 degrees Hysteresis.
Timer = 36 seconds every hour.
-Don
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lzaharis
- Member
- Posts: 2402
- Joined: Sun. Mar. 25, 2007 8:41 pm
- Location: Ithaca, New York
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4-1 dual fuel boiler
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: former switzer CWW100-sold
- Coal Size/Type: rice
- Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused
Hello Don,
Have you given any thought to purchasing a Dwyer Mark II Model 26 with the blue oil that
will give you .0 to .07 inches of negative Water Column Pressure (Hg.) and in so doing you
can monitor the negative pressure gradient more accurately?
I have forgotten your explanation as to why you are using the positive side of the
Dwyer Mark II Manometer.
Have you given any thought to purchasing a Dwyer Mark II Model 26 with the blue oil that
will give you .0 to .07 inches of negative Water Column Pressure (Hg.) and in so doing you
can monitor the negative pressure gradient more accurately?
I have forgotten your explanation as to why you are using the positive side of the
Dwyer Mark II Manometer.
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StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7585
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- 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
Because it is a very simple, accurate way to get a draft reading. You need to be able to read a wide range of negative draft with a coal unit. You only need a very small range on the positive side. That's why you connect one of these gauges backwards. I'm not a mathematician but I can switch plus and minus signs.
In my opinion, the right gauge to use on a coal unit is the magnehelic with Zero in the center. This allows you to read positive and negative equally well.
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StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7585
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- 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
We are near the end of the bagged coal. I decided to get a delivery of 3 ton to get me through til Spring.
I cut the wooden Axeman doghouse out of the way. This will allow the auger to be lower in the bin and since the walls of the doghouse are no longer in the way, the coal can gravity feed to the auger much lower in the bin.
I put 3 concreate blocks around the mouth of the auger to set the barrel on.
Now I have some coal dust fortified scrap wood.
It burns real good!
I hate bagged coal. It's easy to move around but when yer done, you got to get rid of the bags somehow.
Coal is scheduled to be here Monday.
-Don
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I put 3 concreate blocks around the mouth of the auger to set the barrel on.
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-Don
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waytomany?s
- Member
- Posts: 4933
- Joined: Fri. Aug. 16, 2019 3:02 pm
- Location: Oneida, N.Y.
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harmon Mark II
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Looking
- Baseburners & Antiques: Looking
- Coal Size/Type: Nut
- Other Heating: newmac wood/coal combo furnace
Those bags go right on top of that scrap wood.
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Retro_Origin
- Member
- Posts: 1074
- Joined: Sun. Feb. 21, 2021 7:46 pm
- Location: Schuylkill county
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1957 Axeman Anderson 130
- Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat / Pea
Glad you like the magnehelic ones too Don, although mine only has the scale on one side. I like seeing a gauge needle move instead of fluid...feels more official
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StokerDon
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 7585
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
- 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
Lets see how the higher feed rate, 7.7 pounds per hour worked out.
4358.7 - 4281.4 = 77.3 hours, 11.0 hours per day.
77.3 x 7.7 = 595.2 pounds, 85.0 pounds per day.
110 pounds more than last week. That matches up because it was colder and windier this week.
61.5 pounds of ash, 10.3%. The ash is doing WAY better than it was a few weeks ago.
I put enough coal in the barrel to get us through til tomorrow afternoon when the coal delivery gets here.
The nasty coal bags went in the Rocket Stove along with the junk cardboard.
Current settings,
Motor Pulley = 2"
Gearbox Pulley = 3.5" adjustable, 2 turns out.
7.7 pounds Per Hour.
Air = 1.5 Turn, Back of the blower housing blocked off.
Inkbird Boiler control = 165 degrees, 5 degrees Hysteresis.
Timer = 36 seconds every hour.
-Don
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77.3 x 7.7 = 595.2 pounds, 85.0 pounds per day.
110 pounds more than last week. That matches up because it was colder and windier this week.
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Motor Pulley = 2"
Gearbox Pulley = 3.5" adjustable, 2 turns out.
7.7 pounds Per Hour.
Air = 1.5 Turn, Back of the blower housing blocked off.
Inkbird Boiler control = 165 degrees, 5 degrees Hysteresis.
Timer = 36 seconds every hour.
-Don
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Retro_Origin
- Member
- Posts: 1074
- Joined: Sun. Feb. 21, 2021 7:46 pm
- Location: Schuylkill county
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1957 Axeman Anderson 130
- Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat / Pea
Don figures one way to reduce coal consumption is to accelerate globull warming by burning plastic bags.....
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waytomany?s
- Member
- Posts: 4933
- Joined: Fri. Aug. 16, 2019 3:02 pm
- Location: Oneida, N.Y.
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harmon Mark II
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Looking
- Baseburners & Antiques: Looking
- Coal Size/Type: Nut
- Other Heating: newmac wood/coal combo furnace
I go with what Corrosionman once mentioned. Something to the effect that if it burns, it has BTU's, might as well put the heat in the house.Retro_Origin wrote: ↑Sun. Feb. 18, 2024 8:00 pm Don figures one way to reduce coal consumption is to accelerate globull warming by burning plastic bags.....
