Typical Ash Quantity Per Day and Other Sturff

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hematitehead
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Post by hematitehead » Fri. Mar. 13, 2009 8:23 pm

Hi, Everyone -

A few questions:

The started using my Keystoker 105 this past January. It is a DV Unit with a Coal-Trol. The 1st ton of rice coal seemed to burn a lot hotter than my current ton of coal. Addtionally, the current coal seems to be making a lot more ash. The ash-can overflows before I burn a whole hopper fill, about 100 lbs. That didn't happen with the first ton. Any insights about this?

The ash has a lot of small bits of unburnt coal, is this normal?

After about two months of use I took the 4 inch DV pipe apart and cleaned it out. Most of the pipe had a thin film of ash on it, this seemed normal. However, I have a 45 degree bend, bending upward, that accumulated quite a bit of ash. The pipe was half filled with ash, is this normal?

Thanks, Rick

 
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Richard S.
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Fri. Mar. 13, 2009 9:21 pm

Coal quality varies and some coal burns better in some units that other. The usual example I give is that the very same coal from very same load when burned in my stoker boiler produced the regular chunky ash while the ash from a small hand stove was nothing but powder. The difference being how it was burned, you might want to try fiddling with the adjustments. ;)

Fly ash accumulation is normal, you need to clean this out periodically. Also note this will accumulate in the bottom of the chimney too so you need to remove it from the cleanout too.


 
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ceccil
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Post by ceccil » Fri. Mar. 13, 2009 9:26 pm

Hi Rick, yes there will be differences in heat output and ash amounts from one supplier to another. Even if both loads you got were from the same supplier there may be differences. Your supplier may get it from different sources also. As far as the flyash build up you will need to keep an eye on your flue pipes to determine your cleaning intervals. You will also get a larger amount of flyash in any horizontal runs in your flue pipes. I had a DV unit on my 90K when I purchaced it, but after a few years I removed it and went to a chimney just because of the high maint. and time involved in keeping the DV clean and working properly. Also had to replace the fan motor on the DV at a cost of about $150.00. Just some food for thought.

Jeff

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