Adjusting Settings

I did clean and check the burner plates when I was in the middle of my plumbing project for the unit a few weeks ago. The door gaskets seem OK...although maybe it wouldn't hurt to replace them. Is there any way to "test" them? I'll have to check the fan housing, although it seems to be in good shape. I also checked that the cleanout holes were closing completely when this started and that seemed to be OK. I think I will stop by my father's house and get the manometer so I can double check my draft now that we are seeing different weather since I last set it.

The draft will tell the rest of the story.

Ok....well I'm finally back home and working on the stove again. I relit it tonight and double checked all the settings I stated previously.

4 feed
4 air
150low
200 high
15diff
2min every 30 for timer.

My draft at the rear of the unit is -0.04 and at the door it is more around -0.01. If I pull the cleanout level I get more like -0.02. Any thoughts as to how all this figures into the equation? New rope seals on the door?

Thanks again as always!

This looks very similar to my Alaska auger 140. On that unit there is a small plate on the bottom of the burner with a center bolt. When you remove the center bolt the plate comes off and you can clean out all of the dust and small coal particles which have fallen into the holes in the air plates. If there is too much debris in this area it will restrict your air flow to the burner and cause incomplete burning and an uneven burn on the surface. In my unit you can actually remove the bottom plate while it is burning if you cut off the air flow. Always use gloves and safety glasses when working with hot surfaces and ashes !

Will

It should look familiar. It was an adaptation from efm's design.

Jeremy, Everything looks good and why your fire is going out is a mystery.

Any sharp edges on your worm at the bottom of the center of the pot that would cause alot of dust to be created?

You saw the burner come on when the timer went on. Does the burner come on when the water temperature hits the low limit, with NO call for heat?

Does the burner come on when there IS a call for heat and continue to run until the high limit is reached or the thermostat temp is reached?

Did you switch coal suppliers recently?

Is the clean-out cover on the bottom of the pot fully closed? Are all three fiberglass ropes installed in the pot? Is the fan set screw tight; good coupling; clean fan housing and air pipe?

I didn't switch to a different supplier but I did just recently get a new load of coal. The burner definitely comes on when it runs on the timer. I watched to confirm this. The stoker also comes on if it hits too cold of a water temp without calling for circulators or heat and shuts off similarly when it is satisfied with the temperature. The cleanout lever does full close the ports in the bottom of the unit. The only things I guess I can't readily verify right now because the unit is hot is the sharp edges on the feed worm and the 3 fiberglass ropes on the pot. Could it be that my batch of coal is bad this time or at least requires different settings? Would a "bad" batch of coal require a higher rate of feed and air to keep it burning during the short times it runs on the timer?

Were you running good on this coal during your summer settings?

Of course I had to get this coal right around the time the weather was more fallish. So I'm not sure if thats part of the equation or not. I wish I would have gotten it like mid-summer so it wasn't getting mixed in with just plain old fall settings.

I would run the summer settings until it got colder then.

A bad batch of coal may not burn well at all. Do you think you are actually burning the latest batch of coal at this point? Does it coincide with the beginning of the trouble?

Yes, I know I'm currently at the level where I'm burning this batch of coal. It is pretty darn close to the time when the problems started. I pushed the feed/air up just a little bit last night and it did make it through the night. Although it's squeeked that out before.

Time will tell...so far the higher feed and air seem to be doing the trick. Maybe it is that this batch of coal just doesn't burn as well. The guy even asked me how his stuffed burned when I got one of the loads...I wonder if he knew something I didn't. The other thing I will look into yet as it keeps burning is that the aquastat is operating right. Is there a way to "calibrate" it if it doesn't seem like it is working at the right temperatures?

rocketjeremy wrote:Yes, I know I'm currently at the level where I'm burning this batch of coal. It is pretty darn close to the time when the problems started. I pushed the feed/air up just a little bit last night and it did make it through the night. Although it's squeeked that out before.

I would think you got a bad load of coal where did it come from Premium Fine coal . South Tamaqua coal Pocket .
lC&N or Gale mining Co. Tuscarora coal . How many tons did you get You might have to get some good coal and mix it with the coal you have to get it to burn . Does the coal you have Have alot of fines & rock in it is it undersized .
Also not all has the same burning charastic some coal needs more air to burn other's need less air to burn the efm settings is only a base or a starting point not all coal is the same . Play around untill you find the sweet spot or try another coal and mix it in yours until it is gone .

rocketjeremy wrote:Time will tell...so far the higher feed and air seem to be doing the trick. Maybe it is that this batch of coal just doesn't burn as well. The guy even asked me how his stuffed burned when I got one of the loads...I wonder if he knew something I didn't. The other thing I will look into yet as it keeps burning is that the aquastat is operating right. Is there a way to "calibrate" it if it doesn't seem like it is working at the right temperatures?

Hard to tell if your aquastat is working correctly being you only have the temp gauge to go off of and if that is off or bad there is no way to tell unless you replace the temp gauge or the aquastat. Well there is one way drain some water out of the boiler into a bucket or glass and take the temp of water with a thermometer and see how close it is to the temp
gauge & the setting on the aquastat you can do this threw the DHW fill the class up at the sink and check the temp now remember that you will have a lower temp there if you are using a mixing valve for your hot water.

I got this load at premium fine coal. I got about 6 tons so I don't really have a chance of mixing. It does seem like it had more "fines" or small pieces mixed in with it. I couldn't quite place what looked different about it but I would say that's it. It does seem like it is happier with more air. I think it might all be chalked up to the coal. I think for now I"ll leave the aquastat where it's at and try and play with my feed/air until I get a good stable run. Then hopefully I can post some pics and call this thing ready for the winter.