Surdiac 616-Buckwheat Mix??

Wallknight · Post by **Wallknight** » Mon. Dec. 07, 2009 1:25 pm

Greetings,
I've got a source of free buckwheat, but my Surdiac 616 doesnt like it at its current settings. Anyone know how I can make this work? My experimental 50/50 bw/pea went out last night, and the side with all bw is having trouble coming back to life. Meanwhile, the hopper is set on its highest level, which I think was supposed to be for nut. If I lower the hopper (shallower bed?) might I have a better chance with a buckwheat mix?
Thanks!
Paul

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Mon. Dec. 07, 2009 1:51 pm

You probalby need bigger coal then buckwheat in hand fired, they normally fall right thru the grates. You need AIR to get thru the coal to keep it burning, RICE & BUCKWHEAT are normally used in Stokers with a forced combustion fan to keep it going.

sharkman8810 · Post by **sharkman8810** » Mon. Dec. 07, 2009 2:17 pm

It isnt going to work. All your doing is choking the fire and your going to be cold. If you have a big enough supply/long term supply then maybe get a stoker that can handle it, but a handfired wont work.

Wallknight · Post by **Wallknight** » Mon. Dec. 07, 2009 2:32 pm

Any chance with a lower ratio, like 20%? The pea already has plenty of bw size fragments in it.

wlape3 · Post by **wlape3** » Mon. Dec. 07, 2009 3:19 pm

As the other guys said buckwheat is too small. You won't have enough air flow to either keep the fire going or to put out the heat you need. See if you can trade your buckwheat to a stoker for some pea. Putting the hopper lower is what you should do if you are burning pea. When it is at the upper setting it is for nut.