Coal Trol and Alaska 140A

Anyone here using the coal trol with a model 140 auger feed FHA ? If so, can you chime in with your thoughts and its cost to value. Thanks for any input.

If you are going to run a Furnace fan with the Coaltroal, you need order the external relay, the furnace blowers draw too much current for the CoalTrol.
The max output of the FAN controls I believe is 3-4 amps.

I do not use my furnace fan, the blower for the Alaska is on a separate cold air return.

No one here uses the coal-trol with an Alaska model 140 auger feed ?????

I have a friend with a LL Pioneer that has the Coaltrol. It's sweet! If I were you, I'd phone the Coaltrol factory. I've talked to them a couple of times and they seem like good, honest people. Phone (315) 299-3589. I truly believe that if the Coaltrol would not be a benefit in your circumstance, that they would tell you.

Mike R wrote:I do not use my furnace fan, the blower for the Alaska is on a separate cold air return.

The LL Hyfire uses two 265 cfm blowers which are at about the max for the Coal-Trol. I believe your 140 has a 1500 cfm blower which would be too big for the Coal-Trol. As has been suggested you can contact Automation Correct and discuss possible solutions. I would run your Alaska fan off a fan limit and then use the convection fan output of the Coaltrol (variable speed) to run a inline duct fan on the output to boost the airflow. From your picture it looks like the 140 is sending all it's output into the return, what is not clear to me is how the cold air return form the house works. I'm guessing the 140 is in series with the cold air return circuit.

It has been done. I just don't know if they are on the forums.

As has been mentioned, you would need to run the convection blower off the existing limit switch control. We can run the auger and combustion blower though. We do offer an "aux" output that can be used to control a relay which runs the convection fan, if you would like to try that option instead of using the limit switch. In this configuration the Coal-trol would turn the blower on and off (no speed control). The feedrate it turns on/off at is a parameter that can be adjusted by the user.

As with all potential customers installing on an Alaska, we like make sure you're aware: Alaska tells their customers that installing a Coal-trol will void their stove warranty. We aren't aware of anyone having ever been denied warranty due to this reason or of anyone experiencing a warranty issue as a result of the Coal-trol being installed.

Like I said, we just like to make sure Alaska owners are aware of this before making a purchase of a Coal-trol. If you are experiencing poor temperature control with your current controls, or are having to twiddle with manual/timer controls too much, we believe our control can improve things for you. It is possible, even with an existing setup that has relatively good temperature control, that the Coal-trol will improve things a bit and increase fuel efficiency. If you run into problems we're available via phone, email and on the forums. And as a last resort, if you aren't satisfied with the results with the Coal-trol, we offer a 30 day money back guarantee.

Freddy wrote:I have a friend with a LL Pioneer that has the Coaltrol. It's sweet! If I were you, I'd phone the Coaltrol factory. I've talked to them a couple of times and they seem like good, honest people. Phone (315) 299-3589. I truly believe that if the Coaltrol would not be a benefit in your circumstance, that they would tell you.

ty for the number Freddy

Matthaus wrote:

Mike R wrote:I do not use my furnace fan, the blower for the Alaska is on a separate cold air return.

The LL Hyfire uses two 265 cfm blowers which are at about the max for the Coal-Trol. I believe your 140 has a 1500 cfm blower which would be too big for the Coal-Trol. As has been suggested you can contact Automation Correct and discuss possible solutions. I would run your Alaska fan off a fan limit and then use the convection fan output of the Coaltrol (variable speed) to run a inline duct fan on the output to boost the airflow. From your picture it looks like the 140 is sending all it's output into the return, what is not clear to me is how the cold air return form the house works. I'm guessing the 140 is in series with the cold air return circuit.

Matthaus, Didn't realize I posted the wrong pic, the above pic was when the install was in progress. Here is the completed one........

Matthaus,

Also, each furnace runs independently. Only one blower runs at any givin time. I have block off's in the ducts

Nice installation! Keep us posted as to how your investigation and discussion with Automation Correct turns out.

I HAVE BEEN USING THE COALTROL ON MY 140 A FOR THE 2ND SEASON. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ALASKA CONTROLER AND THE COALTROL IS THE THERMOSTATIC CONTROL. I SET THE TEMP ON THE THERMOSTAT UNIT AND IT CONTROLS THE FEED AND BURN RATE AS NEEDED TO KEEP THE HOUSE AT THE TEMP I SET (69 DEG). YOU CAN SEE MY SETUP BY LOOKING AT MY POST TEDWARD. WITH THE ALASKA TEMP CONROLLER I WAS CONSTANTLY ADJUSTING THE DIAL TO TRY TO HIT 69 DEG. THE COALTROL WORKS GREAT, KEEPING THE HOUSE WITHIN +-1 DEG OF THE SET POINT NO MATTER WHAT THE TEMP IS OUTSIDE, I ALSO LIKE THE FACT I CAN CONTROL BURN RATE. I HAVE THE MIN BURN SETTING AT 4 AND THE MAX SETTING AT 37. EVEN NOW WITH THE WIND BLOWING AND AS COLD AS IT IS OUTSIDE THE COALTROL DOSE IT'S THING AND MANTANS THE SET POINT. CAN'T SAY ENOUGH........

I just spoke to the guys at Coaltrol today about using their product on a KOKER. I know they had some issues with the 1500 cfm fan. I also talked today with Keystoker. Both indicated problem solved. Coaltrol is again available from Keystoker as an option on the KOKER 160 furnace. These units have a 1500 cfm fan managed just fine by the Coaltrol!

Oh yea, It should work on your Alaska.