Info on an Old Wagner Self Feeding Stoker

Hi, Iam new on here and would like any info on an old Wagner self feeding coal stoker. I moved to Schuylkill Co., last year, and my new wife`s house has a Wagner stoker stove for heat along with an electric heat pump. The stoker was last used about 6 years ago by her late husband. I have used old hand fed stokers in the past and last used a Harman Mark III wood/coal stove at my old residence but have never used an old stoker like this Wagner unit. I made a few calls to local heating businesses for help and no one wanted to be bothered and one place told me to forget about using it because it was too old and probably wasn`t safe to use. I did finally get someone to look at it for me and he told me that the burning pot should be taken out and rebuilt because it was not used for awhile. He also told me that if one of the rings would happened to brake, while he was taking it apart, they probably would not be availabile anymore. I left it go and then 3 weeks ago I decided to work on it myself even though I did not know a thing about this type of stove. I cleaned out the rings in the pot, cleaned out the pipe and flue and replaced the filters. I made sure all the breakers were on and fuses were good and turned on the switch to the motor and it would not start. I had it checked out by a friend, who does electrical work, and we found out the switch was bad. He replaced the switch and still nothing. We traced a thermostat wire over to the heat pump where it was not hooked up to anything with wire nuts on the ends of the three wires. He joined the 3 wires together and it started up. Anyway, the next day I lit a fire and started it up and I have been using the stove like this for the last three weeks. I did buy a thermostat and hooked it up to the wires but I don`t think it is controlling the heat setting because if I turn it all the way down it still runs the same way all the time. There is another box on the outside of the stove that has settings for the fan and heat and I have tried to change the settings on it but it doesn`t seem to change anything either. Does anyone know anything about Wagner stokers or know someone that does? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Dennis

Does anyone on here know anything about this type of stoker? I know that a Wagner stoker is an older unit but I thought that there would be someone on this website that had some info or dealings with them. Like I said, I am new to this type of stoker and would like some info on how to set up the adjustments for the feed, fan and the thermostat hook up. The stove does heat real well but it seems like there is alot of unburned coal in the ash and I get 3 full size tubs of ashes each week. The fan runs all the time and it seems like it calls for coal alot too. But since I know nothing about this stoker I do not know if this is normal or not. I would appreciate any help and if I could find someone in my area (Schuylkill Haven) that would check it out for me that would be great. Thanks

Hello skookman, I don't know of anyone else on the forum that has a Wagner unit in service.. But you may have some luck, maybe someone will come across your post and be able to help.

Three tubs of ash per week may not be a lot, depending on the size of your house you are heating. When you say you have a lot of unburnt coal, is there a portion of the burn pot that is NOT burning , that is it is dark, and the rest of the pot is red coals?? This usually is cause by clogged up air passageways feed ing combustion air through the burn pot walls to the fire..
Did you clean the air-slots or air-holes in the burn pot really well before you started a fire? Also, fines [sand-sized coal pieces] can clog up the air holes and also get behind the air holes and clog up the air passageways. On most under-fire burnpot type stokers like yours, there is some sort of flapper, or moveable door that you open every day or week to dump the fines out of the air passageways.. Does your Wagner have such a fines-dump system??

Hope this helps.. Greg L

Thanks for responding, Glen. The burn pot looks like it is burning fairly even. Before I fired it up I cleaned between all the rings with a thin blade screwdriver and then blew them out with air. I did this through the fire door and did not remove the burn pot which I did not want to get involved with. Where would this flapper or removeable door be located? I did not see anything like this. The stoker is mounted on an 18" high cement block base and is 55" high, 53"long and 25" wide. It has the fire pot door, the ash door and a removeable side panel where the filters, motor, Buss fuse box and a controll box where the thermostat wires feed off of. There is also a controll box mounted on the ouside of the stove. This box looks like it has temp and fan settings and an auto and manual setting for the fan. The fan runs all the time on the auto setting and the wall mount thermostat that I bought and hooked the wires up to from the stoker does not change the temp setting even if I turn it all the way down. I am not familiar with the electrical aspects of the stoker as my previous stove,at my other house, was a Harman Mark III wood/coal hand fed unit. My best bet would be to try and find someone in my area to come and look at the stoker and go over the settings and teach me how to operate it properly but nobody that I called wanted to be bothered because of it being so old and not being made anymore. It looks to be in good shape and does heat the lower level of the house good but the heat upstairs is lacking somewhat. The ducts from the stoker tie into the heatpump ducts. I tried to run the fan from the heat pump manually while the stoker was running but it blows cool air after while if left on. I imagine it will be hard to find someone that is familiar with an old Wagner stoker and with any luck I do hope to find someone. Thanks again for the response.

Dennis

LsFarm wrote:Hello skookman, I don't know of anyone else on the forum that has a Wagner unit in service.. But you may have some luck, maybe someone will come across your post and be able to help.

Three tubs of ash per week may not be a lot, depending on the size of your house you are heating. When you say you have a lot of unburnt coal, is there a portion of the burn pot that is NOT burning , that is it is dark, and the rest of the pot is red coals?? This usually is cause by clogged up air passageways feed ing combustion air through the burn pot walls to the fire..
Did you clean the air-slots or air-holes in the burn pot really well before you started a fire? Also, fines [sand-sized coal pieces] can clog up the air holes and also get behind the air holes and clog up the air passageways. On most under-fire burnpot type stokers like yours, there is some sort of flapper, or moveable door that you open every day or week to dump the fines out of the air passageways.. Does your Wagner have such a fines-dump system??

Hope this helps.. Greg L

Post some pics of the setup, hook up, etc.. then maybe we can all give you more info, input, what to check, etc...

I am not that good at using a computer but if someone lets me know how to post pics on here I will give it a try. I have a digital camera but never posted any pics before. Thanks

WNY wrote:Post some pics of the setup, hook up, etc.. then maybe we can all give you more info, input, what to check, etc...

You might try calling these people for professional help:

Losch Plumbing & Heating 570-385-2600 Hip Heating and Plumbing 570-385-1539 .
4Berks Plumbing & Heating 570-739-1701 .

Greg L

Give me a p.m. back and I can hook you up with info on this unit, I know of several and do have some odds and ends in the archives garage. THANX SCRAPPER.

Thanks for the info Greg. I got your name right this time! I am going to take some pics of the unit and if I find out how to post them I will let you guys see the stoker setup. Thanks again.

Dennis

LsFarm wrote:You might try calling these people for professional help:

Losch Plumbing & Heating 570-385-2600 Hip Heating and Plumbing 570-385-1539 .
4Berks Plumbing & Heating 570-739-1701 .

Greg L

pm sent scrapper. Thanks

scrapper_23jr wrote:Give me a p.m. back and I can hook you up with info on this unit, I know of several and do have some odds and ends in the archives garage. THANX SCRAPPER.

Only ever saw on in operations, screw feed but you had to get down on your knees to remove the ash can, it was below floor level in a pit. It was built by a division of Reading Anthracite before the Rich family bought Reading Anthracite. I am almost sure none have been made since the early fifties.

EnergyManager wrote:Only ever saw on in operations, screw feed but you had to get down on your knees to remove the ash can, it was below floor level in a pit. It was built by a division of Reading Anthracite before the Rich family bought Reading Anthracite. I am almost sure none have been made since the early fifties.

The Wagner was the model of the unit built by The Allentown boiler / furnace company in Allentown PA they also made the lo line boiler It did have a open bottom the ash did go into a ash pit below the burning pot next to the unit there would be a metal door on the floor with a ramp that the ash tub would slide down then you would use a metal rod with a hook to pull the ash tub up the ramp when it was full The Auger fed from the back out threw the front below the viewing door into the bin the motor and the blower sat on the floor behind the filter they where made up until the late 60s early 70s

If you still need help with your wagner call Matthew @ 570-640-9156. I have experience working on wagners and can get parts.