Feeding too much coal

My stoker never shuts off like it's suppose to. It continues to feed coal smothering the fire. The fire then goes out. Would this be the aquastat or timer? The timer seems to be working. How do you troubleshoot both of these? I did have a complete full service done and that was not the issue.

I had to install a hot water heater for hot water. Can I still use the hot water heater and the coal stove (once I get it working again) together?

Welcome to the forum.
Is this an EFM boiler? If so what are your feed and air settings? What temperature is the boiler getting up to?
We need more info to help you out.

Thank you for the welcoming.

My feed? I believe is coal, is that what you mean? Yes it is a EFM, I have to get the model# for you
then. Um, I'm not sure of the air settings, how do I find out?
There is no temperature at the moment, my coal fire will not stay lit long enough to find out. It just stopped working one day,
and since then I cannot get the fire to stay burning. The coal just keeps feeding, but the temperature never rises.
I hope this info helps, if not let me know. Thanks.

The feed refers to the number of "teeth" by which the augers are turned on each power stroke of the drive mechanism. The air setting on most EFM's I've seen would be the number on a scale to which an adjustment lever that looks like an arrow is pointing. The scale with the numbers sometimes gets pretty well covered with dust, so you may need to wipe it off.

Without more info, this sounds like it might be not enough air rather than too much coal. Is the air number close to being the same as the number of teeth? Also, how long has it been since the fly ash was cleaned from the boiler, smoke pipe, etc? If the path of combustion gasses out of the boiler is blocked, I don't think the air will flow properly, and you'd get the symptoms you've described.

Probably the real EFM jockeys will jump in with more possibilities for you.

Good luck.

Mike

I'm moving this thread to the EFM area for better exposure to the experts.

The air flow damper is in the throat of the stoker body, close to where it bolts to the base. There's an adjusting lever there with a numbered scale. When the stoker is running is air flowing out of the holes in the grates in the burn pot?

Pictorial: S-20 Stoker assembly w/part numbers (DF520) Scroll down to photos 9 and 10.

I had to install a hot water heater for hot water.

No hot water coil in the EFM? That certainly would be a more economical way to heat domestic hot water.

Sounds like you my not be getting enough air into the burning pot check the burning grate air holes in the pot see if they are open or blocked shut or cracked or have big burn Thu holes in them if so replace the grates along with the gaskets that are in the pot Also check the air setting make sure the clean out leaver is being opened to clean out the fines in the bottom of pot . Pull the motor and fan off and clean the inside of the blower housing out there are three bolts on the motor plate to remove the motor & plate with fan will come out in one piece. When you relight the fire how long are you waiting before you start the feed of the coal . You have to wait until the small amount of coal in the pot is lit and burning good before you start feeding new coal in the pot if you do not wait until the fire is burning good then you will smother the fire out before it is lit good flip the drive paw over so it can't feed the coal only the blower should be on until the fire takes off good once you have a good fire going then flip the drive paw back over so it can feed fresh coal in . You can add a handful of coal at a time by hand until the fire is burning completely then flip the drive paw over to feed the coal .
Do you know how many teeth your set at for the feed each tooth on the gear drum is 2.5 lbs per hr with Rice coal & what is the air setting # at The air adjustment will have a thumb screw on top loosen it up and turn the lever to the number on the scale match the Number with the amount of teeth you have set on the gear drum there is a thumb screw there to you have to loosen and move the plate back towards the back of boiler decreases the feed towards the front of boiler increases the feed rate count the teeth with the drive paw start with the plate all the way towards the back of boiler then move towards the front of boiler count each tooth 4 teeth 4 air setting is a good start work from there .

Thank you so much, that was alot of good information. I'll give it a shot.