Coal season in Pa.

Well I fired up the 520 this weekend without a hitch. Maybe I lied a little but I won't make this mistake again. I decided to change my burner from the left to the right side and install (fabricate ) a larger bin. This is when the fun started, I decides that beings I was going to do this it would be a great time to do a long needed maintenance to the 520 I pulled all of the bottom plates off and in the process the duct pipe had to come off. Little did I know I would find out why my Co detector was going off last season the pipe going thru the wall to the chimney was half full of fly ash and the bottom pipe reducer 8" to 6" had a few holes in it too. Yes I know your suppose to reduce it at the wall and I fixed that when I re-piped it. . I sealed the base with 3M fire stop which stays flexible (silicone) $11.00 per tube @ 2 tubes and sealed the 3 bottom plates and exhaust pipe with 500* silicone $3.00 a tube @ 2 tubes. Before I couldn't leave my 55 gallon drum uncovered without setting the CO detector off and now it's been off since I lit the 520 on Saturday. I do have one question though what can I do to neutralize the acid from the coal burning when I shut down for the summer season? Is there something I can mix up and spray to keep the corrosion down? Now you guys can rip me for not taking care of my prized possession the way I should have.

You could turn down the low limit on your aquastat to 80 or 100 and let it run all summer, or clean the inside and put a lightbulb inside to keep the inside warm all summer.

Stoke-rman
I know about the light bulb thing but wouldn't it be more advantageous to neutralize the acid. While I got your attention could you give me an idea on prices for parts to extend my feed pipe coupler,pipe and worm. Another question is the pipe a standard 2" pipe or is it special made for efm?

Probably in the $300-350 range. The bin pipe is Schedule 40, 2" steel. I am not aware of any special procedure to clean your boiler other than brushing down the surfaces and keeping moisture to a minimum.

Stoker-man's recomendation to control the moisture is the key. You might already know this so please humor me. The trick is to keep the acid from forming, or being created. The acid doesn't exist the ash unless water gets to it. If you can brush/vac out as much ash as possible and can keep the moisture away from the surfaces the acid can't form. In short, sulfur(from ash) + water = acid.

If you make up a soda washing solution, a large percentage of the solution is water. If you don't get the soda concentration where it needs to be in the right concentration (corners, welds ...) the water in the solution causes the acid to form, the acid remains to do its bad work on the metal surface unbeknown to you until you see the results. It works but it has to be done correctly. The acid may have never formed otherwise. Humidity/water contact can be controlled. Keeping the boiler running low or using the light bulb heat trick keeps the metal surfaces above the dew point so humidity won't condense on the surface and form acid with the remaining ash. Spraying with a rust inhibitor product forms an air barrier, plus what ever additives it's formulated with, to help keep the condensing water from making contact with the sulfur. No acid formation, no problem. You know how much moisture you have in you boiler room but you have to make the easiest/right choise to keep it in check. Good luck!

Edit: More on washing in this thread:Cleaning with baking soda/limestone

BillMarti wrote:Well I fired up the 520 this weekend without a hitch. Maybe I lied a little but I won't make this mistake again. I decided to change my burner from the left to the right side and install (fabricate ) a larger bin. This is when the fun started, I decides that beings I was going to do this it would be a great time to do a long needed maintenance to the 520 I pulled all of the bottom plates off and in the process the duct pipe had to come off. Little did I know I would find out why my Co detector was going off last season the pipe going thru the wall to the chimney was half full of fly ash and the bottom pipe reducer 8" to 6" had a few holes in it too. Yes I know your suppose to reduce it at the wall and I fixed that when I re-piped it. . I sealed the base with 3M fire stop which stays flexible (silicone) $11.00 per tube @ 2 tubes and sealed the 3 bottom plates and exhaust pipe with 500* silicone $3.00 a tube @ 2 tubes. Before I couldn't leave my 55 gallon drum uncovered without setting the CO detector off and now it's been off since I lit the 520 on Saturday. I do have one question though what can I do to neutralize the acid from the coal burning when I shut down for the summer season? Is there something I can mix up and spray to keep the corrosion down? Now you guys can rip me for not taking care of my prized possession the way I should have.

The best and easies way to eliminate the problem is to run the boiler all year long Do You have a DHW coil in it if so make hot water in summer time if you do not have one buy one and put it in . coal use for Summertime will be 1/2 to 3/4 ton of coal it will extend the life of the boiler inside for many more years of service.

Coal berner
Yes I do have DHW and the oil burner option. I haven't installed the insulation and covers on the boiler which tends to warm up the basement and the first floor which is good in the winter season but not the summer season. If 3/4 ton would do the summer months I just may try that next summer.

Stoker-man,
I looked up SS schedule 40 pipe on ebay and it's fairly cheap.Do you know the thread size on the on the worm ends? Could you PM me prices on the intermediate and long worm shafts so I can see how much I can get for my first born uh I mean get my finances together for my future bin conversion.

Thanks for all the help everyone Bill