AHS S130 Coalgun- Puffbacks & Explosions

 
greenftechn
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Post by greenftechn » Mon. Dec. 08, 2014 8:22 am

The height of the fire is inversely proportional to "depth". The higher the ashing temperature the deeper the fire. The lower the ashing temperature, the more shallow the fire becomes. A deep fire means more raw coal on the top of the column. If the coal is high in volatiles, and typically the more desirable low ash coals are, it is a setup for you know what. The new controls developed after the 2011 season give extremely fine-grained control of fire depth. It's worth pointing out that a deeper fire is less likely to go out during a period of low demand. Thus, there is a bit of a balancing game that can be played here depending on user objectives. There is no perfect coal burner out there, but the Coal Gun is closer than ever. We're not going to censor or delete the thread. There is a wealth of information here, and while not everyone is kind in their remarks, we're not running away.


 
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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Mon. Dec. 08, 2014 9:34 am

Thank You Sir

I respect your continued efforts in regards to this whole matter.

I believe that many here also have gained a much better understanding of all the interactions needing to be met in order to operate this type configuration of fire-pot design in a most effective way.

 
saslor1
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Post by saslor1 » Wed. Jan. 28, 2015 9:34 am

I have been using an S130 for over six years now and have had a horrific time with puff backs to the point that I was going to take my S130 out. I have had pipes and baro totaly blown off of my chimney on several occasions. I have tried everyting.

I have made several calls to the Tech Support team over the years who while curtious, could not resolve the problem. I finally takled to Darrel in March (2014) of this year. He offered to sell me a BETA conversion kit which world replaced the themal ash sensor and the Fugitsu controller with a Love Controller. The conversion kit required that I rewire and drill through the hopper feed pipe and locate a thermal sensor on top of the fire pot. The conversion kit was quite expensive at $390.00, but well worth it. Last year I used five and a half tons of pea. This year I fired it up on Nov 1 and am just finishing up two ton with absolutely no Puff backs. Problably at this rate of consumption I will use under four tons of coal.

I would suggest that others get in touch with the AHS techs and discuss their situation with them.

 
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Post by macdabs » Sat. Jan. 31, 2015 4:42 am

Darrell fixed me up also and I have had no issues last year or this year . I probably have burned almost 15 ton and not even a burp. I love my boiler !! :D :D
Mac

 
greenftechn
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Post by greenftechn » Sat. Jan. 31, 2015 8:43 am

I know he doesn't show up here (often), but Darrell is actually Darren. Give him a shoutout at [email protected]

:D

 
macdabs
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Post by macdabs » Sun. Feb. 01, 2015 5:10 am

I'm terrible with names... :o :o I'll refer to him as the "D" Boiler man ! :D Sorry ... Thanks again Darren.

Mac

 
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Post by pete6500 » Wed. Feb. 04, 2015 5:45 pm

Interesting, Please read my post on pg. 31, sat, Oct, 27 2012, It worked for me.


 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Wed. Feb. 04, 2015 6:16 pm

pete6500 wrote:Interesting, Please read my post on pg. 31, sat, Oct, 27 2012, It worked for me.
You stated that you would monitor things for a year and then take action. What action did you take?

 
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Post by pete6500 » Wed. Feb. 04, 2015 8:20 pm

I actually monitored it for well over a year. During that time I kept a close eye on my fire height and the temp the controller was seeing. during that time I still used the manual timer until I was confident the auto control would do the job. The manual timer always worked for me as long as the fire height was good but I wanted the auto control so I wouldn't have to make constant adjustments to the timer. Reading all the posts here many were still having issues with the ash sensor system. With the thermocouple at the top it's easier to keep the fire at the right height. Just before the end of last years heating season I let the auto control do the work and continued with it this year. So far so good. One thing I might mention is where the sensor is located has a lot to do with what temp the control sees so for me it was experimental but as time goes on one can get a feel what temp is optimal. As I said in an earlier post your nose can tell you a lot. While using the manual timer if I smelled sulfur in the boiler room I knew I had to slow the timer to raise the fire. When the fire height is right I never get a sulfur smell. Now with the auto control I know what temp to use to keep out the sulfur smell. I'm sure the grade of coal has a lot to do with it. Hope I answered your ?

 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Wed. Feb. 04, 2015 9:15 pm

Fascinating! Is your temperature probe in the vicinity of the sight tube cover (flapper)? How close to the fire does it actually get? What temperatures trigger ashing on and ashing off? Does ashing only occur when the fan is running?

 
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Post by pete6500 » Thu. Feb. 05, 2015 6:18 am

what I did was drill a 1/4# hole at the elbow below the hopper so the sensor could go straight along the bottom of the feed tube. The end of the sensor stops a little short of the end of feed tube as it enters the fire pot. As the fire burns and rises the temp rises. Right now my set point is about 175 degrees. The temp has to go above this by the diff. of about 3 degrees the turns on the grate. When it drops back to 175 it shuts off. The control has to be set for cooling mode to start grate on temp rise. I have the control work when the fan runs. I'm still watching things but it seems so far so good. Also when the fan shuts off the temp will rise during the idle time. When fan starts the temp is higher than SP so grate runs to bring it down to SP. By reading the last few posts it sounds like the co. does this with a kit? How do they do it? Thanks

 
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Post by greenftechn » Thu. Feb. 05, 2015 7:34 am

By reading the last few posts it sounds like the co. does this with a kit? How do they do it?
Your post summarizes it pretty well.

 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Sun. Feb. 08, 2015 9:45 am

I wonder if the occasional puff might happen due to the ash grate suddenly clearing a large clinker that had previously been lingering around uncleared? Such an event would drop the fire suddenly (by the volume of the clinker) and cause an inrush of fresh coal to fill the void. Such an event would also be totally independent of whether or not ashing was being initiated by a timer, by measuring the ash grate temperature, or by measuring the temperature of the feed tube at some juncture above the fire.

 
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Post by Joe » Sat. Oct. 17, 2015 7:29 am

saslor1 writes "The conversion kit required that I rewire and drill through the hopper feed pipe and locate a thermal sensor on top of the fire pot." Can anybody share a picture of the location of the hole in the hopper feed tube and where and how far in the new sensor goes? I have been using another type of temp controller and can easily reprogram it to start at high temp and stop and low temp (cooling cycle). All I need to do is relocate the thermocouple. Also what temperatures are you using with the conversion kit? I see Pete6500's posts, they are helpful, but I would also like to hear from somebody that has the conversion kit installed. Thanks

 
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Post by greenftechn » Mon. Oct. 19, 2015 2:26 pm

The location of the hole will depend on the length of the thermocouple. Ihave a couple photos of a unit with the "point of burn" version of our grate control. The tip of the thermocouple is positioned right at the end of the inlet tube.

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