Unburned Coal In My S130 Ashpan

With my new S130, I'm finding a significant amount of unburned coal in my ashpan; specifically, it's partially burned pea coal, I'd say roughy 50% burned. I'm still burning Blashak bagged; and, plan on burning Blashak through the summer based on feedback from other S130 owners. From other forum posts the consensus seems to be: You don't need extra BTUs from super high quality coal while burning through late spring, summer, and early fall months.

Can any of you AHS S130/AA 130 "year 'round burners" out there lend me some help? I still have the Thermo Ash Monitoring Control "set variable" at the 140 degree Fahrenheit factory seting. I have the boiler's aquastat turned up slightly (from the factory setting) to attain 180F on the front tapping temp/pressure gauge. My draft should be good, averaging between 0.04 to 0.06 while idling; and, between 0.02 to 0.04 while the boiler is running. I'm new to the S130, I'm assuming it's normal for the draft to take a dip while the boiler is running??

Many thanks in advance

Dewey, I think you may want to decrease the ashing temp by 2 degrees to start. This weather is not helping out much...from 26 last week to 75 yesterday. It won't hurt to call Ben and get his input. I have noticed it myself on the AA's and AHS's over the last two weeks. They like a steady load, and as you fine tune the beast, the 'sweet spot' will solve those issues. Do understand that the AHS's and AA's may have a percentage of unburned coal on either end of the heating season, and you will be able to view the lbs used vs the ash weight (if you want to get that critical) Don't hide that Koker, there is a new home waiting for it. R U going to the Meet and Greet in 2 weeks? Thought I saw your name on the list. Perhaps we can talk Ben into a side trip on Saturday or Sunday for those interested.

Oh, what 'timer settings' do they use on the brand new models.
Yes, It's pouring out this PM! 64 degrees out, boilers snoozing away....tough life.

I'm going to try bringing the Thermo Ash Controller "Set Variable" down a few degrees; and, lowering in 2 degree incremements makes good sense. I'll try setting the "Set Variable" to 138 tonight.

I agree: our crazy New England wild temperature swings aren't helping; and I further agree, the boiler probably needs a more constant load... But I've had way too much unburned coal since I initially fired the boiler on Monday 4/4.

Yes, my wife and I plan on attending the Meet-n-Greet in Pennsylvania; however, we won't be staying too late Saturday evening, since we're bringing our kids along too... Plus I plan on staying in either Towanda or Athens Saturday night. My uncle is a lay pastor at the 1st Presbyterian Church in Athens, PA. I want to attend my uncle's Sunday morning service.

Dewey, did you ever solve this problem? I just dropped my Thermo Ash Monitor control temp down from 130 degrees to 127 degrees because I'm still seeing what I perceive to be too much unburned coal in my AHS S130's ashes. The manual says that during periods of light demand this setting can be reduced to 120 degrees (but never below).

Certainly my AA has unburned this time of year. For a while I sifted & what not, but came to the conclusion that 2 cups a day of unburned was the price to pay for this type of device. Once it get's colder it burns better, but will have the occasional unburned piece.

You see, during slow periods, the coal that lies against the steel wall of the burn chamber A: doesn't get as much air and B: stays cooler so it doesn't burn as well.

I have done everything with adjusting my temps for the ash controls, i ran it at factory settings for a couple days and had it all the way down t0 124 with a 4 degree diff., its hitting mid 50's here during the day and mid 30's overnight, ive shut my grate controls off during the day when its warm and then ran it at night, im probably gettin a 5 gallon bucket of ashes a day out of it and 4 gallons of it is unburnt coal, i know i will have unburnt coal no matter what but jeez i have a lot, other than that i love my coalgun, didnt expect that though from something they claim is so efficient

I'm hoping that colder weather will bring increased efficiency and less unburned coal in my S130's ash pan. I still have my differential at 10 degrees, but I just dropped my ash grate temperature control setting down to 120 degrees.

I have noticed that the ashes collected in the pan at night have less unburned coal in them then the ashes that collect during the heat of the day (which are loaded with coal).

lsayre wrote:I'm hoping that colder weather will bring increased efficiency and less unburned coal in my S130's ash pan. I still have my differential at 10 degrees, but I just dropped my ash grate temperature control setting down to 120 degrees.

I have noticed that the ashes collected in the pan at night have less unburned coal in them then the ashes that collect during the heat of the day (which are loaded with coal).

Some coal just won't burn, but stokers in general have unburned coal in the ash. It's just the nature of the beast. The Axeman/AHS boilers by their design are prone to have more at idle. The reason is that they were built to extract the most usable heat from a pound of coal than anything else. They did this by a sort of Rube Goldberg design. Its fan is on the backside, the fire sits in inches of ash and can't get air through it at idle. Not sounding like a great coal burner is it? It's made to run flat out and when it stops, the observation port opens and breaks the draft through the fire and tries to kill it. The fire is completely surrounded by hot water, reducing its heat loss and the draft going above the fire doesn't pull heat from it and stops oxygen from feeding it so it essentially goes out at idle. Of course it can't because there is a 20+# mass of coal that is at a scary temperature, any oxygen gets to it and it is going like gangbusters again.

All this nonsense aside, unless it is excessive, unburned coal in your ash is not a problem. Because of their screwball design, they are, even with a lot of unburned coal coal in the ash is still more efficient than anything else on the planet. So don't worry about the unburned coal, just heave it with the ash and smile because you have what you got!

If you can break that unburnt coal with your hand, and not pliers, it has burned, not the greatest but probably won't be able to be reburned. Coal fires like to burn hot, get some more draft, crank up the timer a bit more, turn up the house thermostat. Try using a few bags of buckwheat.

im already burning buckwheat, and 4 gallon of unburnt coal a day is about efficient as my 1926 hand fired soft coal boiler

and i couldnt possibly get more draft, my boiler has been idling around 195 to 205, i have op. temp set at 160

Perhaps you never had the fire fully established. Try putting a heavy load on the boiler for an hour or so.

coal burns hot?

when i first fired her up i turned thermostat up to 85 and my house water temp was around 50, fan ran for almost two hours before it brought my system up to temp, i had a firebox full of solid red coal glowing, didnt turn my ash controls on until about 4 hours later either

i will try putting another heavy load on her though and see how she goes, thanks