rotted hopper

The steel on my AHS S260 bin will never rot!!

The steel used by Keystoker on my Koker's bin was paper thin to start.

Keystoker needs to take a page from the AHS playbook when building coal hoppers.

Hi all the best way that I have ever seen to keep a coal hopper from rusting was to cut up rolled roofing with the sand on it and glue it inside the hopper with flooring glue. I seen a hopper on a motor stoker that ran for 46 years and had no rust at all in the hopper with roofing paper inside. I am running a key stoker KA 2 for three years now. It will be torn down in October for cleaning and if I see any rust on the hopper I will cover it with roofing paper. I run with wet coal because I feed with a worm from an old E FM and I must have it damped to keep the dust down.
Have a good one. Art 52

Why not just glop on some fiberglass resin? It will then be water proof and if coal abrasion wears it down just glop on some more. I'd remove or scuff up the paint for good adhesion.

How about that rubberized undercoating in a car from an auto parts store? Maybe spray with that....help protect it and keep it a bit more waterproof.

WNY wrote:How about that rubberized undercoating in a car from an auto parts store? Maybe spray with that....help protect it and keep it a bit more waterproof.

That's what I did! I just checked it this morning and the coating is as hard as a rock!

just purchased a new hopper from keystoker . i went to tractor supply and bought some herculiner and coated the whole inside of the hopper hopefully this works and this hopper will last more than 4 years. the only sucky part is i got the hreculiner on my hands and i cant get it off. i have tired every chemical i had in the garage and nothing works. i am open for any ideas.

chris

Nail polish remover.

I applied some cold galvanizing spray to the bottom of mine after 3 seasons.

LL Pocono installed January 17, 2012 and has burned about 1 1/4 tons to date. Hopper is not rotted yet, but now notice rust forming on walls of hopper. I did order 3 cans of LPS 3 Premier Rust Inhibitors today. I'm burning bagged Blaschak rice and it is damp. I've thought of dumping the bags of coal into a bushel basket a couple of days ahead of time to maybe dry the coal out a bit. Been wonder too, if the lid on the hopper has to be on. Seems to me that there is enough heat that may dry the coal while in the hopper, but with the lid on there is no place for the moisture to go. Does the lid have to be on the hopper? Also thinking of lining the inside with counter top laminate. Anyone done this?

I would recommend cold galvanising over LPS 3. LPS 3 never fully dries, but is an outstanding product for interior surfaces of the stovefor summer idle time. I have been spraying inside rocker panels, doors, and boxed in areas of vehicles and I have one of the few 2001 Sierra's with fully intact rocker panels, no rust! I am now appling it to all surfaces I do not want to rust, even if exposed to elements realizing it may need recoats after time.

I use old drained oil & a paint brush. Point being--doing something is better then doin nothing. Like Sierra stated, I've got a 1990 Chev 4X4 truck & have way less rust then a bunch of people around here with much newer vehicles.

freetown fred wrote:I use old drained oil & a paint brush. Point being--doing something is better then doin nothing. Like Sierra stated, I've got a 1990 Chev 4X4 truck & have way less rust then a bunch of people around here with much newer vehicles.

That was my job when I was a teen working on a dairy farm. OIled everything used in the fields when they were ready to put away. Nothing ever rusted, still looked good after 30-50 years Old but gold

My K-6 hopper was rotted through when I got the boiler (Used of course). I put a patch over the rotted part and painted the hopper. The paint only lasted a year and had to be retouched. Before this season, I got a can of spray truck bed liner from the autoparts store. Can't remember the brand. One can on a K-6 hopper covered quite well. Seems to be holding very well. Not as messy as fiberglass or undercoating.

Good idea SU. That stuff gets rock hard from what I've seen in truck beds.

Kinda like oil pans that rust through on ford trucks(mostly fords). It is not a perfect world, but it is good to have something to complain about.
How about a Yellow Flame hopper on a 250K unit that is 52 years old (galvie) and only has a tiny bit of rust on the throat where it enters the burn chamber.

They don't make them like they used to......... It is the steel quality, not the craftsmanship. Buy any good framing lumber lately? Trim? 'Engineered crap'.....dork board......lousy plywood lamination's.....
shingle quality (that is an oxymoron isn't it!!!!!) 10" of snow here.....winter is not over as of March 1st 2012!

The body shops and plow guys are ecstatic....lots of business!