replacing firepot grates

Yesterday, after running my stoker for about a week, I just couldnt keep her going, and a good lengthy pull on the cleanout handle emptied a good portion from center of the burner pot. After shutting down, cooling off, and a quick inspection it seems the bottom half of one of the burner grates has broken. I've spent the morning so far scouring through the forum and trying to determine if this is something I can actually replace myself. still unsure about that one - I have yet to figure out how to get all those parts out.

I've browsed a thread or two about replacing the grates, and although it's written clearly, it's also seems to be written assuming the reader already knows how to remove the grates/burner pot assembly, and not for an inexperienced lackey like myself. So ...I'm a bit lost there .... since I dont fit inside the stoker. I really have no clue as to how one even begins to remove the internal parts through that little round door.

I'm curious about a rough pricing for some of the parts required, and where I might look to obtain the parts I might need. hopefully, from a single source to keep parts hunting to a minimum. I would rather fix it myself, naturally, since money is always an issue, and I really should be able to service the stoker on my own anyway. I'm a pretty good wrench, but my stoker isnt exactly a car or truck, and i honestly dont have much experience, other than changing my auger last year, and I'm assuming that it is NOT safe to run the stoker with half of a grate missing ... correct ?

Fill in you profile with an address, There may be someone near you that can help you out. You have to pull the stoker out of the unit so you can take out the screws that hold the grates in.

sorry, didnt realize I had not listed my location.

I did mine a few weeks ago although mine is a square door. With that I could do it right through the door. I removed the old plates and then put the new ones back in through the door and got everything sealed up and screwed back together. I can try and be what help I can but I didn't take my whole pot out.

i'm mostly wondering if it's safe to run the stoker with 1/2 of a grate missing until I can get a replacement grate (or grate kit). I'm sure if i look hard enough I can figure out how to get at the plates to replace them once i get parts.

where'd you get your parts jeremy, and if you dont mind me asking, what was the cost ?

I sent you a PM in regards to the parts. As for burning with the broken plates I know you will be pushing good coal in through the hole and will probably get more of it when you pull the fines lever. I believe you noted that you were getting it falling through when you pulled the lever. I guess it depends on how big the hole(s) are. Any chance for a pic?

okay ... here's a picture of the broken grate.

I thought I had some useful info, but looking more carefully at the picture it doesn't look like the model of stoker I thought it was. How many burn plates does it have? Does it give any info about the model on the nameplate?

Thanks.

Mike

An S-20 stoker has six burner plates. The one in the picture looks like it has eight. The procedure should be roughly the same either way.

Mike, I read your instructions - they will get him started. The hardest part will be removing the stoker from the base.

They look like 520 plates, so I guess it's the goofy angle at which the picture was taken.

You'll have to remove the stoker assy to replace the burner plates, unless you're a magician.

That requires removing the short pipe and worm from the pot. If you're lucky, you could try to loosen the two set screws on the 3" pipe side and maybe you can get the pot off the 3" air pipe from underneath. The pot is indexed with a roll pin, so you'll have to pull the pot straight off for the first 1/2" and then you can twist it side to side rotating it. Careful, the pot weighs about 50 pounds and will easily drop on you. The air pipe inserts into the pot about 3 inches.

Your other option is to remove the side cover bolts and remove the entire stoker/burner pot. This weighs at least 130-150 pounds.

You might have temporary success by laying a patch of refractory cement over the hole.

Call Ravina Plumbing and Heating in Hazleton if you get stuck.

These links show parts of the assembly

Pictorial: The Burner Pot Assembly w/part numbers

Pictorial: Combining of the Stoker and Burner Pot assemblies

Or here is the entire pictorial

Pictorial of all DF520 Stoker Parts and Assemblies

thanks for the all the info.

I've spent most of the day just looking at this thing, mostly to determine if I would be able to repair this on my own, and it seems pretty straight forward - as long I get the correct parts.

I had assumed my unit was a 520, but looking at the 520 burner pot parts list, I see 6 plates, where mine has eight.

I havent found any identifying tags on the unit, unless Im simply not looking in the right place. Any ideas on how I can correctly identify my unit so I can get the correct parts ?

Aside from the plates and rope gaskets, which I believe are available in a complete kit, I would also like to replace the auger bushings as well, since I didnt replace them last year during my panic'd replacement of the auger. And of course, the thought hadnt crossed my mind during the summer....

Is there a logo on this thing anywhere? Maybe it's a Van Wirt or Alaska

Can you measure the diameter of the burner?
If it is the same diameter as a 6 section EFM burner (S20) it wouldn't matter if it were replaced with either a 6 or 8 sections.(same diameter = same circumference)
Perhaps some "savvy" ole repairman, from days long gone, just knew what all he could interchange with.

Wesley, you should take more photo's of the stokerand the boiler itself. We have something cool here.

McGiever wrote:If it is the same diameter as a 6 section EFM burner (S20) it wouldn't matter if it were replaced with either a 6 or 8 sections.(same diameter = same circumference)

I think there could be a problem with the spacing of the holes for the bolts. Hopefully we can figure out what stoker this is; at that point finding a replacement plate or two shouldn't be too difficult.

Mike