What Are the Ashes Supposed to Be Like?

Aldo8811 · Post by **Aldo8811** » Tue. Nov. 29, 2011 9:44 pm

not sure where to post this but I'm new to the coal thing and this just doesn't seem quite right.....

What are the ashes supposed to look like? it appears to have alot of little pebbles in it. I bought 4 tons of reading rice coal bagged. The ashes kind of look like people remains, a little bit of really fine ash, pebbles or small rocks, and some what looks like a shale ledge. Is all of this normal? did I pay $350 a ton for some coal and a bunch of rocks? not sure if it matters but I have KA-6.

Post by **Rob R.** » Tue. Nov. 29, 2011 9:51 pm

Have you tried increasing the combustion air? I have burned a couple tons of Reading rice in the last year, it burned much more completely than what it shown in your picture.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Tue. Nov. 29, 2011 9:52 pm

Looks like just a bit of unburnt coal in the ash there. Probably need to fine tune your feed rate and/or blower settings. I'm not a stoker owner so the other fellas will chime in on that in more detail.

Beautiful cars in your avatar, btw. VERY nice!

EDIT: like I said (Rob beat me to it

)

whistlenut · Post by **whistlenut** » Tue. Nov. 29, 2011 10:00 pm

Usually the K series boilers do burn more completely, but as Rob and Smitty said, feed rate and air setting changes may help. It is entirely possible to have some unburnt coal in the ash, but usually it will change color from jet black to a grey. Be patient, and adjust ONLY one setting at a time , and allow a few hours to observe changes. Working on any Rat-Rods????????

Post by **Rob R.** » Tue. Nov. 29, 2011 10:05 pm

Your mileage may vary...but some unburned material in the ashes isn't unusual, especially during this mild weather. Here is a picture of some ashes from Reading rice burned in my EFM:

Aldo8811 · Post by **Aldo8811** » Tue. Nov. 29, 2011 10:17 pm

Rob R your ashes look like mine do. It does concern me as I have burned about a ton so far

Smitty thanks for the compliment on the cars, the black one is my wifes 39 ford std business coupe, mine is a 30 model A tudor sedan.

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Wed. Nov. 30, 2011 5:43 am

If you do a search on ASH Pictures, many have posted what they get.....should like like granola, sometimes small clumps (clinkers), depending on how much air or draft you might have. Some Red, some grey, etc...Yours looks a bit unburnt (which you will alway get some unburnt).

Pictures of Ash and Quality

How Does This Burn/Ash Look to You?

Red Ash or White Ash

Aldo8811 · Post by **Aldo8811** » Wed. Nov. 30, 2011 5:04 pm

ok so tonight I opened the air, any draw backs to giving it all she can take?

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Wed. Nov. 30, 2011 5:56 pm

Adjust it slowly, if you have too much air, that causes it to burn much hotter, in turn, fusing the ash together, which forms the 'clinker' or 'cakes', as some people might call them. Just keep an eye on it and adjust accordingly.

Also, keep an eye on your draft, if you haven't already set it with a draft gauge.

Post by **Rob R.** » Wed. Nov. 30, 2011 6:03 pm

Aldo8811 wrote:ok so tonight I opened the air, any draw backs to giving it all she can take?

Excessive combustion air can create clinkers. In an extreme case, a sheet of clinker can prevent ash from falling off the end of the stoker. You will also increase the stack temperature and waste heat.

Give the boiler a good long run and see how much ash you have between the fire and the end of the grates.

tikigeorge · Post by **tikigeorge** » Wed. Nov. 30, 2011 10:21 pm

Remember that the ashes from a Keystoker KA-6 fall off the grate. No manual shaking.

Aldo8811 · Post by **Aldo8811** » Thu. Dec. 01, 2011 8:13 pm

So I did a little work on it this evening, my red nut is 15 turns away from the boiler, the air shutter on the stoker is open about half way, the air on the little fan is open half way as well (the fan is off at rest). While checking tonight, the stoker was on and a lot of air was blowing out the little fan so I wired it to come on with the stoker. I have, during a call for for heat, turned the stoker off and check the draft, -.04. I haven't checked it lately at rest but it typically is a strong neg .02

Post by **Rob R.** » Thu. Dec. 01, 2011 8:21 pm

Where are you taking that draft reading?

ValterBorges · Post by **ValterBorges** » Thu. Dec. 01, 2011 8:42 pm

Here is what I get, burning blackshak pea bagged.

http://flickr.com/gp/67213576@N05/o91W53

Currently set to run at sv is 120 and low at 140.

Aldo8811 · Post by **Aldo8811** » Sat. Dec. 03, 2011 7:54 am

I take my draft reading through the hole in the access door. I played around with the draft when I first put the boiler in and had to keep extra weight on the barometric damper, the shutter on the stoker was barely open and the shutter on the keep alive fan was open only about 1/8 of the wayand I still had a strong neg.02. I had to change my turns to 13.

What Are the Ashes Supposed to Be Like?

Attachments