Newbies AHS 130 running- so far, so good

I've waited a few days in order not to jinx it! Thank goodness for this forum and all of you with your experiences and advice, I've been reading up and telling my husband all the tidbits I've read. When the weatherman finally called for a cold snap this past weekend, I said, let's get this boiler going! I had read about getting some ash to put in before the coal, (but I couldn't remember how much) so we only got a big coffee can of ash from a friend and put that in first. We loaded the coal into the boiler Friday night and waited for morning to start to the process.
We wasted 4 mice trying to light the darn thing, mice burnt up and didn't even start the coal, so he used a torch to get the coals going. The first 24 hours, it used about 1/3 of the coal in the hopper, it was 20 during the day and below zero all night, plus he had the garage modine set too low, so it kept running every time the water temp hit 180.
Everything on the coalgun is set to factory default. So far, we are quite happy with everything. Still need to get a mano and check draft and install a carbon monoxide detector before I'm completely content. (well, except that I can hear the main circulator running when I go to bed ( our bedroom is above the garage and boiler ) and I think it's vibrating the pipes making noise.
Here's the pics!

Congrats!

A cold snap kicked you in the butt?

Nice and clean....hope it stays that way.

On a side note, thank goodness we decided to put in a double mason chimney because just a few weeks ago, the power vent for the oil furnace died and we had to scramble and move the pipe to the new chimney. Now, both furnaces are hooked up to chimneys, no more noisy, stinky power vents!

GoodProphets wrote:Congrats!

A cold snap kicked you in the butt?

Nice and clean....hope it stays that way.

Yep, he spends a lot of time overanalyzing details, I had to push him to just get the darn thing going and we'll work out any problems as they show themselves.
And Yes, he's a neat freak too with new toys, so I'm sure he'll be polishing that stove every day

That's a mighty fine looking install there! Congratualtions! You're going to love the heat the Coal Gun can generate!!!

mkapinus wrote:Yep, he spends a lot of time overanalyzing details, I had to push him to just get the darn thing going and we'll work out any problems as they show themselves.
And Yes, he's a neat freak too with new toys, so I'm sure he'll be polishing that stove every day

You might as well just move his chair beside it ,and vist both of them once in awhile.

Nice.
Yup get the manometer Dwyer 25 or Magnahelic make sure it's the one that reads .01,.02,.03,.04,.05 in those increments and visible.
Brake line from an auto parts store works well for the manometer. Be very slow with the red liquid (it's very easy to over doit).

http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Product/Press ... riesMarkII
http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Products/Prod ... e=Ordering

Now get you're self an Oval Tub from TSC and some black contractor bags from the Depot (for some reason the heavy duty are cheaper than the thin ones). Crush the ends of the Tub and it will fit inside where the stock bin goes. It will make it a snap to take out the ash once every few days.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/king-metal ... ub-2202111

ValterBorges wrote:Nice.
Yup get the manometer Dwyer 25 or Magnahelic make sure it's the one that reads .01,.02,.03,.04,.05 in those increments and visible.
Brake line from an auto parts store works well for the manometer. Be very slow with the red liquid (it's very easy to over doit).

http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Product/Press ... riesMarkII
http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Products/Prod ... e=Ordering

Now get you're self an Oval Tub from TSC and some black contractor bags from the Depot (for some reason the heavy duty are cheaper than the thin ones). Crush the ends of the Tub and it will fit inside where the stock bin goes. It will make it a snap to take out the ash once every few days.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/king-metal ... ub-2202111

Hey Valter, does the ashes melt the plastic garbage bag? I love the thought of just chucking it out with the trash. Thx for posting the info

chevymatt wrote:Hey Valter, does the ashes melt the plastic garbage bag? I love the thought of just chucking it out with the trash. Thx for posting the info

Never happen! The Axeman design is so efficient it even removes the heat from the ash before rejecting it!

coaledsweat wrote:

chevymatt wrote:Hey Valter, does the ashes melt the plastic garbage bag? I love the thought of just chucking it out with the trash. Thx for posting the info

Never happen! The Axeman design is so efficient it even removes the heat from the ash before rejecting it!

What he said! With my SV set at 120F at the thermocouple there is at least 4-6in of ash in height and at least 6-12" to the burn zone so by the time it rolls off it's pretty cool.

Keep us posted mkapinus with how your coalgun is operating

And I thought I tried to keep things clean but the white sox test would fail next to mine today.
That is one beautiful installation though that anyone would be proud of.
Enjoy the ride.

dchartt wrote:Keep us posted mkapinus with how your coalgun is operating

Used about 75# of coal yesterday, real windy here last night and today. I had to empty the ashpan this morning even though he emptied it yesterday. I'm home from work today waiting for the next part of the project. Our generator is being delivered today. Once that's installed, I'll be the happiest girl on the hill when the power goes out!

Do you even need to run the modine? Is it keeping the room warm just on it's own?

What kind of coal is that in the pic thru the viewport?

Valter, we ran the Modine the first day, but quickly learned that we don't even need to run it to keep the garage warm. But it's there as a dump zone if needed. We are using Casey Kassa Pea Coal.