EFM Help!

I had heard about blending the rice and buck together... I guess it is like a hand fed in that you just have to pay with it. I know my HItzer 354 does great on UAE nut and Stockton Pea (nut for colder weather). It will run on the nut fine on a warm day but it puts off so much heat that even opening all the windows does not really do the trick. Since heat will almost never be needed from the 520 in the summer time I guess I was worried that the UAE buck would put off so much heat that my timer would come on but my high heat limit would not allow the blower to come on thus killing the fire. On the other hand I thought I would get a better draft with the buck because of it not packing as tight in the burn pot. Just thinking out laud...

Thanks again,
Glenn

When I ran out of coal for the Harman, I had a load of "range" in it, looked like mostly nut and pea, then I added some coal from the bin, that was the rice/buck mix. Added it on top of the range when it was burning good. Kept the stove going for another day.

Update: Well guys the stoker is running very well. I am trying to get through the buck coal that I got and have been mixing it with rice. I really like the rice but like I said the sooner the buck is gone the better. It just seems to grind in the auger and I am just not a fan. Everything else is working great except one really annoying issue that wont go away. On the right side of the domestic hot water coil plate it keep leaking. I tightened down on the bolts just a hair and I thought I got it but this morning there was another drip and this evening there was a puddle again on the ash pan door snout. Thanks again for the help guys and I am very much looking forward to having all the kinks worked out so that in July I can put a 520 in my house.

Thanks again,
Glenn

If you have a leak while the boiler is hot and tightening the coil nuts doesn't fix it, you'll have to replace the gasket. It's possible to ruin a new gasket by overtightening it. You want to see a little pinch, but when the gasket has started bulging big-time around the nuts, it's been tightened too much.

Before you tighten the coil nuts any more, make sure the water isn't leaking from a fitting on the coil or the aquastat well above.

Turned out bolts were not the problem. There was a small leak in the weld right above the plate. Going to try silver solder or boiler solder to see if we can get that plugged up. Worked with Steve today to get a new motor as it would appear that this one may be bad. Other then these two issues everything was good to go.

Thanks,
Glenn

Well everything is working quite well! My parents are quite pleased with the whole setup and I am quite pleased that they went from never wanting anything to do with a "coal stove" to there current status. A huge thank you to Rob R. for answering tons of questions at lighting speed via e-mail from day one to the finial setup. Steve and Ann Marie were super nice and made sure that we were pleased with our unit. I currently am feeding the high boy buck from UAE and rice from Sherman. I can not wait to be rid of the buckwheat coal, as the unit just seems to run so much better on rice. I would have to say that with the buck it does seem to burn less coal but the auger just seems to grind away with the size difference. As far as what our "regular" coal will be I am leaning toward Sherman rice or a 50/50 mix of Sherman rice and UAE rice. I like the heat and less ash that UAE puts out but the Sherman appeared to be much cleaner and is quite a bit easier to get too. I am also a little worried that in the summer time the UAE might put off too much heat when it is just not needed. Thanks again guys and I am very much looking forward to tweaking Mom and Dad's current 520 and installing a new one (new to us anyway) in our (wife and I) place this July.

--Glenn