By: Berlin On: Sun Jun 03, 2012 1:45 pm
GOOD BUY! I think you'll like them. Getting the air and fuel feed set correctly is probably the most trying thing, after that, it's just set it and forget it. I do recommend using it as an "add-on" furnace rather than a stand alone unit. They produce too much heat when not used with a big squirrel cage blower fan and tend to crack and warp the heat exchangers rather quickly; also, using them as a stand-alone unit tends to make them fairly inefficient with high stack temps. Even when used as an add-on furnace I highly recommend a "magic-heat" type heat reclaimer on the stack. I would also highly recommend removing the stock combustion blower motor setup and putting an independent blower and feed motor on the unit. The transmission should be taken apart immediately and cleaned, new seals and MOS2 with heavy gear oil added. Hopper corrosion is common and not a huge problem, just cut out pieces that are rusted through and screw or rivet in a new sheet (seal it well) also, use oiled coal and periodically, when the hopper is low, spray something like crc marine coating or lps 3 on the hopper. I also like to use a smaller feed pulley than the smallest one currently on the drive pully (with the fan) with even moderate btu coal, the low feed is more than adequate. Check for cracks in the heat exchanger around the clinker door and weld these as necessary.