Time required to clean out an AHS S-130 Coal Gun?

This weekend I plan to have the Coal Gun (which has been runing all summer and providing DHW) down and cool and ready for its annual cleaning. For those with AHS's and AA's who have done this operation in the past, how long does it generally take you to accomplish the task? I'm only asking because my wife wants to make plans for the weekend (that include me) and she is asking me when I'll have it done and back together. I don't know what to tell her. Considering this is the first time for me with this operation, I'll likely add a few hours to whatever time(s) you offer up here.

Larry, depends on if you're excited about those WE plans or not--hell, it could take all week-end if you play your cards right I'm sure you'll know before the days over.

freetown fred wrote:Larry, depends on if you're excited about those WE plans or not--hell, it could take all week-end if you play your cards right I'm sure you'll know before the days over.

Yes, but the boss wants me to know before the day begins, or more precisely, before it even comes (and its best to keep the boss happy).

My EFM service takes about two hours, and that includes restarting it and a few beers.

I think it took me bout 4 hours when I did it for the first time. It should take less next time since I know what I am getting into now. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

I'd allow 4 hrs, that way you can be relaxed and re-fired, and confident to leave it alone while the wifey runs your life for the rest of the weekend. Understand, you will need lots of lead time to get it cooled down. Have an extra shop vac filter handy in case you need to switch one out. The blower assembly is the most time consuming if hot, however that is easily done with welding gloves if it is real warm. I assume you have the gaskets already, anti-seize, appropriate tools, a lockout procedure...and are comfortable with the tear-down.

whistlenut wrote:I'd allow 4 hrs, that way you can be relaxed and re-fired, and confident to leave it alone while the wifey runs your life for the rest of the weekend. Understand, you will need lots of lead time to get it cooled down. Have an extra shop vac filter handy in case you need to switch one out. The blower assembly is the most time consuming if hot, however that is easily done with welding gloves if it is real warm. I assume you have the gaskets already, anti-seize, appropriate tools, a lockout procedure...and are comfortable with the tear-down.

What is a lockout procedure??

NWBuilder wrote:

whistlenut wrote:I'd allow 4 hrs, that way you can be relaxed and re-fired, and confident to leave it alone while the wifey runs your life for the rest of the weekend. Understand, you will need lots of lead time to get it cooled down. Have an extra shop vac filter handy in case you need to switch one out. The blower assembly is the most time consuming if hot, however that is easily done with welding gloves if it is real warm. I assume you have the gaskets already, anti-seize, appropriate tools, a lockout procedure...and are comfortable with the tear-down.

What is a lockout procedure??

A method to insure the boiler doesn't get re-energized with you fingers in the belt & pulley.

...to make damned sure that power is not accidentally applied to any component in the system without operator knowledge. For example, if in the heart of winter, I never shut off the circs, or any feed and return lines.

'Cleaning' is on the 'dry side' so depending upon your situation, you sure don't want a heat call or a timer to turn something on when you are in a compromising situation.

Every install I've ever done has the circs or zone valves operating independently from the boiler. The boiler is merely a heat generating device, and no, I don't rely on the minimum of 140 water temp to start anything.

I am always active by thermostat, not by water temp. I've seen way too may freeze-ups that end up costing tens of thousands of dollars, so I for one DO think outside the damned box.

I like the 'system' to be smart enough to remain pumping even if the burner has failed for any reason, flowing/moving water will never freeze. Of course a total loss of power is a deal breaker without a back-up generator.

I'm down to the coal in the hopper nearly running out. Perhaps 30 lbs. of coal is all that's left in the trapezoidal lower cone section of the hopper, but then there is still the coal in the tube and fire pot. At about 15 lbs. of coal usage per average day I may need to put a good load on it to run it out of coal so the fire can go out by sometime late tomorrow or early Friday. Will 24 hours be sufficient for things to cool down once the fire goes out, so I can go at it on Saturday?

What are the odds that I will be able to re-use the original fan assembly gasket or the ceramic heat shield? Is there also a gasket for the cyclone assembly? What other gaskets might I need to replace? I will order these tomorrow from AHS and have them UPS'ed in if replacements will be required.

I believe I have the tools for the job. I have two boiler brushes. I have a shop vac. I have a jar of anti-seize paste at the ready. To my knowledge there isn't an AHS knowledgeable serviceman within perhaps a couple hundred miles of here, so I will have to go this alone. My wife has offered to assist. She is more capable in this regard than one might imagine.

Lockout will be flipping the breakers, including the one for the zone control module and pump. With only the wife and I at home this and having it also switched off at the boiler should suffice. I don't think we will need to put a lock on the breaker box.

Mission accomplished. The boiler has been cleaned out and re-fired. Roughly 4 hours to take it apart, clean it, and get it back together again, and 2 hours to get it fired back up, while keeping a running hot water load on it the whole time during fire-up.

It took 19 summer days from hopper full to fire out, and one day was given to let it fully cool down.

Larry,

Have you been trying out any of that Harmony Coal yet?

I'll bet it's a whole new ball game when you do.

McGiever wrote:Larry,

Have you been trying out any of that Harmony Coal yet?

I'll bet it's a whole new ball game when you do.

I can't say that it's a whole new ball game, but it does burn well. Seems to burn more completely. Overall heat level is similar to Blaschak. The main benefit is lower ashes.

lsayre wrote:Mission accomplished. The boiler has been cleaned out and re-fired. Roughly 4 hours to take it apart, clean it, and get it back together again, and 2 hours to get it fired back up, while keeping a running hot water load on it the whole time during fire-up.

It took 19 summer days from hopper full to fire out, and one day was given to let it fully cool down.

How did the boiler look inside? Light coating of flyash? Any tips to share for others that haven't cleaned an S130 yet?

Rob R. wrote:How did the boiler look inside? Light coating of flyash? Any tips to share for others that haven't cleaned an S130 yet?

Yes, a light coating is how I would describe it. There was much less fly ash than I had anticipated to find in the boiler, on the fan blades, and in the flue pipes. What was present did take some scrubbing effort with the brushes. Actually, the largest concentration of accumulated fly ash was in the two clean-out caps (end caps) of the flue pipe. They are both apparently dead zones. The cyclonic separator was nigh on spotless. There was a lot of stuff underneath the boiler that needed cleaned out.