lot of black coal in ash

[*]aa260 getting alot of coal in ash pan
Moved ash temperature switch from 132 to 125
Fire appears to be in top of burn pot not deep like years before?

Reducing the anthrastat setting should raise the fire. If you think the fire is too high, increase the anthrastat temperature. Did you put a big load on the 260 when you first fired it up to make the fire migrate through the entire tube?

Is this a new symptom since the coal delivery for this season? It really hasn't been very cold yet, so the 'beast' is loafing along, but for you to comment, it must be an amount you are not used to seeing. It is possible that the anthrastat is out of calibration, but unlikely........ How long has this been occurring? Are you keeping a log, just for kicks?

New coal hudson

Will turn on all 9 zones tonight
Fire usually much deeper appears to be ask
9 inches from top

You should still see some orange from the top...too deep of a fire = kaboom.

Thanks full speed ahead tonight

I too am seeing quite a bit of black coal in the ash pan of an Axeman Anderson.
It is the smaller boiler, an AA130, and the coal is supposedly from Stockton.

My fire is lower in the tube and the anthrastat has been calibrated and set to 136*. I believe I am getting good heat from this coal in spite of what I am seeing in the ash bucket. Keep in mind, the draft fan (negative pressure) creates a very robust fire in these fire-pots.

I am not *Boo-Hooing" here, just trying to gain some insight and share my experiences here with others.

The black pieces in the ash are very noticeably burnt and reduced in size. Started out as pea size, but now looks like buckwheat size more or less.
These unburnt pieces are still black and have a finely layered look about them.
Now the rest of the ash is a mix of fine power and crunchy clinkers that will break up easily, sometimes a bigger one but an AA chews most clinkers up before they drop to ash bucket.
As I understand, clinkers happen when a coal burns above it fusion temperature...so I have some of that going on, but with some of the coal that is not the case.
I have read of coal breakers blending different coals for achieving a better burning and more consistent product, and believe this is the case for this coal.
I have looked closely at the raw coal in the bin and after studying a bunch of different pieces can notice 3 different types of coals in the mix.

One coal is like what I saw when I burned Harmony coal...shiny black and fractured randomly with lots of sharp edges.
Second coal is dull black no shine and most pieces have 2 flat sides opposite. (shale like)
Third coal is glittery shiny with a flaky look, not sharp or flat.

I'll try to get some pictures up to allow a better understanding of what I'm trying to describe.

Hey BDD:

My AHS260 is burning the Hudson coal we got really well---no unburned coal in the ashpan. Heat output seems really good---slightly higher ash content than I expected. Put your AA260 to work tonight and let us know if you see any improvement.

I have found that if I have a large clinker in the fire pot, that the motion of the grate can't push it out the gap, the clinker rolls up the wall of the firepot. This results in fresh coal falling behind the big clinker and never burning.
So take a long crowbar or railroad prybar and poke diagonally through the inspection port down to the gap under the firepot lower edge, where the ash exits... If there
is a large clinker, you will feel it.. just punch a few holes in the clinker, it will break up and get expelled.

The lack of a full fire has been mentioned.. make it work HARD and see what happens.

Greg L