As it turns out it, I think it was the coal!

Hello Everyone,
For those of you who have followed the various issues I have had with my boiler It may have been the coal after all. I struggled to keep my boiler lite all summer long, I had large amounts of un-burnt coal it my ash pan etc. Well I followed some folks suggestion and tried 2 different brands of coal and got the same results. Well, last week I fired up a fourth brand of coal and wow what a difference. It takes 3 days to accumulate the same amount of ash I would get in one day, I am using about half as much coal and the level of dust in my basement has been significantly reduced. The ash I am producing is very fine with a few clinkers the size of golf balls versus several baseball sized ones each day. The other thing I have noticed but do not know if it is normal for an AHS 130 is my ash temps have gone from highs of 180 say with the old coals to 260 270 with the new stuff. Is that a problem or that what I should have been getting. That was never addressed in my other posts. I did reduce my operating temp down to 175 to try to reduce my PRV from opening so frequently. Seems to have helped, the stove now will coast up to close to 200 but has not gone over in the last week anyway. So there you have it. I hope this news helps others and that it isn't all due to the weather conditions as of late but it has been a week or so with all the same results.

If the relief valve is opening with the boiler at 200 degrees, your expansion tank is either water logged, under-inflated, or undersized.

Glad the boiler is running better.

I am curious what brand and size of coal are using that made such a change?

Mac

We got it from keystone but the bags say Kimmel's. It is pea sized and very black. There are no sticks or debis in the 12 bags I have opened so far. I will look into the expansion tank.

I have burned about 30 tons of Kimmel's coal in the last 5 years and had great results. A few pieces of wood now and then, but the EFM doesn't mind.

Kimmel's also sells bulk coal if you are interested in a TT load.

Rob R. wrote:If the relief valve is opening with the boiler at 200 degrees, your expansion tank is either water logged, under-inflated, or undersized.

Glad the boiler is running better.

NWBuilder wrote:I will look into the expansion tank.

I changed over from a 30 to 90 expansion tank. when temps were at 200 degrees my pressure was around 28 psi with the 30 tank,now with the 90 tank the psi is only 15.

Dennis wrote:I changed over from a 30 to 90 expansion tank. when temps were at 200 degrees my pressure was around 28 psi with the 30 tank,now with the 90 tank the psi is only 15.

Thats about where I'm at with the 90 as well.