Yellow Flame, A Christmas Stoker Boiler

 
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Rob R.
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Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 12:07 pm

If you want to know what kind of flow rates to expect with a certain circulator...

http://s3.pexsupply.com/manuals/1350570919940/836 ... D_FILE.pdf


 
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StokerDon
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Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 12:27 pm

Wow, great info.

Thanks Rob,

-Don

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7484
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Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 6:46 pm

Catch of the day.

Sorry guys, only half a days work on the stoker today. 2 hours of it was cleaning the blower housing. It was completely full of hardened grease and dirt, YUK!!! I'm suprized it worked at all. I tried to upload a video of it running before I took it apart, but it didn't load? I will try again.

This is what it looked like after I scraped it for a while.
YFstokerMechResto1 003.JPG
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YFstokerMechResto1 001.JPG
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The base of the stoker mech with fines cleanout door, and blower extession ready for paint and sealing.
YFstokerMechResto1 007.JPG
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YFstokerMechResto1 008.JPG
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Important parts painted. I'm not going to paint anything that goes inside the firebox, just scrap & clean.
YFstokerMechResto1 009.JPG
.JPG | 121KB | YFstokerMechResto1 009.JPG
I used hi temp sillicone to seal the blower extession and hi temp Anti-size on the bolts.
Continued....

Attachments

YFstokerMechResto1 010.JPG
.JPG | 150.9KB | YFstokerMechResto1 010.JPG

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7484
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 6:51 pm

And these are the bits that got done today. The blower housing still needs a final cleaning.
YFstokerMechResto1 011.JPG
.JPG | 118KB | YFstokerMechResto1 011.JPG
YFstokerMechResto1 012.JPG
.JPG | 112.2KB | YFstokerMechResto1 012.JPG
YFstokerMechResto1 013.JPG
.JPG | 111.7KB | YFstokerMechResto1 013.JPG
Later I will try to get that video up loaded.

-Don

 
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Hambden Bob
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Location: Hambden Twp. Geauga County,Ohio
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Harman 1998 Magnum Stoker
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Blower Model Coal Chubby 1982-Serial#0097
Coal Size/Type: Rice-A-Roni ! / Nut
Other Heating: Pro-Pain Forced Air

Post by Hambden Bob » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 6:54 pm

Looked like a Molasses Mixer ! One tough blower.....

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7484
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 6:57 pm

Hambden Bob wrote:Looked like a Molasses Mixer ! One tough blower.....
More like a molasses mixer that was cooked for 30 or so years!!!

-Don

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7484
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 8:29 pm

Former WoodHog wrote:StokerD

What hath Don wrought? Miss a little, miss-a- LOT!!!!!

I drop out sick for a few days and this beast rises from the ashes!...Why didn't you choose a bright color???

NICE work, it's a beauty.... :D

I claim the licensing rights to start lining up tours at the StokerDon Coal Fired Museum :P

'Hog
WoodHog,

Glad to see you are among the living again!

-Don


 
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Dragonslayer
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Location: Central PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Yellow Flame w/model A stoker

Post by Dragonslayer » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 10:04 pm

Hello StokerDon,
Wow!! I slip out for a quick holiday and missed a ton of good looking progress! I will scare up some more refurb pictures and get some more finished system photos loaded up tomorrow.

Scottscoaled, thank you for the informative post and kind words about my boiler refurb. ( I believe the quote thingy would be appropriate here but I can't figure out how to do it :oops: )

Dragonslayer.

 
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Scottscoaled
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Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup

Post by Scottscoaled » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 10:35 pm

DS, it's easy to talk great about your boiler. Pictures do it justice! How does it run? Have you tried different sized coals? Right now you two guys are the "Yellow Flame Guru's". Do you have any pics of the burn? How much have you burned so far this winter? :)

 
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Dragonslayer
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Yellow Flame w/model A stoker

Post by Dragonslayer » Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 11:20 pm

Scott,
My boiler is running great. I have a ton of photos of the boiler refurb and my underground to the house etc. but not much on the finished product. I will get busy on that as well as some burn photos. I have only used rice so far. Didn't consider any other sizes, my only info was from the PO and they only used rice. Coincedently while I was reading your post about the different sizes Whistlenut PM'd me with a nice welcome and some info about some available Barley. If I can work out the logistics on that I will have some Barley to try shortly :).
I would say I have put nearabouts 4 ton thru it since I fired it back up mid October.
I will also post some photos of how I manage my coal inside. I used some ideas from the "coal bin " posts and twisted it with some of my brainstorms :roll:
Boy, I need to get busy. :lol:
To me, the refurbing, digging, plumbing, wiring, controls and so on is easier than posting about it. :lol: :lol:
Dragonslayer.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Dec. 29, 2013 8:45 am

Don, don't be surprised if that gearbox leaks oil. Hopefully it just seeps a little and what we see is the result of 30 years with no cleaning.

 
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whistlenut
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Stoker Coal Boiler: AA130's,260's, AHS130&260's,EFM900,GJ & V-Wert
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Franks,Itasca 415,Jensen, NYer 130,Van Wert
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Alaska, EFM, Keystoker, Yellow Flame
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Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Ford, Jensen, NYer, Van Wert,
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwoods
Coal Size/Type: Barley, Buck, Rice ,Nut, Stove
Other Heating: Oil HWBB

Post by whistlenut » Sun. Dec. 29, 2013 9:05 am

Don, you were hard to convince that coal stokers were the way to go........and look at your new hobby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rev Larry has a great deal of experience with the yellow flames also and there a couple of older gentleman in Pecksville who hold the keys to the history of the Yellow Flame. You might find it interesting that Yellow Flames could be 50, 60 70 years old and still function very well. Most do recognize the similarity to the Keystoker boilers and stokers, and to realize that even without a lot of care, it ran when you got it. Samhill has a hot air unit and perhaps bigger stoker, but he is very helpful also. Good luck, and nice to see a happy stoker, and hopefully everyone that lives there also. You guys might be into the rain already...we are waiting for snow/ice, slush. Still thousands in Maine waiting for power.........hats off to the power guys who are working day and night to restore power.

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7484
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sun. Dec. 29, 2013 12:09 pm

Rob R. wrote:Don, don't be surprised if that gearbox leaks oil. Hopefully it just seeps a little and what we see is the result of 30 years with no cleaning.
Rob,

Well, that gearbox needs a rebuild. The output shaft has a lot of play in it , which killed the seal. All the oil leaked out over the years. I have another one that will go in it's place for now.

-Don

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7484
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sun. Dec. 29, 2013 12:25 pm

Dragonslayer wrote: I will also post some photos of how I manage my coal inside. I used some ideas from the "coal bin " posts and twisted it with some of my brainstorms :roll:
Boy, I need to get busy. :lol:
To me, the refurbing, digging, plumbing, wiring, controls and so on is easier than posting about it. :lol: :lol:
Dragonslayer.
Dragonslayer,

I think most people on this forum are like me before I got this unit, I had heard of a Yellow Flame, I've seen a few pictures of the outside of a Yellow Flame, but I realy didn't know what it is or how it works. The more pictures and discriptions, the better. So, dig into your archive and post some pics!

By the way, in the pic where you have the boiler hanging from the back of the tractor, how did you rig it? What did you find to hook onto? Mine seems very top heavy and dangerus to pick up.

-Don

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7484
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sun. Dec. 29, 2013 12:50 pm

whistlenut wrote:You might find it interesting that Yellow Flames could be 50, 60 70 years old and still function very well. Most do recognize the similarity to the Keystoker boilers and stokers, and to realize that even without a lot of care, it ran when you got it.

You guys might be into the rain already...we are waiting for snow/ice, slush. Still thousands in Maine waiting for power.........hats off to the power guys who are working day and night to restore power.
Doug,

I would like to know how old this unit is. All I know is that the guy I got it from said it was in the house when he bought it 30 years ago. When it was installed, nobody knows. When I first talked to he on the phone, he sent his grandson downstairs to get the info off of the data plate; X510 120,2900KBTU, is what he told me. I have had this thing for over a week now, I have taken it all apart, looked at everything, I have not found this data plate!

Yah, down here it started about 0500, temps right about freezing. Looks like it will be just rain here. That will limit my wheeling and painting to inside.
Right now i'm trying to get a handle on what I need pluming wise. I'm geting the insulated OB PEX from the place in Wissconson http://www.badgerinsulatedpipe.com/main.sc, it's about $5.50 a foot for 4 pipe (boiler+DHW). That's less than half price of what it would have cost local. they also make a nice Modine style hanging heat exchanger with blower. Most fittings and valves from pexsupply.com. I'm going with local threaded black pipe from the boiler to the PEX.

-Don


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