New Fan, but Some Issues Remain

Did a hot changeover of my blower fan yesterday (bonus question: Guess what's hot when you do the changeover during the heating season?) but I have some unresolved issues.

Draft over the fire when running is 1.75-2. Draft in chamber without a flame is 4+.

At the baro, while running, draft is 3.5, I can't measure anywhere else, but my feeling is that before the baro the draft would be ~4 or so.

The problem is that the fire is burning back at the end of the grate, and I still do not have that 'blast furnace' jet of flame that I had initially up towards the front. . Prior to this heating season, the grate was removed and the fines cleaned out, so while I undoubtedly have some fines under the grate I do not think that I am clogged as of yet (though I will be checking).

My feed rate hasn't changed at all, I taped the feed screw back when I initially set up the boiler and that remains on the screw. I have a full grate of burning coal, with about a 1/2 inch of ash at the end.

The flame looks like a fireplace, and barely reaches the diffuser. I'm sure this is the reason I'm having recovery issues, but I'm stuck about what it could be at this point. This weekend I'll pull the grate and check for fines, and if that doesn't work I'll increase the feed a little bit. My guess though, based on how much coal is currently burning on the grate is that the feed is fine.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Oh, and the answer to the bonus questions is:

Anything I happened to touch with bare skin......

Increasing feed rate with it already burning 1/2 inch from the end will not increase heat, just push hot coals off the end. In order to burn it up more rapidly, the air has to be increased. There has to be a problem with the air flow. Got to check if the holes are open enough. OR lousy coal.
Yeah, I know about working on hot surfaces. Burns are the worst kind of pain.

Kevin

KLook wrote:Increasing feed rate with it already burning 1/2 inch from the end will not increase heat, just push hot coals off the end. In order to burn it up more rapidly, the air has to be increased. There has to be a problem with the air flow. Got to check if the holes are open enough. OR lousy coal.
Yeah, I know about working on hot surfaces. Burns are the worst kind of pain.

Kevin

Yeah, talk about hot.

Working on that grate will be an adventure in asbestos, if you get my drift.

Has to be done quick, with no time to allow the boiler to cool to much, as the temps here won't be out of the 20's.

I hear ya! Good lord, it was *7 here in Chattanooga this morning and snowing in Houston and Pensacola! I wish some of that Global Warming would come back!

Kevin

I used a drill bit to clean out the holes in my VF3000 the first year. They didn't need it probably. A right angle drill like the little battery powered Milwaukee I have would be the nuts. Have to be careful about breaking it off. but it could be done fast and get the fire up and running again.

Kevin

KLook wrote:I used a drill bit to clean out the holes in my VF3000 the first year. They didn't need it probably. A right angle drill like the little battery powered Milwaukee I have would be the nuts. Have to be careful about breaking it off. but it could be done fast and get the fire up and running again.

Kevin

Getting the grate out is pretty simple when you pull it through the view port.

Problem is that everything will be at temperature........

kstills wrote:

KLook wrote:I used a drill bit to clean out the holes in my VF3000 the first year. They didn't need it probably. A right angle drill like the little battery powered Milwaukee I have would be the nuts. Have to be careful about breaking it off. but it could be done fast and get the fire up and running again.

Kevin

Getting the grate out is pretty simple when you pull it through the view port.

Problem is that everything will be at temperature........

Trying to work under pressure with everything hot is not good.

Can't you get some supplementary heat from electric or kerosene to allow you more time for the unit to cool?

I was thinking leaving it in place and just reaming out the holes. Just in case there are gaskets and such to replace. And get up and running faster.

Kevin

The VF3000 has a clean out port in the bottom so maybe that is different then your setup. wouldn't help to blow the junk right back into the holes.

franco b wrote:Trying to work under pressure with everything hot is not good.

Can't you get some supplementary heat from electric or kerosene to allow you more time for the unit to cool?

Boy howdy!

I could put the electrics in the bathroom and kitchen for a bit, keep the pipes from getting too cold. That's actually not a bad idea, hadn't thought of that.

Have you cleaned the boiler & flue pipe?

I have the same problem with LAZY flames. Still unresolved at this point.

Rob R. wrote:Have you cleaned the boiler & flue pipe?

Boiler is cleaned out, flue pipe passes a visual inspection back to the elbow going into the chimney. If the grate cleanout doesn't fix the issue, that elbow is next.

Update:

With the boiler up to 170-155 and the new fan installed, I blew through last nites dip into the negative numbers. Downstairs never dipped below 70 when the upstairs zone called for heat, and the reports from the bedrooms were that it was so hot 'I woke up in a puddle of my own sweat'.

Today will be a good test, as the nite time temps are expected to dip again and the daytime temps won't get much past 15.

kstills wrote:Update:

With the boiler up to 170-155 and the new fan installed, I blew through last nites dip into the negative numbers. Downstairs never dipped below 70 when the upstairs zone called for heat, and the reports from the bedrooms were that it was so hot 'I woke up in a puddle of my own sweat'.

Today will be a good test, as the nite time temps are expected to dip again and the daytime temps won't get much past 15.

Told ya so!