Big Loose Coal for Van Wert?

mjm4jc · Post by **mjm4jc** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 1:06 am

Hello everyone,

I have a Van Wert 600 that burns buck coal. My question has to do with burning large pieces of coal (nut size or slightly bigger) in the fire pot, (of course not using the worm gear). Reason I am asking is because I can hand pick good, loose, coal right near my house and heat my home for free if I really wanted to. Would it be wrong to add nut coal directly into the fire pot?

Thanks,

Mike

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 7:51 am

Seems like it would be a pain in the butt to keep taking the door off and trying to get the ashes out without letting the fire go out. The pot only holds about 2 pounds of coal so you would end up having to restart the fire several times a day. Why don't you just become a cracker?

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 7:52 am

Or sell that coal and get the right size.

mjm4jc · Post by **mjm4jc** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 10:03 am

Yeah it would be a pain in the neck. Wish I had a machine that would break down big pieces of coal and turn it into buck, lol! Well, at least I know I can use this coal in my kitchen coal stove that I have in the basement when the power goes out. I've done that before. Thanks for the responses

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 11:09 am

I think your machine would burn buck and rice and maybe a little pea. Bash the crap up and dump it in the hopper and see what happens. Free coal is every one's dream.

Get it while you can.

Post by **Richard S.** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 11:10 am

I'm assuming you mean while it's still using buck and throw some big pieces on top. If I was going to do this I'd be concerned about a big piece of unburned coal getting down into the gear/fingers jamming it and breaking it. That's not an easy or cheap fix, emphasis on not easy.

That said If I was going to do this I'd first stoke it up good with the buck. Turn it off, and throw some big pieces on there for overnight. Experiment with the air to see if you need to increase or decrease it.

Sounds like royal PITA, not much benefit and there is a risk of catastrophic failure.

Berlin · Post by **Berlin** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 12:20 pm

an underfeed stoker, while the blower is running, needs to have fresh coal from below. The tuyeres cannot have the fuel replenished from the top while the blower is running without being destroyed. Feeding coal from the top will likely lead to destroying the tuyeres, the worm, sometimes the entire retort, and filling the house w/ smoke down the worm as the fire burns back.

It's generally just a bad idea for your stoker and your wallet.

Post by **Richard S.** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 12:24 pm

Berlin wrote:an underfeed stoker, while the blower is running, needs to have fresh coal from below.

The Van Wert has a draft and it's adjustable.

It's the red gauge to the left.

Berlin · Post by **Berlin** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 12:43 pm

I like those van werts, deep pot, very well built and that draft adjustment is nice and simple. However, I doubt the forced draft will be able to be sealed entirely and, if it's receiving any forced draft with the stoker assembly rendered non-operational, without enough fresh coal coming up from the bottom of the retort, I doubt that the results will be pretty.

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 12:52 pm

I miss the whole issue here. You have a top of the line stoker boiler. Why would you want to make it a hand fed? Sort of renders the word "automatic" useless.

Post by **Richard S.** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 1:10 pm

Berlin wrote:without enough fresh coal coming up from the bottom of the retort, I doubt that the results will be pretty.

I'm not saying yes or no especially if you were to do it on daily basis but some nitwit who shall remain nameless has accidentally forgot to turn it back on after turning it off.

No problems yet... It usually goes for about 4 or 5 hours. There is a metal hose on top of the longer worm that goes to the bin. I believe goes to the pot, I think the reasoning is it will pull air from there instead of the tube preventing fire from creeping too far into the tube.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 1:12 pm

I think the flexible tube pressurizes the auger tube to stop combustion gasses from coming out of the unit.

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 1:16 pm

The Van Wert's auger doesn't disconnect from the blower when running. To disconnect so you can run just the blower, you have to take the shear pin out of the auger. Why not just put the coal into a canvas bag and hit it with a plate tamper and screen out the fines and burn it? It is free.

Post by **Richard S.** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 1:20 pm

Rob R. wrote:I think the flexible tube pressurizes the auger tube to stop combustion gasses from coming out of the unit.

Could be, it goes int the back plate and where it leads from there I have no idea. Never had a reason to dig that far into it. About 6 or 7 years ago we had the short worm out that goes to the pot, tube looked good, the worm looked good and bnack in it went. That's the extent of how much it was apart other than the stoker unit being separated from the boiler to move it here.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Feb. 16, 2014 1:25 pm

Those Van Werts seem to run for decades with very little maintenance required.