From OWB to EFM520 Installed in Truck Box

Took 20 minutes from the time I started gathering tools,removed the old motor,switched the wires on the new motor for cw rotation,installed the new motor & test ran it. I decided this would be a good time to clean the boiler too. I have it fired up again,water temp is climbing. This job went surprisingly smooth even if I was without my helper. I sure do hate this single life that I have been forced to live. The fan slid right off the shaft,no hammering,i had pre sprayed it with ultra lube.

Glad to hear it went smoothly for you.

Here;s WH Dave's spray lube:

http://www.ultralube.com/Products/LubricantsPenetrantsInhibitors/MultiPurposeLubricantPenetrant

Thanks,MG. Ultra Lube has been my favorite to use & the only 1 I have used for 5+ yrs. It doesn't stink like bee spray the way most other brands do.

Hey Dave! Good to see you back on the board. I'm happy the motor change went smooth. But then again you being mechanical I'm suprised it took twenty minutes So can you humor me a minute? How many tons of coal did that old motor last you? You burn like three times the amount of coal I and a lot of people I know burn. I'm just wondering how long that motor would have worked for me.

Scott,i would guess I've burnt around 30 ton +/-. I was just wondering earlier today if tonnage is a good gauge of the life of the motor. ???

Not really sure. I've seen new motors last a very short time in tonnage life. Have also seen motors last so long it seems impossible. I replaced a motor for a guy last year. He had been running 15-17 tons since 1984 with the same motor. That's around 500 tons. He also was fanatical about oiling his motor every couple months. I'm thinking the older motors last longer and were built better. Your motor that went bad, would have served me for 5-6 years. I'm not sure the new ones will last that long.

On the issue of the motor,what is the probability that an 1/8th hp motor is going to handle running this stoker at 7 teeth/7 air like the 1/6th hp did ? I was looking to get a new motor for a spare & discovered that the current one is 1/8th instead of 1/6th.

I had my farmer friend drive his grain truck to Gale Mining on Wednesday to pick up coal for me.He took 2 super sacks with to load nut coal in & then get rice to fill to weight limit. 4800# of nut,14,000# of rice,we unloaded the rice into the bin yesterday & my neighbor came over with his big John Deere backhoe tonite to unload the 2 super sacks. I did not get pics of the backhoe at work,i can only do so much alone,my wife used to take pics while we guys were doing the job.

windyhill4.2 wrote:On the issue of the motor,what is the probability that an 1/8th hp motor is going to handle running this stoker at 7 teeth/7 air like the 1/6th hp did ? I was looking to get a new motor for a spare & discovered that the current one is 1/8th instead of 1/6th.

The factory motors are 1/8 hp.

Hi Dave. It's nice to have neighbors that can help out like that. I joined this last year in search of information on switching to coal (you may or may not remember I had an OWB). Well after reading this entire thread twice and buying a refurbed EFM from Scott last December I made the switch (converting to EFM from OWB). I want to thank you for all the detail and information you put in this thread and all the updates you have posted, it really helped me out and some other members have given advice which made it even easier. I am truly sorry about your wife.

Thanks,Cj. I looked many times at many threads & pics of boilers b4 starting my project. I am happy that my thread can be a help to others & make their project a bit easier for them. I know that for me when I started,the project was unfamiliar territory & nearly overwhelmed me at times. I sure have never regretted doing the project since completion tho. Such a drastic reduction in hard labor & being able to tend the boiler inside instead of outside in all kinds of weather like we endured with the OWB. I still marvel at how much of a blessing coal has been & continues to be for my heating needs.

That rice coal looks real nice Dave. "Big" rice is ideal for your stoker.

Back to the motor, it is the run-time that counts, not the number of teeth. Although you run the stoker on 7 teeth, I think you said in the past that the most you burn is about 250 lbs per day? Your overall run-time on the motor probably isn't much more than average.

Rob, I was thinking that maybe when the fan is pushing more air & the auger is moving more coal that it may cause the motor to work harder than it can handle.

I forgot to mention that I have now purchased approx. 30 tons of Gale rice & have burned over 1/2 of that tonnage. I am very happy with the results from this coal,very happy with the price,which with trucking & tractor rental came to $164/ton. My price per ton at Gale was $140/ton. I am very pleased with the phone chats I have had with fifthg,the owner/operator of Gale. I love to do business with small, family operations & so far have been pleased with the whole process with Gale. I was chatting with fifthg while he was running a loader,hopefully I didn't talk too long & slow down his operation that day I have found my coal supplier for my lifetime,unless something changes drastically with their operation or coal quality or they sell the operation to the Clintons