From OWB to EFM520 Installed in Truck Box

Post by **Rob R.** » Sat. Nov. 12, 2016 10:49 am

windyhill4.2 wrote: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.

Nah, the guys at EFM knew what they were doing when they designed it. The S-30 and up stokers use a 1/6 hp motor due to the rotating pot and larger augers, they could have easy put the same motor on the S-20 if it was necessary.

Does your new motor have oil ports? Mine does not.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sat. Nov. 12, 2016 10:56 am

The motor I took off had oil ports, the one I installed does not, but it has those premium Chinese sealed bearings

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 7:43 pm

Made it thru the brutal windy cold of the past few days with the EFM set on 5 teeth,added 210# thurs nite,240# Fri nite,180# tonite + around 35# each day in the hand fed stove in my house. It was 8* Fri am,which is very near the point where 6 teeth feed would be needed. I was thinking of setting it to 6 teeth because of the forcast low of 8* with wind gusts to 25,but decided to take a chance on the 5 teeth setting.If the current predictions stand,5 teeth should work until late January.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 8:18 pm

It won't hurt a thing to set it on 6 now. You may find that is a good setting for the entire heating season.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Dec. 18, 2016 12:12 pm

Rob,I was thinking of setting to 6 teeth,but then I read your post how you were going to see if 4 teeth worked for you thru the cold snap,i decided to see if 5 teeth worked here. It did but I also did a bit more worrying than if I had set it on 6 teeth ahead of time.I might set it up today,if I feel like doing it. Looks like I am going to have to try removing the white mess from driveway & parking areas,truck bed,trailer & sidewalks that I did not move yesterday as I thought higher temps would do it for me.So much for thinking there would be an easy way.

As I am typing this,the wind freight train has just roared onto my place,supposed to only be 15 mph gusts.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Dec. 18, 2016 12:33 pm

Well, I am not sure if this is the right way to look at it, but here is my $0.02.

I have always figured that if the stoker ran about 50% of the time when it was cold, it would have enough in reserve to cover the coldest days, or those nights when we get brutal wind gusts.

I burn 100-120 lbs on the cold days, which is half of the 240 lbs the stoker could burn in 24 hours (on 4 teeth) if it never shut off.

Using your number of 210 lbs in 24 hours with 5 teeth, that is 16.8 hours of run time...70% duty cycle. I am sure it will keep you warm, but the recovery will be slower when the boiler gets hit with a big load, such as two showers running at the same time.

6 teeth will probably put you at the 50% mark, which should still allow for long burn cycles, but have enough grunt leftover to pull through a colder than average night.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Dec. 18, 2016 12:42 pm

I think the new doors on your shop may make a noticeable improvement in the heat demand. Good coal helps also, if the coal you got this year has a little more "punch", you might burn less. I think that has been the case with me, the coal I got this year seems to make more heat than what I had last season.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Dec. 18, 2016 1:17 pm

Rob R. wrote:I think the new doors on your shop may make a noticeable improvement in the heat demand. Good coal helps also, if the coal you got this year has a little more "punch", you might burn less. I think that has been the case with me, the coal I got this year seems to make more heat than what I had last season.

The new doors have made a difference in how I feel in the shop,they are much better than 1 thin layer of fiberglass.I think it was CCW that posted the info on the r-value of concrete

I was shocked even tho I know that the blocks get cold on the inside,i thought they had better r-value than just 1.1

Something else for me to think about in the future.

I am very happy with this coal,it is doing very well.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Dec. 18, 2016 5:00 pm

You would be shocked at the difference from even 1" of foam on those blocks. We had a 2 story block building at the farm, it housed the milking parlor, mechanical rooms, offices, and storage. After the cows were gone we used the building just for offices and storage. One winter we heated it with a propane furnace, I think dad still has heartburn from those bills. After that we put furring strips on the interior walls, 2" foam insulation, and T111 siding. The difference in heat load was staggering.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Jan. 01, 2017 10:11 pm

What better way to start a new yr than to clean a boiler.

I sure was surprised that I had only 3" of ash dust in my bucket, from the base after blowing the firebox end clean,wire brushing the plates & emptying the bottom tee.MUCH different from the 12" of dust ash in the same bucket when I initially burned Superior coal.Another reason for me to like this Gale coal.

This is the least I have cleaned out of any of the times I have done it so far.
I also now have the stoker set at 6 teeth/6 air,should now be able to handle normal winter temps.If it dips much below zero,a setting of 7/7 will likely be needed.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Jan. 01, 2017 10:40 pm

That is a welcome change, and it was a nice day to clean the boiler. Now you are ready for the coldest weather with the boiler at peak performance.

The lower feed and air settings you have been using should also help keep the flyash to a minimum.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Mar. 17, 2017 10:12 pm

Today my farmer friend drove his dump truck to Gale Mining Co. in Ginther,Pa. where fifthg & his help loaded 9.19 tons of their large rice coal on it. My coal bin now has 9.19 tons of very nice coal that once again cost me $140/ton. Was planning on getting this load sooner,but the snow storm & wind changed our plans. I only have 5 buckets = 150# of coal left from the last load,so it was certainly time for a new load. Gives me a very good feeling to have a decent supply of coal on hand & another job done b4 my spring rush goes into full speed ahead .

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Sat. Mar. 18, 2017 6:58 am

Yea it's always a good feeling to have that coal sitting there!!! I didn't plan very well with the coal this year. I emptied out my coal bin into buckets before the snow storm and moved the bin to the front porch. I had it figured that the coal would last me about a week and then I could refill the bin in it's new spot with coal I had on a tarp around back. I didn't plan on 25 inches of snow falling before it quit!!!!

The coal on the tarp is under about 20 inches of snow. The truck bed is completely full of snow. I'll have to shovel out about 1/2 the snow to get 10 buckets in and head to Keystone Anthracite on Monday. I have a bucket and a half left which is kinda academic at this point since I forgot to give the Vig it's nightly feeding and tending last night. I got up this morning to the feeble glow of death in the center of the ash. Turned the thermostat up to 70 for the oil boiler and put on my hoodie.

I miss that warm glow cooking my back whilst I sit at the table

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Sat. Mar. 18, 2017 7:57 am

Padre---FOCUS!!!!!!!!!!

franpipeman · Post by **franpipeman** » Sat. Mar. 18, 2017 8:54 am

I have around 12 days of coal left. My coal man Countryside Coal gives me courteous delivery ,but he knows and I know due to my delivery specifics no coal during the winter season, which we are still in . I will switch to high effiiciency propane condensing boiler. Yes ill mis visiting the lower boiler, and my wife will miss the higher temps of the coal boiler in her painting area. Transition times happen every year , but now at what times is anyone guess. .