Westfield Grain Auger

 
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StokerDon
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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. Jan. 25, 2015 7:23 pm

Wow! for $155 it has the variable frequency drive and the motor. Nice deal.

-Don


 
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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 » Tue. Jan. 27, 2015 4:51 pm

OK, We are now feeding the Losch Yellowtail with the auger. Smitty suggested measuring how much coal per hour the stoker pushes. It took me a while to realize that that is the right way to do this. The stoker is what's using the coal so, it makes sense!

We are currently running on feed rate #2 ( second lowest out of 6). I shut everything down before I went out to plow this morning. Then pushed the ash off the grate. Plugged the stoker in directly and let it run until it was pushing coal into the ashpan. Then I put in a clean ashpan and started timing it.

On feed rate #2 I measured 6.5 pounds per hour out of the stoker. The auger with a 1.5" drive and 4" driven pulley feeds 13 pounds per hour. The auger with a 1.5" drive and 5" driven pulley feeds 8.5 pounds per hour. We are currently running the 5" driven pulley.

I have installed an hour meter on the stoker motor. Now daily I will simply multiply the hours per day by 6.5 to arive at pounds of coal used per day.
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Currently running 1.5" drive and 5" driven pulley = about 8.5 pounds per hour.
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I need to get some coal! Looks like about 1.5 ton left.
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We will see how well this works!

-Don

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7486
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 » Fri. Jan. 30, 2015 7:33 pm

The auger with the hour meter on the stoker is working out very well. I changed the front piece on the feeder last night to get a deeper coal bed. I checked how many pounds per hour the stoker now pushes on feed rate 2, 3 and 4. 9,11 and 13 pounds per hour respectively.

Currently on feed rate 2, 9 pounds per hour. The auger has 1.5" drive and 5" driven pulley delivering abour 8.5 pounds per hour. So far it seems like a good match.
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I shoveled in 1.5 ton of Hard Rice coal this afternoon. Hopefuly I won't have to shovel coal on top of the auger for a month or so.
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So now all I do is take out the ashes!

-Don

 
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Pauliewog
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Post by Pauliewog » Fri. Jan. 30, 2015 10:38 pm

Great job Don !.... What do you think.......Ash auger next?

Paulie

 
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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. Jan. 31, 2015 8:35 am

Pauliewog wrote:Great job Don !.... What do you think.......Ash auger next?

Paulie
I haven't figured that one out yet. The only way out of the garage is into the driveway, on all three sides. I don't want an auger tube or a pile of ashes in my driveway!

I got up this morning to an auger jam. I just turned it off for now. Later I will go out and see what's wrong. This time the belt was just slipping, no broken parts (I hope). I would bet that the new damp coal I put in the bin yesterday is causing the coal to get stuck in the long 4" transfer tube that runs to the hopper. I did rake the dry coal into a mound over the end of the auger first. The water from the damp coal could seep down to the auger though. It may be back to the buckets for a few days until the coal dries out!

-Don

 
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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Sat. Jan. 31, 2015 10:21 am

What comes to mind always when hearing of problems of newly delivered wet coal and the associated bridging or caking is that a length(s) of perforated pvc pipe could be placed/buried into the pile with one or both ends exposed out of the pile. This should allow moisture to evaporate at a faster rate. :idea:

 
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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. Jan. 31, 2015 8:20 pm

That is a good idea McGiever. If you had it piped like that you could even force air through it for faster drying.

I got the auger unjammed. It broke the gearbox. The shear pin wasn't there to save it. I put another gearbox on just to see if it would run. It seems to run fine but I am leaving it off for now. I need to figure out a saftety device for auger jams. The slipping belt doesn't cut it.

-Don


 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7486
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. Feb. 01, 2015 8:40 am

I confermed that the problem is the shallow angle of the long transfer tube. I ran it for a while this morning. The coal is still damp and sometimes doesn't make it out the end of the tube. Once that happens, coal just starts building up in the tube and then jams.

I hope this stuff dries out soon!

-Don

 
lzaharis
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Post by lzaharis » Sun. Feb. 01, 2015 11:00 am

Hello StokerDon,

Do you have a dehumidifier? Place it near the bin and turn it to the high setting.
That will help tremendously with the moisture problem as the basement is warm.

Leon

 
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McGiever
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Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar

Post by McGiever » Sun. Feb. 01, 2015 11:58 am

SD,
Air and heat is best delivered from within the pile for moisture removal.

You might concider a pex loop circuit in your coal bin under a smooth cover so no shovel damage to pex.
Valve it on for whenever...then valve it off.

 
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StokerDon
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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. Feb. 01, 2015 9:49 pm

lzaharis wrote:Hello StokerDon,

Do you have a dehumidifier? Place it near the bin and turn it to the high setting.
That will help tremendously with the moisture problem as the basement is warm.

Leon
Sorry lz, I don't have a dehumidifier. The garage is nice, dry and warm.

-Don

 
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StokerDon
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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. Feb. 01, 2015 9:57 pm

McGiever wrote:SD,
Air and heat is best delivered from within the pile for moisture removal.

You might concider a pex loop circuit in your coal bin under a smooth cover so no shovel damage to pex.
Valve it on for whenever...then valve it off.
Hummm,,, That would work! I never considered a coal bin zone before. That would dry things out in a hurry!

My plan has always been to get coal in the summer, then it's dry by the time I need it. I just didn't plan on using 6 tons during the winter.

I think the boiler will stay in the garage. That means I need to figure out how to increase the capacity of the 5.5 ton bin without taking up any more space.

-Don

 
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StokerDon
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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 » Fri. Feb. 06, 2015 7:01 pm

I am running the auger now. It's on continuously at the moment, I want to run it for about an hour to see if I can get the damp coal out of it. So far what I am getting out is still damp.

Next time the bin is empty, I would like to impement both of McGivere's ideas above. I'm thinking of plumbing a zone of a few loops in the bottom of the coal bin. I'm thiking of using black threaded pipe because it can take the abuse. Then put 2 or 3 PVC pipes on top of that before the coal goes in. That should make a nice coal de-humidifier!

-Don

 
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StokerDon
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Posts: 7486
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. Feb. 08, 2015 8:39 pm

The coal is still a bit damp. I try to run the auger about an hour a day just to see what the coal looks like. I have to bang on the transfer tube to get the coal into the hopper.

Maybe next weekend the coal will be dry enough.

-Don

 
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Post by Scottscoaled » Sun. Feb. 08, 2015 9:19 pm

Cmon Don! Figured a cagey guy like you would figure out all you have to do is duct tape a concrete vibrator to the drop tube. :P


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