Stockton Out, Blaschak in, Results Are Like Night and Day

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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Wed. Apr. 15, 2015 6:45 pm

Well, I finally ran out of Stockton pea and got into my Blaschak pea, and it was just in the nick of time to prevent an out-fire. With the weather turning warm the Stockton coal just would not burn properly in the AHS, resulting in much higher consumption, and a ton of partially burned coal in each ash tub. Now that I've ran out of Stockton and tapped into the Blaschak I'm ready to cruse through the summer with (hopefully) no further issues. Ashes look at good in this warm weather with the stove idling all day on Blaschak as they looked for Stockton in the depths of the winter.


 
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Thu. Apr. 16, 2015 5:22 pm

Run the Stockton before w/o issue?

Any $$$ difference between the two suppliers?

 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Thu. Apr. 16, 2015 5:53 pm

davidmcbeth3 wrote:Run the Stockton before w/o issue?

Any $$$ difference between the two suppliers?
I burned 1 part Stockton to 2 parts Blaschak my first winter season with the Coal Gun. But I never burned straight Stockton in it until this past heating season.

This season I missed the one day a year sale that our local bulk Blaschak supplier holds in May, and after that the Stockton was delivered to me at what would have been the sale price of the Blaschak, so to save some dollars I went with the Stockton. Don't read this wrong. Stockton did great when it was cold outside and the demand for heat was high and the draft was also. But on a warm Christmas Eve here I had an outfire with the Stockton (the only one I've ever had to date), and then as soon as the current heating season ended I was experiencing the likelihood of another outfire. Stockton just doesn't do well when it's warm outside and the boiler is only firing a few times per day (or less) and the draft is poor. And since I burn year round to heat my homes hot water I've concluded that Stockton is not the coal to attempt to use in the warmer months. I knew all of this going into the season, since I was warned that it does not do well in low draft situations.

I had it planned out from the start that the Stockton would run out right about when it became problematic (I.E. as things warmed up outside), and things pretty much went as intended (but not perfectly), with the Stockton running out and with the switch to Blaschak.

If you are wondering why (after the cold of winter had passed) I didn't simply switch to Blaschak and hold any remaining Stockton in reserve for next season, that is where my planning went awry a bit. My bin has 3 compartments and my original intent was to fill 2 compartments with Stockton (to be burned all winter) and 1 with Blaschak (for when the cold weather ended). But the Stockton went over by about 600 lbs. that needed to go into the bottom of the 3rd bin that subsequently got topped off with Blaschak (painfully at the noticeably higher regular price vs. the one day sale price). And my bin delivers from the bottom via each of its three chambers so when it came time to switch to Blaschak I still had a couple hundred lbs. of Stockton delivering from the bin until I finally hit the Blaschak that sits on top of it. Part of this was due to the high efficiency I was getting with the Stockton during the winter, with more Stockton left over when the cold season ended than I had anticipated originally.

Stockton is way more dense than Blaschak. So when my pails went from weighing 43 lbs. to weighing 39-40 lbs. I knew I was hitting the Blaschak. And at the very same time I went from having a nightmare of partially burned coal in the ash and ridiculously high consumption straight to beautiful ash and very low consumption.

In retrospect I now realize that I should have used up the 600 lbs. of Stockton in the third (and mixed) bin compartment first, then switched to the 100% Stockton bins when it was cold, leaving Blaschak at the ready for warmer weather, but as they say, hindsight is 20-20.

 
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Post by McGiever » Thu. Apr. 16, 2015 6:44 pm

Did that Stockton come from Boslers?

 
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Post by lsayre » Thu. Apr. 16, 2015 6:51 pm

McGiever wrote:Did that Stockton come from Boslers?
Yes!

 
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Post by McGiever » Thu. Apr. 16, 2015 7:00 pm

I burned it last year (winter), but not through the summer.
I found it as you described. Good stuff, made great heat.

 
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Post by McGiever » Fri. Apr. 17, 2015 7:18 pm

Best to look and see what the sizing is like on your next Blaschack (bulk pea) purchase. :idea:

The Blaschack I burned this season was more like buckwheat mixed with everything smaller down to dust. I am going to look before I buy for the next season and may just get nut size if it looks a tad small and like it won't bridge or plug the auger. :?: :?: :?:


 
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Post by lsayre » Sat. May. 02, 2015 5:59 pm

The one thing I have noticed over the course of the past half of a month is that despite the Blaschak burning comfortably and completely in warm weather conditions, the ash pan seems to be filling up faster than it did with Stockton (with the later being in reference to winter burning conditions, when it also burned completely).

 
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Post by freetown fred » Sat. May. 02, 2015 8:14 pm

Always the best idea MG.
McGiever wrote:Best to look and see what the sizing is like on your next Blaschack (bulk pea) purchase. :idea:

The Blaschack I burned this season was more like buckwheat mixed with everything smaller down to dust. I am going to look before I buy for the next season and may just get nut size if it looks a tad small and like it won't bridge or plug the auger. :?: :?: :?:

 
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Post by lsayre » Sun. May. 10, 2015 9:43 pm

So just how good is the Blaschak working in the AHS Coal Gun under these sweltering temperatures? I just topped off the boiler today and it only took 89 lbs. to do so. That's 7 full days on only 89 lbs., and not even a hint of getting close to an outfire situation. Ashes looking great. A new record low of consumption for us. Thermostats have been shut off, so that's just to keep the fire alive and provide DHW for my wife and myself.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Mon. May. 11, 2015 7:42 am

lsayre wrote:So just how good is the Blaschak working in the AHS Coal Gun under these sweltering temperatures? I just topped off the boiler today and it only took 89 lbs. to do so. That's 7 full days on only 89 lbs., and not even a hint of getting close to an outfire situation. Ashes looking great. A new record low of consumption for us. Thermostats have been shut off, so that's just to keep the fire alive and provide DHW for my wife and myself.
About the same here, Blaschak in my Axeman 260, and no timer.

 
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Post by Lightning » Mon. May. 11, 2015 4:07 pm

Wow Larry, that is pretty remarkable!

 
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Post by Rob R. » Tue. May. 12, 2015 5:33 am

Sounds like you found a great combination. Not all coal burns the same, and not all of it is ideal for an idling stoker...as I found out on Sunday. My EFM lost the fire this past weekend, I assume on the 85 degree day. Same settings I have used for years, different coal. Guess I will use the downtime for a thorough cleaning and try again.

 
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Post by StokerDon » Tue. May. 12, 2015 9:26 pm

lsayre wrote:So just how good is the Blaschak working in the AHS Coal Gun under these sweltering temperatures? I just topped off the boiler today and it only took 89 lbs. to do so. That's 7 full days on only 89 lbs., and not even a hint of getting close to an outfire situation. Ashes looking great. A new record low of consumption for us. Thermostats have been shut off, so that's just to keep the fire alive and provide DHW for my wife and myself.
I am SOOOOO envious!!! Thats 12.7 pound per day Larry. My Summer timer settings alone are pushing 16 pounds a day!

Keep up the good work!

-Don

 
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Post by lsayre » Sun. Jun. 14, 2015 10:16 am

On Blaschak it looks like I'm settling in at about 14.5 lbs. per average day of summer coal consumption for the AHS Coal Gun. For me that works out to about $2.00 per day. My best guesstimate is that using our electric HWT for the homes DHW would cost us on average about $1.20 per day.


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