Picked up a Van Wert Stoker

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Oct. 15, 2015 7:48 pm

You might rethink replacing those pot rings after you price out a set. Ask Scottscoaled about how to judge if they need to be replaced.


 
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StokerDon
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Post by StokerDon » Thu. Oct. 15, 2015 8:09 pm

I have not priced them yet. So, I guess your saying "They Ain't Cheap"?

One of the lower rings has actually crystallized part of the casting. 2 or 3 of the others are very warped. So there at least 3 that I know should be replaced. I will ask Scott how to check the rest when we are ready to push forward on this project.

-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. Oct. 25, 2015 6:16 pm

I went up north yesterday, and I came back with this.
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This one has the transfer pipe that goes in the opposite direction.
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I also got a few other things.
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Should be enough there to build a VA800 and as you can see, enough to build a VA400 with loads of spares!

-Don

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Oct. 25, 2015 6:18 pm

Time to go get the VA800 boiler on Craigslist. :D

 
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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. Oct. 25, 2015 6:24 pm

Rob R. wrote:Time to go get the VA800 boiler on Craigslist. :D
Not a bad idea. I should give them a call. I have heard that this one was a steam boiler that was run hard. Might not be worth it, I will call and find out. If not, there are always other ones!

-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. Oct. 25, 2015 8:29 pm

I posted a Youtube video of the parts and the VA400 running.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqy4xibMB-g&feature=youtu.be

_don

 
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StokerDon
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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. Oct. 31, 2015 11:26 am

Rob R. wrote:Time to go get the VA800 boiler on Craigslist. :D
I finally heard back from the VA800 seller, it's sold.

Darn!

My back is secretly saying "YAY!".

-Don


 
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StokerDon
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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 » Mon. Nov. 09, 2015 12:33 pm

Yesterday before I stopped at Scrapper's shop, I went up to Scranton and picked up a Van Wert VA600 stoker. For the most part, the mechanical parts are in real good shape. The boiler sprung a leak so the owner scrapped it. I got the boiler controls and even the barrel.
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This is an interesting Honeywell controller. It has the timer and relays all in one box and uses that little aquastat. This one is fairly new, it has a date of 11/05/03. That means it's only about 12 years old.
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A few issues are, one grate is broken and one looks pretty burned up. Not a big deal, I have replacements.
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Unfortunately the owner couldn't figure out how to get the stoker out in one piece so, he cut the air chamber casting to get the pot out of the boiler. Also not a big deal, I have at least one spare casting.
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The gear box was rebuilt by General Machine 2 years ago, runs smooth and has no leaks. The pot worm is usable, need a new pipe for it though. The bin worm is a bit on the sharp side, I have one that is good though. The rest of it is very nice.

From looking at this stoker and the VA400's stokers that I now have, it looks like the only difference between the 400 and 600 is the feed rate. The pot castings, rings, worms and big gears are the same. So I guess they just push more coal and air through the same pot to get more BTU's.

I think it's safe to say that my next boiler project will be fired with a Van Wert!

-Don

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Mon. Nov. 09, 2015 6:07 pm

Don, that timer was standard for boilers setup for steam.

Did you buy the stoker just for a few rings and the gearbox?

 
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Post by Scottscoaled » Mon. Nov. 09, 2015 7:18 pm

Don, for several years the 400's were made with a smaller pot. They used everything except the rings and extension on top of the air tube. The top ring bolted took the place of the extension and held down four or five rings.

 
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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 » Mon. Nov. 09, 2015 8:08 pm

Rob R. wrote:Don, that timer was standard for boilers setup for steam.

Did you buy the stoker just for a few rings and the gearbox?
I bought it mainly because although I have about 3 or 4 stokers worth of parts, there are a few parts I only have 2 or 3 of. I also bought it because the price was about right and I am a bit crazy about this Van Werts right now. Having a good gearbox is a bonus.

One thing I can't seem to get a brake on is the red air adjustment valve. I have one and a half. Every stoker seems to be missing that part!

-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 » Mon. Nov. 09, 2015 8:16 pm

Scottscoaled wrote:Don, for several years the 400's were made with a smaller pot. They used everything except the rings and extension on top of the air tube. The top ring bolted took the place of the extension and held down four or five rings.
Ah, so the early VA400's were actually smaller than the VA600's. The manual I have shows the VA600 as 15 pounds per hour feed rate. 13,500 BTU's(anthracite) x 15 = 202,500 BUT's gross. That should be plenty! My manual has the VA400 listed but it doesn't say what rate it feeds at.

-Don

EDIT:

Sorry, that was 18 pounds per hour for the VA600. 13,500 BTU's x 18 = 243,000. WOW!

The VA800 is listed at 24 pounds per hour,so we could figure the VA400 was probably 12 pounds per hour, 162,000 BTU gross.

 
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Post by Pacowy » Wed. Nov. 11, 2015 10:06 am

Don,

I think your BTU numbers are a little optimistic. Anthracite might be over 13k btu/lb with the moisture content removed, but as received ("A.R.") it's normally more like 12,250. And with an optimal fire you'll get around 10% unburned coal in addition to ash. So 15 lb/hr translates to around 165k btu/hr of gross boiler input, and if you assume the boiler is 80% efficient, around 132k btu/hr of gross boiler output.

Mike

 
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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 » Wed. Nov. 11, 2015 10:22 am

Thanks Mike,

That gives me some closer to real world numbers to consider.

VA400; 12 pounds per hour, x 12,250BTU = 147,000BTU / hour x 0.90 = 132,300 BTU x 80% = 105,840 BTU/hr actual.

That should work out well for my heating load. From my experience in this house/garage. I have been burning at a rate of between 9 and 11 pounds per hour. The Losch Yellowtail heated the load quite well at 11 pounds per hour. The GJ-EFM has been running at 4 teeth (9-10 pounds/hour) and heats the load with no problems. The GJ might do a little better when I insulate the boiler.

-Don

 
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Post by alpineboard » Wed. Nov. 11, 2015 8:53 pm

The Van Wert VA600 that I got had a 21 tooth sprocket, 3 1/2" motor pulley and 3" transmission pulley, Bond transmission. When I dry tested it, it was dropping 10.5 pounds an hour. of buck Possibly ordered this way or maybe changed after install and usage.


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