My KAA-4-1

Hello nepacoal,

I can purchase the timer motor locally from
the electrical shop I do business with for
$27 plus tax so I will be doing that.

2 steps forward 3 steps back.

Update on my KAA-4-1 soap opera.
I went to town before the electrical shop closed
and purchased a timer motor for the Intermatic
30 minute timer. I will change it out in the morning
and start all over again.

I replaced the bad timer motor in my Intermatic 30 minute
timer this morning and the timer works and works quietly.
I will be purchasing a spare shortly.
The repair would have gone faster if I had smaller fingers
of course.

Saying that I wire numbered and lettered all the 14 gauge conductors
including the clock motor wire leads working from left to right

Red: conductor number 1 Normally Open labeled NO
Black: conductor number 2 Switch Common labeled SC
White: wire number 3 Clock labeled CL

Before I removed the timer motor I made sure to identify the two stranded wire leads at their locations on the mounting plate as:

CL clock
SC switch common

Now the pan head screws securing the timer motor have a screw head that is a fine Phillips and a 1/16 inch Allen Screw Head. The Allen Head makes it easier to remove and reinstall the screws,
HINT, HINT, HINT.

"The timer motor can only go in one way and work"!!!! The hole for the gear is larger on one end and smaller on the driven tooth side of the clock face. You slide the gear motor to the driven gear side of the clock face and then this lines the two holes up for the screws that secure the motor in place.


A little tip here: if you have a magnetic parts catcher all the better for the screws or have a tray to work over to catch the parts all the better HINT, HINT. The machine screws love to bounce and a magnet with a long handle is a huge help.

If you have 12/14 gauge single conductor wire be sure the wire loop ends are tight and you have to make an effort to remove the screws and thread them back in.

Last but not least, the third screw working from left to right across the bottom of the wire lead connections for the clock IS THE LONGEST SCREW.

The fastest way to assure the wiring is correct is to butt the first convenient hold fire timer pin
against the switch then turn the power on and then turn on the coal switch and when it starts to climb the pin VIOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have not painted or penciled a mark on the clock face and a corresponding mark on the steel mounting plate I would strongly suggest that you do it now if you have an Intermatic 30 minute timer. if the Torq brand of hold fire timers have the same style of mounting plate that works too.

investing in the two basic booklets of 3M wire numbers helps with ones sanity and I would suggest that one should invest in them to save time and money.

Snipping the cloth wire numbers off for individual use is better with a pair of scissors in groups is simpler(if you have big fingers especially) as you can place them back on the back side of the number and letter sheets that are blank and still be able to use them if needed HINT, HINT.

So much for the last two days of the "My KAA-4-1" soap opera.

Greetings,

I hope your oven is filled with a Thanskgiving turkey being baked at the ovens
"warming temperature setting" in your oven.

I heard about cooking a turkey that way over 24 hours many years ago and
how easy it is but have yet to try it.

On to the business of coal burning:

As you know I replaced the dead Intermatic 30 minute timer motor yesterday and verified it was working properly as I mentioned yesterday. Many thanks to nepacoal and Fingerlakes Electric Supply Company Inc., for the help. A spare timer motor is next on the list for the spare parts box to go along with the ones already in there.

I showed the spousal unit how to switch the KAA-4-1 to oil using the Riello Mectron 40 Oil burner we have if the coal fire is not working by using a metric wrench to loosen the flange compression bolts and pulling out the burner box and tube as one unit and then stuffing the burner tube with insulation.

I then showed her how to reinstall the burner tube to the stop mark/line I penciled in on the tube to prevent the tube from being pushed to far into the firebox. I also explained that the ball of insulation must be put in the burner tube to be sure the oil nozzle does not become plugged with soot.

For the Keystoker owners with the Beckett brand oil burner the procedure is fully explained in the dual fuel manual and quite different.

A Keystoker Dual Fuel Unit owner can also replace the burner head and mounting flange completely and reinstall the cover plate and gasket that is supplied with the dual fuel unit they own.

For those who did not know it:

On the Riello burners, the fire tube of the oil or gas burner MUST, MUST, MUST, MUST be flush with the boiler wall as it is a "dry" boiler wall- the boiler does not have water in its side wall.
This is not explained in the Keystoker manual for the Riello burner equipped dual fuel units BUT it is fully explained in the Riello burner manuals that can be obtained on line or if a Reillo burner is supplied with your dual fuel coal stoker furnace or boiler.

The burner tube cannot extend into the fire box as the burner tube will be damaged from the act of combustion over time.

Its been a long year for us here on my mountain for many reasons. The KAA-4-1 boiler is running well with 130 low and 150 high on the triple aquastat with a ten degree differential and I have the hold fire timer set with 8 pins at Zero minutes and 8 pins at 15 minutes and IT WORKS.

I have a one inch band of white ash, 3-4 inches of burning coals and the fire is reaching the steam chest when running on a high fire and the hold fire is two inches + wide and running for 2 minutes every 15 fifteen minutes and it is working well for me.

The pusher plate is set at five threads and the boiler is not overheating and that is all I ever wanted. I did not burn much rice coal overnight so that is good.

I just turn the thermostat up when I need or want more heat and turn it down when it gets too hot so I am happy.

I want to thank Waldo Lemieux , ShawnTRD, nepacoal, dirtysteve, Mayor Richard, Rob, Rick386, freetownfred, scottscoaled, coaliscoolxwarm and each and everyone else that has helped me limp along on this journey that I have not mentioned. I would thank everyone individually now but I have to leave to take care of my father.

All I have to do now is purchase the male/ female plug set for my BX feeder cable to run the boiler with my generator if needed.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I guess I must be doing something right
with the KAA-4-1 as the ash basket is
half full after three days of operation.

The KAA-4-1 boiler is operating well and heating both home and our hot water.
My propain dealer who is a family friend of over 40 years is coming by to clean the boiler tomorrow.

I will shut it down in the morning and let it cool long before they get here in the morning.
I will have them change the oil nozzle in the KAA-4-1 to a smaller one, readjust the electrodes if needed, check the oil pump pressure, the burner draft and clean the propain hot water heater as it has not been serviced in a long time other wise they will be here less than 15 minutes.

I started the stoker up again last night and the boiler is running VERY VERY well.
I backed the stoker pusher plate stroke off one more thread also.

I have left the Intermatic hold fire timer settings at the same length 8 pins at 15 minutes and 9 pins at 30 minutes.

SO far so good,

Low boiler pressure-less than 20 PSIG, low boiler operating temperatures-120 low 150 high, 8 threads on the Model AA stokers stroke length, one inch band of ash, 2-3 inches of burning coals and 3 plus inches of unburned coal, I have 2 minutes of hold fire every fifteen minutes.

Warm house, warm baseboard, warm floor, warm dog, warm cat, happy spousal unit FINALLY.

I have found a lot of slate in the rice coal but that is to be expected if they do not float their coal ore at the preparation plant prior to bagging it.

Hello Leon,

Lots of hot water boiler people would not call 20 PSI LOW pressure, unless they heated a 4 or 5 story building, just saying.

66.6% capacity is gone already towards the 30 psi PRV popping, but at that pressure you will not be making unwanted steam anytime soon.

McGiever wrote:Hello Leon,

Lots of hot water boiler people would not call 20 PSI LOW pressure, unless they heated a 4 or 5 story building, just saying.

66.6% capacity is gone already towards the 30 psi PRV popping, but at that pressure you will not be making unwanted steam anytime soon.

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Your right McGeiver, I guess was thinking that it is very nice that it is staying "low" and wandering between 14 P.S.I.G to 20 P.S.I.G.+- with no drama with the 53 gallons of water+- in my system.

I sleep much better now and I can live with how well my boiler is running compared to the way it was running last year after January 11th.

I was day dreaming of heating a surplus elementary school(of which there are many in the area) that was converted into apartments and office space with 2 P.S.I.G. Wet Steam or gravity hot water at 12 pounds the other day.

Those four 425-gallon surplus B+G hot water bladder tanks that I know about in Wisconsin that were salvaged from a hospital dismantling job would come in very handy for that job.

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The local high schools heating plant has tens of thousands of gallons of hot water to harness for baseboard heat in all those buildings.

They have been using the geothermal heated water that Cornell University is creating at its lake source cooling plant as it passes the High school and is pushed up hill by the down hill gravity flow of water coming down hill from the universities heating and cooling plant in the Humprey's Service Building.

Now they are planning to drill to six thousand plus feet to take advantage of the Geothermal heat that exists at that depth.

Can you say OH BOY we have natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale beds with a straight face without laughing??? they could uncouple from the 42 Inch Dominion Transportation Gas Pipeline in Varna, NY that feeds the twin gas turbines at the steam plant and save even more money.

Wait till they find out the well pipes do not last from the heat and corrosion due to the heated water that will reach steam pressure and temperature.

The cooling loop is kinda cool...
Nice engineering...
https://energyandsustainability.fs.cornell.edu/util/cooling/production/lsc/works.cfm
The 6000 foot hole for heat is another story...

CapeCoaler wrote:The cooling loop is kinda cool...
Nice engineering...
https://energyandsustainability.fs.cornell.edu/util/cooling/production/lsc/works.cfm
The 6,000 foot hole for heat is another story...

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The lake source cooling for Cornell University was an outgrowth of What I believe was the very first Ocean cooling system for 120 homes in Hawaii done by Makai Ocean Engineering.

The City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is planning a lake source cooling system of its own after the good results obtained by the Cornell University Lake Source Cooling System on Cayuga Lake.

The local environmentalists have been concerned about the increased phospate levels in the lake water in the south end of the lake near Stewart Park. The Phosphate levels wwere verified by independent water testing and Dr. Walter Hang from his company Toxics Targeting from Ithaca. Dr. Hang is a Cornell Graduate from what I remember as well.

With the north and south ends of Cayuga Lake being shallow for thousands of years due to sediment build up from the local creek flows and the poor circulation of the lake water and years of pollution from near water septic systems and sewage discharges from The Cayuga Heights Sewage treatment plant on occasion.

From what I remember of it the water in the south end of Cayuga Lake does not reach the north end until seven years later before it enters the Cayuga Seneca Canal and then it travels to the north end of Seneca Lake and then on to Lake Ontario.

My boiler is running well and I am waiting for the
snow storm that they say is coming.

I have to buy a new battery for the mule GRRR.
Well, it is the third one and its an Interstate and
its at least 2 years old so here we go to NAPA again.

I must be doing something right, The last bag of Kimmels rice coal lasted me close to 12 hours in the hopper.