Thermostatically Controlled Actuator for Combustion Air

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Tue. Jan. 26, 2016 5:55 pm

That rig must make one heck of a racket and vibrate the crap out of the stove

Wait....why do we want to automate shaking, I've forgotten?

Post by **Lightning** » Tue. Jan. 26, 2016 6:16 pm

scalabro wrote:That rig must make one heck of a racket and vibrate the crap out of the stove

Wait....why do we want to automate shaking, I've forgotten?

If my shoulders and triceps get any bigger from shaking the stove I'm gonna have to widen all the doorways in my house.

joeq · Post by **joeq** » Tue. Jan. 26, 2016 6:17 pm

scalabro wrote:That rig must make one heck of a racket and vibrate the crap out of the stove

Wait....why do we want to automate shaking, I've forgotten?

A vibrator?! Hummm, how can I use this for my molds?

I can see the purpose of this device. Especially on a smaller stove, where shaking must be done more frequently.

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Tue. Jan. 26, 2016 6:26 pm

Lightning wrote:
scalabro wrote:That rig must make one heck of a racket and vibrate the crap out of the stove

Wait....why do we want to automate shaking, I've forgotten?
If my shoulders and triceps get any bigger from shaking the stove I'm gonna have to widen all the doorways in my house.

No Girly Man here hahahaha

Lee...be honest, you secretly want a stoker furnace

warminmn · Post by **warminmn** » Wed. Jan. 27, 2016 12:41 am

The pictures of the shaker look like the pitman arm and gear setup from a sickle mower, only smaller. Very neat.

DENNIS BAUER · Post by **DENNIS BAUER** » Wed. Jan. 27, 2016 7:42 am

Hey guys and girls,

Here is a picture of the motor model. This weekend I think I might hook it up and run it for a little while and see what happens. With insulating the garage last weekend and everything I think this will just be a waste of coal so it may be coming off this weekend as well.

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I'll get better pictures of the gear and everything. The stove got to hot to fast last night for me to be around it that long in winter gear.

Post by **Lightning** » Wed. Jan. 27, 2016 1:06 pm

scalabro wrote:Lee...be honest, you secretly want a stoker furnace

Na, I still enjoy taking care of my fire..

And then what would be my tinkering outlet? Putting wings on my Jeep?

Update on the thermostatically controlled actuator, very positive. Living room temp holding steady at 72-73 degrees

No problems so far, and fines with small pieces in the load didn't matter other than recovery time after loading.

joeq · Post by **joeq** » Wed. Jan. 27, 2016 4:18 pm

Well done Lee. When does the Patent come through?

Post by **Lightning** » Wed. Jan. 27, 2016 5:09 pm

Thanks Joe, it's nothing worthy of a patent. I wish lol.

You all might remember when I did the same thing with a flue pipe draft inducer.

Thermostatically Controlled AD-1 Draft Inducer

It worked, but really wasn't the right way to do it. I didn't really like the inducer too much.

KingCoal · Post by **KingCoal** » Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 3:31 pm

Lightning wrote: ↑
Sun. Jan. 24, 2016 9:49 am
So I finally got around to installing the combustion air actuator. It's a Johnson Controls that I found on Ebay for about $50.

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I ran some nylon rope thru an eye bolt on the floor joist so it could make the turn towards the ash door.

20160124_081907-1.jpg

Here is a shot of the whole line.

20160124_082207-1.jpg

Here's a couple pics of the auxiliary combustion air that is controlled by the actuator. Its mounted where the spinner used to be. I mounted it to a floor flange and bolted it to the ash door. Some parts I bought from another member here.

20160124_082019-1.jpg20160124_082054-1.jpg
20160124_095125-1.jpg

Along with the primary open (measured 10 inches from the floor see pic) the stove plateaued in the upper 400's over the load door. No problems over firing so far lol.

I've been using the actuator for a few days now. It's having very good results. I can set the furnace in "cruise" mode and the thermostat will kick open the combustion air if the living room cools down, then close it once thermostat is happy..

As a resource for the last request I made. This kind of controller will work, need to see what sizes they come in and the amount of pull they can create. Spring return would be a cinch and the whole thing can be bracketed to the ash door pins and move with the door to remove ash.
I love this forum, there is just about nothing new under the sun here