Coal Boiler in a Greenhouse

 
waldo lemieux
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Post by waldo lemieux » Wed. Jul. 13, 2016 5:55 pm

By the way scott, that is an awesome looking rehab :)


 
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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 » Wed. Jul. 13, 2016 7:46 pm

Scott,

I am so glad you started this thread. I was getting sick of reading my own posts! :lol:

It will be great to see that stoker running full throttle heating that nice greenhouse.

Traffic is finally starting to pick up around hear.

-Don

 
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Scottscoaled
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Location: Malta N.Y.
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup

Post by Scottscoaled » Wed. Jul. 13, 2016 9:35 pm

Truthfully this one has me worried Don. It has a stoker in it that will push 40 pounds per hour. I don't see the heat transfer area that there should be. I have an EFM 900 sitting on it's side right next to the garage and the surface transfer area is monstrous. The GJ's might be the fastest heating appliance hands down because they got an over sized stoker in every model. It only has an 8" flue. Here are a couple pictures of the inside of the fire chamber. There are eight tubes. Two rows of four. Sorry for the pictures. It is hard to get an angle that shows all of them at once.
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Salemcoal
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Post by Salemcoal » Wed. Jul. 13, 2016 10:06 pm

Great job Scott, She is a beast . I have never seen a boiler come up to temperature as fast as that one

 
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Scottscoaled
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Joined: Tue. Jan. 08, 2008 9:51 pm
Location: Malta N.Y.
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup

Post by Scottscoaled » Wed. Jul. 13, 2016 10:12 pm

Thanks for the boiler Pat :) :)

 
Salemcoal
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Post by Salemcoal » Wed. Jul. 13, 2016 10:21 pm

I'm glad it's going back in service. You've almost inspired me to slap one of the smaller GJs in my garage in place of the efm

 
waldo lemieux
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Post by waldo lemieux » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 8:46 am

Salemcoal wrote:You've almost inspired me to slap one of the smaller GJs in my garage in place of the efm
That sir, is bordering on blasphemy and is punishable by the immediate surrender of your coal burning privileges. Please see the bailiff ....


 
Pacowy
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Location: Dalton, MA
Stoker Coal Boiler: H.B. Smith 350 Mills boiler/EFM 85R stoker
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/anthracite

Post by Pacowy » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 2:12 pm

Stay calm, wl, GJ's are worthy machines.

Mike

 
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Scottscoaled
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Posts: 2812
Joined: Tue. Jan. 08, 2008 9:51 pm
Location: Malta N.Y.
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup

Post by Scottscoaled » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 7:37 pm

X2. I don't see where they are inferior. They are a stout underfeed boiler without all the drama that the EFM's have.

 
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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 » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 8:07 pm

Scottscoaled wrote:Truthfully this one has me worried Don. It has a stoker in it that will push 40 pounds per hour. I don't see the heat transfer area that there should be. I have an EFM 900 sitting on it's side right next to the garage and the surface transfer area is monstrous. The GJ's might be the fastest heating appliance hands down because they got an over sized stoker in every model. It only has an 8" flue. Here are a couple pictures of the inside of the fire chamber. There are eight tubes. Two rows of four. Sorry for the pictures. It is hard to get an angle that shows all of them at once.
Well, theirs only one way to find out how much coal it will use. Fire it up for a season.

That's interesting, yours has round tubes like a Losch. How many baffles does it have?

It sure is hard to take good pictures inside a boiler, isn't it!

-Don

 
waldo lemieux
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Post by waldo lemieux » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 8:20 pm

Pacowy wrote:Stay calm, wl, GJ's are worthy machines.

Mike
Scottscoaled wrote:X2. I don't see where they are inferior. They are a stout underfeed boiler without all the drama that the EFM's have.
I guess I should have used a row of :D :D :D :D In truth, I am no authority, Ive only EFM experience and only 4 yrs at that. But truth be told, no experience with any EFM drama.... Just write it off as a guys first love :inlove: .... god Im gettin old!

 
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Scottscoaled
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Posts: 2812
Joined: Tue. Jan. 08, 2008 9:51 pm
Location: Malta N.Y.
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup

Post by Scottscoaled » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 8:54 pm

It's Ok Waldo! The drama I'm talking about is all the moving pieces. GJ's are so simple. There is a motor, transmission, blower and auger. Not many pieces other than that. They are hooked together without connecting rods, oil baths, clickers, clutches, pot bushings, all the other moving parts. That is the "drama" I mean.

 
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Scottscoaled
Member
Posts: 2812
Joined: Tue. Jan. 08, 2008 9:51 pm
Location: Malta N.Y.
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup

Post by Scottscoaled » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 8:58 pm

No hanging baffle. Just a water wall at the back of burn chamber.

 
Salemcoal
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Post by Salemcoal » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 9:03 pm

If I remember right everything went together with a 9/16 wrench

 
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StokerDon
Site Moderator
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 » Thu. Jul. 14, 2016 9:15 pm

I always liked the simplicity of the GJ stoker, a motor turns a blower and a pulley. The pulley turns a belt that turns the pulley on the gearbox. The gearbox turns the auger. It don't get any simpler than that!

For those of you that don't know, the old GJ's were built with very high quality/heavy duty parts. The feed pipes were made of brass or bronze. The augers were made of a special stainless steel alloy. The rings in the pot are designed to rotate the combustion air to promote spiral flow. When they put one of these together they wanted it to go for at least 30 years before anything wore out. Pretty difficult to find anything like that today.

-Don


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