Ash Pics

Does anyone have any pictures of ashes from a 520 that is already dialed in? I think I'm dialed in but I haven't seen stoker ash since 1971. I'm seeing some partially burnt coal in the ashes. They're dark grey and if you push into it with a fingernail they crack. The inside is black and shiny. I was running 4 teeth and 4 air. I backed it down last night to 3 teeth and 3 1/4 air. I checked there is no burning coal on the ash ring. I think I'm worrying about nothing but want to make sure. Here's a couple of pics of my ashes and fire. The bright spot on the front of the fire was me knocking off the ash to make sure the fire isn't on the ash ring.

Hey Bill

I can't comment on if the ash looks right or not but it looks exactly like my ash also and I have the same pieces of coal like you mention in mine.

i am doing 4 and 4 also. Timer running 2 minutes per hour (1 minute every 30)

And of course I have only been doing this for 5 days! and NEVER used a stoker before so I can't really confirm if that is dialed in or not but I will anxiously await a response from an "expert" and i'm sure that'll help me also!

billw wrote:Does anyone have any pictures of ashes from a 520 that is already dialed in? I think I'm dialed in but I haven't seen stoker ash since 1971. I'm seeing some partially burnt coal in the ashes. They're dark grey and if you push into it with a fingernail they crack. The inside is black and shiny. I was running 4 teeth and 4 air. I backed it down last night to 3 teeth and 3 1/4 air. I checked there is no burning coal on the ash ring. I think I'm worrying about nothing but want to make sure. Here's a couple of pics of my ashes and fire. The bright spot on the front of the fire was me knocking off the ash to make sure the fire isn't on the ash ring.

bill the ash looks ok but bump up the air a little that should take care of the unburnt coal if it is coal and not bone like
you said if you can break it and it is black inside it is coal but if it is grey and hard it is bone you have to play with the
feed rate and air setting to find what works for your setup and the coal you are burning and if you change coal you will
have to change your setting different coal will take different setting the more air you add the more heat and it will burn
up the coal you can slow the feed rate down to leave the coal burn longer like I said you will have to find what works
for your setup what works for one may not work for the other Play around with it until you find the sweet spot
that is half the Fun Also don't forget to pull the Pot handel everyday to drop the fines out on the bottom of the pot
pull and hold the handel for 15 to 20 sec. each day to dump the fines out

Thanks JC. I'll increase the air a little to see if I can burn up more of the coal. Once I get it right I should be OK for the next couple of years. All the coal I have came from the same place on the same day. This science project is actually a lot of fun. I'm dumping the fines every day. Actually I'm collecting them in a separate tub. I'll try hand feeding them in January when I know the stoker will be firing a lot. Yeah, I'm that cheap.

Nice ash.

Be careful when increasing air settings, to much air will put positive pressure into the furnace and push out harmful combustion gasses. A simple trick to try is when the furnace is running hold a lit match by the hole in the (e) of efm on the round or square door on front. The flame of the match should always suck in showing a negative pressure inside.

Thanks for the tip. I was actually checking that with a lit cigarette.

PA thats why I said a little air you made a good point that I should of posted a 1/2 of air should not be a problem
exspecially if you have a strong drafty chimney I am running 3 teeth with 6 air with zero problem the wc in my stack pipe is at .02 to .03 it will hit .04 on a colder day over the fire is .02 to .03 I am Running buck threw it incase you would be wondering why i have the air set so high it burns it very nice and complete You Just got make sure the buck is not oversized and is on the small side of the scale there is rice size mixed in not because I mix it but because the mine I get it from is the way it comes out of the crusher and is screed the rice and buck is mixed together it is not a coal breaker it
is a mine where he has a crusher and a shaker screens & washed table set up about 100 yards from the mine can't get any fresher coal then that burns nice and very good heat No Co. problem but you can't leave the barrel get to low or you will have smoke and sulfur smell coming out of the barrel when you start to see the Auger tube at the bottom of the drum you need to put coal in other then that no problems and no the auger tube does not get hot only warm where it comes out of the base like 4" the rest is cool or cold I have the standard size pot auger 48.5 " with a 28" auger screwd onto it a full S.S. auger tube so the length between the base and drum is 45" being that the pot auger only stick out of the base 17"
I added 28" more being that I did not have more space well I could of went 33" on the auger but it would of been tight

JC I agree that different size coal and different drafts in chimneys does warrant different air settings. I can see you know your way around the 520 but others do not. To much air on semi blocked to blocked furnaces,or semi clogged chimineys will create positive pressure thus pushing out harmful combustion gasses. By the way I have a few customers that burn buck. One guy has his own coal cracker and burns a combination of rice,buck,and over size barley.

R Y

PA. I agree with you on and about New members or new owners that do not have any experience with there new units
that's why having Co. detectors are a must but I also know Bill W And Mark PA units and they are brand new refurb
units and they only have been hooked up for a very short time with very good drafty chimney I also do agree with blocked
up air ways and the fines slots under the pot and you always should check your chimney before using it for the season even once threw out the season to make sure nothing is blocking it like a piece of the flue liner or some critters building
a nest in it this happends between seasons not when the unit runs all year long the Co keeps them away And PA Just FYI
I know my way around more then Just EFM's but they are my Favorite coal stoker boiler /Furnace

So JC when the hell are you going to work for EFM? You're like a walking encyclopedia about coal stokers.