Newbie with DF520, need some help with tuning...

[Big Jim weighed in. If you are getting coal from the Wilkes-Barre area, there is a source up there that is selling poor quality coal and lots of people have complained about it.]



Bunch of red ash coal being sold there.

Here's some pictures from tonight. I bumped the air up to 6 tonight, so I'm at 4 teeth and 6 air. I was at 4 and 5 air over the past few days, but with both those settings, I had no ash ring, so I sent up to 6 to see if that would help with the unburnt coal. I plan on letting it run like this for tonight and checking out the ash in the morning and making more adjustments if necessary. 6 air defintely brought the ash ring back, but there is still unburnt coal in the front. You can really see it in the pictures, especially in the ash bucket photo. Take a look and let me know what you think.

As it's stoking:


Right after it stops stoking:


About 10minutes after stopping: (You can really see the difference between the front and back here)


Ash bucket: (bottom of the picture is what comes off the front of the burner)

Those lookpretty good to me.looks like a good ash ring. From the ash pan it doesn't look like you have all that much unburned coal in the pan. Looks more like low grade coal. But I'm not really all that experienced Scott

Pa Dealer wrote:[Big Jim weighed in. If you are getting coal from the Wilkes-Barre area, there is a source up there that is selling poor quality coal and lots of people have complained about it.]



Bunch of red ash coal being sold there.

I will take good deep mine red ash coal over any white ash anyday of the week

Nice fire!

Looks good to me too.

Thanks everyone! I think we have our setting! Here's the ash pan this morning after burning at 4 teeth, 6 air all night:



Thanks again!

I'm new to the DF 520 and trying to dial mine in also. I was wondering, because the unburnt coal is in the front, could the problem with the area be with the ash bin door or fire door not being sealed up good? It just seems like a coincidence that the unburnt coal is onlly in the front and that's also where the doors are.

I've got my EFM at 4 teeth and 4.25 air. I originally had it at 4 and 4 but saw some unburnt coal in the ash. Not much difference at 4.25.

"I was wondering, because the unburnt coal is in the front, could the problem with the area be with the ash bin door or fire door not being sealed up good? It just seems like a coincidence that the unburnt coal is onlly in the front and that's also where the doors are."

I agree it's strange that it's up front only. I looked at the doors and they seem to be sealed well. I'm still messing with it a bit, because sometimes there is a lot of unburnt coal there and other times at the same setting there is hardly any. I'll let you know if I figure anything out.

Since the air comes in from underneath the coal, I don't see how a bad door gasket would affect anything. Since the front of the pot burns well on occasion, you can probably rule out a bad burner plate. On an old stoker, I would guess the worm is worn out.

Wouldn't the ash from the front fall toward the back because of the ash buildup on the ledge below Scott

stoker-man wrote:Since the front of the pot burns well on occasion, you can probably rule out a bad burner plate.

I'm finding those occasions to be few and far between. We're back to a lot of unburnt coal in the front again and it's definitely coming from the front of the fire. I can see a layer of unburnt coal on the front of the "ash ring". It sits on top of the actual ash. You can see the difference between the front and the back in the 3rd picture I posted. In the back of the fire it's all ash, no coal at all. No setting I have tried has consistantly gotten rid of the unburnt coal.

Is the pot level?

I can't really tell with it running, I think I'd have to shut it down to check that, right?

Yes.

Use a level along the top of the cabinet. Was the base leveled on the floor? It's probably not a leveling problem, but just curious.