HS Tarm 500 Series Thermostat/Damper

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bds
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Post by bds » Thu. Oct. 30, 2008 7:25 am

Hello, I'm glad I found this site! Lots of great information / help. I bought my inlaws house last year it came with a
HS Tarm 500 Series that they had purchased back in 1987. The furnace has burned wood maybe 6 winters since 1987. The unit gets inspected every year by my local home heating service and is in great shape. I am attempting to burn coal in it this winter. Especially after my oil bill from last year!...Since it is a 100 year old house with 100 year old doors and windows!
I bought 5 tons of anthracite nut coal and have it sitting in my dump trailer until I build the bin for it this weekend. I took a few buckets tonight lit the stove off for the first time. My inlaws never burnt coal in it so they have no idea if I am going about it right.
I read through the original manual a couple of times but still have a few questions....I built a nice hot fire with some good dry wood, once I had a good bed of hot red coals I started to lay down layers of coal on top. It was going flawslessly! layer by layer with about 10 min. in between each layer. I read in the manual that it should be filled to within 2"-3" of the bottom of the upper firebox door. So I proceeded to do this and it appears that once I filled the coal above the flue opening, but was not to the specified 2"-3" level yet the flame died down. So I raked the coals away and it appeared to draft well again and take off. Anyone here filling theirs to that level? I ended up filling it to about 5"-6" from the specified level and it was raked higher in the front so the top of the bed of lit coal was slanted towards the back to keep the flue open.

The manual says there is a "Baffle" for burning coal in the 500 series....I don't think I have one!?! I am guessing that the "Baffle" keeps the flue opened so the rising coal bed doesn't choke up the flue??? Unfortunately the manual does not show a picture of this baffle and it does not explain how it is used or where it goes on the unit.

The other question I have is about the temperature control thermastat actuator. It is connected to a chain on an arm attached to the actuator then down to the damper door. I have my therm. set for 4-5 which the manual says #5 is ~200* water temp. Well I set the damper chain so it was tight with the damper door closed when the water temp was at 195-200 on the guage. I walked away for about an hour and came back and the damper door and chain where exactly where I left them and the coal fire was just about out. The water temp was at 180 so the actuator never operated to open the damper door when the temp droped. I took the HOT thermastat apart and the little "actuator itslef was pushed all the way out. It was not melted or corroted and I let it cool and I could push the actuator pin all the way back in. So I know the actautor is working properly. Does anyone know how to adjust these thermastat actuators properly. The manual says it should have a Samson controler but my unit doesn't. I have a Ammco or something along those lines (I'm not at home right now). So the manual is not helpful with this brand. I tried to use the Samson adjusting instruction basics and use them on the brand I have...Well I guess it didn't work.

So I left the damper door all but shut so it will still draft the air from underneath to keep it lit.

Sorry this is really LONG, But it is hard to explain something that I don't have alot of experience with.

Brent.

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. Oct. 31, 2008 5:33 pm

The damper probably didn't move because the water temperature is more than sufficient to heat your home. To test it, turn your thermostat up to about 90* (you may have to open a few windows and doors :) ) to put a load on it. When the water temperature in the boiler drops down to 160-170* it should start to open the draft door. That thing is a beast and is just idling now. Don't take the number settings too seriously, they may not be that accurate.

 
TimfromPittsburgh
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Post by TimfromPittsburgh » Sun. Jan. 25, 2009 2:04 pm

Hi BDS,

Just joined this forum today. I realize this reply is quite delayed from your original post but I hope it might be helpful. I have a TArm 502 boiler in which I burn both wood and coal. You absolutely need coal baffles in order to successfully burn coal in the Tarm 502. The coal baffles convert the fire box from a cross draft burner (for wood burning) to an updraft burner for coal burning. I can send you a picture of what the coal baffles look like. I would think that you could still be able to order them theough Tarm USA (or its successor organization).

The Tarm 502 does a pretty good job burning coal. I burn coal in mine during periods of cold (below 20 degrees) weather. The only issue with burning coal in the Tarm 502 is that the grates are not opmitized for coal. If the coal contains slate or froms clinkers, they will not fall down into the ash pan, so one must periodicly let the fire go out and manually clean out the rock & clinkers from the grates.

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Sun. Jan. 25, 2009 4:37 pm

TimfromPittsburgh wrote:You absolutely need coal baffles in order to successfully burn coal in the Tarm 502. The coal baffles convert the fire box from a cross draft burner (for wood burning) to an updraft burner for coal burning. I can send you a picture of what the coal baffles look like.
We would all like to see that Tim, could you post them up? :)


 
TimfromPittsburgh
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Post by TimfromPittsburgh » Sun. Jan. 25, 2009 6:35 pm

TimfromPittsburgh wrote:We would all like to see that Tim, could you post them up?
Certainly, I will glad to take some pictures and post them. It might be a couple of days until I have a chance to pull them out of the boiler for the photos.

 
TimfromPittsburgh
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Post by TimfromPittsburgh » Tue. Jan. 27, 2009 10:11 pm

Here is a picture of what you can see of the coal baffle looking into the firebox. The coal baffle consists of three pieces; a base plate (not visable in this picture) that replaces the rearmost section of the grate and two identical vertical pieces. Each vertical piece is about half the width of the firebox and extends upward about 2/3 of the height of the firebox. When in position, the vertical pieces overlap slightly. The vertical pieces are visable in the photo. There are legs on the back side of the vertical pieces at the top that rest against the back of the firebox and keep the baffles upright. There is about 2" of space between the back side of the baffle and the back of the firebox.

The baffle base plate is installed by first removing the rear section of the shaker grate. The base plate fills most of the space occupied by the grate section and buts up against the baffles that separate the wood burning from coal burning sections of the boiler. With the coal baffle installed, all combustion air must pass up through the coal bed, over top of the baffle then back down and through the heat exchanger tubes.

My baffles are made of cast iron about 3/8" thick.

Hope this is some help. I will take more pictures of the individual pieces next time the fire goes out.

Attachments

100_0369A.jpg

coal baffle for Tarm 502

.JPG | 130.7KB | 100_0369A.jpg

 
TimfromPittsburgh
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Post by TimfromPittsburgh » Thu. Jan. 29, 2009 11:44 am

If anybody is interrested in ordering coal baffles for a Tarm 502 here is some contact information I found at another website:
If you are looking for coal baffles contact Brian Millette at 1-800-782-9927 durring business hours. The number is for Bioheatusa in Lyme, NH. I called on Dec 22 and ordered and received the baffles on Dec 23. Really outstanding service. The cost was $255 plus shipping (to Vt that was about $22). I found a bulletin from HS Tarm on the coal baffles somewhere on the net and printed it. I think I have the PDF file on my computer. The prints are not too clear but if you are interested I can post the PDF (or the link if I can find it). The baffles have significantly improved coal burning. However, keeping them in place is a bit challenging. I think the design could have been better. I am also worried about the longevity of the cold rolled steel plate that holds the base of the cast iron baffles. It sits very close to the base of the fire. Time will tell I guess.

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