Idea for Axeman for Better Control

I came up with an idea. As it sits the boiler stokes once an hour for 60 seconds. If by chance it just got done stoking then the timer still runs it for a minute. No need for that minute. It just wastes heat. So, I'm keeping my eye on eBay for a delay timer. If I can, and I will eventually, find a 110V 10 amp relay that adjusts up to an hour, then I will wire it in so each time the boiler stokes, the timer starts. I'll set it for one hour and the one minute timer will never run if it has stoked during the last 60 minutes. Why waste that 24 minutes a day?

Makes logical sense to me! I'm with you -- why waste the 24 minutes if you don't need them?

Granted, in the cold weather, I doubt you'd really waste anything as you'd probably need the heat anyway. But in warmer weather where you really don't want extra heat, it makes good sense.

So, if you lose power where is your initial run to get it going? I think they make an aquastat that already does this job. If the thermo calls for heat, it won't run the keep alive timer till another 1/2 hour or 1 hour.

Hi Freddy
Try to make that 80,000 lbs of coal last 7 years instead of 6 years
BDD

mozz wrote:So, if you lose power where is your initial run to get it going?

Just turn up a thermostat to call for heat.

mozz wrote:I think they make an aquastat that already does this job.

Do tell! I've never heard of that.

Blackdiamonddoug wrote:Try to make that 80,000 lbs of coal last 7 years instead of 6 years

I'd like to make it last forever! The timer thingy probably won't make much difference in dead of winter, but Spring & Fall it might. Plus those timers are so cool to figure out & make them work. They're like $100 to go buy one, but you can catch 'em on eBay for $20 if you wait a bit.

I might be wrong here but I think it was stoker-man whom mentioned in a EFM thread about the timer that won't come on if there was just a call for heat.

The Axeman timer won't come on if the boiler has reached high temp cutoff, but that's way up there.

You've got too much time on your hands

In the winter, trying to keep my refrigerator [my house] warm, the added two minutes is nothing.. in the summer it only runs on the timer, it never has an actual call for heat.. in the fall and spring, you may ocassionally get the timer run to happen just after an aquastat initiated run,, and then you could have a 10-15* bump in temp.. but so far I've never seen 200* with my boiler,, that I know of that is..

That's what you Need Freddy,, a recording thermometer, with a drum and needle.. to record the temp of your boiler... find an old antique recording thermometer and rig that up... that'd be cool

Greg L.

Hmmmmm.....
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That would do it, if the scale is correct for your application !

Greg L.

I just realized that adding a delay timer will not work. If the delay activated one minute before the timer stokes, then it would be 1 hour 59 minutes before it ran the one minute again. I'd have to also have a one minute stoke timer that reset to zero each time the delay timer activated and not use the timer that I have.

I'd think Omron makes a programmable timer that would do you what you need. Set one up last year for a friend's shop to delay equipment restart in the event of a power failure, recall seeing a config like you want (externally resettable countdown to specified runtime) Frequent 'blips' in power at the building were artificially spiking the demand meter way up.

Check Greedbay. New price is prohibitive.

For sure to dial a phone number & say "Send me a delay relay" they are quite expensive... $50-$150 easy. Keep an eye on eBay & one will come up for $20 pretty soon. I got one for $5 once!