How to Hand Feed an Axeman Anderson

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Fri. Jan. 09, 2009 10:48 am

Build one of these! Take the cap off the auger head, this bolts on in place of the cap. Remove the belt from the auger & block the spiral so coal won't go back down the auger. Fill this temporary hopper and hand ash as needed. Maybe this weekend I'll try it for a day & then finally have a grasp on how much coal I use and how much coal makes how much ash.

At no time was any measuring device used in the construction of this hopper!

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Blackdiamonddoug
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Post by Blackdiamonddoug » Fri. Jan. 09, 2009 11:16 am

Hi Freddy
You all impress me with all the stuff you build.

To remidy some of my un burnt coal in the pan I tried this:
The dog house is un covered so I just rake enough coal over to the auger to feed the AA260 for part of the day.
The fan runs more and there is only about 1/2 as much coal in the stoker.
But I get a much better burn rate and almost no unburnt coal in the ash pan.
I cut the weight of my ash by 15% this week with this practice.
Only 150 pound of ash to carry out this week.
BDD

Heading To Jackman Tonight

 
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sterling40man
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Post by sterling40man » Fri. Jan. 09, 2009 1:08 pm

Blackdiamonddoug wrote:Heading To Jackman Tonight
Have fun snowmobiling up there Doug!

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Fri. Jan. 09, 2009 5:10 pm

Jackman to Eustas is a good trip. "Get useless in Eustas!"

Hmmm, starving the unit for coal, or slowing the ashing process. Hmmmmm, Maybe turning the ash temperature down would do the same thing?

 
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mozz
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Post by mozz » Fri. Jan. 09, 2009 6:59 pm

Next project fred, remove auger completely, make a new shortened version of the auger without the auger, just sprocket, cam and some way to support it. Then it would be hopper fed and ashing still automatic.

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Fri. Jan. 09, 2009 10:13 pm

mozz wrote:remove auger completely,
But, but, the auger is my buddy! Couldn't live with asking him to take a long sleep. ;)

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Sat. Jan. 10, 2009 6:54 am

Here it is, set up & working. The next 24 hours will give me valuable information. It's working! When the fan is on I can hear coal drop as the fire settles. I'll check it once each hour. When the solenoid actuates I'll hand move the ash handle. Maybe in 12 or 18 hours I'll have all the info I need.

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sterling40man
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Post by sterling40man » Tue. Jan. 13, 2009 2:03 pm

Freddy wrote:Jackman to Eustas is a good trip. "Get useless in Eustas!"
Hey Freddy, didn't Eustas get about 35" of snow a couple of weeks ago? I thought I saw it on the news.

So, what are the totals with this little project of yours? Any idea on how much coal your burning in a day?

 
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Post by Matthaus » Tue. Jan. 13, 2009 8:38 pm

As usual Freddy you have time for the science projects! Why don't you install a spragg drive on the ashing gear and run it with a 1 rpm gear motor. Just hook the gear motor to the ashing circuit in parallel with a switch so you can shut it off when the hopper is not installed. Then you can automate the ashing while running without the auger. :)

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Tue. Jan. 13, 2009 9:15 pm

Test is complete. Before I started the test I ashed slowly until the anthrastat was satisfied. At the end of the test I made sure it was at the same point. This, along with a visual check, assured the coal, fire, ash, where close to the same "phase" at start & end. Bottom line: I used 62 pounds in 24 hours and made exactly 13 pounds of ash. I continued the test til I used 80 pounds & it came out very near the same. For my boiler, burning Superior Pea, 4.8 pounds of coal makes one pound of ash. Obviously a longer test would be more accurate, but this gives me a good idea of how much I'm using. I'm pleased as heck that I used so little. The high that day was 24, the low was minus 2. Also the wife did four loads of laundry as well as normal dish washing and showers.

Send one RPM motor!

Eustis always get's a bunch of snow. I'm not sure what they got during that storm.

 
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beatle78
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Post by beatle78 » Wed. Jan. 14, 2009 8:33 am

WOW Freddy, that seems really good.

What is your BTU load like on your house? Size? Insulation? ect?

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Wed. Jan. 14, 2009 11:49 am

Ya! I'm real pleased. My house is a 15 yr old ranch style with a small addition making an ell. Approx 1650 sq feet upstairs, but the downstairs is my business & that's heated too, so 3,300 total. We keep upstairs well above 70, downstairs about 65. Add keeping the 26' by 28' garage at 50*.

The house has 6" walls with fiberglass. 12" fiberglass in the ceiling. The foundation has 2" of blue foam outside and 6" of fiber glass above ground inside. The garage has 2 by 4 fiberglass'd walls and 9" fiberglass in the ceiling. Nothing under the slab. When we built the garage we didn't plan on heating it or I'd have put foam under the slab. Coal makes the DHW too. Between that and the 2 cats & 2 dogs going in & out all dang day, I'm pretty well amazed that I don't use much more coal. The next two days.... Brrrrr.... HIGH's in the single digits, lows of 10ish below, and fierce winds. NOW we'll burn some black rock!

 
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beatle78
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Post by beatle78 » Wed. Jan. 14, 2009 1:11 pm

Freddy, that's amazing!!!

All that sq footage plus garage plus HW and temps from -2F to 24F and only 62 lbs? :shock:

I wonder if

1. That's just how well insulated the 6" wall houses are

and/or

2. The AA is REALLY efficient compared to the stoker type boilers

or both!

 
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Blackdiamonddoug
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Post by Blackdiamonddoug » Wed. Jan. 14, 2009 2:10 pm

Didnt make it to eustus
jackman is less crowded that 10 to15 year ago when I would spend 7 weekend a year snowmobiling.
The town hasent changed much in the 10 years of my absense.
Conditions were good my skidoo 700 traveled 95 mph across the lake my buddy riding a 4 stroke yahamah 1000cc 108 MPH on the lake.
Did about 130 miles round trip out to piston farm and back.
Spent Sunday working on the plumbing and heat in his trailer.
I hope to go again the last week of the month.
BDD

Freddy sound like there alot more ash in Superior coal that estimated.
My wife actually tended the boiler while I was away.
She was manning the coal hoe to fill the coal vortex in my coal bin.

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Wed. Jan. 14, 2009 3:22 pm

Blackdiamonddoug wrote:108 MPH on the lake.
At that speed who needs ice? Yeeehaaa!

For sure, my superior coal makes heavy ash. My AHS buddy is burning Kimmel. Last Fall we compared one day's worth of ash. We made the exact same volume, but mine weighed 2 or 3 pounds more than his did.


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