Hi Everyone,
I have a mag stoker and have been using for the past three years. my question is I am probable using more coal than I should be. I am currently pushing 3.5 dots and control box is 6 min on 15 min off and stove tem is 400degrees. This consumes about 100'bs a day. I think if my off time was 20 min then I would get more out fo the stove. Has anyone made theri own control box or altered the original to change the off time from 15 min to 20 etc... I want to find ways to tweak the stove to lessen the amount of coal I am using per day. If I lower the on time the fire goes down and stove temp drops. If I decrease the dots I am pushing the same thing.
Magnum Stoker Control Box
Hi,
I have the same stove that I just got in NOV/08 , Mine runs 5 or 6 mins. on depending on outside temp. and 11 to 15 off (temp),, I have it set for a little over 2 1/2 dots which uses 45 lbs. of rice.
I also hooked up a coil inside to make DHW ,it pumps the water into a ( which I allready had ) 50 gal oil fired hot water heater.So far since DEC/08 the oil has come on for a total of 11 hours
,so I have used about 10 gals. of oil 
most of it in just the last 2 weeks cause temps have been in the teens.
I also hooked up PEX tubeing to it to heat my kitchen tile floor and is working out great the house is at least 6 deg. warmer now.
I turned up the THERMOSTAT once to try it , it ran straight for an hour and almost used up the 100 lb. hopper,,
, never will I do that again!! 
I have the same stove that I just got in NOV/08 , Mine runs 5 or 6 mins. on depending on outside temp. and 11 to 15 off (temp),, I have it set for a little over 2 1/2 dots which uses 45 lbs. of rice.
I also hooked up a coil inside to make DHW ,it pumps the water into a ( which I allready had ) 50 gal oil fired hot water heater.So far since DEC/08 the oil has come on for a total of 11 hours
,so I have used about 10 gals. of oil most of it in just the last 2 weeks cause temps have been in the teens.I also hooked up PEX tubeing to it to heat my kitchen tile floor and is working out great the house is at least 6 deg. warmer now.
I turned up the THERMOSTAT once to try it , it ran straight for an hour and almost used up the 100 lb. hopper,,
, never will I do that again!! what is your stove temp at 2.5 dots and what size houe are you heating. is stove in basement? mine is in basement but it is ducted to 1st floor with a 6' duct to 2x12 sleve cut into the floor and duct pipe is insulated with sfiberglassetc... and basement itself stays warm but not hot. I have an 1800 sq four square from 1924, 3 floors (attic is renovated)
just "shot" the right side of stove is 353 deg. near the top
have a 1000 Sf house and yes the stove in in basement where it stays bout 80 deg. ,, by leaveing basement door open all the time it stays about 65 on all but the days when it goes into the teens outside.
have a 1000 Sf house and yes the stove in in basement where it stays bout 80 deg. ,, by leaveing basement door open all the time it stays about 65 on all but the days when it goes into the teens outside.
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Dutchman
- Member
- Posts: 119
- Joined: Sun. Apr. 01, 2007 8:01 pm
- Location: Berks County, PA
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Harman Magnum
- Coal Size/Type: rice/anthracite
I have mine set differently... I use the timer only to maintain a lower fire (right now 4 on, 12 off), and the thermostat to "run" the stove. Pushing just over 2 dots, I will use a full hopper in one day only if the stove runs nonstop (happened 2 weeks ago for a few days in a cold snap), surface temps on the side 570+. On pilot only, which I won't see again till probably March, I can go 2 full days. Getting 3/4 pan of ash to a full hopper of coal. If I turn the feed rate up past say 2.5 dots or so, I'll push red coal right off the grates when the stoker runs
I did notice, once I got the manometer hooked up last year, I wasn't feeding nearly enough air to the fire, once I got the air up to the right level, the coal I'm getting burns way hotter for the same feed rate. Too much air, and the fire looks like a forge (white hot coals
) and the coal burns out but does not burn completely-ash on the outside but still unburned coal on the inside. I regularly grab a handful ash from the pan (after it's cooled off) and crush in my hand to make sure I'm getting as complete a burn as possible- too much black specks and I'll adjust the feedrate & air, only had to do that twice so far this year.
Should say- stove is in the kitchen of our 1799 farmhouse, kitchen now 84 deg, rest of the first floor within 10 degrees of that. Upstairs is cooler, but I never ran the heat much upstairs with the furnace anyway.
I did notice, once I got the manometer hooked up last year, I wasn't feeding nearly enough air to the fire, once I got the air up to the right level, the coal I'm getting burns way hotter for the same feed rate. Too much air, and the fire looks like a forge (white hot coals
) and the coal burns out but does not burn completely-ash on the outside but still unburned coal on the inside. I regularly grab a handful ash from the pan (after it's cooled off) and crush in my hand to make sure I'm getting as complete a burn as possible- too much black specks and I'll adjust the feedrate & air, only had to do that twice so far this year.Should say- stove is in the kitchen of our 1799 farmhouse, kitchen now 84 deg, rest of the first floor within 10 degrees of that. Upstairs is cooler, but I never ran the heat much upstairs with the furnace anyway.
Jimbo what is your heatload like? Size of house, how old? ect? Stove in basement? Living room?jimbo970 wrote:Hi Everyone,
I have a mag stoker and have been using for the past three years. my question is I am probable using more coal than I should be. I am currently pushing 3.5 dots and control box is 6 min on 15 min off and stove tem is 400degrees. This consumes about 100'bs a day. I think if my off time was 20 min then I would get more out fo the stove. Has anyone made theri own control box or altered the original to change the off time from 15 min to 20 etc... I want to find ways to tweak the stove to lessen the amount of coal I am using per day. If I lower the on time the fire goes down and stove temp drops. If I decrease the dots I am pushing the same thing.
This will help determine if your coal usage is way off.
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bigstick6017555
- Member
- Posts: 744
- Joined: Mon. Jan. 12, 2009 8:10 pm
- Location: Narvon 17555
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Harman Magnum
- Coal Size/Type: rice
hi,
here is my my set up and coal usage for the past 3 yrs, fairly new rancher,2400 sq ft upstairs, full basement underneath, approx. 3/4 of basement made in to rec room. Harman mag stoker located in rec room. attached to 6 inch flue chimmney. .03 wc draft on pipe before damper, .04 wc draft above fire. box settings 5-12-4 (on off dist.) pushing about 2 1/2 dots but I really pay more atttention to the hot coals from end of grate which is about 3/4 to 1 inch. diff. coals do make a diff. on the feed rate. no vents to upstairs just natural air flow hot up cold down the stair case (approx middle of house) in the drop ceiling of the rec room for the winter I remove some tiles under each room and above the stove so the heat can warm the hard wood floors.i am using the mercury thermostat that came with unit. it is located in rec room approx. 15ft from stove. I keep that set at approx 75. if the temp. out side is in mid 20's the up stairs stays around 69 on any room above rec room. (using 55-60 # of coal)if outside drops to teens or single digits I have to run downstairs at around 80 + and upstairs stays around 68.(60-75# of coal)if temps get in the 30's it will maintain temps just on the maintainance cycle(35-40# of coal) and this is a 24 hr cycle
here is my my set up and coal usage for the past 3 yrs, fairly new rancher,2400 sq ft upstairs, full basement underneath, approx. 3/4 of basement made in to rec room. Harman mag stoker located in rec room. attached to 6 inch flue chimmney. .03 wc draft on pipe before damper, .04 wc draft above fire. box settings 5-12-4 (on off dist.) pushing about 2 1/2 dots but I really pay more atttention to the hot coals from end of grate which is about 3/4 to 1 inch. diff. coals do make a diff. on the feed rate. no vents to upstairs just natural air flow hot up cold down the stair case (approx middle of house) in the drop ceiling of the rec room for the winter I remove some tiles under each room and above the stove so the heat can warm the hard wood floors.i am using the mercury thermostat that came with unit. it is located in rec room approx. 15ft from stove. I keep that set at approx 75. if the temp. out side is in mid 20's the up stairs stays around 69 on any room above rec room. (using 55-60 # of coal)if outside drops to teens or single digits I have to run downstairs at around 80 + and upstairs stays around 68.(60-75# of coal)if temps get in the 30's it will maintain temps just on the maintainance cycle(35-40# of coal) and this is a 24 hr cycle
beatle,
I have a 1924 4 square brick 3 story about 1700 sq ft. stove is in the basement with the 6" duct going about 10 feet to a register cut inot the living room floor. The duct pipe is insulated and the heat blowing from the register is hot and blows hard from the vent. I have an extention duct on the combustion fan to full cooler air from an adjacent room in the basement that is a small family room.
My problem is that if I lower the dots I am pushing the fire on the grate will go way down anf the heat in the stove drops dramatically. in orfer to keep the stove at about 350-400 degrees I need to push 3-3.5 dots and run the combustion fan fully open and on time 5-6 off 15
I have a 1924 4 square brick 3 story about 1700 sq ft. stove is in the basement with the 6" duct going about 10 feet to a register cut inot the living room floor. The duct pipe is insulated and the heat blowing from the register is hot and blows hard from the vent. I have an extention duct on the combustion fan to full cooler air from an adjacent room in the basement that is a small family room.
My problem is that if I lower the dots I am pushing the fire on the grate will go way down anf the heat in the stove drops dramatically. in orfer to keep the stove at about 350-400 degrees I need to push 3-3.5 dots and run the combustion fan fully open and on time 5-6 off 15
jimbo, my first advise is to ignore the dots.
At least that's what my 2 or 3 years with a magnum proved to me. Make sure you use a Manometer and set the draft correctly. Next adjust the feed rate so that at full tilt there is ~1" of ash before the end of the grate.
I found the Magnum ran best when the combustion blower was on 24/7. I had it so my on time was maybe 2 minutes or less and off time was 10 or 12 minutes. I can't really remember. Just keep playing with the setting.
Also, is you basement REALLY hot and the rest of the the house moderately warm. In the end BTU's are BTU's. If it's 0F outside and 1 room is 80F and the other rooms are 75F, 70F, and 60F, that's a lot of heat. In my 1100 sq ft RR my Magnum was in the basement and the basement was HOT HOT and the upstairs was barely 70F when the temp's dropped to the single digits. I was burning through 80-100lbs a day in those cold days.
Are you using a t-stat are just calling for heat all the time?
I have a boiler now and January was REALLY cold this year compared to last year and I only burned ~1 ton of coal. I would have burned probably 1.5 tons with my Harman b/c my heat distribution wasn't the best. Also, I'm not heating the basement now this year.
At least that's what my 2 or 3 years with a magnum proved to me. Make sure you use a Manometer and set the draft correctly. Next adjust the feed rate so that at full tilt there is ~1" of ash before the end of the grate.
I found the Magnum ran best when the combustion blower was on 24/7. I had it so my on time was maybe 2 minutes or less and off time was 10 or 12 minutes. I can't really remember. Just keep playing with the setting.
Also, is you basement REALLY hot and the rest of the the house moderately warm. In the end BTU's are BTU's. If it's 0F outside and 1 room is 80F and the other rooms are 75F, 70F, and 60F, that's a lot of heat. In my 1100 sq ft RR my Magnum was in the basement and the basement was HOT HOT and the upstairs was barely 70F when the temp's dropped to the single digits. I was burning through 80-100lbs a day in those cold days.
Are you using a t-stat are just calling for heat all the time?
I have a boiler now and January was REALLY cold this year compared to last year and I only burned ~1 ton of coal. I would have burned probably 1.5 tons with my Harman b/c my heat distribution wasn't the best. Also, I'm not heating the basement now this year.
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Mossy Beard
- Member
- Posts: 116
- Joined: Thu. Jun. 26, 2008 7:08 am
This is my first year with the Mag.
I can't tell exactly what the timer settings are right now ( have to look) because I've adjusted them several times.
I do run the comb. and dist. blower all the time and reguarly check the draft with my guage. At full burn, I'm running about -.04 at the breech and about the same over the fire. I have a dedicated air supply to the comb. blower, with the damper on the fan about 1/3 open.
I get some unburned coal but not alot, imho. I may try to fool with the comb. fan damper a little but it works pretty well. My coal bed, at full burn, is nice and red ( not white) with about 1" of ash at the end of the great.
As a matter of "course", I add 1- 5 gal bucket of coal morning and evening. ( producing about 3/4 of a pan of ashes). Heat distribution is pretty good in my house.
My question is : What is "alot of unburned coal " ? ( not to hy-jac your thread) I guess I need a picture of "ideal ash production" ?
Mossy Beard
I can't tell exactly what the timer settings are right now ( have to look) because I've adjusted them several times.
I do run the comb. and dist. blower all the time and reguarly check the draft with my guage. At full burn, I'm running about -.04 at the breech and about the same over the fire. I have a dedicated air supply to the comb. blower, with the damper on the fan about 1/3 open.
I get some unburned coal but not alot, imho. I may try to fool with the comb. fan damper a little but it works pretty well. My coal bed, at full burn, is nice and red ( not white) with about 1" of ash at the end of the great.
As a matter of "course", I add 1- 5 gal bucket of coal morning and evening. ( producing about 3/4 of a pan of ashes). Heat distribution is pretty good in my house.
My question is : What is "alot of unburned coal " ? ( not to hy-jac your thread) I guess I need a picture of "ideal ash production" ?
Mossy Beard
I am running the combustion fan 24\7 and distribution 24\7. I can crank the stove up with 15 off and 7or 8 on pushing 3.5 dots coals are about 1 inch from end of plate and the stove is about 430 degrees. WIth this temp I can get some god heat but if I lower things down in terms of dots or on time, the fire is not enought to keep the stove above 250. I vacumme fly ash out often and when the stove is cooking the flames are about 10inches above the burn plate
I am running the combustion fan 24\7 and distribution 24\7. I can crank the stove up with 15 off and 7or 8 on pushing 3.5 dots coals are about 1 inch from end of plate and the stove is about 430 degrees. WIth this temp I can get some god heat but if I lower things down in terms of dots or on time, the fire is not enought to keep the stove above 250. I vacumme fly ash out often and when the stove is cooking the flames are about 10inches above the burn plate
jimbo,jimbo970 wrote:WIth this temp I can get some god heat but if I lower things down in terms of dots or on time, the fire is not enought to keep the stove above 250. I vacumme fly ash out often and when the stove is cooking the flames are about 10inches above the burn plate
I'm a little confused (not hard to do). Why are you so worried about the stove temp? If your house is at the desired temperature and the stove is in idle mode (timer mode), then the stove temp should get cooler.
Then when the t-stat calls for heat the stove will ramp back up to full heat.
Do you have a t-stat attached to the stove?
or
Are you trying to heat your house with only the timer mode?