Van Wert VA600 Rebuild

 
alpineboard
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Post by alpineboard » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 8:09 pm

Scott, that is 3" black iron with 0.200" wall thickness. I would have to buy 21 feet @ $475.00 , did plenty enough overhead pipe welding in high school to know what is going on. 7018 runs smooth as glass on dc rev.
Don , you are correct, the inside must be smooth, pipe clamp it, and tack.
It got me thinking of a possible why they stopped burning it, maybe there was an issue with fines, and they just did not want to deal with it. Because of the5 flutes sticking out. I would much rather side with a known amount of flutes, rather than take a chance and learn the hard way. Although, there are many other variables going on here. thanks

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Scottscoaled
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Post by Scottscoaled » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 8:20 pm

2.5" trade size rigid electrical conduit . 10' for $42. I have longer augers if you need one. I think I have a 10 footer.

 
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Post by alpineboard » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 8:42 pm

Sorry, I just checked the charts, Scott you are correct. 2 1/2 rigid electric conduit, 2.875 OD, just under 2.5" ID
, I only priced the blk iron, I can get the rigid 2 1/2 for the same locally 10 foot for $42. I was thinking that the electric conduit had a thinner wall thickness, I was wrong. It is the same as blk iron. I guess blk iron is high because it is for heat. Looks like I will get a new one, and use the old one for a lawn ornament of some kind.

 
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Post by Scottscoaled » Mon. Sep. 28, 2015 9:14 pm

Hold the phone here! My immediate thought was a guy in the back shop just scabbing on a piece. Welding slag all over the place. You obviously know how to weld. It probably would work just fine what you were going to do. My apologies for jumping the gun. :oops:

 
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Post by alpineboard » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 7:45 am

Not a problem, at least I now know that electrical conduit will work if for some reason this blk iron is strange, but a new pc of elec cond would be smooth on the inside. What I saw earlier, was the line up/centering of the secondary auger is important, thus the (3) 1/4-20 set bolts. Also , are you using any high heat permatex for an air seal at the end of the secondary auger tube assembly? where it goes on the secondary auger pipe? I am thinking of just a little to stop any air flow from the fan, and removal still is easy. I am not gluing it on. Still enough room to get in there with a hook knife or dentist hook tool. Reason being , on the initial dis assembly, there was some (small amt) of furnace cement at the edge, and some pretty thick grease on the inside, some one was trying to stop the air flow there.

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Post by McGiever » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 8:02 am

Electrical conduit will be galvanized too. ;)

 
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Post by StokerDon » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 7:14 pm

A.P. Make sure you check out Scott's video of the Van Wert. There is a small flexible pipe that runs some of the blower air into the feed pipe to keep coal gases from getting into your coal bin. It goes right in that area where you have the arrows. It's important!

Scott's Van Wert video,



-Don


 
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Post by alpineboard » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 7:55 pm

Yes Don, I am aware of the gas tube. It is possible that the positive pressure in that tube keeps possible coal dust from coming into the burn chamber and it is coming from the inside air chamber of the burn pot , so no flame or heat is present at that point, that is how I see it, maybe more to it than that.
I framed the hopper/bin today, and made a support for the 2 1/2 blk iron pipe. A 1/2 circle was cut into the board for the pipe to rest. Now when I took the boiler apart at the site when I got it, it had a support board for the blk iron pipe and a support board at the end of the auger. So this auger support board will lift the auger off the bottom of the inside of the blk iron pipe. If the auger is not hitting the inside of the tube it will not crush the coal as much, speculation. The auger does sag, it still might hit in the middle, but this auger support board will eliminate some of the auger hitting the inside of the blk iron pipe, and so , eliminate crushing coal, speculation. the pictures only show the blk iron pipe board support. I will make the auger support tomorrow and sheath, cutting a tee in 3/4" plywood over the auger.
And left enough clearance room on the hopper support beam to easily remove the auger for cleaning if necessary w/o having to take the hopper apart.

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Post by Scottscoaled » Tue. Sep. 29, 2015 8:13 pm

When I install the Van Werts, I go to the hardware store and get a block of the duct seal. The grey putty stuff. It just presses in around the auger tubes and the tube that comes out of the burn pot. The little hose pressurizes the feed tube so the coal gas doesn't flow out there. Sealing around the burn tube and auger tubes are important because it blows air thru the coal and creates a lot of black dust.

 
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Post by alpineboard » Wed. Sep. 30, 2015 6:49 am

Or perhaps the little hose is there for when the fan/unit is off (not energized) ? Does it some how prevent a burn back. The hose unites two volumes, of air, 1) the air side of the burn pot just above the fan air flow input to burn pot, and 2) the junction of the two augers, primary and secondary.
So when the fan is on, there is positive pressure on the little hose.
And when the fan is off, there should be a slight draw on the little tube due to the coal fire still going.

 
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Post by alpineboard » Wed. Sep. 30, 2015 5:11 pm

finished the angled hopper/bin and raked/hoe some coal onto it. Those 2 x4s in front of the auger tube pop write out w/2 screws, just to keep it from fanning out everywhere. might not use it but I had the wood.
The back 2x4 the auger is riding on elevates the auger in the tube to the middle of tube, I will see how this runs. At the top by the gears, the auger is in the middle of the tube. In past post I said the auger has flex, Today I stand corrected, if there is any flex, it is not much. Next year I may remove some more of that wall.

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Post by alpineboard » Tue. Oct. 06, 2015 7:49 pm

While testing the auger/auger feed box by turning the gear by hand, I was noticing some pieces getting caught and needed some more force to , I am guessing , break the piece in half. The noise on breaking sounded like a wooden clunk, not a metal clunk from the black iron pipe. So I am thinking some pieces are getting in behind the auger saddle (red arrows) and getting squished. So here is the fix , a top auger saddle in front of the lower saddle. I need to do these saddles , because it needs to be dis assembled, as compared to a board with a hole in it. There is room for this without any sacrifice of needed room. And it would also lower my visible flutes of the auger down to 3 1/2 flutes.
Also thinking of adding some 2x6/2x4 blocks in that auger feed box on the sides/bottom, this would make clean out easier, and the box does fill up with coal. But definitely do not want the block to jamb the auger.
To do a clean out of the feed box with the hopper full, I just slid some 1/4 laminate flooring boards under the coal and over the TEE hole in the angle plate.

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Last edited by alpineboard on Tue. Oct. 06, 2015 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Tue. Oct. 06, 2015 8:00 pm

That auger end is likely catching the flights on the wood as the auger loads up with coal & the end bends down. You should just have the auger flights out in the open with no end support,it can just ride on the coal that fills in under it. OR,if you really want to support the end,you need to make a hole for the shaft only to fit into & be the end support. You will need a washer to prevent the end flight from digging into the wood when all the auger is full of coal & the end thrust is pulling the auger downward.

 
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Post by alpineboard » Tue. Oct. 06, 2015 8:50 pm

I need to use the open ended auger supports , as this makes dis assembly possible. I would use a hole in a board if I could, but then I would not be able to take it apart for cleaning. What is happening is the small buck wheat and future rice coal is finding its way behind the lower auger saddle, from the top down support board and I can hear the coal getting crushed against the wood as the coal is pushed forward, as I am turning it by hand, so I can get a feel of what is going on, the flights are not catching, as far as I can tell.
So, Stop the coal from going down in the back by putting a cover on the top, this cover would be a top saddle. All of which are easily removed for total access cleaning. This is also how it was set up when I removed it, just the lower saddle. I do realize that a free float auger has its benefits as well , but I thought that I would try this, It is all easily removed to make it a free float auger.

 
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Post by Richard S. » Tue. Oct. 06, 2015 9:06 pm

alpineboard wrote:How does the VW door operate? It appears to have a wire handle, but I do not see any hinges. I do see a couple wing nuts. So, I conclude that to open the door , hold onto wire handle and remove the wing nuts and the door is removed from the boiler. Door installed by holding door in place and put wing nuts back on. Correct? Yes. No, Maybe? Determined from attached picture.
Sorry I missed this before, you're actually missing two pieces. There is a piece that is permanently bolted to the boiler with a ridge, the back of the door has groove for fiberglass rope . The wingnuts are used to tighten the door groove against the ridge. There should be two wire handles, they are window dressing for the most part unless you were taking the door off when it was hot. It's not really made to be opened frequently as there is no need. You use the peep hole to check the fire.

Here it is opened.


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