# just got an A-Maize-ing heat boiler, any pointers?



## steelman (Dec 20, 2013)

found it on ebay, needs a little work but for $600 its worth it.  most of the parts are in the Grainger catalog.
  seller said that the bin ager coupling is stripped.  looks like a small love joy coupling.  also needs the pellet up grade kit.  talked to a salesman said the kit is only an upgraded tube.  from 2" ID to a 2.5" ID.  may pick up a PVC tube and see if it work.y
   i have a question for anyone that can help.
   one of the biggest problems is that smoke can back feed into the hopper at low fire.  i think the problem at low fire is that the draft fan shuts down and the boiler relies on natural draft to keep the thing lit.  has anyone direct wired the draft fan to stay on 100% of the time?  i have a Treager furnace in my house (the boiler is in the garage for hydronic floor heat) and the draft fan never shuts off.  the boiler feeds pellets every 6 min. when the room dose not call for heat.  then feeds for 2 min. for a total cycle time of 8 min.   just like my Treager.  does anyone see a problem with the draft fan providing the needed air instead of the natural draft?  this way i dont think there will be a problem with smoke backing into the hopper.
    any comments would be great.
thank you.

jim


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## timberframe (Dec 20, 2013)

Hey Jim, Great find. I cant wait to hear if ya get it up and running. Hopefully someone can answer your questions. Keep us informed on the progress.


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## jeff_t (Dec 20, 2013)

http://www.iburncorn.com/index.php/forum/31-ldj-manufacturing-a-maize-ing-heat-products

I had a forced air furnace, and loved it. When I was buying corn for $2/bu, anyway. It worked great. I never had any smoke issues. It took a while to get all the settings dialed in, but after that I pretty much just had to keep the hopper full.

I burned it with a few pellets and some oyster shell mixed in, to keep the clinkers under control.


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## heaterman (Dec 21, 2013)

steelman said:


> found it on ebay, needs a little work but for $600 its worth it.  most of the parts are in the Grainger catalog.
> seller said that the bin ager coupling is stripped.  looks like a small love joy coupling.  also needs the pellet up grade kit.  talked to a salesman said the kit is only an upgraded tube.  from 2" ID to a 2.5" ID.  may pick up a PVC tube and see if it work.y
> i have a question for anyone that can help.
> one of the biggest problems is that smoke can back feed into the hopper at low fire.  i think the problem at low fire is that the draft fan shuts down and the boiler relies on natural draft to keep the thing lit.  has anyone direct wired the draft fan to stay on 100% of the time?  i have a Treager furnace in my house (the boiler is in the garage for hydronic floor heat) and the draft fan never shuts off.  the boiler feeds pellets every 6 min. when the room dose not call for heat.  then feeds for 2 min. for a total cycle time of 8 min.   just like my Treager.  does anyone see a problem with the draft fan providing the needed air instead of the natural draft?  this way i dont think there will be a problem with smoke backing into the hopper.
> ...




The most troublesome issue with corn burners seems to be the consistency of the fuel itself. Too many fines, moisture content variations, etc. 
Get a handle on those things and if the unit quality/design is decent it should give you pretty good service. 

On that particular unit the bin auger and burner feed auger have to be set independently of each other. One would think that is not big deal but the thing is, the target speed from each auger by necessity has to  change with the fuel quality. One batch of fuel may be at xx% moisture and the next batch at something more, or less. 
From our experience, corn burners require pretty regular tinkering to keep running right. Wood pellets are much more consistent and you will not have the same problems as with corn. 

Buy extra love-joys. That is a very common problem.


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## Fred61 (Dec 21, 2013)

What little experience I've had with burning corn has lead me to believe that sugar content seems to be a big factor in performance.


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## steelman (Dec 23, 2013)

thank you all for replying.  
  but does anyone have some input to the original question?

"i have a question for anyone that can help.
one of the biggest problems is that smoke can back feed into the hopper at low fire. i think the problem at low fire is that the draft fan shuts down and the boiler relies on natural draft to keep the thing lit. has anyone direct wired the draft fan to stay on 100% of the time? i have a Treager furnace in my house (the boiler is in the garage for hydronic floor heat) and the draft fan never shuts off. the boiler feeds pellets every 6 min. when the room dose not call for heat. then feeds for 2 min. for a total cycle time of 8 min. just like my Treager. does anyone see a problem with the draft fan providing the needed air instead of the natural draft? this way i dont think there will be a problem with smoke backing into the hopper."

   i have the proper chimney,  6"  and its installed so i can do as the owners manual says to run it IE natural draft.  just dont see the need to rely on the natural draft when the unit has the draft fan.

thank you.

jim


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## JTWALL (Dec 23, 2013)

Let me tell you, if you get Pantry Moths in the corn like I did, you will not be happy!  Took me almost 2 years to get rid of those damn things! Took me some time to figure out where they were coming from.  By then, they had a good foothold in the house. They got into everything.


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## steelman (Dec 24, 2013)

JTWALL said:


> Let me tell you, if you get Pantry Moths in the corn like I did, you will not be happy!  Took me almost 2 years to get rid of those damn things! Took me some time to figure out where they were coming from.  By then, they had a good foothold in the house. They got into everything.



will not be burning corn, or not untill it gets down below $200 a ton.  really like using the Kentucky Kernal pellets at $180 a ton.

but thanks for the heads up.


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## harttj (Dec 25, 2013)

steelman said:


> will not be burning corn, or not untill it gets down below $200 a ton.  really like using the Kentucky Kernal pellets at $180 a ton.
> 
> but thanks for the heads up.


Where are you at?  Corn is less than $150 here. Down to $135 for awhile.


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## heaterman (Dec 25, 2013)

steelman said:


> thank you all for replying.
> but does anyone have some input to the original question?
> 
> "i have a question for anyone that can help.
> ...




As far as I'm concerned the issue you describe is a design flaw. It's set up that way to try to keep the fire going without having to relight. (AKA idle mode) The chimney should be supplying enough draft to keep the smoke going in the right direction.

Various manufacturers use different methods, like the Traeger. 
If you bypass the shut down and make the fan go all the time I would just about bet you'll be getting into an overheat situation. It is not designed to operate that way. On the flip side of the coin, it's not designed to reliably shut off and re-light correctly 100% of the time either.


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## steelman (Dec 25, 2013)

harttj said:


> Where are you at?  Corn is less than $150 here. Down to $135 for awhile.



just south east of Canton.  
  in November i could get 30% or less moisture,  50,  40lb bagged corn per ton for right at $230 a ton.
  now, if i had a silo i could get run of the mill corn blown in for $150 a ton.  not something im ready to deal with.
    if it gets back to $100 a ton delivered, i would deal with the problems of wet corn.  but not at $200+ a ton.

are you talking bagged corn or bulk?


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## harttj (Dec 26, 2013)

steelman said:


> just south east of Canton.
> in November i could get 30% or less moisture,  50,  40lb bagged corn per ton for right at $230 a ton.
> now, if i had a silo i could get run of the mill corn blown in for $150 a ton.  not something im ready to deal with.
> if it gets back to $100 a ton delivered, i would deal with the problems of wet corn.  but not at $200+ a ton.
> ...


Bulk corn. 15% moisture. Nobody should have 30% as it will not keep.


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