WC90 is firing, complete and working good

[LeonMSPT]

Finished it up today, fired with wood and switched immediately to coal. High temps here today in high 30's and low 40's, coal idles better than wood. Fired right up without a hitch, cam right up to temperature, and when the combustion fan stopped the wood fire tended to keep going a bit.

Burned down to a bed of coals, and waited for "demand". Need combustion fan to light the coal on bed of wood coals. Turned on Modine and pulled water temperature down neatly in about ten minutes. Put a layer of coal on top, switched fan on and sat down. About a half hour later the coal was all red, and I filled the boiler with 40 pounds of chestnut coal, cracked the overfire air about 1/3, closed the door and turned the blower back on. Took about another 45 minutes to get the coal lit and the boiler to go off on high limit.

Aquastats are never exact, and it was going off at 165/170 per the thermometers in both boilers. Set it up a bit higher, and watched it come up and shut down. Very nice, fire settled down immediately and temperature held dead on. Went down a little while ago and added another 15 or so pounds of coal, during demand, and once it came back to high limit and the coal was all red, shut it up for the night.

It's going to be interesting to see what's left in the morning. Nice not carting wood up the stairs by the bag and throwing it into the fireplace insert. REALLY nice burning free coal.

Stack temperatures interesting. During high fire, gets up around 350 degrees, and then drops during idle to 125 to 150. Normal? Good? Fan comes on and it doesn't take long to get right back up there.

 

[Blevesque]

Nice looking install! As far as the low stack temp I think it's normal, the guy that helped me with my controls burns coal in his Sime boiler and says his stack temp is 300-350 when its going full tilt and around 200 when its crusing. I have never burned coal but this is his 2nd season with it. Are the new yorkers green now?

 

[mtarbert]

I spotted the problem with your install right away. There are no boxes of splits or instructions sitting on or close to the stove. Maybe the drums hold the benzene that is used for starting fluid.
Just joking. Nice install...looks like it is going to be a warm winter in your home.
Mike

 

[LeonMSPT]

Kind of having a fight with it this morning... oh well, learning curve with coal. Load, establish the fire, then shake... do not shake, then establish the fire and load. Shook first, doesn't want to get up on step now... just glowing in the middle with a little blue fire and no heat. Oh well, I'll get it figured out.

The barrels hold the coal I got for the cost of shoveling it off the lady's ground where he coal bin collapsed... 7 barrels by the time I got done.

Thanks, great credit to the contractor I worked with on it.

 

[LeonMSPT]

It got to 45 degrees here today... coal doesn't like that. Fire stayed going, with the fan running... shook it some and had to leave for a work thing. When I got home at 6:30, the fire was just coming back onto step... stack was 300 and climbing, and the water temperature in the boiler was 140 degrees. Was red and getting redder all across the coal bed. While the blower was running, I shut it down and added a bunch of coal. Now? Once the outside temperature dropped below 40 degrees again, the boiler temperature when back up to 185 and is now idling away at that temp until morning.

 

[ssupercoolss]

i had no luck with coal in my wc-90. it was probably due to a lack of knowledge on my part though, but it wasnt a good experience. just basically a glow in my fire box that wouldnt heat as well as wood. lots of unburnt coal as well. BRL - i think the 90's are green and the 130's are blue.

 

[LeonMSPT]

Been burning wood for a couple days... a little smoky but heats well. No smoke out of it unless you have a stupid moment and open the door air supply when the blowers not running on hire fire, or open the door too quickly. Not fast, mind you, but not allowing time for the draft to establish itself and the unburned gasses to be consumed.

What kind of burn times are you getting?
Have you got a stack thermometer? Temps on hire fire, and idling?

The coal? It seemed easy, actually. Fire seemed like it held for longer than wood, and overall stack temperatures were less but the boiler kept temperature more stable. As it gets colder I am going to go back and forth some. See what I like best in it, and then go with that next year.

Pretty smoky beast out the top of the chimney aren't they?

 

[ssupercoolss]

my stack temp on hi fire usually runs about 350...i think...i am mobile right now, and off the top of my head i just know that i run in the "good" area of the thermometer. idle goes way down...i havent really been going for extended burn times, i have been running this just mostly when i am home, so i just throw wood in as needed, load it up before i go to sleep, but havent been able to get an overnite burn, most times i come down to just a few coals, that i can get to relight with some kindling. i think whats killing me is my swing on my thermostat, i think its at 2, and seems like things would be better on 1. by the time the thermo calls for heat, the water in the pipes has cooled down so much it takes alot of fuel to bring everything back up to temp. still tinkering with everything, but overall happy with it. smoke....better than i anticipated, my chimney is pretty high, which is good cause i have very close nieghbors. i walk my dog everyday to find that i am not stinking up the neighborhood. not like i care, because i really dont like the people on either side of me. i prefer neighbors that "keep to themselves" rather than ask me what i am doing everytime they see me with a saw in my hand. i can tell you with the recent cold temps we have been having, i am burning a lot more wood than anticipated. i really didnt figure i would be running this thing for almost a month now.