How do you start a fire in a axeman - Anderson coal boiler?

Answer 1

How to start a fire in an A-A coal boiler I'm assuming a new, or "new to you" A-A. This assumes an empty firepit chamber without an insulating ash bed to support the new fire mass. 1) Make the house "heat-needy" (open windows if necessary to lower temp to 65F); warm, sunny days are NOT good days to start your fire. 2) Take off the A-A transfer head cover (3 nuts and lock washers). 3) Dump ~5 gallons of cold wood or coal ash down transfer hole (may be dusty). 4) Tie fire door up out of the way to give access to fire pit through the round port. 5) Pile in kindling a couple inches high -- shavings followed by hardwood strips is good; some people soak with charcoal or lighter fluid, but I haven't found it necessary. 6) Dump in a quart or two of pea coal through transfer head. 7) Place the "outfire/overfire" aquastat (A'stat on the rear of the unit) low-temp toggle switch in the override "ON" position and wait for coal to fill the stoker auger and run down the transfer head; then toggle "OFF". 8) Replace transfer head cover and fasteners. 9) Rearrange coal through the fire port if necessary to permit access to the edge of the kindling pile. Here's the killer: the chimney flue will be cold and not draw until warmed by the fire or preheated by some other means. Unless you have access to an acetylene torch or salamander space heater to somehow direct into and preheat the flue without melting the stovepipe, lighting the fire will temporarilly produce smoke in the space. This can be minimized by tying wet strips of rag around all joints and a plastic bag over the draft damper opening; 10) Place low-temp override toggle switch back to "ON" -- blower will come on and coal will start flowing again. 11) Immediately light kindling with an acetylene or propane torch. 12) The ash bed will gradually lower because of the operation of the grates and the firemass will be replenished by the auger. 13) When boiler water temp exceeds the low-temp setting on the outfire/overfire A'stat, return the override toggle to the normally "OFF" position. 14) Over the next 6-8 hours, you should ensure that there's a periodic call for heat to let the firemass settle-in (open windows if you must). If it looks like the fire is going much deeper into the firepit and is covered by a lot of raw (unfired, black) coal, you can place a prop under the end of the ashing arm (the metal arm that rocks up and down) to block the action of the ash grates until the ashbed is reestablished. 15) Enjoy your anthracite stove and your independence from foreign oil while knowing that you're burning a fossil fuel cleaner than wood, oil, or propane. During heating season, check the transfer head bearing oil cup monthly. At the end of the heating season, just remove the twisted belt from the motor to the auger gearbox, block the ashing arm, and let your A-A naturally run itself out of fuel. That leaves a residual ash bed ready for the next heating season. Don't forget to replace the blower and gearbox oil (SAE 50 and 90, respectively).