Got busy Squaring and jigging on the Adv 2 T fire pot today. The original bars were pretty sad and a stainless plate was needed to keep the fuel in the grate area, plus it needed a scatter bar and a front deflector plate to keep the shells in the pot instead of flying out over the top. All looking pretty good so far, just need to give it a test ride and see how it works. This is similar to the one I built for our other Adv 2 T A few pix
Thanks Using the shells for fuel has necessitated creative ideas. Without the bar the stuff piles up in the middle like a little tee pee and does not work well. The shell pieces hit the bar as they come out of the chute and scatter out across the fire grate. I may redo the bar a second time as I am not real happy with the shape as yet. My original in the operating stove is a bit different as it was modified several time during the initial runs so as to get it in the sweet spot. The stainless plate is pretty much a tried and true design that duplicates the old standard grate floor. The ultra grate that Whitfield came out with is not a good setup with alternative fuels. Later today I will make a second bar and see if I can get it more to my liking.
Got after the spreader bar and stuck it back in the lathe and "Whittled" on it a bit more. Looks good now. In a bit I'm gonna purge oot the pellets that are left in the tank and stoke it with shells and build a fire. This will tell the story right quick as to how things are working. Will post a piccy or two once things are going along.
OOOOOOOK Got the pot all squared away and went after getting a fire going to test things. Scooped out all the pellets and refilled with shells. Got things lit off and ran it full tilt to purge the remaining pellets out of the auger. Something was not quite right it seemed, as even with pellets the sucker would not keep a fire on the low setting. Finally the shells started coming through well and the issue of keeping the fire was still an issue. Adjusted the draft fan and the feed trimmers some and still no cigar. Would run fine on the #2 setting (5 seconds off) and real fine above that. Caught the pix on the 2 setting. My other big Whit runs fine on #1 Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Being outdoors I could not see the LED feed lamp well to count the off time. Got the lamp shaded and AHH HAH #1 is supposed to be 7 seconds off and in real time is at 10 seconds off. The fire literally burned itself out between drops, and it the drop was a tad light it was game over. After figuring out that the issue is the off time on #1 life was good. Unit runs fine on #2 No real easy way to fix the issue other than replacing the resistor on the #1 position . Not real interested in ripping the board apart. On shells a good solid 6 seconds is sweet, 7 is ok for low. 5 seconds is about tops for feed rate. A good shot of the spreader bar in the center of the pot. On #4 setting the beast just rocks, and 5 would likely melt it in short order.
Well, that is now a real beauty. Excellent! I had much trouble with my little Whit on low as well, for the same reasons. I finally fixed it by getting my damper loosened up a bit, giving me full range of control. I retired it to the shed, though, as I need an auto ignitor for the office where it was located. Replaced it with a Quad Santa Fe that I like, but that little Whit was a true workhorse. Haven't hooked it up in the shed, as I've been swamped with "regular" work all season, including weekends. Trying to hire some kids (they would not like to hear me say that) to help with that, but they take forever to train. Anyway, GREAT work.
Thanks Wilbur Trying to get these older stoves back in the groove can be a challenge. This ADV 2 T was in overall great physical condition, but the thing had been MOLESTED unmercifully by a tech that was trying to fix it for the original owner. There was a ton of SIN left behind that any first year high school shop student should have been able to fix far and away better. Just a serious case of "HASH" left in the thing. First was a draft fan that was nearly stuck and just needed a few drops of oil to get it going. The idiots had messed with the trim pots and had them WAAAAAAAY off in the ozones in a vain attempt to get the stove going. The auger tube had sprung a leak at the motor mount flange and was dumping pellets into the mechanical cabinet, to the extent that I removed nearly 1/2 of a 3 gallon pail of pellets. The room air fan had been gobbling the pellets up and blowing them into the heat tube chamber Took a while with the shop vac and the high pressure air hose to clear the mess out of that area. The squirrel cage room air fan had pellets jammed in the cage to the point that it was so out of balance that it was shaking the entire stove badly. Still not sure why the calibration is off on the low heat setting, but I am thinking about poking into the control board today and seeing if I can get to and replace the offending resistor. The ash pan door latch had been mauled badly and some clown had somehow removed the latch striker and turned it around backwards so the thing would not latch. The only solution was replacing the latch. Took some digging but found a box of these little gems at a local "Surplus Gizmo's" shop for cheap. A crazy deal to find a pile of these for only a couple $$$ The ash pan door had been goop'd shut with silicone since the latch was trashed. Just a real sad sad mess. But still a great buy at $200 The tech that had messed with it told the P O that it was junk and they needed to buy a new stove from his store The guy was a crooked salesman and not a stove tech. Anyway, the little beastie lives yet again. The old Whits are indeed a workhorse, not real stylish by today's standards, but rather possess a timeless charm.
All right. Life is good. Swapped out the giant AZZ combustion fan blade and put the stock one back in, life is great again. With the pot done with it's needed modifications and a really good run today things look great. The control board still has a couple minor issues, but I was able to adjust those out of the equation. The fire balances real good on both sides of the spreader bar and the flame is perfect, with just a hint of blue at the base of the flame. Had to adjust the damper rod stop just a touch to finally get things in the groove. All that's needed is a paint job and it will look as good as new. Here are a bunch of pix taken a bit ago.
Hi Snowy Does the scatter bar help when burning wood pellets? How about the upgrade to the Nylatron Auger bearing for longer auger motor life?
The scatter bar actually makes things a mess with pellets. The pellets bounce off and at times bounce over the pot. Nylatron is a good thing.
Nice work Snowy!! Great mods to help you burn your fuel of choice!! My Fahrenheit doesn't have a full bar, but there is a "hump" in the top of the pot that spreads the pellets in the pot. But this furnace multifuel and is rated to burn everything but coal Never ran it without the "hump", but I would imagine it would all build up in the center, as it's a very wide pot and angled in the bottom like a "V". The furnace was originally built with a flat plate in the back, then the same large plate, but with the hump. Then a smaller version (what's in my furnace now and I have a back up) with the same hump/bump. They are both used and rusty, but will clean up if need be. As will my extra burn pot. Extra parts are nice when you rely on this as a primary Heat
Yesssss, spare parts are a very nice thing, especially when the White chit is a blowin sideways. The shells will just fall into a little pyramid pile in the center of the grate right below the drop tube without the bar in place. It was a "Sit and watch/trial and error" thing the first time through this game back when I did the stoves a few years ago. Another reason I wanted spare stoves of the same exact make, model and such. Easy to reproduce the functionality.
