Concrete Like Ash in my Boiler

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T

Tully NY

New Member
Feb 17, 2019
1
NY
Hello all. I have an outdoor Heatmor 200 wood boiler. In the past two weeks, the ash in the fire box has become hard, concrete-like, with a greenish tint. At the same time, I am having a hard time trying to keep the temperature up. This situation is brand new; for the previous ten years the ash was soft, brownish-gray, and of a sandy consistency. Any idea what is going on here?

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
This could be clinker formation. It's not uncommon. Some wood has a higher silica content than others. Also, bark has more in it than the wood. The silica fuses under the heat of the coal bed.

The clinker formation is most likely is unrelated to a performance degradation. I am moving this posting to the boiler room for help on that issue.
 
Possible leak in the firebox? Water levels staying steady?
 
Any change in the wood supply? How well is the wood seasoned?
 
Clinkers! begreen hit it with the first shot. Silica, sugar content and bark.
 
And all of a sudden after 10 years he sees his first clinkers?
 
Has the crusted ash choked off airflow up through the grates? If so it could greatly affect performance.
 
Really curious on more info.

Pieces of hard stuff, I would certainly go with clinkers (although not sure why it would suddenly happen after 10 years - surely there would have been some at some point before?).

The whole ash bed being hard sounds to me like there is a leak.

Also I don't think I have ever seen any green in my clinkers. But think I have seen green in wet ashes.
 
maple1 said:
Really curious on more info.

Pieces of hard stuff, I would certainly go with clinkers (although not sure why it would suddenly happen after 10 years - surely there would have been some at some point before?).

The whole ash bed being hard sounds to me like there is a leak.

Also I don't think I have ever seen any green in my clinkers. But think I have seen green in wet ashes.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly. If I leave the lid off my ash bucket and snow falls in I’ve seen some greenish crust. Some people who have had leaks out there on the net have described what the OP is describing.
 
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