Long story, but yes we are down again. Turns out during the efforts to get the ash auger working automatically the ash stir quit working.
Not knowing this we fired the unit back up and all "appeared" good. I select the ash auger "manual" button for 20 seconds an hour to remove the ash, but since it was not stirring the ash keeping it flat on the bottom of the combustion chamber it built up like a snow drift all around the edges. What I suspect happen is once the ash built up around the edges, almost like a ramp, the air flow direction was significantly changed and I think it caused the wok to cock to one side, thus drastically changing the performance. It appears that once it cocked to one side the fuel burn and/or propane was cooking the side of it and I suspect that warped it enough to fall, although this time I caught it before it fell.
Realize this is speculation but after years of jet propulsion work and understanding combustion dynamics and air flow I would bet dinner this is what happen.
When the ash built up on the edges, again almost like a ramp, it blocked the fuel port enough that the fan packed more sawdust/rice mix into the feed hole causing it to eventually stop running. Problem with that is even though its not getting sawdust the propane kicks on and tries to assist and at the same time the fuel auger is turning trying to give it the fuel its calling for and since the hole is blocked, it packs it in tighter than freshly kiln cooked bricks. It packed it in so hard that it broke the weld on the auger and torqued the auger like you wouldn't believe.
When I told Seth about the auger I said, "you wont believe what this auger looks like". He responded with basically an assurance that he has seen several lunched augers.
Looking at everything that has happen with my unit I suspect the bottom line contributor started with the ash auger not working at all in automatic. The first problems were solved to a degree when I started manually removing the ash. The problem was lack of experience with the unit to know how long to run the ash auger in manual to prevent the ash build up that I believe led to the wok issues. I think it just built up to the point it changed the air flow and when that happen, I am betting the significant jet blast created from the burn is what effected the wok. Point being, keep very little ash in the bottom.
I am confident that once the ash auger and stir are working the way they are suppose to, and a good ash auger setting is determined for what ever fuel your burning all will be good. Seth suggested not bunring any of the rice hulls as he thought that may be a contributing factor because of their high ash content. I believe that if the ash is the problem then the fix is having the ash auger and stir work they way they were designed, which looks like today will be fixed. That and considering the initial problems accured with sawdust I dont think the type of fuel is the problem. Regardless, I will cease using the rice hulls once this hopper is done and go straight to sawdust and see what happens.
Having brought a prodcut through development, R&D, manufacturing, distribution and eventually to international sales I can say these bumps are minor and to be expected. Thats why they called us testers.
They want feedback and I will do my best to provide it based on my experience.
One thing I clearly identified and I thank my experince as a jet mechanic in the AF for this one, is that when the unit is working properly the water temps are achieved fairly quick but being able to tie all the indicators on the display together paint a pretty clear picture for me.
The first indicator that I had a problem was from my PC. Watching the controls I could see that the unit was burning hotter and I had to keep backing the feed rate down. That should not have happen since it was all the same fuel. Even with the fuel set down to 15% I was still hitting 1250 degrees in the combustion chamber. My ceramic temps were a consistant 750F. The other indicator was the water temp was very slow to rise. Knowing the combination of having to turn the fuel rate way back, slow water temp rise even though I had high combustion temps, I shut it down and went out and had a look. That is when I found the ash ramped up around the inside edges, the wok tipped to one side, and while typing this I now realize, the flame was probably being diverted directly onto the probe after it deflected off the wok causing the combustion temp issue and only providing heat to one side of the boiler, thus the slow water temp rise in relation to combustion temp.
With that, stay tuned for future updates!
