Dead coal in front portion?

Razzler wrote:

lowfog01 wrote:there is a big gap.

Thats for what Harman calls the "air wash" to keep the window cooler and cleaner ???

That may be but it certainly doesn't work very well. IMO It seems I'm consantaly cleaning the window and poking the dark areas in my coal bed! I'll give the gasket a try next year and see if it makes any difference. Thanks to all for everyone's input. Lisa

lowfog01 wrote:certainly doesn't work very well.

I agree with you, my 250's window is allways covered with flyash.

CapeCoaler wrote:Agree that the front of the Mark II burns out quicker...
Closer to the air knob, shortest path.
I get a good ash dump when I do a slow pull to full stop front and back.
Big chunks of ash pass unimpeded so the clinkers should fall with them...
Most do but sometimes a poke from the bottom helps.
I do occasionally get a clinker stuck that will not grind up so I push it back with the poking rod.

Hi CapeCoaler, This is the best shake down info yet! My SF-250 was very slow to respond using fast, short, choppy shake downs. Using the slow pull to the stops front and back did the trick!!!!
The 250 is back in the game! Also it is much less dusty than poking from the top.

The SF-250 also burns out quicker in front... On this stove, the low loading door prevents a deep bed of coal in front making it burn out faster.

Thank you CapeCoaler!!!!

RS

PC 12-47E wrote:Using the slow pull to the stops front and back did the trick!!!!

Are you saying that you pull the shaker handle all the way till it stop then back all the way till it stop again and it don't dump the fire in to the ash pan?

Razzler wrote:

PC 12-47E wrote:Using the slow pull to the stops front and back did the trick!!!!

Are you saying that you pull the shaker handle all the way till it stop then back all the way till it stop again and it don't dump the fire in to the ash pan?

Hi Razzler, Yes! But only after a 12 hour burn and then only one full back and forth. Then shake the same old way. The 250 really is burning better than ever. The coal bed dropped about 3 1/2" on the full back and forth. Lots of ash but very little hot coal. This will also extend the life of the shaker system.
It did not dump the fire.
RS

You can get away with more than one full pull after some practice.
I have yet to dump the fire; occasionally a clinker or coal ember gets stuck.
Get a good bed of ashes over the grates and this covers the clinker fest after a strong burn.
Then drop that thick layer of ash you will see some glowing ash at some point...
Stop the full slow shake and go to the short choppy shake to finish off.

Pc12, CaeCoaler

Guess i'm gonna have to give that a try I really don't have any trouble with ash building up but the shaking gets to be a pain in azz after 50 or 60 times every 12 hours

Mikey likes it!
It really makes the ashing easy.
The bulk of it just drops as large chunks of ash with the clinkers mixed in.

It was suggested on another thread that I use the dead area as a natural firebox reducer for fall/spring burning. That makes sense to me. I haven't been able to think of another way to reduce the firebox on my Mark II because of the shaker system so I'm going to experiment with this idea. Boy, whoever says "as you burn you will learn" sure has it right. Lisa