Massachusetts residents check in here!

Gekko wrote:Hi Folks!

My name is Scott, I live in Southwick.

I'm a corporate aircraft mechanic by trade.

I just installed a Harman MKII and fired it up this evening.

I started another thread on it so I'll post pictures there.

Works like a charm.

Cheers,
Scott

Hey scott! Welcome to the forum!

Hi folks,

I'm Don from Plymouth. Yesterday fired up my new Hitzer 983. I'm totally new to burning coal yet was able to build a coal fire on the first attemp basically using guidance from ashcat473's terrific youtube video on starting a coal fire in a 983. It's about 45 degrees outside today and inside my Cape it's 77 with some windows open and the draft throttled back 100%. Proabably needed to wait another couple of weeks before lighting a fire but what the heck.

Also, burning Blashak from Morrisons. I'll post a few pics of my set up.

Don

By: ray in ma On: Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:09 pm

Hey is Doug still running the Barnstable stove shop? Haven't seen him is years

Yep, Still there. Just a hop and skip down the road, sorta...

http://www.barnstablestove.com/html/aboutus.htm

Hi all,

Just found this forum and decided to join.

My two story colonial in central MA, purchased 20 years ago, came with an Alaska stoker II in the basement. The stove had with a hot air jacket that provided forced hot air to the above floors, a water heat coil that supplemented the electric water heater, an thermostat controller, and a back-up DC motor that could be used to replace the AC motor in the event of power outage. The set-up worked great but, for the past couple of years, I had to constantly tinker with the stove to keep it running. First to go was the built in blower fan on top of the coal bin, then the booster fan in the duct work went, and finally one of the two HVAC blowers for the hot air jacket died. On top of that I had to replace the feed motor after 18 years of reliable service but the replacement needed constant lubrication to keep it going. When I first moved into the house, I would start the first fire in the fall and the stove would burn all winter. For the past two years I had to restart the stove 1/2 dozen times per season.

So, I finally broke down and got a new Stoker II. So far I could not be happier but I no longer have DC back-up. The old stove would run for a week on on 12 volt battery but I no longer have that option. Attached are pics of the old and new stove. Any suggestions for back up power?

Syabri wrote:So, I finally broke down and got a new Stoker II. So far I could not be happier but I no longer have DC back-up. The old stove would run for a week on on 12 volt battery but I no longer have that option. Attached are pics of the old and new stove. Any suggestions for back up power?

First action is to accurately assess your actual wattage used by a Kill-a -watt power meter, do not use the manufacturer's stated consumption which is usually a larger (max) wattage at full rated hp that you likely do not do with fans attached. I'm kind of challenged to think that a 12V battery can supply power to a stove for a week unless its a couple watts @110V or 12V DC.

Then consider reading this as guideline based on hard data. You may be disappointed in the battery amp-hr you will need based on the math, its no special magic.

Testing of a LL Stoker on Battery Power- Assessment 1 of 2

The older stove depended upon one motor to feed coal and provide air to the burner. During an outage, I would swap out the AC powered mechanism with a DC powered feed/blower. The "swap out" only took a few minute and could be done in time to maintain the fire. My experience has been that a fully charged deep cycle 12 volt battery was enough to keep the fire fed and lit for 4 to 5 days. Since I did not have any power to the HVAC blowers or thermostat, I had to adjust the feeder manually and would set to it to run at slightly above a minimum burn level. This would prevent the duct work from overheating while providing enough natural convection through the duct work to maintain 2nd floor temps in the 62 - 64 degrees range. The battery when hooked back up to a charger after running the stove for 4 - 5 days was still at 40%.