Shenandoah Wood Coal Stove Poor Output

 
brian315
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Post by brian315 » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 8:58 pm

I am new to burning coal and have had this stove for years and burned wood to heat garage on weekends, its a round vertical stove 24" dia by 30 tall, 6" top outlet, 12" round shaker grate, themostatic inlet damper into ashpan below firebox. The chimney is an interior brick flue and too big no doubt, its a 2 story house with basement so chimney is about 28' total, I know the draft is poor and the dam thing is hard to keep going with temps over 30 and improves with cold air and wind.
I have read all I can till my eyes cross on this great site and there is a wealth of info I've put to use trying to learn this coal burning deal. I can get a bed of coals burning and for days on end, sometimes a deep bed of red coal with blue flames on top throughout the stove, by deep I mean 10" approx.
For some reason I cant get the stove to develop the heat it will with hardwood burning, I have a manual damper and open or closed or inbetween seems to make little difference in output, I have been running the stove with inlet air damper wide open to get as much air under coal as posssible but it just never gets really cranking for some reason. Any ideas on why this is happening would be great thanks.

oh im burning blaschak nut in the thing, ill try posting some picts of the stove asap

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Pete69
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Post by Pete69 » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 9:33 pm

Sometimes with the inlet air open all the way the coal will get glowing nice and hot, but all the heat rushes up the chimney.
Once you get the coal burning good close down the air to the point that the heat stays in the stove, but the fire does not start to simmer off. You'll have to experiment to find that sweet spot on your stove.
Remember that each adjustment will take a while longer to react than wood.

 
brian315
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Post by brian315 » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 9:40 pm

I've tried that and it does help keep coal burning overnight but ill damp it down tighter I guess and see what happens I was afraid to fill my basement with co gas though, I was under the assumption that a coal fire was much hotter than burning wood.

 
Pete69
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Post by Pete69 » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 9:55 pm

Do you have a secondary air inlet (above the fire air) if so it should be closed for burning coal.
Just throwing out ideas. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to get the stove as hot with coal as you do with wood.
The only place for the heat to go if it isn't staying in your stove, is up the chimney.

 
brian315
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Post by brian315 » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 10:00 pm

Yes there is a little pivoting overfire air inlet and ive never opened it to be honest, and I agree the thing should be scary hot at the moment but isnt, I have the flue damper dam near closed off ill keep and eye on it and see if it helps, thanks for the input

 
Pete69
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Post by Pete69 » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 10:06 pm

I didn't mean to say damp it down by the flue damper, but turn the air inlet down. Is there a chance you are not getting enough air? If you open the ash door for a few minutes will the fire get blazing?
When reloading, the coal should be loaded to the top of the firebrick.
Last edited by Pete69 on Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 10:10 pm

brian315 wrote: ... I was afraid to fill my basement with co gas
That's a healthy fear to have. Get a couple CO detectors if you don't already have them.


 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 10:13 pm

brian315 wrote:i have the flue damper dam near closed off
Pete said close down the air INLET, not the flue damper.

Edit: Oops, sorry, I see he already clarified that.

 
Pete69
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Post by Pete69 » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 10:28 pm

[quote="rberq"

Edit: Oops, sorry, I see he already clarified that.]

Yes that was my edit about 10 seconds before your reply

 
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Stephen in Soky
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Post by Stephen in Soky » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 10:52 pm

Are you sure your bi-metallic thermostat is working correctly & set high enough?

 
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Madhatter
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Post by Madhatter » Fri. Dec. 11, 2009 11:58 pm

Do you have a magnetic thermometer you can put on your stack? Then maybe you can see if all that heat is going up and out.

 
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rockwood
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Post by rockwood » Sat. Dec. 12, 2009 12:41 am

Are there any other appliances/stoves connected to the chimney or any unsealed openings (old thimbles etc) that would be robbing draft? An interior chimney that tall should always make good draft.

 
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Body Hammer
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Post by Body Hammer » Sat. Dec. 12, 2009 8:44 am

I would also check for any draft leaks above the fire. Such as door gaskets,and pipe fittings. It doesn't take much to rob your draft away from the stove. You may check around the clean-out also. When my stove is running normally and I just crack the clean-out open for only a second, the baro will flop shut instantly and all the draft is gone from the stove.
Charlie

 
brian315
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Post by brian315 » Sat. Dec. 12, 2009 10:26 am

The stove design is such that the air inlet is one the bottom of the door directly in front of the ashpan I actually made a sheet metal piece similar to a drip edge to seal the fire box from the under grate portion of the stove better. I have a manual damper in flue and shut it as closed as I dared last night, just cracked open a bit from shut tight, this morning there is a bed of red coal burning bright but the heat output is still weak. I'll check for gaps in flue and all places I can see in chimney and go get some thermometers. What kind of flue temps and stove temps in an appliance like this should I be trying to achieve ?

 
brian315
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Post by brian315 » Sat. Dec. 12, 2009 10:34 am

Maybe I'm missing something here but if I shut inlet damper down and leave flue damper open, how will that keep heat in the stove? And is there a high temp caulk that will withstand the temps at flue to stove joint?


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