Combustioneer burning again

From an older posting

Report this postReply with quoteRe: New Bituminous Furnace
By: Berlin On: Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:40 pm

honestly, you should look for a model 77 combustioneer stoker or mark IV stoker like member hardwood has (all made by will-burt mfg.). i have my model 77 plumbed to the ductwork and it heats the entire house just fine. VERY convenient. you can find them used, there was one on ebay a few months ago.Burning Eastern Kentucky Bituminous in WNY. BITUMINOUS Coal burning equiptment: 2 hand fired stoves of my own design, Combustioneer Model 77 stoker, stokermatic furnace, Wil-burt model 30 stoker, & an old Iron fireman.

Finally getting around to posting this, was the one that bought this stove on ebay. It was a model 77B with 4 ton of Blue Diamond coal. Drove alittle over 300 miles to pick it up. Found it had been sitting in a barn for about 3 years (uncleaned), the older gentleman that owned it had moved and was going to install it in the new house, but because he was retired and traveled south in the winter, went with a gas furnace. They were very nice people that kepted me company while I loaded the coal.The coal was in an outside shed and had to be carried out with 5 gallon buckets, got a good workout that day.
Tore down the stove and gave it a good cleaning. Found cracks around the top of the fire door. Welded it up and painted it. The install went nice and contacted Dan at Wil-burt for a download manual. He was very helpfull and sent it and one for the s-30 stoker that the bank made me take out when I bought the house , plus diagrams for a boiler (when I get some time ).
The 77 burted very effient last year, have'nt fired it this year yet, burning alot of down trees.Should have sold the wood . Set the draft using the paper on the door trick that was in the manual. The coal had very little clinkers when burnt, mostly flyash. After burning all winter, there was maybe 1/2 inch of ash in the elbow from stove, the rest was clean.
The wife been complaining about when I was going to fire it up this year. Told her she had to burn the wood first, did'nt like that .
here's a few pics:

Chubs~ You have an interesting post here,I can tell you are into coal big time.I am certain that when you get to design your own unit, things come to light way and questions pop up more than one would imagine! I have a question about your dump trailer. How do you like it,is it a practical item? Do you use the dump feature or is it strictly a heavy hauler? What do you use it for beside coal? How does it trail? Been thinking about one and I am looking for reasons to further justify the big expense.I am not there yet. Thanks. Mike

Very nice furnace.

Moving this thread to the Bituminous forum.

Stovepipemike: contact forum member Yanche, he has lots of insight into the purchase and use of a similar trailer.

Greg L

those are very good little furnaces. I'm sure you'll get many years of enjoyable use from it. It really is one of the most simple, convenient and inexpensive ways to heat a home.

stovepipemike wrote:Chubs~ You have an interesting post here,I can tell you are into coal big time.I am certain that when you get to design your own unit, things come to light way and questions pop up more than one would imagine! I have a question about your dump trailer. How do you like it,is it a practical item? Do you use the dump feature or is it strictly a heavy hauler? What do you use it for beside coal? How does it trail? Been thinking about one and I am looking for reasons to further justify the big expense.I am not there yet. Thanks. Mike

The trailer belongs to a brother that uses it to hual a John Deere 325 lawn mower . It works and pulls very well for a 7 ton dump. Make sure your gate doors are fastened back when unloading or you will spring them. This trailer been used alot to hual heavy loads, mainly by his brothers , just make sure you have a big enough truck to pull it.

I just obtained a Combustioneer 77-B to use in my shop. It looks to be in good shape except it's previous owner removed a lot of it's wires and put power cords on to it's motor and fan directly. The pics on this thread have been useful, thanks. Was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a wiring diagram and any other info about the unit. It's been a few years since I used coal, but plan to start again.

Also, could use some info as to clearance to combustibles, for the unit and vent pipe (on back of unit).

MontanaJoe wrote:I just obtained a Combustioneer 77-B to use in my shop. It looks to be in good shape except it's previous owner removed a lot of it's wires and put power cords on to it's motor and fan directly. The pics on this thread have been useful, thanks. Was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a wiring diagram and any other info about the unit. It's been a few years since I used coal, but plan to start again.

Also, could use some info as to clearance to combustibles, for the unit and vent pipe (on back of unit).

Contact Dan Wesson (DWesman@willburt.com), he sent me the manual in a pdf file. Make sure you tell him it's a B model becuase there is also a 77L9. It has the clearances and wiring diagram in it. I would send it to you if i had your email, dont know how to copy a pdf.

chubs wrote:From an older posting
...... big snip....
Set the draft using the paper on the door trick that was in the manual.

chubs,
Can you explain this "paper on the door trick"? This sounds interesting.

john

Thanks chubs. I just e-mailed him.

Glad I found this forum. Finding lots of useful information. Now if I could only find a reasonable home-owner's policy for my house. The cost will double when I start using coal again.

well, find a different insurance company. Usually they only care about your "primary" source of heat, so if you've got a gas/oil furnace etc. regardless of how little you plan on using it, you claim that as your "primary" source of heat. they don't like heating sources that have to be "tended", they are concerned about frozen pipes, water damage etc. if someone is not around constantly to keep them going properly.

Berlin:
That used to work for me. Actually I've been using wood in the house for years and no rate problem. When my n gas furnace quit I just haven't fixed it (even though I could). I have been told that the problem now is that I want to use coal (or wood) in the shop. The agents I have spoke with could only speculate on the reason. It's either because of the chance I will have solvents in use (which I would not) or that it isn't occupied at night. I'm still calling around to other agents. Maybe this is only a Montana thing, I don't know. All I know is I won't do another winter without heat in the shop.

Stoker bit costs about $55/ton about 90 miles away in Wyoming. Plan to use it. Real low sulfur and few clinkers.

Patch wrote:

chubs wrote:From an older posting
...... big snip....
Set the draft using the paper on the door trick that was in the manual.

chubs,
Can you explain this "paper on the door trick"? This sounds interesting.

john

Taking out of the manual;
During this same period you will need to adjust flue damper. If unit is installed by a heating contractor he can check draft through firedoor inlet with an inclined draft gauge. Damper should be adjusted to show neg. .03 to .05 minimum overfire draft reading with stoker operating. If gauge is not available take a small piece of paper 3'x7' and place over open air inlet in firedoor and adjust weight on baro damper so the paper will just barely hold onto the door. This indicates proper draft.

I emptied out all the coal from the hopper to check things out a bit. There is a plastic or rubber hose coming up from the air duct.
The top of it is melted so cannot tell where it used to go to. Does anyone have this in their stove too? Can you tell me where it should go to and what it is? Dan sent me the manual but I can't find this hose on any of the diagrams.

Also, how important is having a barometric damper in the vent?

MontanaJoe wrote:There is a plastic or rubber hose coming up from the air duct.

If this tube ends in the hopper it is there to make positive pressure in the hopper so you won't have smoke coming back through the auger tube to the hopper when the stoker is running. It keeps the fire from burning back through the auger as well.
The tube on my stoker runs up the inside of the hopper and ends about an inch from the top and is positioned so coal can't get in it when loading the hopper.
If you open the hopper while the stoker is running you will likely have smoke come back through the augur tube especially if the hopper is low on coal. Be sure to shut the stoker off when you reload the hopper with coal. There should be a power toggle switch on the back of the unit.

Baro dampers work well on these furnaces and will save heat especially if you have excessive chimney draft.