Starting My Coal Stove Is an Explosive Experience.
So Today I started my stove after regasketing and some other things. I got a real hot wood fire going and dumped 1/2 bag in which lit pretty quickly. THen I dumped another 1/2 in. It sat for a while and suddenly "whoom". After that was good and hot dumped another 1/2 in and got another whoom. How do I get out of these sudden gas explosions. I regasketed and the sucker still stinks at higher temps. Not as bad. It was double painted - brown over black. Could the paint still be burning off? I'm burning pea coal. Maybe nut would be easier to deal with in fire building - more air space. Once its full and burning it seems real good. I leave the underdoor twist valves open and that seems to make the explosions less. I can hear the air whistling in.
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- Member
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- Joined: Wed. Mar. 05, 2008 7:27 pm
- Location: south central pa
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: hitzer 82 ul
- Coal Size/Type: nut
I'd use a little more top air. The hot wood fire really got your draft strong, then you put alot of coal on, and all of that ignited at once. You have to slow it down a bit. Top air will help deal with excess draft, and use it to pull the coal gas out of the firebox.
- New Hope Engineer
- Member
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Thu. Aug. 21, 2008 8:12 am
- Location: Lower Saucon PA
- Coal Size/Type: Nut pea
i never leave a hot spot open,i just load her up and leave the ash door open till I get alot of blue fire then close it.
made the mistake once of closing it to soon and BOOM! lol since then no problems.
made the mistake once of closing it to soon and BOOM! lol since then no problems.
I've never had a puff back doing it your way. You need the flames to burn off volatils, in my experience.DVC500 at last wrote:When you load the new coal in, don't cover the entire bed of burning coals, you have to leave flames to burn off the volatiles of the new coal you are adding.
LOL I did the same thing gota learn how to slow load the Coal when firing it up, I just instllaed DS circulator Mini model, the only thing though I relized right away what was going on because the blue flamming was flashing from top to bottom, new then I had gas build up from loading to much and not layering slowly, soo not to have the flash turn into explosions , I let the gas burn for a min or 2 the open ashpan door and glass door for like 30 sec then repeat till it stop producing gases,took awhile to settle it all out ,All the while I was kicking myself because I read all about here on in sevral threads ,this is all new to me also and I have been in the HVAC trade for almost 30 years , this all Reminds me of when I was a Kid apprentice my first day at the shop the Boss said you go with Harold he gonna teach you service ,I said ok where is he ,my boss said late a usual ,He then said when you see a guy walking up the drivwey that looks like a Van with a head on it thats him ,Boy he could not have gave a better description of someone, So we get to the first service call a gas fired roof top unit 60 ton ,No heat call , he shuts the unit down at the disconnect and says stand here and when I say turn it on throw that lever up,Ok easy enough, he takes the side pannel off now he gets down on his hand a knees and he in there real good fiddiling around for a few min and then says ok throw er on ,I lift switch click click click ,VAVOOM flames engulf his whole being ,I shut er down OMG I say to myself as he pulls his head out of the unit His curly hair on fire his beard is gone and eyebrows are smoken and just says in a very calm voice ,I think I know whats wrong ,the rollout switch is bad , AH those were the days. nothing like learning somthing new.
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- Location: Pennsylvania,USA
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: DS Machine and homebuilt
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Franco-Belge
- Coal Size/Type: Nut,pea
Ah..Your first firebox explosion. Now you're a coal burning vet.
It takes an hour to build a good fire with coal. You can't just "load it up", hence, the term, "build a fire". You could get away with it if you burned "coke" because the volatiles were burned off the coal in a "coking furnace" before it was shipped to the coal dealer.
My grandfathers and great grandfathers were "firemen" and stationary engineers. To them, building a fire was an art form. When firing say, a 5000 H.P. boiler, or a battery of boilers, I remember one telling me about "working" half the fire at a time. This does 2 things, it burns the volatiles off the fresh coal and keeps the firebox temps consistent, rather than dropping when covering the whole bed of coals with fresh coal. If you watch your hand fired stove and boiler temps while firing, you know what I mean.
We burned "coke" at home so we didn't have the puffback problem, but we never just "filled" up the firebox in the boiler, either. I tend the boiler at 5:30 a.m. with a coffe and my pipe and the news, again at 5:30 p.m. with my pipe and sometimes a beer, and again, with the news. With shaking, stoking,ash removal,etc. it takes an hour.
Safety first, safety last, safety always.
It takes an hour to build a good fire with coal. You can't just "load it up", hence, the term, "build a fire". You could get away with it if you burned "coke" because the volatiles were burned off the coal in a "coking furnace" before it was shipped to the coal dealer.
My grandfathers and great grandfathers were "firemen" and stationary engineers. To them, building a fire was an art form. When firing say, a 5000 H.P. boiler, or a battery of boilers, I remember one telling me about "working" half the fire at a time. This does 2 things, it burns the volatiles off the fresh coal and keeps the firebox temps consistent, rather than dropping when covering the whole bed of coals with fresh coal. If you watch your hand fired stove and boiler temps while firing, you know what I mean.
We burned "coke" at home so we didn't have the puffback problem, but we never just "filled" up the firebox in the boiler, either. I tend the boiler at 5:30 a.m. with a coffe and my pipe and the news, again at 5:30 p.m. with my pipe and sometimes a beer, and again, with the news. With shaking, stoking,ash removal,etc. it takes an hour.
Safety first, safety last, safety always.
- CoalHeat
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- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1959 EFM 350
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It's all part of the learning curve and initiation:
Minor Explosion in Coal Stove
Minor Explosion in Coal Stove
I have to follow a definite procedure with this stove setup. For some reason everything is very sensitive. I'm thinking one of my biggest problems is the pea coal. It reacts different than the nut I had on the Hitzer. THe air space is smaler and the gas builds up higher before igniting. I'm gonna try a few bags of nut. Can stove size be bought?
After I regasketed yesterday it stunk at first but now not. I wonder if the paint is still burning in? It doesn't smell like coal fumes.
After I regasketed yesterday it stunk at first but now not. I wonder if the paint is still burning in? It doesn't smell like coal fumes.
- Body Hammer
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- Location: Knox County Maine
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Petit Godin oval
I think you're right about the pea size being some of the problem with poof-backs. I experienced the same thing with my stove when it was warmer. I liked the fact that it would burn cooler and longer; but I found that I had to be very careful about how fast I loaded it. I also practiced the method of leaving some of the bed open until it got going good. And using the over-the-fire drafts until it was going well.
As for the paint; it was a while before all the fumes were gone, from the stove and pipes. When we had our first good cold snap and I run the stove the hardest for the first time, the smell returned for a short while. It seems all seasoned now. I don't get any sulfur smell, nor paint smell. I'm ready for some serious cold now. Bring it on!
As for the paint; it was a while before all the fumes were gone, from the stove and pipes. When we had our first good cold snap and I run the stove the hardest for the first time, the smell returned for a short while. It seems all seasoned now. I don't get any sulfur smell, nor paint smell. I'm ready for some serious cold now. Bring it on!
- gitrdonecoal
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- Location: Elba, NY
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90
i had a puffback once. I was burning wood and wanted to switch to coal quick before I had firemen training. bang! went downstairs and I $&%^ you not there was a spray of coal ash onto the basement floor 7 or 8 feet long
- SMITTY
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- Location: West-Central Mass
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
- Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
- Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler
You might enjoy the 2 pages of this: BOOM! How to Turn Your Stove Into Small Bomb! LOL!
Now it will sit for days on the exact same temperature. The wind picked up and I put the barometric damper back in. I really need to set it properly is the problem. Have to buy a manometer. If the 6" is too big might go to a 4" damper and necked down sleeve.