Can I Use Stove or Nut Coal?

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ctcoalwoman
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Post by ctcoalwoman » Mon. Dec. 21, 2009 10:21 pm

I have at least a ton of coal in my basement from a previous occupant. It is stove or nut coal. The operator's manual states to use pea coal. Has anyone ever used larger coal in their Franco Belge 10.475?

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Mon. Dec. 21, 2009 11:07 pm

The price of the coal sounds right. ;) I'd burn it anyway ..... just keep a close eye on it for a few hours to make sure it's not going to overfire from the extra airflow provided by the larger coal sizes.

 
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 12:07 am

ctcoalwoman wrote:I have at least a ton of coal in my basement from a previous occupant. It is stove or nut coal. The operator's manual states to use pea coal. Has anyone ever used larger coal in their Franco Belge 10.475?
I burn stove coal in a Hitxer designed for nut and it works. Just a little harder to run on low burn cause the air gets up into it more freely.

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 4:24 am

I would suggest getting some pel coal and mix the stove/nut with it. Don't burn it straight as it's too easy for the fire to back up into the "hopper".


 
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Post by sharkman8810 » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 7:26 am

I'd mix something with it to slow it down, especially the stove coal. I can see you getting away with the nut easily if you mix some pea with it, I don't know if this will work with the stove or not.

 
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Post by gitrdonecoal » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 12:08 pm

another way you can use the pea other than mixing it is do a partial load with the stove nut mix and put the pea on top. air will get partially blocked by the pea, slowing down the burn

 
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Post by Perky » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 6:38 pm

Simply, from my experience - No. These Franco's are designed to burn pea. That's all I used for 24 years....even picked the nut out when a few pieces would get mixed in. The larger sizes can burn too hot for the cast iron and also may clog up the grates when shaking if they are aren't completed burned.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 6:45 pm

ctcoalwoman wrote:I have at least a ton of coal in my basement from a previous occupant.
Can you describe its size? Is it about the about size of a quarter a golf ball or bigger than a pack of cigarettes?


 
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Post by packard bill » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 7:22 pm

1st, stove coal will not come through the hopper, second, nut will, but when you shake down you wont get a nice flow to produce a good "bed", the fire may back up into the nut that is in the hopper, and the nut sized ash won't break down completely when you shake down, and will clog your grates and give you "cold spots" in the fire bed.

That stove was designed to burn pea or buckwheat. That's all you should use.

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 8:02 pm

1st, stove coal will not come through the hopper,
Some people commonly mistake chestnut for stove

My cousins has burned all sizes in a FB from rice to nut. The concern however and I should have elaborated is the design of the FB could pose a problem with larger sizes. The fire has a tendency to back up into the hopper if you over fire them and with the larger coal that possibility becomes greater. In isn;t great safety concern becasue the hopper is internal however damage to the unit is possible. It's common to find those stoves used with the front and back plates that form the hopper warped usually the result of being over fired too may times. It's a good stove but you have make sure you don;t over fire it which is easy to do if the fire runs into the internal hopper.

Here's a cross section of it and you'll see where the potential exists:

 
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Post by packard bill » Tue. Dec. 22, 2009 8:31 pm

Nice illustration, Richard.

ctcoalwoman, have you burned that Franco before? Do you know about cleaning the fly-ash from the exhaust plenums? You'll have to dismantle the back of the stove and remove the 2 covers from the corners (one on each side) of the plenums to vacuum them out. You should have new gaskets for the covers on hand when you do this. They are either a solid square gasket or a square outline of a gasket.

I've been burning my stove for 25 plus years, trust me, don't waste your time burning nut.
Maybe you could find someone to swap you pea for nut, if that's what you have.

Good luck.

packard bill

 
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Post by ctcoalwoman » Wed. Dec. 23, 2009 6:07 pm

Coaled sweat.....It ranges in size between all of these, up to a cigarette pack size chuck but those are few and far between.

 
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Post by ctcoalwoman » Wed. Dec. 23, 2009 6:29 pm

Dear richards and packardbill..thanks for responding. I have been running this Franco Belge for 2 weeks now and have learned not to overfire it. I almost did once and that scared me. The fire backed up a little into the hopper and the front plate was a little glowy. I run it on the lowest setting-#1 and keep the shaker grate handles to the left position. I will not be experimenting with the other coal now. I can always use that in my 1900 Federal, when I get that hooked up in the kitchen. Thank you for the info on cleaning out ports. I will need to order gaskets. I also may need a gasket when I take the front door apart to replace 2 pieces of glass that broke when closing the door. My son says he did nothing funny when it happened...I don't know if I believe him. :mad: Don't worry, I have a thick piece of copper covering the hole and the draft seems good so we must have a seal. This is a sweet little stove but it does not crank out the heat without a danger of overfiring I find...I may need a bigger or different stove to keep my house warm next winter. It does not help that my house is old and airy though. Thanks for your help!

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