Wondercoal stove

Hi i am new to burning coal. I need some advice i am burning bit coal here in VA. My stove is a wondercoal stove model 2827b.

I think you'd have a better response posting on the Bit page - Using Bituminous Coal. Describe you set up and post pictures if you have them. These guys really know their stuff and can help you get up and burning in no time. Lisa

Hello, from Pa, I have the same stove, burning bituminous right now, if you wnt to burn antracite in that stove you need to take the draft plug out of the ash door! some thing that us stove co dosent tell you in the manual, but if you are burning bituminous you need toleave the draft plug in the ashdoor, otherwise you are going to have a real hard time, hope that helps, if you need to know about the WONDERCOAL drop me a line, Oh... My model is the B2827B same thing but comes w/ the blower

Thank for the help.

I need little help on loading like how do i load it to top firebricks withoot having a big big fire. well i know theres a control knob on it. im just used to burning wood.

you must be using bituminous,just add small amounts until you get the hang of it ,once it starts to flare up a little, turn the knob down so it is only getting a little air through that little flapper door, open the secondary air on the door wide open, you want to burn of the volitiles, and do you have an MPD (manual Pipe Damper)? cut it back to roughly 50% you have to "tweek" it because your chimney is not exactly the same as another. As the flare starts to fade, you can adjust the secondary so itgets a litle less air and start opening the knob, but you have to babysit it for a while, mine takes from 30min to an hour to calm down, and you just have to watch. I am going to end you some quotes that helped me out extremely well

I dont have an mpd and when i burn bit the draft door closes. Does this prevent the stove from overfiring? Well it starts to close a short time after the gases are burning.

I don't know how air-tight these stoves are, but if you are able to have more or less complete control of the underfire air, controlling the volitile flair-off shouldn't be a problem. you should be able to load up the stove, shut down the primary air and the volitiles will slowly flair off - the volitiles are being cooked from beneith, so control of the heat of the existing coalbed via underfire air will determine how fast the volitiles gasses are produced from fresh coal. also, enough cannot be said for banking the fire, creating a thick deep bed on one firing and filling the firebox deep on the other side on the next firing. also, if possible use the largest coal sizes you can find- the bigger the better.

Thank you for the help.

Has anyone ever tried stoker size bit in a wondercoal?

Nope i have never tried it not yet anyway.

Stephen in Soky wrote:Has anyone ever tried stoker size bit in a wondercoal?

Not in that particular stove but I have in other hand fed stoves and it didn't work well. It's kind of crazy and hard to control when volatiles are burning off, prone to "puffback" especially if there's not enough secondary air and I always get clinkers when burning smaller size coal. If you already have stokercoal or similar size coal in the bottom of your coal bin you can try your luck with it but I wouldn't go buy any just to try. About softball size coal and larger is what I prefer for hand fed stoves.
BTW, you will have to bank (alternate loading fresh coal at front or back of firebox) with smaller size coal or you'll smother the live coal bed and could get a major puffback.

Thanks. I only have access to lump (See my avatar) or stoker. Since I have grain augers here I just thought the stoker would be easier to handle.

I have one quick Q i know lump coal burns hotter but does it last longer than like nut?

Stephen in Soky wrote:Thanks. I only have access to lump (See my avatar) or stoker. Since I have grain augers here I just thought the stoker would be easier to handle.

Stoker coal is easier simply because you can shovel it and don't have to touch/handle it like lump coal. I would like to use stoker coal but I find it too hard to control in the old hand fed stoves I have.

badbooy wrote:I have one quick Q i know lump coal burns hotter but does it last longer than like nut?

With my stoves, the larger the coal the longer the burn time but results could vary depending on the stove.