Trial -N- Error " the Learning Curve"

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Jash
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Post by Jash » Tue. Feb. 20, 2007 12:01 pm

Thanks for the feedback fellas,
I took your advise coaledsweat totaled about 11" thick when I was done.
300* on the stat on the flue pipe out the back ,The damper was wide open Closed the ash door opened the vents all the way. I hit the hay at midnight, when I woke this morning and checked the stove @5:20 flu stat was reading 100* had a low bed of orange coals, the blower was blowing cold air, I opened the ash door wide open and 15 min later the temp starts to climb to 200*, close the ash door wait temp drops to 100*, open ash door, temp climbs, Shake it down... a bunch of my good orange coal end up in the ash pan along with a bunch of gray coal chunks, add more coal, crackle crackle temp goes down, frustrated, I throw an empty cardboard box on the coal, box lite's up coal temp on flu stat almost 450* add a little coal (i shook my good bed out) (newbie error) close ash door open vent all the way, flu open all the way leave for work (late cause of messin with the stove)...called the mrs. at home... flu temp at 0* barely any embers...

Did I just make a mistake????
When I burned wood in the stove, rolling flames, 500* flue & vent open, ash door closed... burn coal ash door closed vent and flu open no rolling flames at all glowing orange coals slowly snuffs itself out???

1.) I have an air starvation issue...
2.) I think I'm screwin around with the coal/too much...
hot glowing bed of coals, temp at 350* = leave it alone
I tried to push it for more heat... hotter house... I got it to 65* at the furthest point, TV room, and still I wanted more all while the wind blowing past the closed windows.

?? am I looking for too much outta the stove in such a drafty house?
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Tue. Feb. 20, 2007 12:14 pm

Jash wrote: add more coal, crackle crackle temp goes down, frustrated, I throw an empty cardboard box on the coal, box lite's up coal temp on flu stat almost 450* add a little coal (i shook my good bed out) (newbie error) close ash door open vent all the way, flu open all the way leave for work (late cause of messin with the stove)...
Coal is not like wood, it takes a while. Shake, add coal, and wait. Once you shake and start seeing hot coals coming through it's time to stop, add your new coal and don't do anything after that except maybe open the draft but that shouldn't be necessary.

 
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Berlin
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Post by Berlin » Tue. Feb. 20, 2007 2:14 pm

nevermind. didin't fully read the post.


 
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paving2007
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Post by paving2007 » Tue. Feb. 20, 2007 4:49 pm

Hi Jash,

I am kind of new here first time with the coal burning, burned wood all my life
now I have been burning nothing but coal, I learned alot on this sight with burning coal and draft on the stove.
The way I work mine is I start out with wood to get a good bed of wood coals then I add @ 3-4'' of fresh coal to that, I open my ash pan door all the way close my 2 door vents shut and open the damper all the way
I wait 10-15 mins or till I see a good fire going add another layer of coal (still leave all vents open) except door vents still closed wait another 10-15 mins by now I have a good coal bed with blue flames coming through then I just load it up @ 45-60 lbs of coal, I leave the damper all the way opened for a while @ 1/2 hour or so close the ash pan door but leave the vent wide open in about 2 hours my stove temp is @ 500-550 deg.
when I go to bed load up with another 50lbs or so after shaking close damper 1/4 way close ash pan 1/3 way the best I can get on burn time is roughly 7-8 hours.

When I get up inmorning I still have a nice coal bed in stove, I open damper all the way and ash pan door all the way and wait @ 20 mins or till I see the blue flames then just shake till I see red coals falling in my ashpan and then start all over again

Tony

 
dirvine96
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Post by dirvine96 » Tue. Feb. 20, 2007 6:31 pm

Tony,

Sounds like you may be over firing the stove a bit. You should be able to get more than a 7 hour burn. The stove temps are pretty high too. Do you have a way to measure your draft. Do you have a barometric damper?

Don

 
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paving2007
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Post by paving2007 » Tue. Feb. 20, 2007 6:42 pm

Hi Don,

I should have mentioned that the stove is Fire Boss wood/coal fireplace insert
the only gauge I use is the temp gauge that I have on the door, no way to put a gauge on vent pipe due to it being in fireplace.

I do burn it a little hotter than I should, but on them cold days I like it toasty in the house (76-78 deg)

I still have to play with damper and air intake a little more but 7 hours isn't bad compaired to wood getting @ 2 hours on load up


 
Jash
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Post by Jash » Thu. Feb. 22, 2007 12:07 pm

Hi Paving2007,
I have to agree, I find myself running my stove almost exactly the same way(with my whole 5 days experience burning coal), right down to
open my ash pan door all the way close my 2 door vents shut and open the damper all the way
it's almost step by step word for word.

I've got my stove running 450* to 550* on pea coal now I'm wondering how hot it will get burning nut or stove coal?:-k ..(over firing by some folks standards) but like you I want a HOT stove warming the whole house not a Luke warm stove making part of the house just tolerable. The Mrs. wont have it ...The built in blower fan on my Russo C35 is a big help in getting the hot air to move from room to room.

 
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paving2007
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Post by paving2007 » Thu. Feb. 22, 2007 5:10 pm

Hi Jash

I am presently burning nut coal in my stove it is a hand fired stove (fireplace insert)
it's been burning pretty well in it, over the summer I am going to start stocking up for the following winter mostly nut coal @5 tons and maybe 1 1/2 tons of stove coal ( to see how that burns in the stove) if I could find it in my area

Everyday burning coal is a new learning experience something different everyday

Going to look for a Harman self-feeding stove to replace my existing stove something I can just fill set the thermastat and feel the heat :)

Enjoy the warmth

Tony

 
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keyman512us
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Post by keyman512us » Mon. Feb. 26, 2007 11:13 pm

Jash...
..."Underfire Air" is the key (would you all concur?)
ash door closed vent
Jash...Have you ever seen a 'blacksmiths' forge (the fire pot burning coal with a hand crank blower pushing air into the bottom of the fire) in operation? :wink: The coal fire in your stove will work the same way :wink: Wood and coal are two entirely different animals...just be patient!

 
badxmple
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Post by badxmple » Tue. Feb. 27, 2007 10:19 am

Hey jash Just to let you know when you want to replace your stove I am looking for a coal/wood insert for my farm house in NY. Right now I have a wood/coal stove that takes up alot of space in front of the old fireplace. So if you want to sell it let me know? I am in southern jersey also that would work real good Thanks Bob

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