Should I Be Concerned?

Well, got it back together and have a small wood fire in it. I've got both the mpd closed and the air closed all the way. I did a smoke / flame test around the doors and it is definitely leaking around the loading door. Not entirely sure what my next step is.

Although I just looked at the stove and the fire was completely out with both the mpd and air closed. Anybody have any ideas?

Are you using the right size gasket? Does the door have a slot or holes in it for over-fire air? In any case, a little air leaking around the loading door shouldn't be a big deal. It will help burn off the volatiles and keep the glass clear. Try burning anthracite and see if you can throttle the drive down.

Loading door came with a 3/8" gasket installed. I have anthracite in it right now. Followed Larry's video to a "T", I've got the air 1/8 open the mpd closed all the way.

Pot is full to the top with coal body temp has been holding at is 260° since 9pm stack temp is at 130° draft on the manometer is at .03" of water the baro is fluttering a little. So, we'll see how it does through the night.

Well, I woke up at my usual time of 5:45 this morning to find a lovely surprise. The stove was sitting pretty at around 400° and.there was plenty of coal for a few more hours. I did as Larry instructed. Opened the air and mpd for 10 minutes, loaded the stove till it was just above the pot, closed the air back to 1/8 open. I then waited for about 3 minutes then closed the mpd. The stove settled back around 260° the manometer was still reading .03" the baro was open just a little. I left for work at my usual 6:30 and told my wife to just keep an eye on it today.

I figure by 12:00 I'll have her open it up for 10 minutes top it off and shut it down. This way when I get home I can shake it down let it sit and load it for the night. I mean, provide it doesn't run away like it did last week. I don't forsee that happening but you never know; especially considering I've never had it burn through the day successfully.

Hi Fire,
One thing does not sound right, you really want the Chubby to stay right at the temp you set it. You had it at 260 but woke up to see it at 400. You must solve this problem. I have been able to set mine in the low to mid 200s and it has stayed there going on the 5th day now (I don't want it higher because the house will get too warm and I will just waste coal) except for the brief shakedown periods twice per day when I take it up temporarily to 400. Are you sure it was at a stable 260 when you left the stove and not gently rising? It might be that you are giving it too much air. I am running mine open just a crack now, less than 1/8 inch because of the mild temps, 40s at night 60 daytime. Also to avoid puff-back explosion, remember to close down the air before adding coal after a shakedown because the explosion is caused when gas released from the fresh coal cannot be vented out the stack quickly enough. You don't want to light the new coal up quickly, but rather let it ignite slowly over time.
lobsterman

And one more thing? Why do you want the stove to be topped off mid-day? A Chubby burning at 260 will not burn more than a few pounds of coal in 12 hours. This is what you want, correct? A stove that you don't need to touch but every 12 hours.

I sat there and watched it for a good hour before I went to bed and it never moved above 260°. From talking to Doug he had said that the temp will slowly rise over time as it consumes coal. I just spoke win my wife and she said te stove is sitting at 300°. I have the air opened 1/8.

My house. Isn't tight either. Its very drafty. Couldn't this could also be a factor in the way my stove idles? I'm not sure what else could be causing this. I did the smoke / flame test and the only area where there is a slight leak is at the loading door. I'll call my wife and have her close the air all the way and see what that does.

When I had a wood fire in it last night I closed the air all the way and the fire went out.

You asked why I'd want her to top it off midday? I am at work and only really expect it to burn until about 1300 because that is what it has been doing lately. It may not even come down to her adding anything to it if it appears to be burning very slowly, which it does.

I really don't know, I'm trying different things. Maybe I'm still doing things wrong.

Hi Fire,
Well, 300 is a LOT better than 400. Remember the coal takes LONG time to adjust to a small air change, perhaps as much as an hour. With the stove at 300 and having creeped up from 260, I would suggest just closing down the air to 1/16 inch. It is simple energy conservation that the Chubby cannot burn more that a few pounds of coal in 12 hours at a temp of 260 or so. Your fire pot will be 3/4 full when you get home. BTW are you burning nut or pea? Nut is easier to control because it drafts better. I started with nut for 2 days then I started adding in pea because I fell into some. After consulting with Larry, he suggested the pea will burn fine in the Chubby but it would be best to mix it with nut and that a good shake is very important with pea to keep the draft up. I would never buy pea for the Chubby, but hey, free is free! As concerns the draft, my house is drafty also and I like this, the air circulates well to even out the temperature, and it is never stuffy inside and even though it may be less energy efficient than a modern tight house, after all air has little heat capacity so the loss is not that big. If you don't have a drafty house, it is a good idea to crack open a window on the opposite side of the house from the stove. After all, the stove needs air to burn.
Good luck and let me know how you make out this evening.
And remember the procedure. You will come home and find the stove at 260 or so. (If not you have a different problem to solve!)
Open up the air all the way and the manual damper all the way. Let the stove run up to 400 or so, will take a few minutes. Close the bottom air completely. Shake the stove down real good. Open the air and get your poker in there to open up a few good air holes into the red coals. Close the air back down to the setting you want 1/16 inch if that worked good today or 1/8 inch if you want it warmer. Empty the ash pan. Open the top door and fill the coal up to the brim. Leave the damper open a few minutes to vent out the gas. During this time you will see the stove temp drop. After a few minutes close the damper completely. Do not touch the stove again for 12 hours. The temperature should settle in to just the place it was before you got home with the same air opening. If you have to adjust the air, do it a little bit at a time and wait an hour for the stove to respond. Do not open either of the doors!
Good luck, it seems you are almost there.
lobsterman

OK, so I called my wife back and asked her what the temp was on the stove. She said it was at 325° with the air open 1/8 at 9am. I told her to close the air all the way and call me in a half an hour.

I just got off the phone with her about 10 minutes ago and she said the temp dropped to 320°. I had her reopen the air a hair and I'll call her back at 10 or so to see where the temp is.

Well, my wife has been playing with the stove all day today trying to get the stove to settle on one temp. She finally managed to get it to settle on 350* and it has been sitting there for the past two hours without moving. She also says there is still a lot of black unburned anthracite and she says she can see the red coal at the bottom through the unburned coal. It is now 1430 (about) and my stove is going on 17.5 hours since lighting it at 9 pm last night. It is on hour 8.5 since putting the second charge of coal in this morning at 6am.

I'm assuming that when I get home tonight I should shake the stove down at 6pm and let it sit for a few hours before adding coal for the night? I'm going to have to double check my notes when I get home and I'll probably watch Larry's video again for the 24th hour stuff. Man, this is so exciting. I can't wait to get home from work tonight.

Wow, IOF, your just about there, congrats.

I have only one caution for you, you mentioned that you were going to shake down the stove at 6:00 PM when you got home and then not fill it up until you go to bed. Don't do that, as soon as you shake it down add your coal otherwise you will risk losing the fire. If you want you can top it off when you're ready to go to bed.

Doug and lobsterman would you agree with this?

JB

Yeah, I just went through my notes and I do have it written down to fill the stove after I shake it down. So that is what I am going to do. Right now I'm waiting for it to get a little hotter so I can shake it down.

Which is fine because in the notes I have it says to shake down and top off before bed.

Oh, and I now have a battle scar from my Chubby. I burned my arm pretty good on it while I was poking the grates through the ash door.

You're on track now. Open up the drafts, get it hot, shake it down, add more anthracite, wait a few minutes, then close it back down to your desired temperature draft setting. Good Job!

Thanks Doug. I'll be shaking down again around 8pm to load up again for the night.

I'm On Fire wrote:Oh, and I now have a battle scar from my Chubby. I burned my arm pretty good on it while I was poking the grates through the ash door.

Welcome to the club,