So, I 'M Wondering...

Today I decided to run the Chubby a little hotter today because it was only 50* today. I had my wife open up the air about 1/4 and let the stove idle up to around 320* - 360*. Stack temp was still around 150*. My wife called me in a panic at around 1400 claiming, "The stove is going to go out. There is more red coals than black ones!!!"

I asked her what the body temp was and she said it was around 350*. I figured it didn't sound like the stove was going to die to me. But, just to put her mind at ease I told her to open up the MPD and toss a few shovel fulls of coal on top as I wasn't going to be home from work for a few more hours; she said she put about 5 shovel fulls in.

I got home around 1630 to find that there were in fact a lot more red coals than black ones but I still waited for my usual 1730 shake down and refill.

I'm guessing just having my wife put a few shovel fulls of coals wasn't necessarily a bad idea.

I am wondering if anyone else does this? Should I have my wife "top-off" a few hours before I get home from work during the colder months; when I am running the stove hotter and can't guarantee the 12-14 burn times that I've been getting since the 10th of October.

I usually come home for lunch and top off my Chubby if I feel it needs it. The past week I've been running my Chubby at 600 degrees at night and 400 degrees during the day, so I've been topping off to keep it full. When I top it off at lunch time, it usually drops in temperature 100 degrees or so, but when I come home from work, it is back up to 400 degrees. Then an hour before I go to bed, I open it up wide, check it a half hour later and top it off before I close it down at 500-600 degrees for the night. I do burn my Chubby hot and it sure knocks off the gas, while making the whole house a toasty 71 degrees when it is in the 30's at night.

I LOVE my Chubby!!!!

Doug, do you top off in the middle of the night?

I just filled up for the night but banked down to run at 260° but its gonna be in the low 30s tonight. I'm gonna open it back up in a few minutes and set it to run at 500°.

I'm just paranoid that it'll burn itself out.

No, I don't top it off at night. It is good for about 10 to 12 hours. When I get up, I just open it all the way up for a half an hour before I mess with it. I want a hot fire before I do anything. That is usually all it takes to get it cranking and I'm ready for work by then.

If I noticed that the temperatures dropped a couple of hundred degrees, then I know I could be getting critical and I may have let it go too long without adding anthracite, firing that high of a temperature. If I keep it at 350 degrees instead of 600-650 degrees, I have nothing to be concerned about.

Ideally I receive the best efficiency burning at 350-425 degrees. When I go over 500 degrees is where the stovepipe temperature gets higher and the burn times get shorter. Currently I'm running at 600 degrees, my stovepipe is at 350 degrees after the manual damper, before the barometric draft regulator and at 175 degrees after the barometric draft regulator, before the chimney flue connection.

I got it ready for the night at 9:00 P.M. and it should be fine until I look at it at 7:00 A.M. Depending on how the coal loaded or packed in the fire pot will really determine for me how long it will go, because of the size difference. I'm using a mix of nut, stove, and pea. My supplier calls it nut, but when I buy it in bagged, it doesn't look that way. It is sized evenly. I'm buying it in bulk so I'm not sure why It looks that way. So, I have to sometimes adjust my burn to meet the size of the anthracite they scooped into my truck. I'd rather play with my Chubby than pay for the more uniform bagged anthracite. But that is me. Some may not like the mix of anthracite sizes.

Yeah, I opened mine up a few hours ago, air was about 1/2 open. I just looked at it maybe 20 minutes ago and it was sitting at 450º house is at 66º but I only have myself to blame for that; I didn't open the air until it was 10pm. I shut it down to 1/4 and I'm, gonna crash for the night (been up playing Fallout: New Vegas, man that game is addictive.) My stack temp was sitting at 180º just before the flue. I have no idea what it is between the MPD and Baro though as I don't have another gauge.

I just took a look through the glass, there is still plenty of black coal inside so I'm not going to top it off. Besides, my 8.5 month old will be up long before the stove is going to die anyway.

I went to check on the Chubby at 6:00 A.M.this morning and it was still cranking at 600 degrees and the fire pot was just over 3/4 full. I opened the manual stovepipe damper up, filled a coal bucket up with anthracite, removed the top lid, and dumped all of the anthracite coal gentle in. Then it started to crackle and drop the temperature down to 500 degrees. I waited a few minutes and closed it back up. Then I went to get the kids ready and feed them. About 8:00 A.M. I could hear the pot of water I have on top simmering away. I went to check on it and the Chubby was back up to 600 degrees, nice and toasty.

I LOVE my Chubby!!!

Be careful when you load from the top that you do not overflow the fire pot! It is OK, however, to cone it up a little.

PS I like to pot of water on top too. It is my audio signal that the stove is hot enough to shake when the steam is roaring out of it.

Yeah, I loaded mine up at around 6:30 am. Its currently idling at 500* house is 72*. I'm about to run out to drop off the engine hoist I borrowed yesterday and pick up another ton of coal. I may top it off and close the air a little before I leave.