How Do You Handle Dust?

hugg · By: **hugg** On: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:23 pm

I have found that my stoker creates less dust than my hand fed. The ash pan on the gibraltar is very shallow, and it should have been designed wider, it doesnt catch all the ash from the grates. Shoveling out the rest of the ash out creates alot of dust. Normally I use a shop vac and hold it over the area when shoveling the ash out. That helps.

JLF53 · By: **JLF53** On: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:29 pm

hugg wrote:I have found that my stoker creates less dust than my hand fed. The ash pan on the gibraltar is very shallow, and it should have been designed wider, it doesnt catch all the ash from the grates. Shoveling out the rest of the ash out creates alot of dust. Normally I use a shop vac and hold it over the area when shoveling the ash out. That helps.

Thanks that is a good idea. I hava a hover dimension 1000 22 years old but is can pick up a brick. I could use it to vacuum out the ash from inside the empay ash door? right now I am trying to spray the resideu ash that does not fall into the ash payn and shovel it out with less dust.

JLF53 · By: **JLF53** On: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:30 pm

hugg wrote:I have found that my stoker creates less dust than my hand fed. The ash pan on the gibraltar is very shallow, and it should have been designed wider, it doesnt catch all the ash from the grates. Shoveling out the rest of the ash out creates alot of dust. Normally I use a shop vac and hold it over the area when shoveling the ash out. That helps.

Have wished I bought a stoker for the past week between the replacement of the thimble, cutting a hole in my fine wall paper excess labor, dirt etc. But too late now.

JLF53 · By: **JLF53** On: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:32 pm

Devil505 wrote:You're doing great Jane!!

JLF53 wrote:I just finished emptying the ash pan carefully covered. Left the ash door open while emptying. Fire was strong when I returned (maybe two minutes cause went out side without shoes). Sprayed the coal with water in a windex bottle. Shook down the stove counted the short strokes, wiped up residue on stove board and surrounding area with a scrub bucket and rag. Brought in coal from porch. Loaded through the front door while keeping the ash door closed and baro damper covered with foil. Sprayed coal as necessary. Used coffee can cause is holds more (thought of purchasing a metal scoop). Have shovel but only holds 1/3 of coffee can so shoveling would be endless. Finished with one hour. Will not have to touch til 8 AM. Baro damper really helps to keep the pipe temp down and burn rate is reduced. Have bottom slide between 1/4 and 1/2 with a pipe temp of 250 degrees F and stove temp of 400 degrees F. Have stopped running the fan behind the stove.

When you get comfortable doing it, shaking down & reloading will take 10-15 minutes a day. You are doing allot more work than I do (spraying coal with water, etc) but if it works...great!

Couple of recommendations:

1. Shake down....Only after you have livened up the fire: I usually leave my ash door open & shake down while I'm watching the ash fall into the pan to watch for embers. My stove is in the basement family room so I'm not as concerned about dust as you are. Most ash/dust will be sucked backed into the stove but some will excape with the ash door open.... If you want to avoid most dust, you can slide the air control all the way to the right (max air) close the ash door & shake down, wait about 10 seconds for the dust to be sucked up into the stove & THEN open the ash door to check for red embers in the ash pan.

2. I leave the ash door open when I'm loading the coal. I think the draft is stronger that way & the coal dust will be sucked up the chimney anyway. Try it both ways & see what you think.

3. Turn the blower fan off first .......b4 you do anything & then turn it back on LAST!!...No sense blowing the dust around.

I do not have a bower, was using a 50's 24" metal fan placed at the left rear corner to try to move the heat to the room across the hall. Have given up on the fan idea. Let the heat go where it wants.

JLF53 · By: **JLF53** On: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:36 pm

bksaun wrote:Jane,

Try using Devils method of starting the stove with charcoal instead of wood, also always open the ash door for a few minutes to get the fire reved up before opening the main door, this gets the draft pulling hard and prevents any smoke from coming into the house.

None of us here experience the kind of soot and dirt that you describe. When you learn to use this stove you will never go back to wood, also you will not have the soot and dirt problems.

Keep in touch, there are a lot of very helpful, nice people here.

Bk

I tried to start the coal fire with Kingsford match light for three days in a row. I failed each time. So I spoke to my Harmon Dealer (whose store burned down the day after they delivered my stove!!!!!), and he recommended to use wood. It worked but the clean up is like a disaster toxic waste area. Livingroom seems to be staying clean, so far so good.

Thanks for your kind comments and ideas. One only learns by asking and persisting.

I am determined to make it through this winter on $900.00!

Jane

Devil505 · By: **Devil505** On: Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:08 am

JLF53 wrote:Have given up on the fan idea. Let the heat go where it wants.

I ran my TLC for 2 years without a blower & I'll tell you.........It NEEDS a blower! :lol:

It's a "jacketed" stove (2nd layer of sheet metal) & without a blower you are wasting much of the heat up your chimney. (What I did was just buy a cheaper blower fan, sat in on the floor behind the TLC & connected it to the bottom blower fan inlet (square hole, under the stove towards the back) with a cheap duct fitting.

JLF53 wrote:Have wished I bought a stoker for the past week

First power failure will end that!

JLF53 wrote:I could use it to vacuum out the ash from inside the empay ash door? right now I am trying to spray the resideu ash that does not fall into the ash payn and shovel it out with less dust.

Sure...Just make sure you don't vacuum up any burning embers, obviously. (better off buying a cheap shop vac with a plaster filter & using that for the stove, imo)

Devil505 · By: **Devil505** On: Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:12 am

JLF53 wrote:I tried to start the coal fire with Kingsford match light for three days in a row. I failed each time. So I spoke to my Harmon Dealer (whose store burned down the day after they delivered my stove!!!!!), and he recommended to use wood.

I've found charcoal alone doesn't burn hot enough to light the coal quickly. What I do is start with about 10 Matchlight briquettes & then throw a few small pieces of wood on top of them when have caught well. Much easier to start you coal on top of the wood chips first. It's a little slower this way but cleaner & keeps the glass window clean too!

Copy from another thread:

Starting a new way now. ( I had to restart so often last winter due to "Reading" coal jamming my stove that I found a better/easier way to start a fire) As is mentioned in another thread, I put about 10 Matchlight briquettes in a coffee can (with both sides cut open & pack coal around the can. Then remove the can & light the briquettes. But I found it much faster to add a little wood (very little) on top of the briquettes & then, when the wood is burning well, carefully add a little coal on top of the wood fire. (making sure not to smother the fire)
The briquettes alone don't burn hot enough to get the coal burning quickly so adding a bit of wood kindling speeds things up allot!

bustedwing · By: **bustedwing** On: Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:18 am

Make sure your shopvac has a tightly sealed paper filter over the foam one,while vacuuming chunks of dirt/creosote from a fireplace and meticulosely getting every last tiny bit I turned around to a thick smokey dusty haze that smelled of stale charcoal and was thick as could be,needless to say a fine red/black dust eventually settled everywhere,a few months later after using the vac for a while with a new paper filter while vacuuming the fly ash from the base and walls of my stoker I turned around to a fly ash haze,the plastic ring that secures the paper element had worked itself loose(vibration over time)and allowed a gap near the top edge.Good thing I'm a batchelor and don't give a hoot about a little dust.It was a little depressing though. RichB

CapeCoaler · By: **CapeCoaler** On: Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:31 am

My Mark II makes a fine white dust never any 'black soot'.
None of the other stoves that I run make any 'black soot'.
So it must be what you are starting the fire with.
Use my 'real charcoal' starting method and a inexpensive propane torch for soot free fire ups.
http://nepacrossroads.com/about3041-285.html#p87703

oliver power · By: **oliver power** On: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:45 am

LsFarm wrote:The best advice for dust reduction is to shake the grate then wait for the dust to settle. Then very carefully and slowly open the ashpan door, and again, slowly and carefully remove the ash pan.

Covering the ashpan with a piece of galvanized steel to keep the dust on the top of the ashes from being spread through the room as you take the ashpan outside is helpful too.

You can also wait for the ash in the pan to cool and spray it with a mist of water to settle the dust, I'm not sure how well this will work, but may be worth a try.

Hope this helps.

Greg L

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Instead of shaking, then emptying ash pan. I find shaking, then emptying ash pan at next tending time helps. Reason: Ash pan will be cooled down. Fly ash doesn't have hot air currents to carry it around as much.

NewtocoalinNY · By: **NewtocoalinNY** On: Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:03 pm

As someone new to coal, I find this interesting, as I encounter most dust when I'm emptying the ash pan into the ash can outside. I was surprised to see how much dust burnt coal produces! I'd also like to "pick the brains" of some of you folks who are more seasoned to coal burning than I am. I have a Saey (Hanover I) installed in the basement of my ranch-style house, acting as a radiant heat source (and it's doing a nice job), but I'm wondering if I'm "doing things right". I'm burning Blaschak coal, little more than a bag a day. I have the "thermostat" set at 4 (or thereabouts), and I shake it three times a day (roughly every 8 hours). My dealer never told me how much to shake, so I scrape the sides of the firebox and "knife" the firebox as well with the provided tool. I then shake the stove for about 100 reps of the shaker handle. Like I said, it seems to be working well, but I just wanted to be sure I'm doing it right. Advice?

LsFarm · By: **LsFarm** On: Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:39 pm

Hi NewtoCoal. Welcome to the forum.. For your questions about burning , shakeing, knifing etc.. Pleease start a new Topic in the hand fired forum.. This thread is about dust,, and most people reading it will be posting about dust..

If you post on the Hand fired forum, with a tittle something like: Saey Hanover I, correct operation methods?? or something similar, you will get a lot more answers to your questions and a lot faster too.

If you look on the Hand fired forum, I think you will also find some threads on similar subjects about your stove..

Welcome, and stay warm !!

Greg L

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