Am I Not Burning Stove Hot Enough?

 
rberq
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Joined: Mon. Apr. 16, 2007 9:34 pm
Location: Central Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane

Post by rberq » Tue. Dec. 07, 2010 6:48 pm

Chuck_Steak wrote: We should clarify that overfiring @500 degrees,
is 500 'stack' degrees, and not 500 'stove' degrees...
Right. Harman says don't let the temp at the outlet collar go above 500*.
Even when I have run the stove above 800, the outlet temp stayed around 400. And nothing on the stove was glowing red, so by Freddy's rule all was good.

 
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lowfog01
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Joined: Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 8:33 am
Location: Springfield, VA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Mark II & Mark I
Coal Size/Type: nut/pea

Post by lowfog01 » Tue. Dec. 07, 2010 8:04 pm

With a draft like that I'd work backwards from what you know. You know that you can operate the stove at one full turn at a temperature of 250* but you are afraid it will eat all your coal and give you a shorter burn and that maybe true with that draft. Fill your fire box to the top of the fire bricks and see if your fears are justified. Use pea coal, it will act as a natural damper. If your fears are justified, then at least you know and can start working back from there. The next time reduce the air to 3/4 of a turn, does that extend your burn but reduce your heat production? If so would a larger type of coal work better? or maybe you may want to try a mix of nut and pea. Are you keeping a log? You may want to think about it because you are going to do a lot of hit and miss actions until you learn how your unique stove set up works. My log from the year I found the Forum is full of hit and miss opportunities but since I was recording them I never repeated any of the mistakes or at least not most of them.

The bottom line is you don't really know how your stove and draft and type of coal are going to all react together to produce the heat you want to generate. Find out those relationships and you too will have burns that last for 24 or 30 hours and produce just the amount of heat you want. Unfortunately, none of us can provide more then generalities. You have to do the hard part and figure it out. Good luck, Lisa

 
cowentz
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Joined: Fri. Dec. 21, 2007 8:22 am
Location: York county, PA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Alaska Kast Console II Hearth

Post by cowentz » Wed. Dec. 08, 2010 11:54 am

Last night around 8:30 ( wasn't home most of the night so I couldn't mess with it) I shook it down and loaded it as full as I could get it with out it falling out the door, and set the draft knob at 1 full turn. This morning at 6:30 stove temp was running about 325, room temp was around 69 deg and there was plenty of coal left ( the wind died down a little I think that has helped some). I shook it mounded it full again, left the air knob a 1 full turn and left for work. Tonight when I get home I am going to crank her up and at least break the 400 mark. I feel the stove will heat the house I just need to be willing to crank it up. This is my first "real" stove. I had a pellet stove at the old house so I just need to get used to running this thing a lot hotter then the pellet stove ever thought about burning.


 
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I'm On Fire
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Location: Vernon, New Jersey
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machines DS-1600 Hot Air Circulator

Post by I'm On Fire » Wed. Dec. 08, 2010 12:27 pm

Yeah, I too was Leary of going over the 450* mark on the Chubby too for fear it would burn out while I was at work or sleeping. But the other day I bit the bullet and ran the stove at 550* for a few hours before bed. Then when I went to bed I banked it down and let it idle at 510*. When I got up in the morning I was pleasantly surprised to see her sitting there at 510* with coal still glowing red. Go ahead and open her up!

 
cowentz
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Joined: Fri. Dec. 21, 2007 8:22 am
Location: York county, PA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Alaska Kast Console II Hearth

Post by cowentz » Thu. Dec. 16, 2010 9:07 am

Just an update. The Mark II has been doing great. With the cold temps lately I have been burning steady at around 425 to keep the room temp between 70-75. I am able to easily get 12 hr burn times with the air knob at 1.25 turns and stove temp at 425.

However I did almost lose the fire yesterday. When I got home I noticed only 1/4 to 1/3 of the coal was burning the rest was all ashed over. I found out I left the foil covering the baro that morning when I filled it. Due to the high draft of the chimney most of the coal burnt up. I was able to keep it going though. I got it hot and added a little coal at a time until I had a good bed of coal burning again then I shook the ash out and topped it off.

 
CapeCoaler
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Joined: Sun. Feb. 10, 2008 3:48 pm
Location: Cape Cod, MA
Stoker Coal Boiler: want AA130
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine BS#4, Harman MKII, Hitzer 503,...
Coal Size/Type: Pea/Nut/Stove

Post by CapeCoaler » Thu. Dec. 16, 2010 9:23 am

Congratulations!
Another coal burning success story... :D


 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Thu. Dec. 16, 2010 9:36 am

Good Recovery! Funny how the blips in the smooth operation of the stoves are usually self inflicted! :D

I had a self inflicted blip yesterday also. I was in the basement cleaning out a lot of files and other flammable carboard type stuff and figured I would lessen my impact on the landfill and get some extra heat to boot. It worked well through the afternoon, however the paper and cardboard ash that was left over ended up blocking the air through the coal last evening and I couldn't get the stove past 400*. I pokered through the coal bed to break up that layer of ash and then the temps took off again. :oops:

 
buck24
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Joined: Sun. Feb. 28, 2010 5:47 pm
Location: NEPA/Pittston Twp. PA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: New Buck Corp. / MODEL 24 COAL
Coal Size/Type: Pea, Nut / Anthracite

Post by buck24 » Thu. Dec. 16, 2010 10:24 am

cowentz.... You handled the situation you were in like a seasoned veteran. That's what coal burning is all about. Good job ;)

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