Lighting a stoker

BillMarti wrote:The easiest way I found is the cheapest. Get yourself a bag of charcoal and some charcoal lighter (perfumed kerosene) put about 5-7 brickets in and squirt some charcoal lighter in let it soak for a minute or so then light it off. Now let it burn foe a few minutes then turn combustion air on. Let them get a full glow about them. Throw a shovel of coal on top wait about a 1/2 hour or so until you get a good burn then turn your coal feed on. Now your done sit back and be amazed at the flames. Remember don't go near the pretty flames

Doing the charcoal may be a good way to get it heated up enough to establish a draft instead of building a fire in the ashpan.

jacknanticoke wrote:

BillMarti wrote:The easiest way I found is the cheapest. Get yourself a bag of charcoal and some charcoal lighter (perfumed kerosene) put about 5-7 brickets in and squirt some charcoal lighter in let it soak for a minute or so then light it off. Now let it burn foe a few minutes then turn combustion air on. Let them get a full glow about them. Throw a shovel of coal on top wait about a 1/2 hour or so until you get a good burn then turn your coal feed on. Now your done sit back and be amazed at the flames. Remember don't go near the pretty flames

Doing the charcoal may be a good way to get it heated up enough to establish a draft instead of building a fire in the ashpan.

I guess it is killing 2 birds with 1 stone. It works very well and in about an hour you got yourself "Fire" OooooooooooooooAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

A Hot air gun (paint peeling gun, find at local hardware store) is more cost effective, works everytime and you only pay the $25 once to purchase the gun. Easier to store and no mess.

MPeck wrote:A Hot air gun (paint peeling gun, find at local hardware store) is more cost effective, works everytime and you only pay the $25 once to purchase the gun. Easier to store and no mess.

Thats interesting. So how exactly do you use it to heat up the flue? Lay it in the stove, hold it and shoot the air up the vents in back of the stove, ??

About how long does it take until you can light the coal?

I have a T on my stovepipe with a cap on it that is used for cleaning out flyash during the heating season. When starting the stove for the first time I remove the cap and use the heat gun pointing it so the airflow goes toward the thimble and chimney. It only takes a few minutes and the flue and chimney are warmed up, replace the cap on the T and then light the stove. You can also use the barometric damper opening to do the same thing. Works for me!

I have a cap on mine to where it meets the horizontal pipe to the chimney. On first start up of the year when the chimney is cold, I use what I call "fire balls" to heat the chimney. I roll up several sheets of newspaper into balls and stick them in the pipe, light them and put the cap back on. Prior to doing this, I have my cowboy charcoal on the grate ready to light. Once the fire balls have got the draft going up the flue, I light the charcoal.

coalkirk wrote:I have a cap on mine to where it meets the horizontal pipe to the chimney. On first start up of the year when the chimney is cold, I use what I call "fire balls" to heat the chimney. I roll up several sheets of newspaper into balls and stick them in the pipe, light them and put the cap back on. Prior to doing this, I have my cowboy charcoal on the grate ready to light. Once the fire balls have got the draft going up the flue, I light the charcoal.

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Wow. I never thought of doing the T. That would make things a hell of alot easier then pulling the pipe off all the time. Any issues with draft at all? Right now I have about the same height and length to the wall run as you, except I have an elbow. To think of it, as you can see from my pic, I can't do this because my duct pipe runs straight up and wouldn't allow for me to put the T on there with a cap.

I crush some charcoal and put a little bit of lighter fluid in it, let it soak for a while. Lights easily. Sometimes if fluid is a bit heavy I get some odor.

My simple way is using a Coleman magnesium firestarter. I make my own coal mice with it, using a "cup" cut from a compressed paper egg carton. Soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol (I use the 91% stuff) - put the wet collon ball into the paper 'egg cup' then scrape about a teaspoon of the magnesium off a magnesium fire starter onto the cotton ball and fill around the edges with some dried rice coal, leaving the magnesium accessible so you can light it. Stick the cup down into the middle of your bed of coal, light it with a BBQ grill lighter, shut stove door and crank up the blower and watch it take off. So much cheaper than buying the fused coal mice and one magnesium firestarter can last a long while! http://www.campingcomfortably.com/colem ... arter.html

just my own two cents. i am new to this forum and have found the best way for me to light my coal. i get the grate covered with a inch or so of coal and then lay a ordinary heat gun (like the ones for removing decals or paint) on the grate and put the coal up to the metal nozzle and simply turn it on. let it run for about 20 seconds till you have a nice red coal spot and hit the switch to start the blower. works every time and lights in less than a minute. my heat gun is a craftsman 1100 deg. gun like $20 at sears. just watch it as you do it so you dont leave it there to long and melt the end of your gun.

I use wood pellets and light them with a benzo-matic propane torch. Got a bag of premium for 4.50. I use about 1/2 a 16 oz. plastic cup worth light em up close the door. When they are burning good sprinkle coal on em and turn on the blower and away I go.......I didnt like charcoal cause of the odor I got off it.

So do you guys keep your stove turned off untill you get some hot coals?

Had to re-light mine after going away for Christmas. Placed a dozen or so charcoal briquettes on the grate and hit them with the torch. After about 20 seconds or so I turned the combustion blower on and closed the door. When they were burning good, sprinkle coal on top and let that get going. After a few minutes, turn the thermostat up to feed more coal out.

So do you guys keep your stove turned off untill you get some hot coals?....i use the pellets get them hot then sprinkle coal then turn on blower for some forced air shut it off and sprinkle more coal...usually 2 times and it is off and running.

I have seen guys use the real small fans rather than the blower...less wear and tear I guess

My method is super secret.

I've got a recipe that goes into a paper lunch bag. I stuff this down into the coal and light the paper. Then I turn on the boiler and the combustion air fan does the rest. I could walk away if I wanted to, I've used this method a dozen or so times and the result is a roaring fire in 5 minutes or less... every time. I like watching this thing work though so I usually hang around for a bit.

The secret recipe?

(1) lunch bag of the paper variety
(1) handful of shredded paper (out of the paper shredder at work)
(1) handful of hardwood charcoal (not the briquette kind)
(1) lighter of the longer variety
(1) boiler full of coal ready to make someone warm (of course, this works with any coal stove)

Simply place the ingredients into the paper bag and roll the bag closed. Stuff the bag into the coal leaving enough exposed to light the paper bag. Light the paper bag. Turn on the stove. Grab the remote and get warm.

i think for about 10 bucks you could be starting fires for the next five years.

Tom