coal size for heatrola 5d?

preacher · By: **preacher** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:41 pm

Greetings to all from the land of ten thousand lakes! Ive been secretly scouring this site for weeks now while re-building an old heatrola which i purchased on craigslist.
completely disassembled, cleaned, cemented,re-assembled, polished, slow-fired, and now I'm ready to roll. I can get bagged coal nearby but should I use nut or stove?
also I have access to bit coal, stove size and nut. They called the bit "eastern hard coal" it is hard and shiny, but I digress, i will be using anthracite to begin and may experiment with bit later. Suggestions? (By the way, outstanding video's Mr. Herrick very informative and a few chuckles to boot)

Richard S. · By: **Richard S.** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:48 pm

Not sure about your specific model but most of my customers that had heatrolas used pea, I'd try that first. Those stoves aren't exactly the most efficient thing ever made and the pea will help you control it better. You could even mix some nut in the pea.

Body Hammer · By: **Body Hammer** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:56 pm

Most handfired stoves burn nut. If your grates have fairly close gaps, you can burn pea size. I burn mostly nut. But when it's not that cold out I have burned pea. It's not as hot and burns longer. The stove size, I am told, burns the hottest, but doesn't last as long. It all has to do with how tightly the individual pieces of coal pack in together. The smaller, the tighter.(:-)) The tighter; less air flow. Less air flow, cooler fire.

preacher · By: **preacher** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 2:05 pm

Thanks for the quick reply guys, I will try to post some pics .I don't think I can get pea my supplier has stove, nut, rice

Richard S. · By: **Richard S.** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 2:08 pm

Body Hammer wrote:Most handfired stoves burn nut. If your grates have fairly close gaps, you can burn pea size.

Most will burn either especially after you have established fire. When you get down to something like the Franco Belge you can even use buck

I burn mostly nut. But when it's not that cold out I have burned pea

You can always mix them together, most of my customers I've suggested range too (pea & nut mixed) were happy with it.

The problem with this stove assuming it's the same as all the Hetrolas I've seen is it's box with a hole in the side. :lol:

. It's not very efficient and with all the air infiltration not easily controlled either.

I don't think I can get pea my supplier has stove, nut, rice

Go with the nut then, ask about the pea. It's easily the most abundant size so acquisition should be easy..

wsherrick · By: **wsherrick** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 2:35 pm

These stoves were primarily designed for Bituminous Coal. If you have done a good job of resealing the joints and have the doors fit pretty good then it might give you a satisfactory performance. Thank you for the compliment on the videos. I really appreciate it. Good luck with your stove. Let us know how it turns out.

preacher · By: **preacher** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:03 pm

Here are some pics, I can see why some of these stoves would be hard to control. If I had not taken this stove apart and re sealed every part it would have been a wind tunnel! The cement was virtually absent. Yes this stove is really tight now, doors and joints perfectly sealed. (I took special care doing so after reading this forum, I am totally a rookie at this coal burning thing. When I talk about it up here I get some strange looks.) At my age you have learned to pay attention to people who know what they are talking about so I was really happy to find this forum. Hopefully the pics will show up.God Bless.

Rob R. · By: **Rob R.** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:47 pm

That stove is a beauty, looks just like the one I used to run. I always burned nut-size coal in mine.

It will really crank out the heat, so look forward to a warm winter.

franco b · By: **franco b** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:51 pm

Wow! Stove looks like new. Good job.

Would be nice if you wrote a revue of the stove once it is up and running for awhile. I don't think we have much information for stoves of that era.

Body Hammer · By: **Body Hammer** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 4:21 pm

Thats an air circulating type stove. Even without a blower it will really move some air around. It looks very nice. You'll be lounging in your under wear this winter!

preacher · By: **preacher** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:12 pm

After establishing a fire does a person want to fill all the way to door sill?

preacher · By: **preacher** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:14 pm

also markviii what kind of setting should I start with? manual or baro?

Rob R. · By: **Rob R.** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:20 pm

You add coal to the top of the firepot; pile it a little in the middle if you wish. MPD or baro is a personal preference. I always used an MPD, and if I remember correctly...about one turn open on the air spinners with the MPD closed worked well. Every install is different, so start slow.

SteveZee · By: **SteveZee** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:45 pm

Preacher,

Very nice job on the stove. Looks super nice.
Take a look at the "sticky" thread up near the top of the hand fired page. How to light a hand fired stove. There is about 26 pages to look through with various lighting techniques and running techniques with suggested shake down and refill times etc... I'm sure you'll find some valid info in which to use with your setup.

Good luck with it.

preacher · By: **preacher** On: Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:50 pm

Will do, thanks to all, this is a great site, looking forward to future conversations!

coal size for heatrola 5d?

coal size for heatrola 5d?

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