Baker's Choice

 
themongolian
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Post by themongolian » Tue. Nov. 01, 2011 9:46 pm

Thanks for the info. Can I ask some very basic questions? I have never burned coal before. Can someone give me a step by step instruction on how to start and burn coal?
The coal I got was straight from the ground. The size varies from head size to pea size. There is a good mix of sizes. I asked my neighbor who helped me buy it what size was best for burning. He said fist size, smaller was dumb. So that was his opinion, but I don't think that people in the states ever burn big coal. What I have burn was fist size and smaller. It was very easy to break up.
What are the advantages or disadvantages of burning big or small?
How do you best add more coal without smothering the fire? At what stage of the burn do you add coal?

 
CapeCoaler
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine BS#4, Harman MKII, Hitzer 503,...
Coal Size/Type: Pea/Nut/Stove

Post by CapeCoaler » Tue. Nov. 01, 2011 10:23 pm

Sounds like you have bit or sub bit coal...
The easy to breakup part says it is not hard coal...
So you need some over fire air in your stove...

 
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SteveZee
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Glenwood Modern Oak 116 & Glenwood 208 C Range

Post by SteveZee » Wed. Nov. 02, 2011 8:03 am

Honestly, it sounds to me that the designers of this stove did not intend it to burn anthracite coal. Everything points to the assumption that you'd be using bit coal which burns similar to how you'd burn wood.

Fist sized coal would be classified as stove coal here. There are pages of information at the top of the hand fired page in the sticky thead How to light a hand fired stove.


 
BKCH123
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Post by BKCH123 » Wed. Nov. 02, 2011 11:46 pm

Dealer gave me further explanation of how the draft knobs at the top of the stove work. When you open the draft controls the cold air enters the stove goes down (cold air drops) the down tubes under the coals to give air to fire. Problem is there are no down tubes going below the grates. He hasn't responded back since I point this out.
Have and Idea though. Not sure if this would work but if you place metal spacers behind the left side fire brick to leave a space between side of stove and the firebrick. And then drill holes in that space between fire brick and side of stove down to the ash pan area this might allow the air from the upper draft controls to get under the shakers and actually work. They should have run a channel from the draft controls, down the side of stove to allow the air to drop down under grates.
The dealer I bought my stove from offered to build a draft control on the ash door and agreed it would work better with air under the grates. And that he didn't know why the manufacturer built it this way.

Keep you posted as I work on figuring out a solution.

 
themongolian
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Post by themongolian » Thu. Nov. 03, 2011 12:45 am

Thanks for passing on your findings. You have a good idea about how to get the upper drafts to transfer the air below the grate. Your idea gave me another similar idea. Maybe this could be done by using channel iron. There are two fire bricks on the left side. take them out, place a channel iron at the front and back of the fire box, (the channels should be at least 4 inches wide so they will be directly under the upper draft, Holes would need to be drilled in the metal the channel sits on (maybe 4 3/4 inch holes), then cut the fire bricks to fill the remaining space. This would make the left side look similar to the right side where they do have channels to route air flow, although I would not drill hole in the channel as on the left.

I have attached pics of the draft I made yesterday for my stove. It seems be working well so far. I put the draft toward the front thinking that maybe I will add a second one toward the back to get a more even burn.

This is some good brain storming going on. Two heads are better than one.

Keep me posted.

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BKCH123
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Post by BKCH123 » Thu. Nov. 03, 2011 11:09 pm

Talked to dealer over the phone today. The manufacture basically told him that wood will burn better than coal in the stove. They did say that adding the draft below the grates or opening ash door would make the coal burn better. They basically didn't want to make major changes like adding a draft knob below the grates because of the UL listing. They would have to go thru the UL procedure again to make that change. They did offer to make a draft control on the ash door or were I wanted to put it. The manufacture is supposed to call me and brain storm ideas with me to fix the problem. The dealer told me that the pioneer maid stove already has 1 draft knob below the grates and 2 above but only will burn coal if you buy it as a add on option.
Looks like your new draft control will work good. If using the existing knobs don't work. Ill be Putting it on the side like yours but since my stove is new Iam hoping I can get them to possibly send me matching draft knobs to add mine. Ill just have to do a little welding.

Let you know what I come up with


 
BKCH123
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Post by BKCH123 » Thu. Nov. 03, 2011 11:26 pm

To answer your question about burning coal. My brother told me you have to bank the coal. Basically you start putting coal in the front and as you go back toward the rear of the fire box you want the coal to get higher so it kinda slopes up from front to rear. The coal will burn from the front the low side to the rear the high side. Then you bank it from the rear to the front the opposite direction. You can also go left and right if you want to. You just keep banking it back and forth. Ive been going front to back an back to front and loading it from the top.

Hope this helps

 
BKCH123
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Post by BKCH123 » Sun. Nov. 06, 2011 10:06 pm

Talked to manufacture and basically didnt get much answers except need to add bottom draft to stove. So basically they sell a wood/ coal stove but didnt put a bottom draft on it. And the only reason it doesn't have a bottom draft is they don't want to go thru the government red tape to change the UL listing on stove. Basic answer is to add a bottom draft as recomended by the manufacturer.

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