Your Shaking/Refill Intervals?

 
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DennisH
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Post by DennisH » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 6:05 am

Just got done shaking down and refilling my Yukon Klondike coal furnace. After refilling with coal and waiting for the "dance of the Blue Ladies" to begin, I got to wondering what some of you other forum members do vis-a-vis shaking intervals. The "gold standard" appears to be once every 12 hours or so. I've found that with my particular furnace, after 10-12 hours I'm getting a pretty low firing rate and it takes more TLC to shake and get her back up to a good operating temperature. So, I've kind of gone to a PRN (as required - wife is a nurse so that term sticks in my head!) schedule of about every 8 hours, or when my flue temps are down to about 400degF. That seems to give me a hot enough coal bed to shake/refill and get back up to a good flue temp fairly quickly that suits our heat needs. I normally run my flue temps 500-600degF, and on the really cold days here in the U.P. of Michigan that seems to work very well.

Just curious how may stick to a fixed 12 hour schedule, or thereabout, versus something less that that or just whenever you think you need to shake and refill.


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 6:09 am

I generally shook my Hitzer down every 12-15 hours. It was possible to only shake once per day, but the fire would be pretty low by that time and take longer to recover.

 
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Post by titleist1 » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 7:36 am

We are not nearly as cold as where you are, but on our coldest stretches I would shake down between 8 and 10 hours so that recovery time wasn't as long. On the more temperate days it would be every 10-12 hours.

On those real cold stretches, if I was around I would add a shovel or two of coal about half way through the 8-10 hours if I felt like messing with it, but that wasn't necessary.

Our hand fed was in the uninsulated basement so it had to crank out the heat to keep up. If it was upstairs in the living area I would have certainly had to throttle it back and would have had the longer 12 hour interval no matter how cold it got. I am curious to see how the mag stoker (still in the basement) compares to the Mark III hand fed this year as far as coal usage and comfort level.

 
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Post by Freddy » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 7:37 am

The winter that I heated the sheep barn with a hand fed I spent one minute tending stove every 12 hours. I think it all depends on the stove you have and your heating demands. Some stoves need more love and if you are running at the upper limit of your stoves BTU output you may not make it 12 hours.

 
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Post by Muss44 » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 7:43 am

Before I go to work at 6:30, I shake and refill. Then at 7:00 at night before the kids start to wind down before bed I shake, refill, and take out the ashes. It can go much longer without it, but I like to stay on schedule. I also have a little to big of stove for my house so even on cold days I can easily let it go 15-17 hours without touching it.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 8:32 am

I'm shaking every 12 hrs--in this weather, 4-5 quick shakes--when it gets cold, anywhere from 6-10. I now poke from the top every couple days--I always make sure I have a strong line of red in the ash pan--close up ash door & top off. Try a little more under draft. What ever you do PRN wise--be consistent.

 
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Dennis
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Post by Dennis » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 8:37 am

depending upon work schedule 5 am, shake down,poke the bridging down(not stirring) throw 15 lbs. on top,flatten/level off,walk away till 7 pm. do the same. Takes 5 to 10 minuites total including having to take ashes out,witch is every 3-4 days(UAE)right now with warmer weather. Dennis


 
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Post by Three Labs » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 9:47 am

Once a day. Every evening. Twice daily only when night temps dip into the low to mid teens or lower and day temps are not much higher.

 
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Post by nortcan » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 11:52 am

DennisH wrote:Just got done shaking down and refilling my Yukon Klondike coal furnace. After refilling with coal and waiting for the "dance of the Blue Ladies" to begin, I got to wondering what some of you other forum members do vis-a-vis shaking intervals. The "gold standard" appears to be once every 12 hours or so. I've found that with my particular furnace, after 10-12 hours I'm getting a pretty low firing rate and it takes more TLC to shake and get her back up to a good operating temperature. So, I've kind of gone to a PRN (as required - wife is a nurse so that term sticks in my head!) schedule of about every 8 hours, or when my flue temps are down to about 400degF. That seems to give me a hot enough coal bed to shake/refill and get back up to a good flue temp fairly quickly that suits our heat needs. I normally run my flue temps 500-600degF, and on the really cold days here in the U.P. of Michigan that seems to work very well.

Just curious how may stick to a fixed 12 hour schedule, or thereabout, versus something less that that or just whenever you think you need to shake and refill.
Hi DennisH. When you say 500-600*F on the flue, do you mean on the flue pipe and if so where on the pipe? For me 500 to 600*F is very high but we don't have the same stove so maybe it's normal, but a lot of the heat is going out if it's on the flue pipe.
I shake/refill the Golden every 12 Hrs, and shake the Vig once for a 24Hrs period and refill it every 12 Hrs. The 12 Hrs period is the easiest one but other schedules may work.

 
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Post by Vinmaker » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 12:45 pm

I am a pretty hands on guy I guess compared to you all. I do a shakedown and fill up in the morning before work (6:30am). Then when I get home around 4pm I will do another quick shake and a few shovels full to get a new layer of fresh coal to be nice an hot by bedtime. Then I shake and fill for the night around 10pm. I then I repeat....repeat....repeat...lol.

Btw. I tend to run my stove with pipe temps below 200F and burn temps in the 400F range. During really cold spells, I am running it hotter of course to get more heat out. That being said, I need to pump in more coal. It is just physics. The more heat you want per hour, the quicker you have to burn the coal. So I will tend to put in more around 4pm. Just to get the stove and house nice and hot. Nothing like a nice hot stove on the coldest of days! Would not change that for the world.

Vin.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 12:49 pm

Oh hell Vin, that's not physics, that's coal burnin. ;)

 
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Tim
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Post by Tim » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 1:37 pm

to heat my shop I can keep to a 12 and 12 schedule with no problems my shop is 30x50 with 1/3 at 8 ft. and the other 2/3 at 10 ft ceilings ...If it were at the house I would bet I would be more inclined to do a 3 time per day schedule like posted above ....once in the morning before work,then when I got home shake down and deal with the ashes and a quick shake before bed and top her off for a good strong fire all nite but 3 times a day would most likely be in the heart of the COLD season.
12 and 12 on Glenwood will keep it a happy camper most times unless it is REALLY cold.

 
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Post by CoalWrangler » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 1:58 pm

So far it seems that the 12 and 12 schedule works well for my 983. Even on warmer days when it's not really needed I still do the shake-dump-fill routine morning and evening just to keep in the habit. Last year I heated with a much smaller Surdiac stove. Once the cold weather hit, tending become much more of a chore - more like every 4 to 6 hours - kinda of like tending to a newborn :shock: . This was primarily because I was asking too much of the stove. My new stove is much larger and the Surdiac is enjoying a well deserved rest in my garage. Stay warm my friend.

 
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Post by Vinmaker » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 2:12 pm

freetown fred wrote:Oh hell Vin, that's not physics, that's coal burnin. ;)
lol. Your right my friend! :)

 
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Post by DennisH » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 7:24 pm

Hi DennisH. When you say 500-600*F on the flue, do you mean on the flue pipe and if so where on the pipe? For me 500 to 600*F is very high but we don't have the same stove so maybe it's normal, but a lot of the heat is going out if it's on the flue pipe.
I shake/refill the Golden every 12 Hrs, and shake the Vig once for a 24Hrs period and refill it every 12 Hrs. The 12 Hrs period is the easiest one but other schedules may work.[/quote]

My probe thermometer is about 12 inches from where the flue pipe exits the furnace, and just below the baro damper. So that temp reading is basically what is coming out of the furnace. Have to run this furnace a bit hotter, since it's heating a 2500 sqft house. The baro damper is set right at 0.03. Just for fun once, I tried blocking the damper, meaning sending more heat out the furnace and up the chimney. Quite a difference, meaning the house was not as warm, so I know when I have the baro damper open and properly set, it does it's job well.


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