Is This a Coal Issue or Perhaps Something I'm Doing?
- CoalHeat
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No, as long as you have a barometric damper set and operating correctly.
Oh, and the house on the grates will definitely cause a problem!
Oh, and the house on the grates will definitely cause a problem!
- freetown fred
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Of course it will, you need to get some lolly columns under it.
- I'm On Fire
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No baro, I had a "No draft" issue with it last season so I removed it and noticed an immediate improvement on my draft.Wood'nCoal wrote:No, as long as you have a barometric damper set and operating correctly.
Oh, and the house on the grates will definitely cause a problem!
- I'm On Fire
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Just a lil update. I changed how I shake with this coal. I do a lot of little short jerky shakes. I manage to clear the front and rear grates and I get little to no hot coals in the pan. Thanks for the help guys.
- mkline
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Hey IOF,
You described what has been happening to me except for the grate jamming.I have a Kodiak with the round grate and it's pretty hard to jam it.After the last load of coal I picked up I've been having problems when I go to shake it down.There's hardly any ash and hot coals just pour down through the grate.I even left it burn for 24 hrs with the same results.Now your thinking,hell that would be awesome having coal that kept burning and didn't turn to ash.It would be great but there isn't any quality heat being produced.
Well,looking at my ashes in the ashpan and the coal in my bin I see lots of rock.The coal that is burning in the stove keeps the rock glowing until I shake it down then it's ok until I reload,then after awhile it starts to cool off again.There is no ash build up because I cleaned the stove completely out and started over.I'm not burning nut at this time,only burning pea.Here's a pic of some stone I picked out of a shovel full along with some that was burnt and with a piece of anthracite in the middle.
Mike
You described what has been happening to me except for the grate jamming.I have a Kodiak with the round grate and it's pretty hard to jam it.After the last load of coal I picked up I've been having problems when I go to shake it down.There's hardly any ash and hot coals just pour down through the grate.I even left it burn for 24 hrs with the same results.Now your thinking,hell that would be awesome having coal that kept burning and didn't turn to ash.It would be great but there isn't any quality heat being produced.
Well,looking at my ashes in the ashpan and the coal in my bin I see lots of rock.The coal that is burning in the stove keeps the rock glowing until I shake it down then it's ok until I reload,then after awhile it starts to cool off again.There is no ash build up because I cleaned the stove completely out and started over.I'm not burning nut at this time,only burning pea.Here's a pic of some stone I picked out of a shovel full along with some that was burnt and with a piece of anthracite in the middle.
Mike
- coal bob
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The piece above the coal is not a rock,thats the paddle I lost in the river glad somebody found itmkline wrote:Hey IOF,
You described what has been happening to me except for the grate jamming.I have a Kodiak with the round grate and it's pretty hard to jam it.After the last load of coal I picked up I've been having problems when I go to shake it down.There's hardly any ash and hot coals just pour down through the grate.I even left it burn for 24 hrs with the same results.Now your thinking,hell that would be awesome having coal that kept burning and didn't turn to ash.It would be great but there isn't any quality heat being produced.
Well,looking at my ashes in the ashpan and the coal in my bin I see lots of rock.The coal that is burning in the stove keeps the rock glowing until I shake it down then it's ok until I reload,then after awhile it starts to cool off again.There is no ash build up because I cleaned the stove completely out and started over.I'm not burning nut at this time,only burning pea.Here's a pic of some stone I picked out of a shovel full along with some that was burnt and with a piece of anthracite in the middle.
Mike
- I'm On Fire
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It does look like a paddle. I haven't noticed any rock in mine. Or not any that I can clearly tell the difference anyways. But I'll look a little harder now.
I'm on fire,
I experienced a learning curve with my DS 1500 and had the same "locked handle" and lots of coal in the pan.
I found when shaking, what I believed the grates to be flat during the shakedown, actually the grates were leaning forward. This allowed the coal to slip threw and eventually lodge between the grates. Simply waiting to shake another 12hrs burned out the lodged coal piece allowing to shake again.
So with the shaker handle in the upright positioned, placed the grates leaning forward. Position the shake handle forward the stove, placed the grates flat. So during shake down, I crack open the ash pan door and look up under the grates making sure the grates stay in a flat position during shake down. I get zero coal in the ash pan and feel all the ash gets removed because of the red glow that covers all the grates.
Hope this helps..
I experienced a learning curve with my DS 1500 and had the same "locked handle" and lots of coal in the pan.
I found when shaking, what I believed the grates to be flat during the shakedown, actually the grates were leaning forward. This allowed the coal to slip threw and eventually lodge between the grates. Simply waiting to shake another 12hrs burned out the lodged coal piece allowing to shake again.
So with the shaker handle in the upright positioned, placed the grates leaning forward. Position the shake handle forward the stove, placed the grates flat. So during shake down, I crack open the ash pan door and look up under the grates making sure the grates stay in a flat position during shake down. I get zero coal in the ash pan and feel all the ash gets removed because of the red glow that covers all the grates.
Hope this helps..
- coal bob
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On my first shake down I did with this stove ds #4 basement I pulled the handle to far and jamed up the grates, never will do that again. Now I just use short stokes back and forth have not had a problem since,have not even poked at the coals yet still have a nice red glow under the entire grates after shake downs love this stove , ds rocks
- MATTHEW D.
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It sounds like the new coal your getting is a lower volatile coal. Not a bad coal, it just takes longer to ignite and burn. Take a piece of unburned coal and smash it. If it is still shiny inside its good coal, just taking longer to ignite. It could actually be a better coal with better results if you tweak things right. It sounds like you are getting some good advice on how to do that.I feel like last season's Kimmel's coal produced a lot more ash at the same temps.
- I'm On Fire
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Thanks. I didn't have this odd issue at all last season; it was my first season burning coal. Since changing up the shaking procedure it's been working well.
- SteveZee
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I agree the shiny black glass lookin stuff is the best. Hard, glistening, and hardly any dust on your hands is top shelf coal. It may take a little longer to get lit and rippin, but once you figure out the settings for it, you get allot of heat and for a good long burn too. That stuff in the picture around the piece is trash. Rock, slate and even looks like a bone in there!MATTHEW D. wrote:It sounds like the new coal your getting is a lower volatile coal. Not a bad coal, it just takes longer to ignite and burn. Take a piece of unburned coal and smash it. If it is still shiny inside its good coal, just taking longer to ignite. It could actually be a better coal with better results if you tweak things right. It sounds like you are getting some good advice on how to do that.I feel like last season's Kimmel's coal produced a lot more ash at the same temps.
- I'm On Fire
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Yeah, I don't think this is "top shelf" coal. It looks like the same stuff I've burnt since last season.