Very Weird Burn

It was the coldest morning of the season so far with snowflakes finally flying. This is my second season of the Glenwood No. 6 and I feel I know her performance very well. I wake up to a cold stove, not dead but cold. Granted it was a 15 hour burn, but not at all unusual for me. I can put my hand on the barrel. WTF, this happens to other people, not me. I shake it down and load it up, open the primary air vents, open the MPD, and take it out of base-heater mode. The new charge of coal comes to life, but the stove is cold. Here is a pic of the coal bed, a mix of blue and orange flames, actually mostly blue but that did not come out too well in the photo: and the thermometer reading a whopping 120 degrees: Now you may ask me what kind of coal? My answer: black nut. All the same to me. I never, ever noticed any significant difference in any coal. All my coal has been scrounged out of basements so I have no idea what supplier it comes from. And it is all mixed up in various bags and barrels. I believe this is my first evidence for shi**y coal. Hope it's just a fluke in my supply.

Your stove is basically a large drum on top of the fire pot. At this stage of the burn the ignited gasses are going straight out of the flue pipe and are not in close proximity to the walls of the stove. Later when the coal is red hot it will give off large amounts radiant energy that travel right to the stove walls, proximity being much less important. There is radiant heat which heats the stove walls and hot flue gas which in the confines of the base heating mode are effectively utilized. I think as the burn progresses those walls will be hot.

The way it burns might be different than other coal but if it burns it will give off heat.

You are correct for sure, my friend. Eventually the stove became hot like normal. This load simply took a very, very long time to get there. Same load 6 hours later. The stove is at normal operating temperature now. The blue flames are intense but the glowing red overwhelms them in the photo.

Lobstreman, More pictures

Would you mind taking some measurements from your ashpan next time you have it out ? I made one today that is 14"w x 17"l x 3 1/2" tall, I think I need to take an inch off of the height though to bring it down to 2 1/2" high ?

I cant get over how much coal those Glenwood No 6 fire pots hold, no wonder they have such long burns between shakedowns.

Ah, another Glenwood No. 6. Excellent! I had to have an ash pan made up (very sexy in stainless steel) and I asked the same question of another very helpful member (dlj) whose answer was:
"My ash pan measures about 15"X13"X3" (= L X W X H)"
If I did it again, I think I would make it an inch wider like you did. The two inches longer is not as important because I can still push the pan all the way back and have room for a handle in front. Three inches for the height is perfect. Allows you to see the embers fall when you shake.
yes the fire pot holds a lot and I also cone it up real high.

Thanks much appreciated !

I made mine with the 2" allowance for a handle too. It's just about perfect for the stove and catches almost everything I shake at it. Holds a good 24 hrs. ashes too.