Firepower 2242

Hi All.
New member here in RI. I recently picked up a firepower 2242 coal furnace. I've been looking everywhere for info on the furnace and have came up empty handed. Does anyone have any experience with this set up? I can get a fire going for about a week and then I lose it. The previous owner bought it new and burned wood with it. He had it tied in with his existing oil furnace and used the oil fan to move the heat. I will be using this as a standalone system and need to find a blower which i'm assuming goes on the bottom right side. Don't laugh at my duct work. It's temporary until we move into the new house. Any info would be great. One of my biggest questions is the bypass damper. should that be closed at all times and only opened when I feed the fire?

I think the damper should be open when you feed it.. I think you are having an ash clearing problem. Can you get a picture of the grates for us? It does have a shaker grate system in it right? Welcome to the forum partner

If you have a good fire going for a week,then I think your not getting all the ash cleared from the grates.Do you have a pic. of the grate system and explain how your shaking and clearing the ash from the grates.I don't know about how the damper should be,others will help out with that.Do you have a manometer to check your draft? And welcome to the forum.

Hi Guys.
Thanks for the welcome and quick responses. I should have taken pictures of the grates before I filled it up again. It does have 5 or 6 post card size grates that are connected to a rod in the ash pan. If i pull on the rod the grates shake back and forth. I think you are both right about the ash. I shake it every 12 hours and dump the ash pan once a day. I shake only until some red coals fall through. I checked the stove at 3 am and I had red coals on top. I could take my poker and push easily to the bottom. I'm assuming it shouldn't be that easy. any tips to get rid of the ash? also I dont have a manometer or a baro?
thanks

In addition to shaking, it helps to have a metal poker of some sort. I use a brake rod off a TW200.

After shaking, I poke all around the fire, especially the areas that are "dark" in the ashpan (the Harman lights up the pan bright when all the ash has been shaken out), then throw some coal on, shake some more, poke some more, shake a final time, then layer it up to the brim.

A manometer wouldn't hurt, just to see where your at draft wise. If too much, then get a baro.

gixxer wrote:checked the stove at 3 am and I had red coals on top. I could take my poker and push easily to the bottom. I'm assuming it shouldn't be that easy.

After shaking down,then push down and poke down,then fill the stove as high as possible before coal falls out the door.

gixxer wrote:I shake it every 12 hours and dump the ash pan once a day. I shake only until some red coals fall through

when shaking down,look and see where the red coals are coming from(from the center of stove only or more evenly across the entire grate system)sometimes you may need to shake untill you see red coals falling from across the entire grates or get a poker from underneath and clear where you don't see red coals falling from

gixxer wrote:One of my biggest questions is the bypass damper. should that be closed at all times and only opened when I feed the fire?

Yes, it keeps the exhaust from spilling into the room when the loading door is open. When closed, it adds a pass to the boiler retaining more heat.