Pioneer initial settings

Well i got it up and running tonight it was quite a bit of work especially mounting and running the thermostat wiring through the wall and such and also loaded 2400lbs of bagged coal in my basement by myself which almost killed me but its running and done. I have the damper set at .04 and its moving quite abit its open about an inch or more. Should it be barley open?. If i set it to .06 it barley moves, just a little. Also my flue temp above the damper is 20 plus degree's lower with the damper set at .04, about 168 degree's compared to 190 degree's or so at .06. This is at high settings the coal trol is still calling for heat. I'm also experimenting with the max rate i bumped it up to 43. I have about a inch to 1.5 inches of ash at the end of the burner. I don't see any unburned coal in the ash pan yet. So far im happy I just need to tweak everything a little. Its alot different than burning wood and pellets.

The recommended setting is .04. Its doing just what it should be doing. Good luck & it looks great.

Yes, the higher you set the damper, the less it will open and it draw more heat out of the stove, that regulates the draw on the stove and keeps more heat in the stove once setup correctly. I would leave it at .04. With coal, you want lower stack temperatures, that means you are getting the most heat out of your stove. Unlike wood, where you have to run hotter, you don't have any buildup of anything but fly ash, which is non-combustible anyway. You will notice when it gets colder, the damper may open even more, since the hot flue gases will rise much faster.

Sounds like you have getting it dialed in, my CoalTrol is set 6 min and 47 max and seems to work really good.

You may want to invest in a Dwyer Draft Gauge (mark II) just to verify and maintain your draft accurately.

My Pocono will idle at Min=5, but I turned it up to 10 to increase the Idle heat.
I was able to increase Max to 62 without spill over, I am running at Max=60

Question, judging the quality of coal. Could there be a rule of thumb between the quality of coal and the Min-Max setting.

Like, being able to idle lower means better coal, or is it being able to idle lower means worse coal.
Same with the Max

Another question about the barometric damper and stokers.
Since the blower supplies the air for the burn, does it matter how low you go with the draft, as long as the CO detector remains at Zero.

I will leave it set to .04.. I might add a tea with cleanout on it at some point .I'll have to check into that draft meter but im broke after this purchase. Thanks for the replys..