Blaschak vs. Reading rice coal

Grinder · By: **Grinder** On: Wed Jan 02, 2008 7:19 pm

Our first ton of the season (Blaschak) is almost gone. We ordered our next ton from a different supplier, which carries Reading. Just wondering how the two compare? The bag of Reading that I opened didn't look as consistent in size as the Blaschak.

bksaun · By: **bksaun** On: Wed Jan 02, 2008 7:46 pm

It's not, but it still burn's.

BK

Grinder · By: **Grinder** On: Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:31 pm

There are some pretty good sized nuggets in there. I worry about it jamming the stoker.

bksaun · By: **bksaun** On: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:04 pm

I burned 3 tons of Reading last year and noticed some pieces the size of pea or nut coal, not many, I never had a jam. I am running an Alaska Channing III.

I saved some of the big pieces and put them in my sister in laws Christmas stocking. The rest burned up without a problem.

This year I am burning Blashak and have seen no big pieces, it is more uniform in size.

BK

gregolma · By: **gregolma** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:48 am

Reading is better.

LsFarm · By: **LsFarm** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 4:38 am

Buy a piece of 1/2" 'hardware cloth' mesh screen, and dump the rice through the screen. You don't want a hunk the size of nut or pea coal getting into and jamming the stoker mechanism.

Greg L

sauerzbr · By: **sauerzbr** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:11 am

I'm burning reading without any issues.

noknokman · By: **noknokman** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 2:35 pm

I bought 20 bags of Reading last week. So far I'm not impressed. Sizing is far less uniform than Blaschak and it's so wet that it's freezing in the bags outside. I won't be buying it again; glad I didn't get a ton.

Grinder · By: **Grinder** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 6:13 pm

gregolma wrote:Reading is better.

What do you like better about Reading?

noknokman wrote:I bought 20 bags of Reading last week. So far I'm not impressed. Sizing is far less uniform than Blaschak and it's so wet that it's freezing in the bags outside. I won't be buying it again; glad I didn't get a ton.

I too noticed that it seemed very wet. It would be interesting to know how much water weight we're paying for.

av8r · By: **av8r** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:41 pm

Grinder wrote:
gregolma wrote:Reading is better.

What do you like better about Reading?

noknokman wrote:I bought 20 bags of Reading last week. So far I'm not impressed. Sizing is far less uniform than Blaschak and it's so wet that it's freezing in the bags outside. I won't be buying it again; glad I didn't get a ton.

I too noticed that it seemed very wet. It would be interesting to know how much water weight we're paying for.

One of the local dealers here allows 3% for water. You get 103 pounds in a 100 pound bag. Maybe they all do that...I dunno

coalstoves · By: **coalstoves** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:58 pm

It goes without saying I am a Big Blaschak Fan, but I am developing some room in my bin and have been thinking about picking up a half a ton of Reading for a test burn it is only a couple miles difference in the drive with Reading being closer Blaschak has been pulling a lot of red ash coal out of the Lykens vein near Centralia to blend and the ash this year has bee more tan to red than the white I prefer , I know Reading is pulling huge amounts of coal from all along the Mammoth Vein might be time to see how it does . My Victory 700 despises Red Ash Coal and so far the current Blaschak Blend hasn't been a problem but its always good to know whats available and how it performs.
I often wonder if some of the problems the LS has with his AA could be avoided by using a good quality white ash coal

LsFarm · By: **LsFarm** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:11 pm

The Blaschak coal I burn as a hand-feeder burnt to a fine white ash. Almost like talcum powder. This is what my UAE coal does, it burns to a fine sand-like powder with no chunky ash, And the AA likes chunky ash or the powdery or sandy ash packs on my grate.

So far the powder/packing/constipation with my AA boiler has been eliminated with the coal from the Hegins breaker. It leaves a redish chunky ash, and the coal bed/ash bed is staying open, not clogging with powder, the fire temps are staying hot, because of plenty of air to the fire.

The reading coal I burnt as a hand feeder was not so good. I bought 5 tons of stove and nut two seasons ago. I had lots of clinker formation in my firebox. I had to let the fire go out every two weeks or so, and clean out the clinker and hard ash. The stove size coal left behind large hard white chunks of coal that were burnt all the way through, but wouldn't break up with my grate shaking motion. So this built up till it clinkered or blocked the airflow to the fire...

Makes me think that I should try some reading Pea coal in my AA boiler, the hard ash is what the AA likes... Naw, I like the Hegins coal, nice clean coal, no wood chips or rock. The reading had lots of wood, and odd sizes of coal.

Greg L

e.alleg · By: **e.alleg** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 10:44 pm

I have been burning reading rice coal, the load I got in the late summer is uniform in size and no dirt/wood/rocks/metal to speak of. I got another deliver from the same dealer in November and that was all over the board. Some bags look like pea coal, other bags look like ready mix concrete with stones mixed in. It all burns, the bags with the large chinks also contain nails, screws. cotter pins, wood, and plain old rocks. What I've been doing is picking out the huge pieces, it all burns hot so no complaints there.

Wood'nCoal · By: **Wood'nCoal** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:05 pm

e.alleg wrote:Some bags look like pea coal, other bags look like ready mix concrete with stones mixed in. It all burns, the bags with the large chinks also contain nails, screws. cotter pins, wood, and plain old rocks. What I've been doing is picking out the huge pieces, it all burns hot so no complaints there.

Was this Reading in the 40 lb. heat sealed plastic bags or was it coal bagged by the dealer at their yard? I can't believe someone would sell bagged coal with all that junk in it. Every time I've gotten bagged coal the most I'll find is some wood, a stone once in a while, or a little piece of slate.

Of the big names in (strip) coal I liked Blaschak the best, very uniform size.

The quality of the coal from the big strip mine companies varies constantly, depending on where they are pulling it from and what they are blending it with.

mikeandgerry · By: **mikeandgerry** On: Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:32 pm

LsFarm wrote:Makes me think that I should try some reading Pea coal in my AA boiler, the hard ash is what the AA likes... Naw, I like the Hegins coal, nice clean coal, no wood chips or rock. The reading had lots of wood, and odd sizes of coal.

Greg L

What sizes of coal have you been burning in the AA260m?

Blaschak vs. Reading rice coal

Blaschak vs. Reading rice coal

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