Another Chubby

the snowman wrote:Would be interesting to hear from some one who has experience with this elusive ring.

I traded in an older Chubby stove last February for a newer one. I had the old style shaker pot with the ring. It was a nightmare to shake down. I had to open the lower ash door to attach the shaker arm to the pot. It needed to be shaken with the lower ash door open, ash got everywhere. The new stove is heaven, nice smooth shaker action and no mess! Never had any problems with coal jamming the grates without the ring installed. I ran the new stove with and without the ring. I find that without the ring ash tends to spill outside the ash pan. The ring seems to keep most of the ash in the ash pan. Almost time fellas!

tcalo,

Did you get ash build up around the ring? I would love to hear stories anyone has concerning burning their Chubby stoves. The ring thing is interesting, wonder why Larry doesn't include it in his new stoves.

The snowman.

I spoke with Larry about this ring. He said the old style grate sat above the bottom of the fire pot. Coal would fall between the grate and pot, possibly jamming it. The ring was supposed to prevent coal from falling into this crack. The grate on the new system sits just below the bottom of the pot creating about a 1/4" opening. So any coal that would potentially get caught between the grate and fire pot would just fall out completely. I've owned both style stoves. My first stove was a rear vent. It was in our house when we bought it. Wrong stove for our situation. So I traded it in for a top vent. Larry was amazed at how old my stove was, probably one of the originals! It still had wood handles. I see a little difference in drafting, better with the top vent. I did however extend my chimney so that could be part of the improved draft. The newer style pot is by far easier to use, and much cleaner. I could keep the air closed when shaking! On the older style stove I would have to open my ash door to attach the shaker arm to the fire pot and shake it down. It got pretty messy. When the ash fell into the pan it would billow out like a nuclear cloud, due to the ash door having to be open when shaking the stove down. I've tried the ring both in and out of my new stove. The only difference it makes is it helps keep the ash in the pan. The ash tends to spill over the ash pan sides without the ring. Just makes for more shoveling! The stove does seem to have a bit more ash buildup along the sides where the ring sits. Without the ring there is a gap which lets the ash fall out easier. I new nothing about coal until we bought our house and found the Chubby in it. I started burning wood it her then found this site. I decided to give coal a try and was hooked! This is the only stove I've ever owned, but I'm glad because I love it. It is a work of art.

When I ordered the new center-pin firepot from Larry, he sent a ring with it. I had a ring in my old setup, and now I have a ring in my new setup with the updated firepot design. No problems with the ring interfering with anything that I can tell. Shakedown is smooth. I plan to order the updated ash pan soon before I start burning coal for the season. Right now I'm on wood (less ash), but I can see how the old square ash pan is going to be a pain with overflow.

JRLearned wrote:I can see how the old square ash pan is going to be a pain with overflow.

I get ash overflow with the new round ashpan without the ring. No biggie, just some extra cleanup at the end of the week. I find I get a better burn with the ring removed, just a bit more of a mess.

tcalo wrote:

JRLearned wrote:I can see how the old square ash pan is going to be a pain with overflow.

I get ash overflow with the new round ashpan without the ring. No biggie, just some extra cleanup at the end of the week. I find I get a better burn with the ring removed, just a bit more of a mess.

Did you ever have the old square ashpan? Do you feel the round one is easier to work with?

JRLearned wrote:

tcalo wrote: I get ash overflow with the new round ashpan without the ring. No biggie, just some extra cleanup at the end of the week. I find I get a better burn with the ring removed, just a bit more of a mess.

Did you ever have the old square ashpan? Do you feel the round one is easier to work with?

Ideally it would be oblong (as wide as possible and still get through bottom door & as long as possible to be able to close door)... but for sure the round is better than the square by a lil bit on each of the four sides of the square.

If the size is limited by the width of the door then square will always have more area. The round will fit within the square and not the other way.

sm wrote

I now rotate stoves I have in my collection in the shop so I can enjoy them.

Thanks for a nice write up - enjoyed reading it.
And thanks for confessing to a problem - where you rotate stoves in your collection.

I thought I was the only nut.

-John