How to Light a Hand Fired Coal Stove

Jack Magnum wrote:I've got about 60lbs in her and the house is 82 degrees with 3 windows open The wife says she's really hot

Adjust the slider to keep the stove & house at a good temp. Remember....the hotter you need to run the stove, the more coal you will burn through & the more often you will have to tend the stove.

JLF53 wrote:Slider full open.

Makes me a little nervous with the slider full open Jane. It's possible that as it gets colder out tonight, your draft will increase & make your stove run hotter than you want. I would set the slider back to....maybe between 1/2 to 3/4 open when you goto bed.
I would also recommend this http://www.smarthome.com/3219/Redi-Chek ... ter/p.aspx
which you can keep the receiver near your bed & it will alarm at preset warning temps (that you set) when your stove is running either to hot (I set mine for 450*) or to cold. (125*)
I would also suggest installing a barometric damper to you system too.
I assume you already have smoke & CO (Carbon Monoxide) alarms?

Devil505 wrote:

JLF53 wrote:Slider full open.

Makes me a little nervous with the slider full open Jane. It's possible that as it gets colder out tonight, your draft will increase & make your stove run hotter than you want. I would set the slider back to....maybe between 1/2 to 3/4 open when you goto bed.
I would also recommend this c
which you can keep the receiver near your bed & it will alarm at preset warning temps (that you set) when your stove is running either to hot (I set mine for 450*) or to cold. (125*)
I would also suggest installing a barometric damper to you system too.
I assume you already have smoke & CO (Carbon Monoxide) alarms?

I have a baro damper, a CO2 detector and a smoke alarm. I will reduce the slide. So far I have kept aluminum foil on the baro damper. The temperatures have remained constant on the stove and stove pipe. I tried to buy the wireless alarm but they are out of stock.

JLF53 wrote:I tried to buy the wireless alarm but they are out of stock.

Amazon has it in stock ...& cheaper! http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Industri ... 884&sr=8-1

Geez !!!!!
I can't beleive this coal burning !!!
I am sitting here having my coffee and getting ready for my first shake down EVER. I started this fire over 12 hrs ago but it's probably been 12 good hours of burn and the outside temp is 22 degrees at the Lake and inside temp is 76 degrees with 1 window open and the stove pipe temp is right at 200 dgrees like when I went to bed. BEAUTIFUL !!!! Only negative I see is the dust on my coal. Small anoyance when you consider the long burns I'll be getting compared to our wood fire insert. I want to thank the forum and Devil again on being so accommandating.
Jack

Jack Magnum wrote:Geez !!!!!
I can't beleive this coal burning !!!

Morning Jack......Yup....You'll find coal is much less work & steadier heat than wood....by far!!

Jack Magnum wrote:outside temp is 22 degrees at the Lake and inside temp is 76 degrees with 1 window open and the stove pipe temp is right at 200 dgrees like when I went to bed. BEAUTIFUL !!!!

Lower your stove temp if it's too warm in the house...That'll save coal too!

Jack Magnum wrote:Only negative I see is the dust on my coal.

Not sure what you mean here Jack?? Dust on the coal where? (in the stove? coal bin?..where?)

Did your coal bed shrink a few inches over night? (You wont have to shake down to much....Just a few short, choppy strokes until you see the very first embers fall)

Devil,
Yep coal sunk a bit .The dust I am talking about is, I poured coal from 50lb bags to buckets and then when I take from the bucket I get dust and seems to be quite abit of fines or residue in the bottom of the bucket. I guess would be normal right ? The stove is fine not a problem with dust.

Jack Magnum wrote:Yep coal sunk a bit

That will stop in a few days. (it's nice when it sinks by itself but that always stops after the fire has been going a few days, at which point you will need to be a bit more aggressive with you shake down procedure & poke it a bit (to find air pockets) ffom the top) No need to poke for a few days though, as long as the coal bed settle by itself or with a little shaking.

Jack Magnum wrote:I poured coal from 50lb bags to buckets and then when I take from the bucket I get dust and seems to be quite abit of fines or residue in the bottom of the bucket. I guess would be normal right ?

Yup...that's normal & why I do all my transferring from bag to coal hod outside my basement door. (there are numerous threads on how some people wet down or oil their coal to keep dust down. I tend to mainly load my TLC with a hand shovel through the glass door (better control of where the coal goes) rather than dumping it through the top load door, so I have very little dust anyway. You can't avoid all the dust, no matter how careful you are, so it's a good idea to use a vacuum on the top of th stove & surrounding area, regularly.

My coal had quite a bit of those fines or what ever you call them so I ended up using a large ice fishing skimmer to load the coal. The residue falls through the holes and into another bucket. Anyway, A couple of neighbors came by today and loved the coal fire and heat. The house is now 82 with windows open. I may cut back on the draft after my next shake down. Thanks Devil

Jack Magnum wrote:The house is now 82 with windows open. I may cut back on the draft after my next shake down. Thanks Devil

Wow, that's cooking. Run her alittle cooler and you'll save coal and not have to open the windowstats. (credit Woodncoal for that phrase) They are a very nice hand fired stove.

Well, I had my second shake down and the handle really seemed stiff. I thought I was going to break it but finally got the ashes to fall and when the embers fell I stopped and then i refilled in a couple sessions with the ash door open. Right now I have an outside temp of 18 and inside temp of 75 and the stove temp is 200 degrees with the air draft open 2 notches. Love this coal stove.Earlier I tried running the stove WITHOUT the fan and saw the stove pipe temp rise to 300 and the actual room temp drop to 72. I just wanted to see what I should expect if I experience one of our infamous power outages. What a difference from wood burning. I had an ole work associate give me a call to see if I was interested in some wood. When I told him I went to coal and about this forum and the great bunch of guys he defended wood with a passion. I figured no need in trying to convince him cause I've burned wood and know all the negatives. Thanks to everybody ,
Jack

Oh , I tried to clean my glass tonight after purchasing the Rutland glass cleaner and not much happened. Do I need to do something special in order for the crude to come off?

Devil505 wrote:

JLF53 wrote:Slider full open.

Makes me a little nervous with the slider full open Jane. It's possible that as it gets colder out tonight, your draft will increase & make your stove run hotter than you want. I would set the slider back to....maybe between 1/2 to 3/4 open when you goto bed.
I would also recommend this http://www.smarthome.com/3219/Redi-Chek ... ter/p.aspx
which you can keep the receiver near your bed & it will alarm at preset warning temps (that you set) when your stove is running either to hot (I set mine for 450*) or to cold. (125*)
I would also suggest installing a barometric damper to you system too.
I assume you already have smoke & CO (Carbon Monoxide) alarms?

Still have fire after 1.5 days. almost lost the fire this morning at 11 am. Had to add a split of wood to get the pip hot enough and sufficient draft to get a good fire going. I have a 24' old metal fan on the stove at all times to distribute the heat. The pipe rarely goes over 300 degrees. If it falls to 150 it is difficult to maintain. Stove temp varies depending whether I place the thermometer on the left front or right front above the door. The left side is cooler due to the fan placed at an angle to the rear left blowing right front. We are getting sufficient heat in the second floor bedrooms to sleep comfortable.We may closse one more first floor room leaving only two rooms on the first floor heated and two or three bedrooms. Living room where stove is is 80 degrees.

Leave slider 3/4 during the night and pipe temperature fell to 200 degrees F.

I guess there is a learning curve with the coal. I opened up ash door at 5:20 figuring a quick shake down and refill but I was wrong. I livened up the fire for 10 minutes and began shake.I shaked and shaked and all that came down was ash and no embers. I continued until just 2 embers fell and then started to refill slowly but the temp is down to 150. I opened a window figuring maybe would help. I am still trying to bring life back to the fire. Been a couple hours now and I guess my hunting will be curtailed for the am . Anyway, I guess short of starting all over this will be a waiting game, right ?

Jack Magnum wrote:I livened up the fire for 10 minutes and began shake.I shaked and shaked and all that came down was ash and no embers. I continued until just 2 embers fell and then started to refill slowly but the temp is down to 150. I opened a window figuring maybe would help. I am still trying to bring life back to the fire. Been a couple hours now and I guess my hunting will be curtailed for the am . Anyway, I guess short of starting all over this will be a waiting game, right ?

With a new fire like you have Jack I would continue to shake until you get some embers & the whole ash pan haws a nice red glow from above. (The coal bed should settle when you do this)

Here is a copy of a post on shaking:

What I almost always find in that situation Smitty is the dark side will be below a bridge & air pocket above the grates. If I continue shaking down I might get embers from the dark area eventually but will pack the good side to tightly from over shaking. Instead, I'll poke into it (dark area ) from above, the coal bed will often sink like a fallen cake, into that air pocket. I then will give it 1 or 2 gentle shakes & fill up the air pocket with fresh coal. (as long as you keep a lively fire going on the good side you wont have any problems with this)
Everyone has their own technique. See what works best for you.

Jack Magnum wrote:Earlier I tried running the stove WITHOUT the fan and saw the stove pipe temp rise to 300 and the actual room temp drop to 72. I just wanted to see what I should expect if I experience one of our infamous power outages.

I ran my TLC for 2 years without a blower Jack, until this forum convinced me to try one. Being jacketed, the TLC NEEDS a blower running to put out the heat!! I was an idiot!!