Coal not lasting all night

Basically, filled the stove up to the top, last night, opened my forced air draft alittle, had plenty of coals this morning, added a tad of charcoal, didn't shake it down until I had some more coal going, got home from work (9 hrs later), had coals, made my day, finally!!! Doing the same thing tonight. First time I don't have any wood in my stove, it's just plain wierd. Over the weekend going to do some more fine turning, thanks sharing the knowledge.

ShaneG wrote:Basically, filled the stove up to the top, last night, opened my forced air draft alittle, had plenty of coals this morning, added a tad of charcoal, didn't shake it down until I had some more coal going, got home from work (9 hrs later), had coals, made my day, finally!!! Doing the same thing tonight. First time I don't have any wood in my stove, it's just plain wierd. Over the weekend going to do some more fine turning, thanks sharing the knowledge.

Great@! Sounds like you're getting the hang of it! Just keep filling her up as high as you can. (you dont need to add any more charcoal, just add a thin layer of coal, open the ash door to liven the fire for just a couple of minutes & then close the ash door & shake it down. The whole procedure shouldn't take more than 5 minutes if it's cold enough outside)

If you put a thermometer on the stovepipe, you can see how quickly the fire responds to the draft when you open the ash pit door. As the days go by, you will see when it starts to slow down, the fire is telling you its not happy. You should be able to pick up a 100* or more in a short time. If not your grates are getting chocked or the ash layer is too thick. You need to let it run longer with the ash door open to get Mr. Coal back into happpyland before you start to mess with him.

Well...Well another poor Clayton user. I'm sorry for my outburst here I have a Clayton myself see my profile. I hate this stove. I am moving to a Harman 2500A this week. I have been using this stove for 3 years and have not been able to get this stove to burn coal, but it does burn corn with the optional front blower.

chap wrote:Well...Well another poor Clayton user. I'm sorry for my outburst here I have a Clayton myself see my profile. I hate this stove. I am moving to a Harman 2500A this week. I have been using this stove for 3 years and have not been able to get this stove to burn coal, but it does burn corn with the optional front blower.

You won't be disappointed with a Harman.

My coal is lasting thru the night! I am running a Clayton 1600 and had my ups and downs in the beginning.
I have noticed other clayton/hoblast/us stove users having troubles I also picked up a Woodchuck coal furnace which is in the barn and chugging right along also. 7 degrees this morning w/10 mph from the west, house is at 67 where I try to keep it
and the barn in the low 50s.

The only thing right now keeping me using this Clayton is that I modified it to be a "mini boiler", and I use that phrase very limited, because all I have done is put in a black pipe heat exchanger in the fire box. I'm not using it for my hot water, I am using it to heat my garage and tile flooring in my bathroom. (Hydronic heat from the little Red School house at B & G). I made my journey into coal to establish at more of a constant heat source, and every day is more consistant with the coal, the only problem I'm having right now is that I get alot of condensation on the heat exchanger, I took LSFarms advise and used a steel brush on the pipes, man were they full of creasote, but right now I having problems keeping my temp at 130 degress (on the return side) and building up this condensation. Currently running @ 350 degress out my exhaust, beutiful fire, house is at 75, normal temp. Any ideas???

now that you have a nice deep bed of coal, lets talk about long burn times. my clayton 1800 seems happy when its in full swing. there aren't many in betweens because its hand fed w/ basic controls. stokers are better when the weather is up and down. my secrets are easy. don't skip chores, you must tend to coal fires regularly.in the morning before work i go to the basement, assess the fire,shake the grates clean add coal, draft for 10 min then add the rest for the day.the fire is normally stong in the morn because of the deep fire the night before. when i get home from work its the same deal.
it only takes 5 to 15 min per day and the payoffs are great! saved over 1000.00 bucks last year on propane. shooting for close to 1700.00 this season. i live 1hr south of NE penna. coal region. i'm getting anthra. coal at 125.00/ton pick-up price

Hey coal crazy where are you getting your coal? That's a good price.

I have a Hitzer. The big one, hand fired. I love burning anthracite. My fire burns all day long without me bothering it. I load it up in the morning usually about 8oclock. Then 5 oclock in the evening I load it up for the night. The house stays warm all night. I shake it clean before each fill up. I never have a problem with it. Wish I could get coal as cheap as you guys do. I live in West Virginia. Have to pay over 300 dollars a ton. It still beats trying to use this dam heat pump. Eats your lunch plus you are still cold.

I've learned a lot about burning anthracite on this forum

Jeanie

Jeanie wrote:Wish I could get coal as cheap as you guys do. I live in West Virginia. Have to pay over 300 dollars a ton.

I would say its time for a new coal dealer.

If I could find one I would. The one that we used for three years retired. Now we have to go to Ohio to get it.

Jeanie

Jeanie,

Check you PM.

BK

Jeanie, I have the same problem getting anthracite in the area. Used to buy it in Vienna where I bought the stove. Tried to buy some there this fall and they said they only had about 1/2 ton left. They didn't seem to want to sell it all to me, so I started looking elswhere. I am getting it in Marietta at the True Value for $330 for 2400 lbs. About $275 a ton. Still too high. Let me know if you find a better deal.

Yikes! I'm afraid that we over complicate burning coal... This is handled elsewhere, but needs ref here:

Morning:
- Open ash door and Shake till *burning bits drop* across grate,
- Leave door/draft control open to raise temp. Go fill hod (25lbs)
- FILL to TOP of firebrick
- Close ash door/draft control when temp passes 'cruise' temp (close @400* or so for ours)
- Control temp output like an oven dial with the draft controls.

Evening:
- Same as above, just empty the ashpan when getting the coal.

Start:
- strong wood fire (or fancy briquettes)
- open ash door/draft control
- throw thin blanket layer of coal onto wood coals, wait 15 min, repeat till TOP of firebrick (~30 min total)
- Close ash door/draft control when temp passes "cruise".

Tools - Stick on temp guage (rutland) just about required for noobs.
- Manometer, highly recommended.

It doesn't burn like wood. If you leave the ashdoor open on a pure coal fire, it'll take about 15 mins to peg the temp guage (overfire). With a wood fire that will occur in about 1 minute with the loading door closed.

Stone simple and not tricky at all.