Buying a New Stoker This Week

n0useforaname · Post by **n0useforaname** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 11:15 am

So, I'm "Stoked" that I'm buying a new Magnum Stoker this week

I currently have a Mark II that I really like, but when my coal gets low.. all the dust collects at the bottom of my box and when I fire in my house, black smoke engulfs me twice a day.. Normally I wouldn't care but I have 3 little ones sleeping in the loft who don't need to breathe that crap in. I'm nervous about power outages, and hoping this thing rocks my world.. All I ever hear is how Harman is the best out there, so I'm hoping that stays true. Right now my Mark II is 70,000 BTU and the Stoker will be 104,000.. so I'm going to get the A-pillar and run a 6" pipe downward through the floor into my basement. I know that pushing heat from the ceiling is not ideal, but I did it in my old house and it worked fine. I have a very well insulated log home, and a very nice finished basement that stays 60-64 degrees on it's own.. so with that pushing heat through my ceiling I should be able to keep it 70 or more which would be nice. I'm also excited about setting a thermostat at like 74 degrees and not having to worry about adjusting the door myself/etc.. Does anyone have any advice for me? Any special tricks for settings/etc..? Thanks in advance

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 11:25 am

Black smoke?? What are you burning?

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 11:31 am

[quote="SMITTY"]Black smoke?? What are you burning?

[/quote]

My thought exactly, are you shaking the grates with any of the stove doors open?

Post by **franco b** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 11:38 am

I think he means the dust from the fines at the bottom of his coal bin.

n0useforaname · Post by **n0useforaname** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 11:45 am

Here is what's happening:

My coal bin is outside and it holds 3 tons. About 60-70% of it will just fall out of the front door and come from the top when it's full.. so it's very clean and no dust. Now that I'm down to the last 30%, every time I pull coal out, it's covered in black dust. So when I'm scooping that dirty/bottom coal into my fire, it just pours black smoke/dust up into my loft area until I get the door shut. And even though I only have the door open for like 30 seconds, it's enough to cover everything upstairs and it's getting annoying. With a stoker, I can just fill up the hopper and be done with it.. and the only dust I'll get is from the pouring which is barely anything.

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:02 pm

What the heck? You shouldn't be getting any smoke at all rolling out of the stove at any time no matter what!!!!

Do you have a manometer? How strong is your draft? What are you burning? If you have a draft problem a stoker ain't gonna fix that.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:09 pm

I can make a huge dust cloud when I knife the grates to the Vigilant, but with the stove in direct draft the plume gets sucked right up the flue even with 1 door open!
Mike.

n0useforaname · Post by **n0useforaname** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:11 pm

blrman07 wrote:What the heck? You shouldn't be getting any smoke at all rolling out of the stove at any time no matter what!!!!

Do you have a manometer? How strong is your draft? What are you burning? If you have a draft problem a stoker ain't gonna fix that.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

I purchased one, but I never hooked it up yet. I've never had a problem with my fire not burning, and it never really fluctuated, so I always just used it how it was. My draft seems fine.. my fire burns really well and held our house to 74 when it was -30 out. I checked the flue and it was 100% open, and it runs from our living room up to our ceiling, so the pipe is like 20 feet long. It only ever does it when I put dirty/dusty coal in.. it's like I hear massive crackling to the point where sometimes it will actually ignite with big flames and a plume of black smoke will puff out. Even if my draft was kicking - A, I don't think it could hold back as much smoke that's created. I keep my fire box filled to the top of the bricks and the draft door 1 full turn open and fix it twice a day.. half a 5 gallon bucket at each fill and it's Hard Nut coal. And with that setup, our house is perfect temp normally and the box is nice and hot.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:11 pm

michaelanthony wrote:I can make a huge dust cloud when I knife the grates to the Vigilant, but with the stove in direct draft the plume gets sucked right up the flue even with 1 door open!
Mike.

The Harman's design is not one that keeps smoke IN the stove. I found that out when I burnt wood for a couple spring seasons. No matter how strong the draft, smoke rolls right out the front. Same is true of the flyash ...

n0useforaname · Post by **n0useforaname** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:18 pm

SMITTY wrote:
michaelanthony wrote:I can make a huge dust cloud when I knife the grates to the Vigilant, but with the stove in direct draft the plume gets sucked right up the flue even with 1 door open!
Mike.
The Harman's design is not one that keeps smoke IN the stove. I found that out when I burnt wood for a couple spring seasons. No matter how strong the draft, smoke rolls right out the front. Same is true of the flyash ...

Yeah, that's kinda how I look at it. At my old house my stove had sort of a smoke shield/drop down that kept the smoke inside.. but this one, it's like a 1" gap to the top.. so there is nothing there to hold it back.

And the stoker should fix my problem, because the only dust will be from pouring it into the hopper. That and the rice coal around here is super clean compared to the nut coal.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:18 pm

The baffle plate must direct the smoke towards the front of the stove then. My bad

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:32 pm

I don;t think it's the plate by itself, but the fact that the flow has to go over the plate, then DOWNWARD a foot or so to the rear exit, before it goes out the connector pipe to the chimney. That's how it extracts all the heat from the exhaust ... but when the doors are open, it makes it tough for the draft to keep everything contained.

n0useforaname · Post by **n0useforaname** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:37 pm

SMITTY wrote:I don;t think it's the plate by itself, but the fact that the flow has to go over the plate, then DOWNWARD a foot or so to the rear exit, before it goes out the connector pipe to the chimney. That's how it extracts all the heat from the exhaust ... but when the doors are open, it makes it tough for the draft to keep everything contained.

Yep, that's how mine is setup. The draft hooks to the lower back side. Either way, it will be nice to have the Stoker. Aside from the power going out, it will be nice to set it and forget it.

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:40 pm

n0useforaname wrote:it's like I hear massive crackling to the point where sometimes it will actually ignite with big flames and a plume of black smoke will puff out.

ahhhh...ye olde puff back!

this happens when you smother the flames with the fines and new coal, volatiles get heated up and come out of the new coal (especially quickly with the fines) and they then get ignited when a flame appears!!

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2014 12:43 pm

Yep - gotta love it. I cracked my glass once after an EPIC blast ...

To the OP - you'll never hear me talk you out of a stoker. My only regret is I didn't switch SOONER!

I love the automation.