Burning Bitumious Lump Coal in a 1557M Hotblast

Jared43758 wrote:O. When I bought mine they sold a Clayton beside mine but it was twice the capacity

Yes, there are other sized Furnaces that have the same basic design made by US Stove that include Clayton and Hot Blast models.

Here is a video that I produced. Have a look at it. Keep in mind I made several alterations to my furnace (load door window, secondary air distribution pipes, I also added a third warm air duct off the top)



Also here is a thread I started for burning anthracite, but it might help.

Clayton / Hot Blast Mods and Tending for Anthracite

Nice video man. Learned a lot from it. Do u use a baro damper only? And should I let any air come in through my feed door at any point or leave it closed all the time. When do u use the secondary piped air u have inside your stove?

Another question. It appears after your baro u have a draft blower mounted in your stove pipe?

Jared43758 wrote:Do u use a baro damper only?

Yes. A baro keeps draft pressure steady for stable heat output.

Jared43758 wrote:And should I let any air come in through my feed door at any point or leave it closed all the time.

I prop the door open an 1/8 inch after loading coal to prevent puff back. Once the blue ladies dance, I close it up.

Jared43758 wrote:When do u use the secondary piped air u have inside your stove?

The secondary pipes serve 2 purposes. They feed oxygen over the fire to burn off gases being baked out of the coal. On warm days I open them to help keep good chimney draft.

Jared43758 wrote:It appears after your baro u have a draft blower mounted in your stove pipe?

I don't use it anymore.

Thanks for the compliment on the video.. Remember though that I am burning anthracite. Bituminous coal would be a little different. I was hoping that some of the information might help you with bit burning.

Can I ask why u decided to put the draft blower in? Prevent smoke coming outta feed door?

Do u recomend taking out my manual damper and getting a baro?

Jared43758 wrote:Can I ask why u decided to put the draft blower in? Prevent smoke coming outta feed door?

When I first started I was afraid my chimney wouldn't draft good on its own during warm weather burns, but I've since learned how to use secondary air to help the chimney draft so I don't use it anymore. Plus when I clean the furnace at the end of the season, it draws the ash dust away from me so I don't have to inhale it.

Does the pipe blower prevent any smoke from coming. Out when loading? I noticed u had ur smoke curtain on but was flipped up the whole time and u didn't have any smoke come out of feeddoor

Lightning wrote:

Jared43758 wrote:O. When I bought mine they sold a Clayton beside mine but it was twice the capacity

Yes, there are other sized Furnaces that have the same basic design made by US Stove that include Clayton and Hot Blast models.

Here is a video that I produced. Have a look at it. Keep in mind I made several alterations to my furnace (load door window, secondary air distribution pipes, I also added a third warm air duct off the top)



Also here is a thread I started for burning anthracite, but it might help.

Clayton / Hot Blast Mods and Tending for Anthracite

My only question is "are you shaking too much"? There are alot of live coals in that ash pan that you are discarding.

Jared43758 wrote:Does the pipe blower prevent any smoke from coming. Out when loading? I noticed u had ur smoke curtain on but was flipped up the whole time and u didn't have any smoke come out of feeddoor

Yes, It does help draw smoke when the load door is open.

Anthracite smoke is colorless. It was venting into the room some but you couldn't see it on the video... Its kinda evident since the Carbon Monoxide I started to absorb made me delusional to the point I thought a broom was a guitar

NJJoe wrote:My only question is "are you shaking too much"? There are alot of live coals in that ash pan that you are discarding.

These units are a bit handicapped with evacuating ash. The "V" shaped fire box doesn't make for much area for primary air to make its way up thru the fuel bed. Shaking till red embers are falling is absolutely needed to get good results with these units. Yeah I admit, I might loose a pound or so shaking ash but I'm willing to live with that for the benefit..

Jared43758 wrote:Do u recomend taking out my manual damper and getting a baro?

Some people are pro manual damper some are pro barometric. I've used both separately and at the same time. I've come to the conclusion that using a baro exclusively is best and safest. By keeping a steady draft pressure (its actually a slight vacuum) the amount of primary combustion air coming in will be steady. This results in steady heat output with anthracite. My furnace only varies a few degrees over a 12 hour period.

With bit coal I don't expect the heat output will be as stable BUT it should help. Each installation and chimney characteristics are different, results may vary.

Jared43758 wrote:Do u recomend taking out my manual damper and getting a baro?

If I were you I would take the manual damper out. Bituminous coal can burn very sooty and a manual damper will catch soot an restrict your draft a lot. Also a chimney cap that has a screen can also collect soot as well as wood creosote and restrict the draft you will need to pay close attention to your chimney and monitor the soot deposits. On more than one occasion my 6" round chimney was restricted to about the size of a baseball.

A baro may or may not help you, I would not put one in yet. All it does is weaken your draft it cannot add draft. It does help stabilize spikes due to gusts of wind or the very high drafts that can occur when the outside temperature is very low.

Good point by Carl, if your draft is already weak (which I suspect) a barometric isn't gonna help. This is why a manometer is needed to measure your draft..

I think u suspect wrong. I started a fire this evening. Too many ashes maybe.