Solution to Poor Chubby Stove Shaker Design

OK the draft seems good. Try some stove size coal. With the bigger spacing between the pieces, combustion air will have less resistance getting up thru the fuel bed. Using stove size coal cut recovery time in half for me.

I'm no chubby expert or even a coal burning expert. Been burning the chubby only one season. I have had zero problems and think the chubby stove is one of the best investments I ever made. I shake about 25 times as the video says and then floss from underneath . It takes about 5 minutes at each fill, no big deal in my opinion. I would have to agree with lightning, it sound like it could be more of a draft problem. This is the only stove I have any experience with shaking as I don't need to shake wood stove . My 2 cents, I'm sure the guys with more experience will head you in the right direction. Gotta love the chubby

Logs wrote:I'm no chubby expert or even a coal burning expert. Been burning the chubby only one season. I have had zero problems and think the chubby stove is one of the best investments I ever made. I shake about 25 times as the video says and then floss from underneath . It takes about 5 minutes at each fill, no big deal in my opinion. I would have to agree with lightning, it sound like it could be more of a draft problem. This is the only stove I have any experience with shaking as I don't need to shake wood stove . My 2 cents, I'm sure the guys with more experience will head you in the right direction. Gotta love the chubby

Thanks, im glad someone is able to clear it in 25 shakes. Not mine. Not after a day or two. I wonder how tcalo feels nowadays. He also modified his shaker handle like this.

Yep, it's a fantastic stove with a BIG GIANT DESIGN FLAW, IMO. I love everything about it except the shaker.

Lightning wrote:OK the draft seems good. Try some stove size coal. With the bigger spacing between the pieces, combustion air will have less resistance getting up thru the fuel bed. Using stove size coal cut recovery time in half for me.

Tried stove coal and it burns too fast. With stove coal it goes out before anyone gets home to tend it. Firepot's too small for it.

Btw, I even tried removing my barrel extension mod thinking it had something to do with the added airspace. Same issue remained.

Where is your draft reading being taken in relation to the stove, pipe damper and chimney? Have you tried a barometric damper?

Lightning wrote:Where is your draft reading being taken in relation to the stove, pipe damper and chimney? Have you tried a barometric damper?

Got an mpd in the stove pipe above it. Don't have a baro in there. Bought one but never installed it. Draft is read between the stove and the mpd.

I really think everyone's got the wool over their eyes because they love the Chubby Stove so much. And it is a great stove, but a round flat grate moving less than a quarter turn via a manual, non-levered rapid shaking action is just stupid. BAD DESIGN. And even a handy guy like myself can fix it because I can't cast molten iron.

Good to know about the Chubby shaker. With the price on a Chubby where it is, I think a Hitzer is looking alot better. The Hitzer's have some kind of thermostatic air intake so you don't have to mess with air adjustments and some also have a magazine so you don't need to fill as often. The price is there as well.

JRLearned wrote: Get up in the morning, open the damper wide. Make a cup of coffee. Then 100+ shakes. 1 shake = in and out, so 200 movements of the handle. Open the damper wide again and let the remaining coal heat up. Take a shower. Poke the coal bed from underneath, another 30 shakes, poke it again, another 20 shakes. Fill the firepot with more coal. Blaschak nut coal, Reading has terrible ash, IMO. Leave the damper wide open. Get the kid ready for school, make lunch, etc. Check the stove again, blue flames, we're good. Shut the manual damper, leaving my auto-damper set where I want it. Go to work or whatever. Monitor the temp of the stove all day on my phone with the android app I wrote that reads the thermocouple temp via usb device. Get home, temp still good, 3/4 of the coal burnt. Open damper, let it heat up for a bit, shake like crazy till you're arm falls off. Let it sit, poke the coal bed againg from underneath, etc, etc. Repeat the process.

This kinda sounds like a coal bridging issue. Does Blaschak nut coal tend to bridge at all?

Would adding fresh coal during the shake process push ashes down quicker in the Chubby? It has helped with other stove designs.

Stop shaking so much and start poking and slicing. My VC2310 has a very good shaking assembly but I get better results by poking up through the grates after I do 10-15 shakes. I can shake it till I fall down and it still will run better if I poke it from below. I clear a lot of compacted ash that way and the stove reacts almost immediately.

Could it be better? Sure any system could be improved when it's in the field in a particular application.

Figure out a field modification and take to Larry. He'll listen.

I'm thinking a poke or two from the top may help you. I do that sometimes. Also, your a good inventor. Perhaps design an electric motor for the shaker on a crankshaft like device. It would be fun to watch operate too. Save your shoulder for important things like lifting a beer can

Your shaking so hard the stove is moving. Does it move smoothly? I ask because that almost sounds like its sticking or something. My JR doesnt move and weighs half as much.

Or sell it and buy a different stove if its just going to frustrate you and cause anger. Sometimes thats the best solution for a persons blood pressure. In this case it sounds like it may be a good idea. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

SWPaDon wrote:

JRLearned wrote: Get up in the morning, open the damper wide. Make a cup of coffee. Then 100+ shakes. 1 shake = in and out, so 200 movements of the handle. Open the damper wide again and let the remaining coal heat up. Take a shower. Poke the coal bed from underneath, another 30 shakes, poke it again, another 20 shakes. Fill the firepot with more coal. Blaschak nut coal, Reading has terrible ash, IMO. Leave the damper wide open. Get the kid ready for school, make lunch, etc. Check the stove again, blue flames, we're good. Shut the manual damper, leaving my auto-damper set where I want it. Go to work or whatever. Monitor the temp of the stove all day on my phone with the android app I wrote that reads the thermocouple temp via usb device. Get home, temp still good, 3/4 of the coal burnt. Open damper, let it heat up for a bit, shake like crazy till you're arm falls off. Let it sit, poke the coal bed againg from underneath, etc, etc. Repeat the process.

This kinda sounds like a coal bridging issue. Does Blaschak nut coal tend to bridge at all?

Would adding fresh coal during the shake process push ashes down quicker in the Chubby? It has helped with other stove designs.

I'm using nut coal in a firebox that's only 7 inches wide. After opening the dampers, I always add a layer of coal before doing anything with the grates. The added weight of fresh coal on top of the coal bed helps drop the ash and break loose any bridging, without having to poke from the top. And it gets a layer of new coal burning that much sooner.

Plus, I found that Blaschak bulk nut has much less tendency to bridge than the TS bagged Kimmel's nut did. What coal brand is being used ?

Paul

JRLearned wrote:Got an mpd in the stove pipe above it. Don't have a baro in there. Bought one but never installed it. Draft is read between the stove and the mpd.

Well, it sounds like you are doing everything right. The only thing I can suggest on top of what the others have mentioned is to try stove size coal again, this time with a baro. You said the stove size burns up too fast and it will if it's given the combustion air to do so. The baro damper will help keep that in check, and this combination (along with some more poking and slicing during your shake routine) could be the solution to this whole debacle.

blrman07 wrote:Stop shaking so much and start poking and slicing. My VC2310 has a very good shaking assembly but I get better results by poking up through the grates after I do 10-15 shakes. I can shake it till I fall down and it still will run better if I poke it from below. I clear a lot of compacted ash that way and the stove reacts almost immediately.

Could it be better? Sure any system could be improved when it's in the field in a particular application.

Figure out a field modification and take to Larry. He'll listen.

Assuming it is the top grate that moves I would make a new test one out of steel and put some fins on top of the ribs that go from the center to the outside and make them about 3/8 inch tall. The reasoning behind my idea is to have the rotation move the ash and break itup. I can picture a flat grate just siting under packed up ash sliding back and forth moving nothing at all. The vertical ribs would agitate the ash and both break it up and move it to an opening in the bottom grate.

If this works don't care who makes it just mention who designed it. Fair enough?
Dave

My Kineo baseburner stove has the round grates that do not do all that well on their own for breaking up the chunky ash. However, there is a clinker door just above the grate where I use a home made poker to slide in there to break up the chunky ash and then the grates work just fine to remove anything else. The Kineo stove has never had a bridging issue but now that I am using the Andes stove, it does bridge. To me it sounds like you are having a bridging issue, as other have mentioned, it sounds to me like you have to break up those chunks with a poker from under the grates. Once those are cleared, and you poke the coal bed down from the top if it is bridging, you should have no problem clearing out the rest of the ash. The circular grates are not the easiest to clear but they do take more than just cranking on the grates to clear. You need to break up those chunks. Don't give up on the Chubby, it is a good stove for sure!

Randy

Notice the tri-wing agitator in the center of the grate. In the second photo, notice how two of the grate slats are winged up also. The whole grate is a cog that rotates round and round. FLAWLESS shakedown every time. Too bad these Jotuls aren't still in production. If I could find another one I'd run dueling Jotuls like Snowman did/does. A chubby with this grate design in full 12" round would be incredible.