successfully burning anthracite coal in a clayton furnace

Hey Doug
Where did you get those thermometers I see on the supply side of your system? I have searched a lot of places and can't locate that type.

John

I got them from http://www.heetinc.com. Heet, inc. 2301 Jefferson Ave. Washington, Pa 15301. Phone number 724-228-3710. They are stovepipe magnetic thermometers, $9.95 each. DOUG

Hi, Im new here and want to thank you for your help.
I have a Clayton furnace and have loved it for wood and soft coal. I am getting better with hard coal but it eventually always goes out. Longest burn is about 1.5 days. It goes out around the edges first so that there is only a glow in the center. It may be the size of the coal like you suggested, "nut" coal. That is all I can get around here. West Michigan. What can I do?
Thanks,
Steven

is that one and a half days burn without thouching it? if so thats not bad, but if you mean one and a half days of burn with shaking, loading, and so on evcery twelve hours or so then yeah, something is wrong. do you have all over-the-fire vents closed off? i believe burning bit coal it doesnt matter, which is what you are used to. anthracite sucks air from the bottom through the coal bed ONLY and then through the chimney. if it gets air from over the fire then it will indeed smother out the fire. do you have a barometric dampner? what is the draft on the chimney? should be around .04 to .06, right around there measuring with a manometer. tell us more about your set up.
john

another thing too. just dropped off the fiance at the buffalo airport. before i left i looked online for a possible place that deals with parts for the hotblasts, claytons, or ashley sotves and furnaces without parts online and waiting for shipping. found one for anyone in the buffalo area. its called Johnson Auto Electric. 3462 Niagra Falls Blvd. North Tonawanda, NY. found him on the ussc website. i needed some shaker grates. had some right in stock, and also said he has blower fans and can get anything you need. online the grates were sixty bucks, he had them for 45 a piece. on top of that he told me he is a dealer and can get any furnace/stove you want.

Hi Mudman, I have the Clayton, I think its a 1600. Its not the biggest one, this one has the 6 inch flue pipe. I do not have a barometric damper installed. The chimney draws like crazy but I have no way to measure. I know that when in the basement I can open the clean out and hold the door about 3 inches open and the chimney will suck it shut pretty hard. (Interior chimney.) I burned that time for about a day and a half with shaking only, temp outside was about 35- 40. I was so proud, I thought 'this isnt so hard' but then in the morning I found the same old problem -coals dead around the outside of the bed and just a small glow in the middle. I didnt know that it was possible or necessary to block the above bed air holes. I quess I could just put bolts through them, didnt know about that. I really appreciate you guys helping me with this!

Hey, nevets. Check out this post. I think it should help you on how to fire your Clayton 1600 on anthracite coal.Slow Blue Dancing with Red Dressed Ladies in a Clayton If you have anymore questions I'll be happy to answer them. I wouldn't block off the holes to your secondary air on the front cact iron firebox baffle. This post should indicate why and how the draft controls are to be used on the Clayton 1600 and 1800 furnaces. Slow Blue Dancing with Red Dressed Ladies. DOUG

Hey Doug
Thanks for the info on the thermometers. I will go online and order them tonight.
thank again
John

Well with the warm weather all of us have been experiencing, it maybe a great time to clean out your system. It is supposed to get back to normal colder temperatures by the weekend. Just a thought. You don't want to have to shut down when it's really cold outside. Time to clean! DOUG

Does anyone have any knowledge of the ALASKA Model 140-Auger Feed coal furnace? It looks like it would fit my needs better than my Clayton 1600.

No. What are you trying to do? Are you modifying your Clayton, adding another unit or replacing your Clayton? Just curious.

I've been looking around for a unit I could leave go for a couple of days. The Alaska 140 has a 250 lb hopper, that should go for quite a few days before needing to be touched.

I understand now. That is why I built a stoker fired Clayton. The only thing I would look into a little more is, okay we know that the 250lb hopper will go a few days, but what about the ash pan? Will it also go as long as the amount of coal in the hopper without emptying the ash pan daily? I ran into that problem with my Clayton stoker. I can go almost 5 days on low setting without refilling the coal, but only a day and a half without emptying the ashes. Just something to consider. DOUG

I have thought about the ash problem. The Alaska 140 has a massive ash pan, so I'm hoping to be able to go at least two days before needing to empty it.

I said I was going to try smaller coal insted of nut or stove.
See post in Dancing Bule Ladies in Red Dress
I did find pea from blashak.
The results are in!
Another Great Idea From Doug!
I have used it and a mix of pea/nut for the last month. In this warmer weather the pea is the answer.
I left for Washington Crossing Pa on Thurs and left Sheryl to tend burning nut. Awesome job she did I will say and I returned Mid night saturday I switched to just pea then to see how low I could go. I can maintain a low fire all day and pick it up as it chills off at night all on a bag a day. It's a comfy 72 in the house now and this morning it was around 63. I remember last year this time with nut I could not find the balance to keep from over heating the house. So I would do a fire at night and let it go out or burn wood. Now I am shaking it less and using the FAD as needed to pick up the temp but only for short blasts. When using just the pea my shake downs are cleaner less clinking and smoother. And it will produce plenty of heat when needed in the colder temps.If you haven't tried it I would suggest doing so.
Thank You Doug
Charles