Lit the Crane 404 First Fie

I work on some wildly fast cars the Lancia Ferrari hit 240 at LeMans invitational vintage race to be sold the same day as I made it too fast. Went from 630 hp. and I hoped it up to 845 hp. Same engine more boost and better turbos. I was laughing when I lost the fire as not as sharp as a 12 year old from 1915 that knew what to do. Lessons learned time for a relight. Most GTP and F1 vintage stuff.[/quote]

I work on ones that go much slower . . . . so people can enjoy looking at them.
http://www.franklincar.org/INFO/1931-Series-153-D ... edster.jpg
http://www.franklincar.org/INFO/19307ppirate.htm

You using charcoal to light it yet ?

Wood both times so far 3 small pieces and stove top to 400-500 and stack probe 500 Kimmels takes off like it was soaked in gasoline. I think my biggest problem is too much draft from my 11-12 foot chimney. It is 0.05 and with Kimmels once it lights one primary inlet 1/4 turn and stove over 500 and house way too hot with 32 outside. 400 would be plenty if not too much put some Blaschack in with hopes to slow it down and shake and poke from underside in the earkt an when I normally get up.

Paul[/quote]

The speedster a very cool car like it a bunch!

Do a goggle search on Spice Ferrari and Nissan GTP the older 1987 to 1992 cars ar the ones I work on other tha some much later runs at the 24 hours of Daytona that I built parts for and tuned. The Dyson RainX Ferrari and Riley Scott Fords com to mind very successful won multiple times and had 2 years when out of the top 5 cars overall 4 of the 5 had my parts in them and some my tuning. SCCA ended up outlawing the slide throttles I built but all political and if I paid the off would have been legal but the money asked for was more than 2 years gross sales. I passed on the offer as it was a labor of love more than a profit center.

Did a shake after 10 hours and ash pan area filled with a red glow so hope on the right track, A few scoops of Blaschack calmed things down a bunch as well. No poking all seems bright red / orange. The morning will tell the whole story. The new coal has it slowing down to 425 and much more inline with heat needed in this old house Much shorter blue flames and much less blast furnace look. Big orange glow in ash pan so heat at least until tomorrow. I have been very faithful about never covering up a,, the flames as a so called puff is something to avoid.

I think doing better now running Blaschack shaking every 8 seems much better. Open damper crack ash pan door an inch and wait 5 minutes when big flames 10 quick shakes and ash pan door glowing orange reflection from bed.. Add a scoop on one side of coal and wait to take off then do other side. Once second side has flames close ash pan door and damper. Running 400-425 on stove top and still thinking I need a baro regulator or second MPD as draft is 0.05 with a very small primary air and MPD fully closed when it gets colder assume will go even higher and thinking it is what making it harder to control.

I like having the baro on mine especially when the wind is blowing as it currently is & has been since last evening ,over 25mph gusts which makes the Magnehelic point up above .05,I've seen 0.10 with the higher gusts.The baro will certainly even the draft out.

ddahlgren wrote:I think doing better now running Blaschack shaking every 8 seems much better.

CONGRATS!!!! As you gain more experiance you should be able to stretch that 8 hours shake cycle to 12 hours or perhaps more. When I first started with my old Chubby JR a 6 to 8 hour shake was the norm. Coming from burning wood for 25 + years I was jumping for joy with 6 hour tending. That was like being on VACATION. After a year with the Jr I was up to 12 to 14 hours.

Don't be shy about trying a baro. Every install is unique and it very well may help you out. Worse case scenerio you remove it if you don't like the results.

windyhill4.2 wrote:I like having the baro on mine especially when the wind is blowing as it currently is & has been since last evening ,over 25mph gusts which makes the Magnehelic point up above .05,I've seen 0.10 with the higher gusts.The baro will certainly even the draft out.

What do you set yours at? I was thinking of checking local plumbing supply store as well as Amazon waiting for a warm day to shut down and install it. I was thinking somewhere around 0.03 a good starting point. Without a manometer this would be like running blind in my mind and slowly learning that such a simple device has dozens of things to go wrong if not handled correctly and gaining a pile of respect for those that just turn that open or close that and it works. I have my talents and making fast cars go faster is not a simple trick, making a 3 liter V8 put out very close to 1000 hp. and live for hours on end takes a bit of practice and intuition to not have a disaster but been learning that over the last 40 years. Making 8.2 liters put out 3000 for 5 seconds is cool but 1000 out of 3 liters then make it last for 4 to 12 hours in one race is a whole different trick.

Sun is up and going out to the shed to see if I can find an oil filter wrench to change the filter on the evil fuel oil burning beast so I can do some dishes need to do several loads as it has been dead for 3 days and a shower sure would be nice with hot water. I burn such a small amount of oil that it forms algae and slime in it and plugs filters, time for an alternate solution for hot water.

Yeah, I think you'll do better sticking with the Blaschak until you get more familiar with the whats and hows of that stove/chimney setup.

That's not to say you should give up on the Kimmel's. It has it's advantages, once you learn how it reacts in your setup.

The TS Kimmel's reminds me of shoulder months when I was burning wood in the range. Lights fast, burns hot, and tough to slow it down in a antique stove that is not designed to be really air tight. Having a strong drafting chimney system just makes it all the tougher !!!!!

However, the price is better than then even the bulk nut I've been getting. Plus, we got an email coupon for 15% off and they gave me a rain check on that, so I've got more bags on order at TS at $212 a ton equivalent.

The Kimmel's is great at quicker starting a fire. I knocked at least ten minutes off my time going from bare grates to a full burning firebox just by using the Kimmel's to start out with. Thereafter I fill with Blaschak, or Kimmel's/Blaschak mix.

For quickly bringing back a near dead fire, it's as good as using wood, . . . and it won't soot up stove windows like wood does.

Nearing dinner time, when the cook wants the range oven hotter, it'll give a much quicker bump up in heat level. Keeps the cook happy, when she doesn't have to wait long.

The downside with using straight Kimmel's in the range is that, fully damped down and with the check damper open even more, it still burns too quickly. 9-10 hours is all I get for an overnight burn. Using Blaschak or similar, I can get 11-12 hour burns easily.

There does seem to be a compromise that lets me use it and thin out the overall cost of coal. Starting with Randy's (Photog200) tests with his range, I've been mixing the Kimmel's in with the Blaschak to help slow it down. He found a 50/50 mix works well. With the stronger draft of my range's chimney system, it prefers 25/75 Kimmel's to Blaschak. Then it acts just like straight Blaschak.

Paul

Got it will try a 50/50 mix TSC is seeing if they can get more the distribution center is out and all the stores that have some is bought waiting for pickup. Fire started to slow down and stared at a few minutes and told myself ash pan moron empty it. Did that and still dark looking at the grates so got the poker out and in 2 minutes all glowing bright orange. A shake alone just does not get the job done with this 404 and this coal. It has to be poked to really clear the grates. The new drill will be empty ashes 10 or 12 shakes then poke and wait for ashes to cool before emptying pan. Running the stove cooler ash is now more like sand than shale. Ok now to look for oil filter wrench or make breakfast but down to 1 smoke so will head out for smokes and a filter wrench then hot water start dishes and a much deserved shower.

ddahlgren wrote:Got it will try a 50/50 mix TSC is seeing if they can get more the distribution center is out and all the stores that have some is bought waiting for pickup. Fire started to slow down and stared at a few minutes and told myself ash pan moron empty it. Did that and still dark looking at the grates so got the poker out and in 2 minutes all glowing bright orange. A shake alone just does not get the job done with this 404 and this coal. It has to be poked to really clear the grates. The new drill will be empty ashes 10 or 12 shakes then poke and wait for ashes to cool before emptying pan. Running the stove cooler ash is now more like sand than shale. Ok now to look for oil filter wrench or make breakfast but down to 1 smoke so will head out for smokes and a filter wrench then hot water start dishes and a much deserved shower.

I have also found that I have to slice under the grates more when I burn Kimmel's in the cook stove. When I burn Blaschak, it turns more to powdered ash where the Kimmel's is more flakes. My grates in the cook stove are Dockash style, not the prismatic style and they do not shake the ash as well.

Randy

I wish I saved one of the dozens of old American Standard or Crane boilers I pulled out of an old house when I worked as a oil burner tech / installer 40 years ago though odds of finding grates probably very rare. Looking on Craigslist for a used electric HWH as well today bills to pay the list is endless.

I like when my Magnehelic is hanging around .03-.04 when the stove top is 300-500*,the draft will drop a bit when the stove top temp goes down below 250*.Goggle Moses B. Glick to see the used magnehelic's they offer,i got 2 shipped here for $51

I have learned 3 things over the past 4 days not counting I hate my hi tech oil fired boiler more every day but that has been coming for a long time. Here they are empty the ash pan idiot and not done tending until you see bright orange over all the grates. Always open damper and ash pan door for 5 minutes before loading and never cover the whole fire with fresh coal though no puff backs YET.

Definitely need that draft regulator the wind picked up for a few minutes and draft went to 0.12. Time to go shopping.

I open the ash door & the load door,throw 2 shovels of coal in ,close the load door,remove the ash pan,take it out & dump,insert empty pan,shake the grates,poke the grates,open the load door,add more coal,close load door,i generally squat in front of the stove with the ash door open until the fire pot is full & the fire is raging.No puff backs yet,no interest with dealing with one either.