Building a New Era Base Burner

KingCoal wrote:... i'm needing to run higher than normal "stack" draft ... seeing -.07 on the Mano. in the stack out side the stove

BUT -- with your good stove surface temperatures and the quite-respectable flue temperatures, it sounds like you are getting very good overall efficiency. Is it really a problem that it needs slightly higher draft? My stove seems to burn best at about .06 -- every year I try to go lower and end up going back to .06 or even higher. Secondary air and responsiveness seem inadequate at lower draft, and there is no obvious difference in the amount of coal burned to keep house temperature where I want it.

I agree, with an airtight stove, as long as it gets the right proportions of combustion air to achieve the heat output you want, pressure doesn't have any bearing on efficiency. Which is kind of a bold statement since we have the notion that stronger drafts yank heat out of the stove. But in actuality, heat can only leave the stove up the chimney if air can get into the stove to replace it.

I'll bet she'll really like the stove coal Steve. 'specially with that big pot belly.

rberq wrote:

KingCoal wrote:... i'm needing to run higher than normal "stack" draft ... seeing -.07 on the Mano. in the stack out side the stove

BUT -- with your good stove surface temperatures and the quite-respectable flue temperatures, it sounds like you are getting very good overall efficiency. Is it really a problem that it needs slightly higher draft? My stove seems to burn best at about .06 -- every year I try to go lower and end up going back to .06 or even higher. Secondary air and responsiveness seem inadequate at lower draft, and there is no obvious difference in the amount of coal burned to keep house temperature where I want it.

no, there's no problem with it at all. just something different than I've been used to for the last 2 yrs.

i may have gone too far with the indirect back pipe too. will be looking at revising that before serious cold.

this stove is acting the same way in regard to poor secondary egress at lower draft.

joeq wrote:I'll bet she'll really like the stove coal Steve. 'specially with that big pot belly.

i'm pretty suspicious of that being a fact. most significant issue being I have 4.4 tons of nut sitting here.

I wouldn't worry about having too much nut sitting around. If you find mixing the nut with the stove size works out, and you have some nut left over, you can always burn it next year. I don't think it will go bad.

You will need less draft with stove coal to achieve any given barrel temp.

Right now I'm only running .02 (MPD closed) @ 450 and have closed the primary to 1/16 inch open to prevent the stove from accelerating further. I should probably let it run up some day to see how hot she'll go at that low draft.

Try a few bags of stove size for giggles

scalabro wrote:You will need less draft with stove coal to achieve any given barrel temp.

Right now I'm only running .02 (MPD closed) @ 450 and have closed the primary to 1/16 inch open to prevent the stove from accelerating further. I should probably let it run up some day to see how hot she'll go at that low draft.

Try a few bags of stove size for giggles

yes, I feel this is the first logical action. i'll have to call around and see if any of the locals have any.

Hmmmmm, may have to get inventive, there's not an ounce of "stove" anywhere in northern Indiana.

sometimes you just have to trust the magic.

over night the stove used just unacceptable coal so this morning I cleared it pretty good and had it burning real solid but didn't have enough time to stay with it before I went to work so I put as much coal in it as I dared and shut it down in base mode to -.03 and figured if it's out when I get home i'll use the opportunity to change the back pipe.

well, it wasn't out , far from it and it was the best heating day so far. also burned the least coal over a 12 hr. period.

this is just a very diff. stove and hook up than I've gotten used to and i'm just going to have to follow the curve in getting to know it.

steve

some new notes after some coaching by member SmokeyJosh.

at each tending, open up the fire bed from above by pocking down thru it to the grates, use a "hook" poker from under the grates and open the "landings" under the chimney bricks.

findings I've gleaned from 6 days of running.

this stove, as I have modified it, wants to RUN, that means that fire bed depth is going to be the primary output control.

less coal in the fire pot, less primary needed to operate at a reasonable amount of draft. more coal ( deeper bed ) more primary needed for the same settings.

i think it's going to work.

Sounds like the design is a success, congratulations! Happy turkey day!

Randy

Photog200 wrote:Sounds like the design is a success, congratulations! Happy turkey day!

Randy

thanks, Happy Thanksgiving to all.

KingCoal wrote:some new notes after some coaching by member SmokeyJosh.

at each tending, open up the fire bed from above by pocking down thru it to the grates, use a "hook" poker from under the grates and open the "landings" under the chimney bricks.

findings I've gleaned from 6 days of running.

this stove, as I have modified it, wants to RUN, that means that fire bed depth is going to be the primary output control.

less coal in the fire pot, less primary needed to operate at a reasonable amount of draft. more coal ( deeper bed ) more primary needed for the same settings.

i think it's going to work.

That's great news, congrats.

KingCoal wrote:some new notes after some coaching by member SmokeyJosh.

at each tending, open up the fire bed from above by pocking down thru it to the grates, use a "hook" poker from under the grates and open the "landings" under the chimney bricks.

findings I've gleaned from 6 days of running.

this stove, as I have modified it, wants to RUN, that means that fire bed depth is going to be the primary output control.

less coal in the fire pot, less primary needed to operate at a reasonable amount of draft. more coal ( deeper bed ) more primary needed for the same settings.

i think it's going to work.

I'm glad it helped out . With that type of grate and the way the chimneys work , keeping the air flowing up through that area is important in the WM design . As you know I mentioned the differences between bit coal , which the basis of the stove is designed for , and anthracite . You get the much longer burn times with anthracite and cleaner burning but slower ramp up and reload and you need to tend the bottom grate to keep the more solid ash out of there . The bit coals ash is usually finer depending on what qaulity you burn but I'm basing that statement off good bit .

It sounds like you have already figured it out for the better and I am sure you will discover little ways that make it all better for you as you go . You have a lot of control over that stove ! Much more than the original direct draft WM it used to be .

Lightning wrote:I agree, with an airtight stove, as long as it gets the right proportions of combustion air to achieve the heat output you want, pressure doesn't have any bearing on efficiency. Which is kind of a bold statement since we have the notion that stronger drafts yank heat out of the stove. But in actuality, heat can only leave the stove up the chimney if air can get into the stove to replace it.

I agree Lee , now that I have my Magnehelic gauge I can really see what's going on with the stove . If you look at the firepot temps vs the flu temps and relate that to the draft strength you can see it's all about percentages . At some point you will most likely start losing efficiency as the percentage of heat loss out the flu verses the speed of the heat transfer from the pot to the cast iron and then to the room but there is a good bit of room to push upwards .

I know that "wood" is a curse word around here but forcing myself to burn wood as much as I can this year I feel like I have learned so much more about this stove and how to control the fine lines between heat in the house and out the flu . Bituminous would be the next one I would really like to mess with when I ever make a trip to WV and get a load worth my drive . I know it worked really well in the WM .

Any chances you'll get your hands on some bit to try in that stove Steve ?