New Pioneer and New to Coal, How to Start for the First Time

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Disturbed
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Leisure Line Pioneer
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by Disturbed » Thu. Dec. 18, 2014 9:36 pm

The installation of my new Pioneer with coal trol unit was finished last night. I am putting of starting it until Saturday when I will be home all day. I am new to coal stokers and want to be sure everything is set up properly. I found on another post that for my Pioneer I should have the feed rate set to a min of 4 and a max of 36. I have been searching for a start up procedure for the Pioneer with coal trol with no luck. I will be burning rice coal and have a standard chimney with a barometric dampener. Can anyone give me a procedure to get me started? I would greatly appreciate it.

 
scoobydoo
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Leisure Line Pioneer LE top vent
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Post by scoobydoo » Thu. Dec. 18, 2014 10:38 pm

Check this video out to start a fire.

I made one out of a tobacco tin I had.I cut the bottom out and drilled a 3/4" hole at the bottom to stick a lighter in.I also unplug my feeder motor until I pull the tin out.I get it going in under 5 minutes.You will probably have to tweak your min and max setting.Mine are set for 3 and 26.

 
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2001Sierra
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Location: Wynantskill NY, 10 miles from Albany
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90 Chimney vent
Coal Size/Type: Rice
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Post by 2001Sierra » Thu. Dec. 18, 2014 10:50 pm

Yep, made mine as well. 2 of us at work use them, real easy. You can also take thick wall cardboard tube and make a fully burneable one.

 
Disturbed
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Leisure Line Pioneer
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Post by Disturbed » Thu. Dec. 18, 2014 11:07 pm

Thank you both, I will be sure to unplug the feeder motor when starting the fire. What I was more looking for was how to fill the coal shoot, manually or using the feeder motor? And what I need to do on the coal trol unit to get it going?


 
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davidmcbeth3
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Thu. Dec. 18, 2014 11:15 pm

I just listen to the wifey..."don't add more coal now you idiot! Wait for the ones in there to get burning.".

Want to borrow my wife? Its OK, but the return policy is still in development stages...

 
scoobydoo
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Leisure Line Pioneer LE top vent
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Post by scoobydoo » Fri. Dec. 19, 2014 9:01 am

Disturbed wrote:Thank you both, I will be sure to unplug the feeder motor when starting the fire. What I was more looking for was how to fill the coal shoot, manually or using the feeder motor? And what I need to do on the coal trol unit to get it going?
I filled up the hopper before I started the fire.Some coal will go on to the burner.The first attempt,I put the half ring at the bottom of the burn pot to hold the coal.Feeder motor was plugged in.I got the fire going good and then removed the ring.All my hot coals got pushed into the ash bin.Second attempt,I unplugged the feeder motor,put the coal starter on top of the coal in the burner and let er rip.I didn't use that half ring.If enough coal doesn't come into the burner when you fill the hopper,I would just add some manually.Don't start the fire right at the bottom of the burner.I went about half way.Once the fires going,plug the feeder motor in and let the coal trol do it's thing.You can make small adjustments as necessary.

 
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ntp71
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Post by ntp71 » Fri. Dec. 19, 2014 9:43 am

My method works well and quick for me...

I put some ash at the end of the grate, I then have about a 4 inch area of crushed match lit charcoal behind it, then coal behind that which goes all the way back to where the coal comes out of the hopper. I then take a propane torch and light the charcoal. Once the charcoal starts to get going, I close the door and turn on the system. The combustion air helps get the charcoal going really hot. After a few minutes I turn off the system, open the door, add a small shovel or two worth of coal on top of the charcoal, then I close the door, and turn the system back on. At this point, you should not have to do anything else except enjoy the fire.

Neal
Last edited by ntp71 on Fri. Dec. 19, 2014 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
Disturbed
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Leisure Line Pioneer
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by Disturbed » Fri. Dec. 19, 2014 9:51 am

davidmcbeth3 wrote:I just listen to the wifey..."don't add more coal now you idiot! Wait for the ones in there to get burning.".

Want to borrow my wife? Its OK, but the return policy is still in development stages...
Thanks for the offer but I would fear that your return policy would be the same one that my father-in-law gave me when I married his daughter. He said I had his blessing but he had a no return policy once I took her I could not give her back, I believe one wife is enough for me. :D


 
Disturbed
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Leisure Line Pioneer
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by Disturbed » Fri. Dec. 19, 2014 9:54 am

Scooby and NTP71 - that is what I was looking for, I will make the appropriate changes to the settings in my coal trol, mostly the temperature so I don't way overshoot the setting and bring it up slowly, manually fill the burned and once it it going plug the feeder back in. Thanks for the advice.

 
scoobydoo
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Post by scoobydoo » Fri. Dec. 19, 2014 10:02 am

Disturbed wrote:Scooby and NTP71 - that is what I was looking for, I will make the appropriate changes to the settings in my coal trol, mostly the temperature so I don't way overshoot the setting and bring it up slowly, manually fill the burned and once it it going plug the feeder back in. Thanks for the advice.
I had an overshoot yesterday.I have the thermostat over by the garage door.I got a delivery yesterday and had the garage door open for about fifteen minutes.The stove started cranking to get the heat back up.Boy,did it get warm!I moved the thermostat closer to the stove.

 
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Rick 386
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Post by Rick 386 » Fri. Dec. 19, 2014 11:04 am

Disturbed wrote:The installation of my new Pioneer with coal trol unit was finished last night. I am putting of starting it until Saturday when I will be home all day. I am new to coal stokers and want to be sure everything is set up properly. I found on another post that for my Pioneer I should have the feed rate set to a min of 4 and a max of 36. I have been searching for a start up procedure for the Pioneer with coal trol with no luck. I will be burning rice coal and have a standard chimney with a barometric dampener. Can anyone give me a procedure to get me started? I would greatly appreciate it.
First off, welcome to the world of coal heat !!!!!

You did good to wait until Saturday to light her off. When you first start this stove, you will get some smoke and stink due to the paint curing . Be prepared to open a few windows and it may help to have a window fan or 2 to exhaust the fumes. But be sure to open another window so you are not backdrafting the stove........

Using cans or a bent metal strip works as well as other methods to get the coal started.

Some here first preheat the chimney with a hair dryer or heat gun placed at the exit hole of the stove.

To light it up, I use wooden paint paddles or window/door wooden shims to start mine. Measure and cut them just slightly wider than the grate width. Start by jamming 1 wood strip near the top of the air holes in the grate. Then you can fill the hopper to the top. The top wood piece prevents the hopper load from pushing the burning coals off the grate. Then I take a few charcoal brickettes or use "cowboy" or lump charcoal and break them into smaller chunks. I place these charcoal chunks in a zip lock bag and add a little charcoal lighter to the bag and shake to distribute the lighter fluid. Then I place a second wooden strip at the bottom of the air holes. Then put the charcoal in between the 2 wood strips. Now light the charcoal and shut the door. Plug the combustion blower into an extension cord to bypass the coaltrol. The charcoal will spit and blow sparks all over the place. That's why you keep the door closed. As soon as the charcoal is burning well (about 30 sec - 1 minute), I unplug the blower, open the door and throw a handful of coal on top of the charcoal. Close the door and plug the fan back in again. This will get the coal burning. As the coal/charcoal burns, it will burn away the wooden stop strips. As soon as it is burning well, unplug the extension cord and plug the blower cord back into the coaltrol harness and turn the coaltrol on. The coaltrol and thermostat should take over from here.

Remember that you may need to open a few windows to get the smell out of the room via window fans.

The settings for min and max will need to be verified later after the stove settles down. Min is for the minimum fire you need to keep the stove idling along until a call for heat comes. Max is set so that you will only have about 1/2" to 1" of ash before it gets pushed into the pan. Too high a max setting will push burning coal into the ash pan thereby wasting coal.........

Good luck and make sure to check back in with your results.

Rick

 
Disturbed
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Leisure Line Pioneer
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by Disturbed » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 7:02 pm

Stove is up and running, after correcting some issues with the feed from the hopper, everything is running great. Thank you to Leisure Line, they were available to help me with my issue on a Saturday, excellent customer service. I have a couple of things about the Coal-Trol I am not understanding but I will post my questions in the Coal Trol forum. Thank you all for your help.

 
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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 7:48 pm

Disturbed wrote:Stove is up and running, after correcting some issues with the feed from the hopper, everything is running great. Thank you to Leisure Line, they were available to help me with my issue on a Saturday, excellent customer service. I have a couple of things about the Coal-Trol I am not understanding but I will post my questions in the Coal Trol forum. Thank you all for your help.
Hot Coals Going Off the End of the Burner W/Coal-Trol and Leisure Line Pioneer

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