joeq wrote:Paul, those 4 shovels look identical to the one I already have. Don't even remember where I got it. Maybe with the Surdiac? I have a ton of TS Kimmel nut outside. I think I'll give Scotts stove size Blaschak a try tomorrow 1st, when I strangle the 111 after work...again. As for the leaky pipe, wouldn't that cause a low draft? My stove has a good draft, and when the coals are lit, will be upwards of -.09-.1
Steve, I do put it in "direct" draft, when shaking down, and also open the primaries wide. I'll leave it in direct till the fire gets lit. With the Surdiac, in the morning when the coals were almost dead, I would poke the ash pile to get some air into it, and fresh stuff to drop out of the hopper, leave the ash pan door open for 5 mins, and come back to a fully lit stove, that I would then riddle the snot out of, M/T ash pan, and refill hopper.
I realize this G111 has a bigger pot capacity, but not "that much" more, that it would take 20 times longer to get it lit. If you guys say this is abnormal, then I'm gunna keep trying. Have a good day.
EDIT: Hey, Tom, you beat me to it!LOLOL!. Thanks bro. My complaint right now is a stove that won't take off quickly after ash clearing, "and" won't produce lots of heat. I can regulate the draft with the MPD from fully shut, (.-03 to fully open, (.1). If I leave the MPD in the open position, (.-05-.06 if the coals are low) and the ash pan door wide open, even in direct draft it took 2 hours to get the pot lit, when I shook it down, and filled to the top.
Then you've got it, because that's about the biggest one-handed shovel I've seen. Only thing faster loading through a small-ish stove door is pouring straight from the coal bucket.
Double checking for any air leaks will help remove that as a question of why so long to recover the fire. I use a piece of smoldering cotton string held just below and slowly passed along all the stove and pipe seams to check for air leaks. You can use one of those skinny incense sticks, too.
Any air getting in after the firebed will make the fire sluggish and slow to respond. Acts just like a check damper. And any air leaks before the grates have the opposite affect - trouble holding a fire back.
The only other thing that will make a fire that slow to respond is as Scott has been saying, not clearing enough ash. And the low house heat with a high barrel temp goes along with what William said about ash depth. Remember it's not just about high temp but heat volume too. A match tip burns very hot also, but it doesn't have the heat volume at that temp to heat anything other than your finger tips.
When you shake ashes are you getting some small burning embers dropping into the ash pan ? As you shake, can you see an orange glow appearing evenly throughout the pan area ? If not, then you need to shake more, and use short choppy strokes that really "shake the stove" to dislodge more ash. This is one time where being gentle with the stove doesn't help the stove.
And getting the proper handle for the draw center stub will help do a better job of dislodging ash. The push/pull of using that rod likely isn't putting enough "jolt" into the grates to rattle the firebed the way it needs.
Before doing any reloading/shaking you need to build up "draft momentum" by getting the fire going so that it can build up heat in the chimney system to keep the draft going and offset the temp drop as you open doors and allow cold air and coal in. If you've ever put a large cold casserole in an oven and watched the temps continue to drop for a few minutes after the door is closed again you'll get some idea of what reloading does to the chimney system.
MPD open, in direct mode, secondary and any check dampers closed and the primary dampers fully open, or as some do, open the ash door. I've never seen the need to have the ash door open and you'll need to close it anyway when you shake ash, or you'll be sleeping in the garage.
Go make a cup of coffee and come back. As others are saying, it should only take about 5 - 10 minutes and the fire should be rolling along very well by then. Then try shaking ash until you see an even orange glow throughout the pan area. For any dark areas that didn't shake clear, get up in through the grate with a right angle tipped poker and work the ash lose until they show the same glow. Then see if the fire bed has dropped about equal to the volume of ash in the pan. If it hasn't it likely has bridged. Try gently pushing the center top of the firebed down.
With the firebed still burning lively start adding fresh coal. Don't set the primary or the MPD for cruising speed until the fresh coal has stopped the Snap Crackle & Pop and is burning with blue ladies.
Paul
