Tips for a Newbie on a Oak Stove

Damn, some guys have all the luck. A great stove ready to use for next to nothing, followed by a ton of coal. Your doin good.

Too bad I can't this damn thing to run right!!
It was running perfect last night and I wake up this morning out cold with a full bed of dead coals
I think the ash is bridging up and choking it out... This will not defeat me!

Here is a pic of the grates

before I lit it this morning I installed a lynn wet kit chamber kit I had left over from a oil boiler this week, maybe this will help keep some heat off the cast pot

D.lapan wrote:Too bad I can't this damn thing to run right!!
It was running perfect last night and I wake up this morning out cold with a full bed of dead coals
I think the ash is bridging up and choking it out... This will not defeat me!

Here is a pic of the grates

I think you should just load it up, and bring it down here. I'll give ya what ya paid for it and buy ya dinner.

Seriously though, I can't help you with burning anthracite in it. But I do wish you the best of luck.

D.lapan wrote:before I lit it this morning I installed a lynn wet kit chamber kit I had left over from a oil boiler this week, maybe this will help keep some heat off the cast pot

Does that chamber have a hard surface to resist the abrasion of coal?

D.,
Looks like the pot is in good shape. I don't see the 'significant other half' of the grate, the fork like paddle. You got one, right? Too much ash build-up will restrict the air, choking the burn. Also, the 2 air vents on the back, if they are near the output to the chimney, they are probably 'check dampers'- close them for normal operation, and use a MPD(manual pipe damper). Looks like you got a good stove, once you figure it out!
Cheers

The is a identical grate under the one you can see in the pic, in that posistion it allows full air to the grate I'm assuming for the coal function with it closed it snuffs the fire out completely and quicklywhen you shake the greats the top one stays still in the bottom one swivels back-and-forth

And yes the four wasn't it was in the open position to get on the old Coals out

D.lapan wrote:Too bad I can't this damn thing to run right!!
It was running perfect last night and I wake up this morning out cold with a full bed of dead coals
I think the ash is bridging up and choking it out... This will not defeat me!
Here is a pic of the grates

I don't like hearing this. The firepot and grate looks very similar to my "newly acquired and not installed" 111, and I sure as "heck" don't want to be taking out one stove, and install another with the same problem. I hope you get it worked out. How long had it been burning since you last tended to it?

I lit it at 7am it's burning nicely now mauling good heat stove pipe 280 stove body 375 as normal burning fine but I'm afraid when I go to shake it down and add more it will go out again last time when I used the last of my baged pea coal it ran for 20 hrs and had a red hot bed of coals but the stove wasn't making any heat so I dumped 30+ lbs of red hot coal out and lit a wood fire to warm up the house, with a morrow from the bottom u could see there was no red coals just grey clinkers and ash and no matter how much I shook it there was no reviving it and would not lite the new coal I put on top.. So this time I plan to poke it from underneath if it happens again

franco b wrote: Does that chamber have a hard surface to resist the abrasion of coal?

No, I've installed lots of them in oil fired boilers. It wont stand up for very long.

No I don't expect it to last more than a few days I don't believe it needs it I was just screwing around , I may pour one this summer while I have it all apart

As LsFarm mentioned earlier. This is a hot blast stove with a very unique fire pot design. This fire pot was invented by the Germer Stove Company of Erie PA. The slits in the sides of the fire pot are to allow super heated secondary air into the fire bed. This is to burn Bituminous coal. This secondary air is controlled by a damper down on the bottom of the stove somewhere.
Anthracite coal doesn't need much secondary air to burn properly. This stove will burn it just fine if you keep the secondary air damper just cracked open a little bit.
The little flapper in the door is to allow a thin poker inside without having to open the door.
Don't close up the slits in the fire pot with anything such as a refractory liner.

D.,
From what I've read about bitburners, the fire pot is not lined, because of the grooves in the wall for air flow. Maybe someone will jump in with knowledge about that grate. What you're describing leads me to believe the ash is not falling. If the top disc(grate) is removable, try removing it. I don't think 2 discs rubbing together is helping you. You want the disc to rub the ash, so it will fall. One other method that someone here uses: He pulls the fork part way out while shaking, not enough to dump the pot, just enough to dump ash. Best of luck with it.
Cheers

You mentioned you've burned wood for years. So can we assume your chimney is drafting properly?
It appears by the temp readings you keep posting, that the stove isn't "overfiring", which would collect more ash. I was under the impression these old round stoves will burn 600* all day long. As mentioned before, Have you tried opening the intake dampers, to let in more primary air?