Tips for a Newbie on a Oak Stove

D.lapan · Post by **D.lapan** » Sat. Jan. 24, 2015 1:49 pm

yes draft is good -.04 on my gauge, I wrote that wrong the bottom is stationary, the top moves, I admit im a little skittish about giving it too much air and damaging it, I have seen dozens all cracked and warped due to over firing and I always assumed from burning coal, so I have been running it at about 3/8' to 1/2' open on the primary with the mpd 3/4-7/8 shut and seems to have a ave temp of mid to upper 300s which is fine being its only mid 30s outside, blue flames constant 3-4'' and currently heating my 2800sf house at 70*

wsherrick · Post by **wsherrick** » Sat. Jan. 24, 2015 1:56 pm

You have to work really hard to damage one of these stoves burning coal. Most of the damage comes from the chunking of wood in them and then the hard to control flaring of a wood fire. The stove you have here is a coal stove, plain and simple. That's what it is designed for.
All that remains is the learning curve. You will learn with time and patience.
Forget all that you know about wood fires. That knowledge is useless with coal.

Pauliewog · Post by **Pauliewog** » Sat. Jan. 24, 2015 2:21 pm

wsherrick wrote:You have to work really hard to damage one of these stoves burning coal. Most of the damage comes from the chunking of wood in them and then the hard to control flaring of a wood fire. The stove you have here is a coal stove, plain and simple. That's what it is designed for.
All that remains is the learning curve. You will learn with time and patience.
Forget all that you know about wood fires. That knowledge is useless with coal.

I agree 100%

Im glad you cleared up the stationary and movable grate location. Years ago I had a stove with a similar grate setup. I sent you a PM before you clarified the stationary grate was below the movable.

My problem was solved by removing that stationary grate. Someone also posted using a thin rod to gently poke the fire from the top and thats the method I use with the same grate setup on 4 of my flat grate stoves.

Paulie

D.lapan · Post by **D.lapan** » Sat. Jan. 24, 2015 3:24 pm

joeq · Post by **joeq** » Sat. Jan. 24, 2015 3:30 pm

Yep. You definitely stole that stove. very nice

Pauliewog · Post by **Pauliewog** » Sat. Jan. 24, 2015 7:03 pm

Great price on a beautiful stove. I would have grabbed that deal if it was 500 miles away.

Paulie

D.lapan · Post by **D.lapan** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 9:02 am

last night at 11pm pot brimming, shook and filled at 7pm..
7am glowing coals no flame, not a lot of heat from stove, shook and shook and shook, poked and poked and poked and shook till I had a ash pan full of grey coals emptied, and repeat before I was done there was no glowing coals and none had fallen into pan... started over this morning.
no doubt the slits in the grates are too small for the clinkers and fall into and break.

I did not have the pot heaped it was level with the top of the pot..

I honestly think the glenwood or Crawford style grate would work much better than this design or maybe with bit coal..

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 9:29 am

On page 18 and 19 of the Link that D-frost found http://www.stovebook.com/1916_Radiant_Stove_Catalog.pdf They talk about the first firepot, and how the "B" pot is a newer design and better at burning coal. Farther down, they describe a different style firepot for burning Bituminous or Anthracite, with the cells only coming about halfway up the pot for anthracite.

Dunno if this info will help you or not.

Best of luck with her, Don

D.lapan · Post by **D.lapan** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 9:46 am

I read that a few days ago but missed a part on page 20 about how if hard coal is used to order the "hard coal grates" with the improved "B" pot, I think I have the "B" type pot but possibly not the hard coal grates, on this run I will try using the "HOT BLAST" air dampers for primary air to maybe get a better burn from the outside in as described in page 19

Thanks

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 9:53 am

Let us know how it works. I really want to see the stove work for you.

D-frost · Post by **D-frost** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 11:43 am

D.,
Can you get 'bit' coal where you live? Worth a shot, if it's available. Before I had my Chubby, I was going through the 'learning curve' with coal in my Yukon Eagle furnace. I could never get the burn low enough, the heat was driving us out of the house! What I ended up doing was burn wood all day, cap it with coal to last through the night. If you can get bit to burn good(supposedly it burns like wood), then maybe mixing it will make a warm house in the morning. Stick with it, you're making progress.
Cheers

D.lapan · Post by **D.lapan** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 11:55 am

So far there is only 1 place around that sells coal period and all they sell is anthracite, the stuff I got from one of my customers burns not Orange then blue but same issue... As of right now it is running fine if I keep the primary open if I close the primary and use the hot blast ports it drive it down to what I would call a idle, no flames just a hot bed if coals, if I crack the primary again it takes right off, I'm not to concerned with keeping it burning as I am of shaking it down in the morning or at night and getting it lite off again which I have had no luck Due to what seems to be bridging issues, maybe I will just have to burn coal when it's really cold and need the longevity or off seasons when oat is warm and it can go till it dies..

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 1:04 pm

How about loading some fresh coal..........before you shake down and remove ashes.

Just open the bottom door for about 15 minutes after adding the coal, let it catch up good, then shake and remove ashes. I think some others on here tried that routine after it was suggested and it worked for them.

If we lived closer I would give you some Bit coal to try.

D-frost · Post by **D-frost** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 3:31 pm

D.,
If bridging appears to be the cause, do like SWP says, add a scoop & open the ash door, to build up a good burn. Then, poke down from the top, around the edge, before the shake. Having a good burn helps in not losing the fire.
Cheers

D.lapan · Post by **D.lapan** » Sun. Jan. 25, 2015 9:03 pm

I will do that in the morning and see how it goes, as of now 9pm just filled again 13-14 hrs into burn still going good house has been at a stedy 72 all day.. I went to my customer house this afternoon and got about 200lbs to keep me going for the next few days if I do manage to keep it burning. It barley made a scratch in the pile there has got to be a ton trucks worth in that basement. I gotta start working on a place to put it when I get it home

Tips for a Newbie on a Oak Stove

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