What Am I Doing Wrong ?

newbe2coal wrote:The draft fan is controlled by the thermostat.

thank you tom

First you don't have forced draft, what you have is a combustion air fan. That fan can be dangerous because it could supply more air than the chimney draft can evacuate causing pressure to build in the fire box and leak carbon monoxide. So start with a very low air feed to be safe and feel your way over time. You should have a manometer to be certain of always having negative draft and knowing just what your draft is.

The coal to me just looks unburned. Assuming you are keeping at least an 8 inch bed you should let it go longer before shaking in this mild weather, or is the fire just dying on you?

So iam better off using the draft control on the ash door ? I will manometer , I have barometric on the flu ( field controls) set on 4 horizontal.

thanks tom

newbe2coal wrote:So iam better off using the draft control on the ash door ? I will manometer , I have barometric on the flu ( field controls) set on 4 horizontal.

thanks tom

Yeah, I've never been a fan of combustion air blowers either because of the possible positive pressure condition it could cause. I would just try running it manually with the air control on the ash pan door. Good move installing the baro. It will make the heat output more steady.

newbe2coal wrote:So iam better off using the draft control on the ash door ? I will manometer , I have barometric on the flu ( field controls) set on 4 horizontal.

thanks tom

Get the manometer so you know what is going on (Dwyer Markll model 25). Yes, at this point master burning with manual control. Later on with sustained cold the fan controlled by thermostat could be very handy. The stove, the chimney, and outside conditions make up your system which changes with changing conditions. That's the learning curve you must learn and with a large stove and spread out fire bed a bit more tricky. Shake down to just get a red glow in most of the ash pan. Don't over do it. With cold weather you need to be more thorough. Regardless of what those plates say about wood or coal, your concern is that they do close off underneath air from by-passing the coal bed. Don't assume. If in doubt stuff some fiberglass in there.

Well gentlemen I thank you all for help, I did as some of you have suggested , I started over cleaned the burner box then I stuffed fiberglass behind front and rear plates I only use the combustion motor when need if all. A much better result in burn timer , I am using the manual draft on the ash , I will be pick up a manometer today . Minimal unburnt coal in ash pan and a nice bed of through the burn box .

thank you for the help great site.

tom

congrats on the success!!

good job sticking with it and not giving up, the warmth will be worth the effort!

now that you have the basics figured out you'll be hooked on tweaking the process to maximize burn times and heat extraction making it fun as well as keeping warm!!

newbe2coal wrote:Well gentlemen I thank you all for help, I did as some of you have suggested , I started over cleaned the burner box then I stuffed fiberglass behind front and rear plates I only use the combustion motor when need if all. A much better result in burn timer , I am using the manual draft on the ash , I will be pick up a manometer today . Minimal unburnt coal in ash pan and a nice bed of through the burn box .

thank you for the help great site.

tom

That's great news, congrats.

Getting back to the combustion air fan, Once you are able to hold a minimal idling fire, that will be the manual setting to use and let the thermostat start the fan for more heat. Fan off it reverts to that minimal setting.

The danger with a fan for combustion air is that if too much air is supplied it could cause positive pressure in the fire box and cause flue gas to exit the manual opening, so experiment with less air at first and feel your way. There should be a plate covering the fan intake to adjust the amount of air supplied.

With the fan running for awhile hold a match flame up to the manual opening and make sure the flame sucks into the stove and not blows away. It is possible that the fan opening itself when the fan is off will supply enough air to keep the fire going. In that case the manual opening can be left closed.

See what the manometer shows as well.

Unless you have a very large heating load wouldn't the bed of coal wildly overshoot the desired temp until it coasted back down? I would think the smart thing is to set the main air as close as possible to what is needed during the day and have the blower come on every now and then to help catch up for a couple of minutes. I would not set main air at dead low and then go for a long run on the blower. If not one there I would have some way to sense over fire and stop the blower as well.