Water in Coal Bucket
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Hello all. I don't post much but have been on here a couple years.I looked for this topic didnt see anything so I figured to post it. I live in north east ohio. we had freezing rain Yesterday. I had two 5 gal. buckets of coal outside the back door. so when I brought them in they were iced over.set them in the furnance room for later that evening. I have a long and narrow ash pan that I use to dump coal in the fire box. Later when I went to refill the fire box with coal I poured the coal in the fire box there was water from the ice, and it caught fire as if it was gasoline the fire leap out about a foot. It freaked me out! was not expecting that. Never thought about coal water being flamible. We always have to be thinking. be careful and have a happy new year.
- SWPaDon
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I've never had that happen. But with that said, be careful throwing cold water onto hot cast iron grates. It can bust them to pieces in a heartbeat.cbd wrote:Hello all. I don't post much but have been on here a couple years.I looked for this topic didnt see anything so I figured to post it. I live in north east ohio. we had freezing rain Yesterday. I had two 5 gal. buckets of coal outside the back door. so when I brought them in they were iced over.set them in the furnance room for later that evening. I have a long and narrow ash pan that I use to dump coal in the fire box. Later when I went to refill the fire box with coal I poured the coal in the fire box there was water from the ice, and it caught fire as if it was gasoline the fire leap out about a foot. It freaked me out! was not expecting that. Never thought about coal water being flamible. We always have to be thinking. be careful and have a happy new year.
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I suspect that the water contained powdered coal in it which is what burned.
- joeq
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Welcome to the "chat" cbd, and thanks for the warning. Not sure how water and coal could cause a flammable reaction, but who knows what happened? What kind (brand, type and size, where bought?) of coal, and what type of metal container. Any type of "exotic" metals? (Just reaching for the abnormal).
And how long have you been burning the black rocks? I imagine your coal furnace is your only means of heat in the house?
Anyway, glad you didn't get burned, or catch the house on fire.
And don't be a stranger. Happy New Year to you and yours.
And how long have you been burning the black rocks? I imagine your coal furnace is your only means of heat in the house?
Anyway, glad you didn't get burned, or catch the house on fire.
And don't be a stranger. Happy New Year to you and yours.
That plus the water hitting the hot coal and turning into a steam spitting monster. Good reminder to keep the sand bucket nearby and not a bucket of water!franco b wrote:I suspect that the water contained powdered coal in it which is what burned.
- michaelanthony
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+1...and if you don't have sand keep a pail of old ash around.titleist1 wrote:That plus the water hitting the hot coal and turning into a steam spitting monster. Good reminder to keep the sand bucket nearby and not a bucket of water!
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Good morning. My ash pan is just steel its is the ash pan from a firechief 500. this is my 3rd year with the black rocks,
and the coal is the only heat source other than base boards. Blashac nut coal. I believe the water had fines in it
so when I dump the coal in the water ran down and hit the hot coals. fines mixing with water makes the water flamible
just as if there was gasoline in the water im guessing. I may get a little wood fire going outside and put some fines in a bucket with water and dump on fire to see what happens. Thanks for all the well wishes!and Happy new year to all of you. I love those black rocks
and the coal is the only heat source other than base boards. Blashac nut coal. I believe the water had fines in it
so when I dump the coal in the water ran down and hit the hot coals. fines mixing with water makes the water flamible
just as if there was gasoline in the water im guessing. I may get a little wood fire going outside and put some fines in a bucket with water and dump on fire to see what happens. Thanks for all the well wishes!and Happy new year to all of you. I love those black rocks
What you saw was steam being generated and being liberated. As it rushed to get out of the stove at the point of least resistance, it carried burning particles with it making it look like the water was burning. You were seeing steam with fire trapped in it. Throw a small cup of water on a hot hot campfire and you will see exactly the same thing.
There is nothing you can do that will make water flammable
There is nothing you can do that will make water flammable
- Sunny Boy
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Rev, Obviously you don't own a still.blrman07 wrote:What you saw was steam being generated and being liberated. As it rushed to get out of the stove at the point of least resistance, it carried burning particles with it making it look like the water was burning. You were seeing steam with fire trapped in it. Throw a small cup of water on a hot hot campfire and you will see exactly the same thing.
There is nothing you can do that will make water flammable
Paul
- freetown fred
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My supplier sprays his dump bed w/ kero--drill some holes in your buckets to prevent all this for when situation might reoccur. Hopefully it won't!!! Nice Paul
- Sunny Boy
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The Kimmel's coal has some kind of oil coating that also gets in with the water in the bottom of the bags - especially the fines and small chips. There's enough of it to make the small stuff stick together. But, I'm not sure it's enough to make any noticeable difference in burn. The wet coal getting dumped into the fire does the spitting, like Rev said.freetown fred wrote:My supplier sprays his dump bed w/ kero--drill some holes in your buckets to prevent all this for when situation might reoccur. Hopefully it won't!!! Nice Paul
Paul
- Keepaeyeonit
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X2 on what FF said! I made this for wet coal but with my new bin I don't have that problem anymore, but I use it for cleaning up dirty coal (to many fines)now and the nice thing about that is it will fit inside another bucket so your not dripping black water all over the place .freetown fred wrote:My supplier sprays his dump bed w/ kero--drill some holes in your buckets to prevent all this for when situation might reoccur. Hopefully it won't!!! Nice Paul
- UncleDoDat
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This reminds me of something that my installer told me while trying to get me to commit to buying a few tons of coal from them. As he listed the benefits of burning cold he said wet cold burned better. I didn't question this or ask for more detailed explanation. Mainly because I thought it was part of his sales pitch. But next time I am in the store I will ask for a better explanation.