Too Much Heat Out of My Stove

I'm new to firing coal. Bought a house this summer, came with a Russo #2CW stove. Build date 1-80. I didn't realize until a few weeks ago that the stove was even good for coal until a few weeks ago. Bought some but anthracite and have tried firing it a few times. Each time I've fired the coal, I end up with a fire that overheats the house, and the coal won't last overnight. I'm keeping the damper closed 100% and the butterfly damper on the exhaust closed. So far, I've replaced the door gasket, adjusted the damper slide on the ashtray. I need some help figuring this out, as the wife isn't happy getting cooked each night.

Emd16645,Welcome to the forum. I will venture to guess that your problem is that you are not loading enough coal into the stove. Coal likes a DEEP bed,heaped up some above the top of the firebrick.The fact that you are getting too much heat & it burns out overnite tells the story. You should get at least a 12 hr burn with that stove.

Did you replace the gasket on the ash pan door as well?

I've been loading it to the height of the tops of the fire bricks, but it burns down real fast, I fired it up 2-3 hours ago, and it's burned down 3-4 inches already. I'm thinking it's getting too much air. I'll replace the ashtray seal tomorrow.

From everything I've read, this stove is great for coal, leading me to the problem is operator error, not the stove.

Try the dollar bill test on the ash tray seal

A photo of my fire. Not sure if it's any help or not.

Well that sure looks hot !! Do you have a manometer or magnehelic hooked up to show what the stack draft is ? Are you using a baro to limit the draft ?

windyhill4.2 wrote:Well that sure looks hot !! Do you have a manometer or magnehelic hooked up to show what the stack draft is ? Are you using a baro to limit the draft ?

I think you went right over my head with all of that. Can you explain how to determine draft? If anything I have too much draft.

E, looks like you're getting to much under-air from somewhere???

E, stick w/ the basics before adding any gadgets. replace the ash door gasket & yes try the $$ bill test when ya close the doors. Candle around doors & gasket areas to see if air is getting in.

I will take care of the gasket tomorrow and do the dollar bill test after they are installed. I'll report back with my findings.

One more--do you have a Manuel damper in the pipe going to the chimney??

Emd16645 wrote:I will take care of the gasket tomorrow and do the dollar bill test after they are installed. I'll report back with my findings.

All good advice above, keep a bucket of ash handy in case she gets too hot. A fresh load of coal will chill it down as well but only for so long if it's leaking. Keep with it and make sure you pick up some C.O, detectors while you're at the hardware store.

Old Russo CW2 russo cw2
Another thread that has info you might be interested in here on NEPA

What size coal are you using? There looks like there's a lot of open space between the pieces of coal in your picture. I'd try pea coal; it will block the air flow quite a bit.

How many times a day are you shaking the ashes? You can also use the ashes to control the draft. Just don't shake it as thoroughly or as often as you have been.

I'd definitely get a Manometer on the black pipes and see just what draft you're dealing with. Then I'd get a barometric damper installed so you can control the draft. If your draft is as strong as it appears you may need to have both a manual damper and the barro.

You think it's hot in the house but consider that you have immense amounts of heat going up those black pipes. That's money out of your pocket. Control the draft and you could expect to achieve a 10 or 12 hour burn. Good luck, Lisa