Newbie Question

finallywarm · Post by **finallywarm** » Thu. Mar. 31, 2016 8:48 am

so now that I have burned nut coal in my chubby for 3 days, is it normal when fire dies down to have some residual coal left? can I restart fire with leftovers? I shake down pit and still have maybe a cup or more of funny looking leftovers. when I squeeze them, they crumble. Do I scoop out or just refire? last nights burn lasted 10 hours. house super warm and family happy. thanks in advance for all members help. dang I love this chubby stove.

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Thu. Mar. 31, 2016 12:23 pm

It's normal to have some unburnt coal if you let the coal bed get too shallow without filling the pot back up. Coal needs a deep bed to burn properly. I would clean the pot out and start from scratch. If it crumbles to ash then it's already spent. You could try to screen out the good coal and reuse it. Best of luck!

Post by **ONEDOLLAR** » Thu. Mar. 31, 2016 3:43 pm

finallywarm

Yep perfectly normal to have some left over coal if you let the stove go out.

Here is my restart method...... Shake the stove down real good and rake the grate with your poker. Push the left over coal to one side and restart the stove from the other as you normally would. BINGO.... Try it.. I think you will like it!

finallywarm · Post by **finallywarm** » Thu. Mar. 31, 2016 4:16 pm

thanks for the info. I have been using my coal chubby since saturday and experienced a bad day on weds trying to keep stove alive. was using some agway left over coal that I received for free with stove purchase and no success. tossed it into corner of my tool shed. and used my kimmels nut coal and voila I had the warmest day ever in my home last night . fire was still on this a. m. 10 hours of burn time with little interaction. this is all new to me but I like!!!

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Thu. Mar. 31, 2016 5:30 pm

Burn it ... burn it ALL aaahahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgggggggrrrrrr

Bob500 · Post by **Bob500** » Sat. Apr. 02, 2016 10:20 am

I too have had this happen. I use One Dollar's method describe above. It works great. I don't like wasting anything.

Post by **ONEDOLLAR** » Sat. Apr. 02, 2016 2:40 pm

Bob500 wrote:I too have had this happen. I use One Dollar's method describe above. It works great. I don't like wasting anything.

Bob.It sure beats having to empty and clean the fire pot and the re light is fast (at least for me) about 10 mins tops for everything. I encourage everyone to try this method if the need arises.

Logs · Post by **Logs** » Sat. Apr. 02, 2016 9:34 pm

I will definitely try that , I lost my fire twice this week. Cleaning out all that ash is a pain in my ash. I do hate throwing out the half burnt nuggets. I usually hand pick what's leftover and throw it back it the wheelbarrow . I like the idea of just pushing it aside and starting new fire. Thanks for the tip Mark.

finallywarm · Post by **finallywarm** » Mon. Apr. 04, 2016 9:54 am

took eveyones advice and refired up the chubby and yes sir it did light up again. finally getting the hang of coal burning after burning wood for 13 years. the heat from coal is so much better than wood. And now I am able to get 14 hour burn time before loading up fire pot. why didnt I think of this sooner?? I managed to purchase all of tsc supply of kimmels nut coal for next year. have close to 2 tons bagged. Love my chubby!!!!

finallywarm · Post by **finallywarm** » Mon. Apr. 04, 2016 9:56 am

showed my chubby to a neighbor who loves coal stoves. he states my rear vent 1979 with scroll work on top is hard to find. didnt know that

Post by **ONEDOLLAR** » Mon. Apr. 04, 2016 2:13 pm

Congrats on the 14 hour burn time!

As you get more comfortable with burning coal I have little doubt you will be able to extend that time as well. It is a nice feeling knowing you don't have to rush home to load up a wood stove or wake up in the middle of the neat to feed one just to try and keep the house warm. Virtually all of us ex wood burners say the same thing about coal.. "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS SOONER?"

I assume you tried the rapid relight method I mentioned? It is fast, easy and above all it works. It doesn't take more than some kindling either to get things going again.

finallywarm · Post by **finallywarm** » Mon. Apr. 04, 2016 3:59 pm

i did and I thank you for that. this weekend my stove was on all the time. its such a learning experience and I love it, that nice even, warm soothing heat from coal that seems to last forever. many times the wife says , wow, the stove is still on after 12 hours of loading fire pit. I went to work this morning at 6am and my kids just reported stove is still on almost half a pot full . told son load that stove to the top. he did. I am happy. its now 4pm . will shake down prior to bed and top off fire pot. No more searching for wood logs, splitting, stacking, bugs, occasional snake, mess....