Very Excited About Our Coal Stove - Thanks King Coal!

 
coalder
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Location: somewhere high in the catskill mountains
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: harman sf 160
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: wood parlor stove

Post by coalder » Wed. Jan. 04, 2017 4:35 pm

Highly recommend NUT coal for that unit. And use a poker every tending. It will break up & settle the ash. Now you may not need poker every tending but till you get a feel for it, it don't hurt. Ifn ya see any dark spots after ya ramp up the stove just prior to tending; that's ash build-up. Now take an l shaped poker & go down through that area & rake it around. That will settle the ash so when ya shake it all vacates. I not only do corners, But whole coal bed with poker EVERY tending. Good luck!!
Jim


 
hunterseat
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Location: Connecticut via Atlanta via Oahu via.... MidSouth
Hand Fed Coal Stove: LEDA K6-14 Verdin
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite (I've been told)
Other Heating: Electric

Post by hunterseat » Wed. Jan. 04, 2017 6:42 pm

titleist1 wrote: Just wait 'til you see your neighbors jealous faces when you answer the door in Jan in shorts a t shirt and flip flops.
:clap: That made me laugh! Thank you! I'll have to break out the Hawaii garb.
Thanks to all for the great info. I'm anxious to share it with the guy when he gets home.
I'm going to look for another distributor around here. The TSC bags are 40# and we're going through about 2/3 of one a day. $6/bag about $140/month.

 
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Sunny Boy
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Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Wed. Jan. 04, 2017 6:51 pm

titleist1 wrote: Just wait 'til you see your neighbors jealous faces when you answer the door in Jan in shorts a t shirt and flip flops.
:clap: That made me laugh! Thank you! I'll have to break out the Hawaii garb.
Thanks to all for the great info. I'm anxious to share it with the guy when he gets home.
I'm going to look for another distributor around here. The TSC bags are 40# and we're going through about 2/3 of one a day. $6/bag about $140/month.[/quote

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Relax and put your feet up because there's no dress code - welcome to the "warm world of coal". :D

Paul

 
hunterseat
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Posts: 63
Joined: Sat. Nov. 12, 2016 11:16 am
Location: Connecticut via Atlanta via Oahu via.... MidSouth
Hand Fed Coal Stove: LEDA K6-14 Verdin
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite (I've been told)
Other Heating: Electric

Post by hunterseat » Fri. Jan. 06, 2017 10:52 am

What we have is nut coal, per the bag label. Going to shop for a poker today. There's a great antique shop nearby that has lots of iron implements. Hoping to find something there. IF it's open with the snow. But hey, it's CT. Not like Atlanta that is shutting down roadways because they have 2-4" and have been declared State of Emergency. We were there during the big 2" paralyzing snow storm.

 
hunterseat
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Posts: 63
Joined: Sat. Nov. 12, 2016 11:16 am
Location: Connecticut via Atlanta via Oahu via.... MidSouth
Hand Fed Coal Stove: LEDA K6-14 Verdin
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite (I've been told)
Other Heating: Electric

Post by hunterseat » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 7:43 am

Sorry if this comes across wrong but I'm highly sleep deprived. I GIVE UP! Or, I'd like to at times like these.

I already know what the problem is. Mr. "I'm the coal master" sits on his butt all evening and OH NO when he wakes up on the couch at 1am, the stove is going out. He spent HOURS shaking, stoking, carrying coal up from the basement, cussing, swinging cast iron doors open and closed. ON AND ON for...well, I got up at just shy of 5am and told him to get his .... well, to go to bed.

He tried to hug me and say "I'm sorry I woke you up" and I stopped him. That was just unforgivable. Thank goodness I don't work today.
I'm just a little... :blowup:

 
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freetown fred
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Location: Freetown,NY 13803
Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut

Post by freetown fred » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 8:33 am

What's your tending schedule H? If ya don't have a consistent one, something to think about. Here, it's always been a WE thing. EVERY 12 hrs. come hell or high water!

 
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Sunny Boy
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Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 9:07 am

It's a "we" thing here too, Fred.

She knows to read the magnetic thermometer in the stove pipe, so Melissa will remind me to check the stove whenever she's getting ready to cook/bake, or if she sees that it's running low. If I'm napping in my chair, she won't wake me, she just adds more coal. And if need be, she'll even go down to the coal bin to refill the buckets. It was part of her growing up with coal stoves, so she understands and doesn't mind.

We don't worry about who has to take care of it. We both enjoy life with a coal stove so much that if anything, we fight over who "gets" to take care of it. ;)

But,...... she never fights me to get to take the ashes out. :D

Paul


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 9:28 am

Hell Paul, my pup does all that & I'd bet a lot cheaper to keep!!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap: toothy

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lowfog01
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Location: Springfield, VA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Mark II & Mark I
Coal Size/Type: nut/pea

Post by lowfog01 » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 11:24 am

it's definitely a "we" thing here, too, even though I tend the stove 99% of the time. I do it because I enjoy doing it and I'm the Coal Queen in the house; I get to decide who does what :) . As the Queen, I've made sure the everyone who lives or has lived here knows the basics of tending the stove. I like to think I'm helping keep a piece of American history alive in a new generation. It also gives me the freedom to be gone for the weekend or just be sick sometimes.

That being said, there is a schedule for the stove - a routine although the timing maybe a little different day by day. Remember coal has a long burn time. It doesn't necessarily need to be shook at 6:00 every morning. It can be slid by a couple of hours if that's more convenient. I work a split shift - out the door by 6am but back by 10:00. It took me 10 years of getting up earlier then I needed to to realize that the stove will be ok if it waits until 10:00. My mornings are a lot calmer now.

The evening routine is more set. That routine starts at 7:00 while I'm winding down. I add a couple of scoops of coal to the stove and I open the air valve a little to get the coalbed hot. I put my timer on and go about my business. When the timer goes off, I shake the stove, add more coal, and exchange the full ash pan for the empty and I'm done. I easily get a 15 hour burn.

The thing is this routine has taken over 10 years to develop. You'll find yours as you learn more about the ins and outs of the your stove. Lisa

 
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dlj
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Coal Size/Type: Stove coal
Other Heating: Oil Furnace, electric space heaters

Post by dlj » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 8:54 pm

hunterseat wrote:Sorry if this comes across wrong but I'm highly sleep deprived. I GIVE UP! Or, I'd like to at times like these.

I already know what the problem is. Mr. "I'm the coal master" sits on his butt all evening and OH NO when he wakes up on the couch at 1am, the stove is going out. He spent HOURS shaking, stoking, carrying coal up from the basement, cussing, swinging cast iron doors open and closed. ON AND ON for...well, I got up at just shy of 5am and told him to get his .... well, to go to bed.

He tried to hug me and say "I'm sorry I woke you up" and I stopped him. That was just unforgivable. Thank goodness I don't work today.
I'm just a little... :blowup:
In my house I wish it would be a we thing, but it only happens in emergencies - and usually with much "on the phone hand holding and nervousness".

My younger daughter actually likes to know how to tend the stove but doesn't do it much.

So with my schedule - which recently has been a bit more predictable but in the past has had wide variation - I've found that keeping a few bags of charcoal on hand to be very useful. If I either forget, fall asleep on the couch, or get caught outside my "normal" schedule, and the fire is about to die - I just put a bunch of charcoal in and let it take off again. I've saved many a near dead fire that way, and quite quickly at that...

dj

 
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Lightning
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 9:27 pm

No we thing here, it's just a me thing lol. I've shown her how to do it, even had her do it while I instructed. My furnace takes quite a bit of meat to shake it good so she would rather I handle it. Which is fine with me, I enjoy taking care of the fire.

There's a tasty trade off though, she's a good cook which is partly why I'm struggling to lose any weight haha.

 
hunterseat
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Location: Connecticut via Atlanta via Oahu via.... MidSouth
Hand Fed Coal Stove: LEDA K6-14 Verdin
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite (I've been told)
Other Heating: Electric

Post by hunterseat » Mon. Jan. 16, 2017 7:09 am

It would be a "we" thing if he would "allow" me to do anything - but that keeps him superior and that's a whole 'nother subject.

I've been watching him and I don't really think it's his fault. Yes it's a learning curve but I'm beginning to suspect the stove might not be a great model. I told him I want him to let it go cold and I can take a video and a bunch of pictures to show you folks and get your opinion.

The ash doesn't seem to be falling and it seems like there's not enough air entering the grate - like the ash is building up to thickly. I've done some shaking (when he wasn't here :) ) and it's almost non-effective. I can watch the pan while I shake and basically nothing is falling. Poor design?

 
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Post by titleist1 » Mon. Jan. 16, 2017 7:27 am

Coalder's previous post indicated the grates weren't great ( :lol: ) at clearing the ash and poker was used every tending to sufficiently clear the ash so it wouldn't get ash bound and starved for air like you are describing.

Yours isn't the only stove to need this additional tending process. Folks not only use the standard fireplace poker but also some home made items to effectively clear ash. Some are simply a length of round bar stock bent at a 90* a the end or allthread also bent with a handle screwed on the other end.

 
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SawDustJack
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Post by SawDustJack » Mon. Jan. 16, 2017 9:25 am

Hunter, I totally hesitate to post this as I am not very familiar with your stove. I was looking back at the pictures of the stove you posted earlier in the thread I started looking hard at the one showing the shaker plate in the bottom of the fire pot area. Is that how the stove is set up? It has it almost like its a lazy susan set up with the plate floating on top of the bottom plate. Most designs, well all the round designs I have ever seen have the shaker plate suspended at the very bottom of the whole setup. It makes it more of a funnel setup for the ash. Again, I really don't know your stove and maybe the pic you posted was a "before" setup pic, but I question the placement of the shaker plate if your setup is set that way. Being unfamiliar with your stove, this setup (like the way it is in the pic) could be correct too. If it is, then I would totally agree with titleist1 and look to make or get a poker to help you clear the ash.

I found this thread; Leda Stove in Maine that talks about a similar stove that might be worth a quick read.

 
hunterseat
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Posts: 63
Joined: Sat. Nov. 12, 2016 11:16 am
Location: Connecticut via Atlanta via Oahu via.... MidSouth
Hand Fed Coal Stove: LEDA K6-14 Verdin
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite (I've been told)
Other Heating: Electric

Post by hunterseat » Mon. Jan. 16, 2017 12:12 pm

I was up about 2am :? and it was almost out. I probably could have dumped some more coal in but I really didn't want to make the noise. I was hoping to finish sleeping on the couch. But it went out completely and we emptied it out. I got some pictures that will show you the grate.

ALSO there's a mystery to us about the actual coal. Much of it ends up looking like petrified wood instead of burning to ash so it clogs the grate. Got some pictures of that. Be right back with the pictures.


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