Hotblast Year 3

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Location: Western PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
Other Heating: Oil Boiler

Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 5:00 pm

Methinks prOgress is a bein' made!

You got it on the run, guys. Now get in there and git 'r done!


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 5:13 pm

larryfoster wrote:Your house achieves temps that mine don'
Maybe the furnace and it's heat output aren't completely to blame partner. I realize your propane furnace keeps the house warm but it's pumping out 80,000 BTUs and likely using A LOT of propane to keep the house up to temp. Which is why you decided to try coal, I get that, I bought that T shirt.

What I'm saying is maybe some tightening and insulating of the house would be more effective with keeping your house warm. Anything you can do in that regard will pay you back with less coal usage and less tending frequency and a warmer house.

Do you insulate the windows with shrink plastic? You can get window kits pretty much at any hardware store. I used them before replacing my windows and they do work.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 5:15 pm

SWPaDon wrote:Larry, did your coal fuse together again in that 4 hour run? That will choke off the air from underneath, causing loss of draft.
Right, at 4-5 hours after tending I would break up the big crispy mass and it would start heating good again.

 
larryfoster
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Coal Size/Type: Bituminous nut (me and the coal)
Other Heating: Propane Kerosene

Post by larryfoster » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 5:40 pm

Larry, did your coal fuse together again in that 4 hour run?
Not real bad.
Usually, within about an hour of loading, it has melted together and that needs poked and lifted up to get air moving through it.

Once I cook the goo out of it, it does form some crispy lumps that I break up

 
corey
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Post by corey » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 6:17 pm

I still think adding insulation to your ducts will help. Did you ever put a block off plate in to keep the heat from blowing into your propane system???

 
larryfoster
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Other Heating: Propane Kerosene

Post by larryfoster » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 6:24 pm

Did you ever put a block off plate in to keep the heat from blowing into your propane system???
Last year

 
corey
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Post by corey » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 6:28 pm

larryfoster wrote:
Did you ever put a block off plate in to keep the heat from blowing into your propane system???
Last year
I'm betting that propane furnace is burning a ton of propane to get your place warm. It really sounds like your losing a LOT of heat to me. I bet insulated ducts would help BOTH furnaces.


 
larryfoster
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Coal Size/Type: Bituminous nut (me and the coal)
Other Heating: Propane Kerosene

Post by larryfoster » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 6:31 pm

I'm betting that propane furnace is burning a ton of propane to get your place warm
No

 
larryfoster
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Other Heating: Propane Kerosene

Post by larryfoster » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 6:46 pm

Testing will probably need to be postponed for a day.
Perhaps two.

My mano is reading -0-.

I need to burn out and clean my chimney

 
corey
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Post by corey » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 6:50 pm

larryfoster wrote:Testing will probably need to be postponed for a day.
Perhaps two.

My mano is reading -0-.

I need to burn out and clean my chimney
Is that with the MPD open?

 
corey
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Post by corey » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 7:02 pm

Larry do you have a chimney cap and does it have a sreen? They catch a lot of soot with bit coal I'm running without one.

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
Other Heating: Oil Boiler

Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 7:10 pm

larryfoster wrote:Testing will probably need to be postponed for a day.
Perhaps two.

My mano is reading -0-.

I need to burn out and clean my chimney
DANGER, Larry, DANGER.

Something is very wrong if your draft drops to zero. And it is very dangerous.

In my strong opinion, you should shut down this furnace until your chimney and setup can be inspected by an experienced furnace person. Something is wrong, buddy.

 
larryfoster
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Coal Size/Type: Bituminous nut (me and the coal)
Other Heating: Propane Kerosene

Post by larryfoster » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 8:09 pm

DANGER, Larry, DANGER.
At least something with the mano.

If there were something that bad with the chimney wouldn't my house filled with smoke?
Larry do you have a chimney cap and does it have a sreen?
I took that off a year or more ago.
Thanks for the suggestion

 
corey
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Post by corey » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 8:18 pm

larryfoster wrote:
DANGER, Larry, DANGER.
At least something with the mano.

If there were something that bad with the chimney wouldn't my house filled with smoke?
Larry do you have a chimney cap and does it have a sreen?
I took that off a year or more ago.
Thanks for the suggestion
If it was completely blocked yes it would fill your house with smoke.

But I have to agree that you need to have it inspected by someone close maybe a chimney sweep guy.

Something has got to be wrong it needs inspected from top to bottom.

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Posts: 2323
Joined: Wed. Jan. 19, 2011 11:41 am
Location: Western PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
Other Heating: Oil Boiler

Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Tue. Jan. 10, 2017 8:31 pm

larryfoster wrote:If there were something that bad with the chimney wouldn't my house filled with smoke?
It's not so much the "level" (yes, it is being ZERO), which means combustion gases can ONLY go into the house, but that it is changing without you knowing WHY.

You could have an obstruction or something happening that sounds like it is opening and closing. What if it slams shut and stays shut while you sleep?

Being awake, with a CO monitor, watching the smoke or lack of it, etc is one thing. But it's getting to be night and the fire will likely smolder for quite some time.

If you cannot maintain draft, you should not be trying to burn anything.

I'm not an alarmist, but the situation you describe is one I am NOT comfortable with. Hopefully it is something simple- would be great if it was just a bad mano, but is there another one to check it against? Err on the side of caution, buddy.

You said you were going to have your chimney checked and cleaned, right? Good idea. Do that.

Going to zero draft = shut it down. I don't know what else to tell you, except that you CANNOT safely fire with zero draft.


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