Potbelly Coal Stoves

ynlog · Post by **ynlog** » Mon. Feb. 27, 2006 4:12 pm

Hi ,
I just hooked up an old potbelly coal stove from a railroad depot.
Its a Cannon # 18. I took it apart and replaced the old stove bolts and recemented all of the joints.
Im using nut coal , which I'm guessing is the right coal for it.
I just started it up a couple of days ago and am having a little trouble keeping the fire going . Im not sure if I have the draft in the door set right
and if I have a deep enough fire in it . Does anyone know about how deep the fire should be above the grates ?
I only have about 4 inches of coals on the grate now Theres also a small door on the ash pan door to access the shaker , Should that door be op;en a little to allow air to enter under the grates or left shut except when shaking out the ash?

Thanks for you help . This is a really nice forum/website

davemich · Post by **davemich** » Mon. Feb. 27, 2006 5:08 pm

Make sure you have a base of glowing coals from a wood fire built with kindling first. Then you can add coal slowly, about a 1 inch layer and let it get glowing red. I keep my ash door open until I build up a 3 inch layer, then I close the door while keeping a close eye on it. I continue adding coal slowly until my bed is near the level of my door. Then I'm golden...blue flames are a dancin over a red bed of coals. That should do it. How many inch liner do you have going up the chimney and how many feet of liner, if any, do you have?

LsFarm · Post by **LsFarm** » Mon. Feb. 27, 2006 7:58 pm

Welcome ynlog!

Where does the air get into the stove? Is it below the grate? Or above? If it is above, then you will probably need to use the ash pan door to provide air below the grate, coal burns best with air flowing though the bed and it burns from the bottom up.

The deeper the bed of coal the better, fill it up to the door like Dave said. Just make sure you can control the air getting into the stove, you don't want it to burn too hot.

Can you post a photo of the stove??

Hope this helps, Greg L

ynlog · Post by **ynlog** » Tue. Mar. 21, 2006 8:56 pm

My apologies to both of you , I just found my password which I missplaced. I posted a question about my potbelly stove on 2-27 and your advice was perfect the stove works like a dream

I have a 8" masonry liner about 20' long The main air inlet is above the
coal be but there is a door on the ashpan for accessing the shaker handle too. As soon as I can get a hold of a digital camera I'll gladly post a pic of the #18 Cannon Heater .

There is one other problem I am having though, the house is so warm now that we am running around the house in shorts and the neighbors
think were crazy-- ha ha just kidding - it is beautifully warm though

Dave and Greg - again my hats off to both of you and I thank you so much
Chris

wg_bent · Post by **wg_bent** » Tue. May. 16, 2006 7:31 pm

I did a Google on Cannon Coal Stove, and found a number of links. So what is the advantage of a new stove like a Harman Mark series over these older stoves? Do the older stoves burn/heat as well as the modern ones?

Post by **Richard S.** » Wed. May. 17, 2006 4:58 am

wg_bent wrote: So what is the advantage of a new stove like a Harman Mark series over these older stoves?

For one thing they are much more efficient, I don't know the particualrs of the model he mentioned but I can give you an example about a Heat Trolla. If you don't don't it's a older type stove and quite inefficient to say the least. It gets its name from the fasct it looks like one of those old Victrolla record players.

I had a customer using one of those for years and he recently switched to a newer Keystoker and about cut his coal consumption in half. Additionally he was getting more hest out of it since the Keystoker had a higher BTU output.

stovehospital · Post by **stovehospital** » Fri. Sep. 16, 2011 8:06 am

On the #18 Army Heater; Most we see have cracked firepots. That was no problem for the army as they had a ton of spares. We don't, so the best thing to do is to line the firepot with refractory clay to protect it. I use "plastic refractory" that you pound in place and it hardens with a fire. If you install this, the stove will last infefinitly. I can tell you where to get it locally.
Also, I light my fires with wood but my son uses Charcoal. He lights it and walks away for 5 min. The just add a layer of coal and walk away for 10 min. Then load it up and set the drafts and damper and you are set. Quick, easy, foolproof. Emery