Stokermatic stove??

Bit. coal is not illegal to burn in PA trust me. You can buy that type of coal in bulk from keystone supply company in Claysville PA they have all types of coal.

whomever told you that burning bituminous coal is illegal in pennsylvania is a fool, that is not true at all.

Ok thanx guys

I must have read that wrong. I read it here: smelly bit

Anyway Claysville is about 400 miles from me looking for something a we bit closer

Anywho another rumor I am hoping is not true does this bit smell like eggs? does it produce a lot of black smoke?

I am not trying to upset my neighbors here....

jeremy

jeremysdemo wrote:Anywho another rumor I am hoping is not true does this bit smell like eggs? does it produce a lot of black smoke?

A very strong sulphur smell. My neighbor is 800 or so feet away and I can smell him firing his boiler and I can see the plume of black smoke coming from his chimney. Once it gets going I don't notice the black smoke but I can still smell the sulphur when the wind is coming from his direction. I would imagine bit coal from different sources would have different amounts of sulphur and burning characteristics thus some would smell more than others.

we're not comparing apples to apples here. the type of appliance greatly determines the amount of smoke even using the same coal; in the OP's case he has a stoker, not a batch fed boiler like your neighbor, which, once set up properly will produce little smoke regardless of what coal is used.

yes, bituminous coal does have a certain smell, in a stoker it will be mild if at all noticeable and your neighbors will likely never notice unless you advertise it. anyone who has spent much time in the UK or eastern europe will realize that "that smell" is part of winter life for many people, and many people in those parts of the world actually like it; most americans outside of eastern ohio will not give it the same reception however, and are likely to whine and complain if they know what it is, which is why regardless of how well you get on with your nieghbors, don't mention to anyone that you are heating with coal and they will never be able to complain.

Berlin wrote:we're not comparing apples to apples here. the type of appliance greatly determines the amount of smoke even using the same coal; in the OP's case he has a stoker, not a batch fed boiler like your neighbor, which, once set up properly will produce little smoke regardless of what coal is used.

It does make sense that the stoker will not put out the amount of smoke that the hand fired units do.

A quick rundown on how bituminous will burn in your stokermatic.. Berlin, if I'm way off in any of my descriptions, please feel free to edit my text.

First, there must be a hopper to store the coal to be burned,, there will be an auger, a big screw in the bottom of the hopper that will convey the coal to the bottom of that tube in the middle of your firechamber.. in the tube, which I call a burnpot or firepot, there will be air slots or holes, somewhere there is a fan that forces air through these holes or slots..

The coal is pushed into the bottom of the firepot, where the fire burns, air is forced into the fire, creating a very hot fire. As the coal is heated, but not yet ignited, Bituminous coal 'boils off' volitiles, these are trapped gasses in the coal,, these gasses need a lot of air to burn fully.. that curved tube that ends over the burnpot blows extra air into the coal flames and smoke to burn the volitiles completely. You should have very little black smoke once you get the fire going,, and it can burn for weeks, months or the whole season.

As the coal is pushed up from the bottom through the firepot, it boils off it's volitiles, which are burnt above, and the coal ignites, burning redhot, just like Anthracite coal.. Bituminous coal often has a high 'swelling index'. This means that as it gets hot and burns, it gets soft, and tends to 'glue' itself together into one big piece.. the burnpot usually gets larger as the coal rises in the pot, this allows the air and additional coal to not get 'stuck' behind a big piece of stuck together coal. The burnpot is shaped roughly like a flowpot, smaller diameter at the bottom than at the top.

As the coal is pushed higher in the burnpot it is more completely burnt,, and the heat fuses the ash together into clinkers.. In this type of coal burning and coal stove, clinkers are a good thing, the clinker is pushed out of the burn pot, and it stays in one piece on the flat refractory surface that surrounds the burnpot. The coal finishes burning on the refractory leaving behind large clinkers or hunks of ash.

These stoves do not have an ashpan, the stove operator has to open the door, and using a pair of 'clinker tongs', or a small hoe and shovel, scoop up and remove the clinkers and accumulated ash. Leaving room for the next batch of clinkers and ash. The fire keeps burning while the clean up is conducted..

I think I've covered the general operation of a Bituminous stoker stove.

Greg L

I am probably the only member of the forum who burn Bituminous coal 24/7/365 and have done so for

over 1 year and have gone through all of the trial and error of this type of coal burning.I burn the same coal

as Berlin,and Pittsburgh seam,and use a under burner coal boiler which has under fire air and an adjustable

secondary air for burning the volatiles in the initial startup of combustion.It is a trial and error process to get this setting

right for a smoke free burn and high efficiency from the many different types of Bituminous coal.

If i burn a Pittsburgh coal which is much more dense I have to almost keep the secondary air

closed like the hard coal burners,it also needs a much higher draft about .o8 to get a clean burn, it likes

a lot of heated under the fire air to burn with a hot and clean flame.The Pittsburgh coal is of very high

quality and never forms any clinkers just white/gray ash of about 8% , the Puxy coal from Valier also has

similar ash and also no clinker.Clinker is from a high ash and lower quality coal not the Western PA coals.

These coals have near 14000 btu/# even more than anthracite.

I keep my boiler at 170/180* and when the air flow is off the chimney is at 100/120* and I can hold my hand

on the pipe one foot above the flue outlet of the boiler.

BigBarney

Great info guys, at least I know what to expect now and some of my worries have been subsided.

Another question, if I may.

On the door of my stoker is a glass door, there is a crack in it but the glass is not loose.

Is this a fire hazard? there is no gaps between the two pieces, it just like a corner of the glass is broken but sturdy.

Can smoke potentially come out of that crack?

I am getting ready to get some coal and test this baby (just a bag or two for now from a friend) but don't want to do so if it is going to smoke or be dangerous.
I looked into getting a replacement glass would run around $120 US,(since it is irregular) which would make this ventures cost higher than the initial savings on gas heat this month. Now worries, I would just have to wait another month to get it together and would still have at least three months of winter to benefit.

sincerely

jeremy

As long as the glass is not loose it will be OK. Smoke will not come out of this crack because you will have a slight vacuum on the stove from the chimney drafting.

Oh what a relief! I'm getting two bags tomorrow to test this out and now I don't have to worry as much, maybe I could put some fire/heat proof caulk on it to be sure?

I have seen a few people talk about different methods of lighting stoves here but they seem to be describing different larger stoves.
I got to figure out how to light this one, I can't wait to fire this puppy up and gaze at the glory of the burn!

jeremy

Here's a copy of the manual for the Combustioneer Mk. IV stove that is very similar to your Stokermatic, courtesy of member HardWood. He reported excellent performance and very low smoke from his stove - I expect you'll have equally good performance once your stove is dialed into your local coal.

Chris

Thank you that was very helpful

I noticed the manual said NOT to use any fluids to light the coal, that is good to know, since I was planning on using charcoal briskets soaked in fluid.

I am going to have to put a we bit o' fluid on them since they are not matchlight briskets, but I will be sure to keep it to a minimum and not use any amount that would drip off or saturate the coal below.

I don't see a whole lot of "dials" on this unit, in fact I don't see any, it seems to be fully automated, there is a on off switch that looks like it runs to the fan which looks like it was an after market add on.

Well I am hoping to get it up and running a bit tonight, so I will let everyone know how it goes.

jeremy

I am happy to inform everyone that I got the stove up and running. and she's a bute!

This puppy kicks out heat like Steven King does novels.

Still working on getting a good supply of bit, in my area but for now a friend gave me a couple of bags till I can get further west.
His stuff smell a little eggy, but beggars can't be choosers.

thanks again for all the help guys.

sincerely

jeremy

Glad to hear you got her running! I was wondering how things went because I have not seen you post in a while.