Anyone burning coal in a Biasi 3 Wood/Coal

It was about 5 to 8 in above the front shaker grate
I had the a upper air closed And the bottom open all the way
I just pulled the grates out and started a new fire. As I mentioned
Before no problem maintaining temp without grates.

I think im gonna order the grates and give them a try. It sounds like overall its easier to maintain a boiler temp. then it is with wood. Today got into the 30's and with wood the temp spiked just over 200 deg. If i can get the boiler to run around 170 deg i think i would be all set, im only heating 1200 sq. ft. I'm really interested in extending my burn times. i normally get 4-5 at best with wood during the coldest part of the winter. After that i have to switch back to oil or just burn a little wood in the small wood stove upstairs. Im hoping this will allow me to run even when the temps get in the mid 30's . If the grates dont work the way i want them too ill take them out and do what dpreg does and use a piece of threaded rod to rake the coal with. Thanks for all your help im sure ill have alot more questions in the near future..

i say wood will burn 4-5 hrs i could get this to last longer but if i close it down too much the creasote will run out the door a ruin the door gasket. I have replaced them twice getting the it set so i get the least amount of creasote. If it was closed up too much creasote would run out the door and down the front of the inside of the boiler. Hopefully reading here i will be able to learn how to burn coal a little quicker.

I have burned in a 3 Wood/Coal this winter to test one for a friend. The 5 we are using has no coal grates, so we hand rake also. If you burn wood, you cannot control the creosote, and we are burning oak flooring (unfinished - got wet in a warehouse, got it for the trucking...) We start with that for base coals, and add nut coal as required. It is not a pretty situation to be sure, but it does make btu's, but ashing is another story...as you know! My recommendation is to burn the LEAST amount of wood you can, and at your leisure, look at stokers. The 'Fire Cmpany' should be in your speed dial if you burn wood that isn't absolutely dry. The manual clearly explains this problem and suggests you burn a few bags of anthracite if it gets too bad.

My wood is very dry 9-12% im sure that helps keep the creasote to a min. this is why i want to try coal in this boiler and to extend the burn times. Is it difficult to rake the coal if you dont have the grates? I'm trying to get a feel for what it takes to run my stove using coal. I have also noticed that some people use barometric's i took mine out it just seemed to be a creasote collector, it would get so bad that it would stop working. I'm hoping changing to coal will help correct the problems i have been going through with wood. I was dealing with this even before i bought this boiler, i had a 1979 hstarm wood boiler and it was a little worse than this one is. it fineally gave up when the steel rusted through at the top of the water tank. That was one of my reasons for going cast iron.

Pulled the grates out now maintaining constant temp with house at 70 degree and boiler At 160
I even shortened the firebox with some brick So maintaining temp using less coal
Not sure why the grates are giving me lower temp
I am able to burn as much as 10 hrs with coal as opposed to 4/5 with wood
Thinking of returning grates. Racking without them was less work than with them

The shaker grates definitely leave a lot to be desired. I actually don't even use them much to shake down. I have a small rod that I scratch through the shaker grates to get the ash to fall down to the lower grates and then sift the ash on top of those grates into the ash pan. If I use the shaker grates, too much coal falls through the grates and the handle does not have a very good connection to the grate rod and will strip loose if you work it too hard. All in all I am really pleased with this boiler. 2 shake downs in a 24hr period and reload. That gives me domestic hot water for 4 people and we keep the house at 71 when we are home and 65 when we are away. I will burn 4 ton this year and burned 3 last year.

l40knocker wrote:The shaker grates definitely leave a lot to be desired. I actually don't even use them much to shake down. I have a small rod that I scratch through the shaker grates to get the ash to fall down to the lower grates and then sift the ash on top of those grates into the ash pan. If I use the shaker grates, too much coal falls through the grates and the handle does not have a very good connection to the grate rod and will strip loose if you work it too hard. All in all I am really pleased with this boiler. 2 shake downs in a 24hr period and reload. That gives me domestic hot water for 4 people and we keep the house at 71 when we are home and 65 when we are away. I will burn 4 ton this year and burned 3 last year.

Im just wondering if the grates are worth buying? I dont have them now is it worth spending the $400.00 for the grates if i can burn without them. It may require a little more work without them but are they worth it?

I wouldn't buy them.

picking up 4 bags of coal to try without the grates to see what its like to burn coal in my boiler. Guess ill find out soon.

Let me know if I can help in any way neighbor.

Kevin

Im sure ill have plenty of questions??????

Just had a friend pick up 4 bags of nut so it looks like i have 200 lbs to try. I want to do it when i can see how it works so i will try to fire it up this weekend if its not too warm out. Wish me luck..

Hope all went well with the coal burning there Spidy! You will have to make sure that there is always air flow from under the grates to keep the coal going. Use a piece of rod to drive through all the ash on top of the grate and it will fall down into the pan. I did this for the first couplke seasons and it worked fine. Message me with any problems and I am sure I have already had the same problem along the way.

I havent tried it yet, i'm a little chicken becasue if i start it now i wont be home to keep an eye on it. I will give it a try this weekend even though the temp will be in the 40's i will open windows if i have to. I want to be here while its going so i can get the feel for how everything is working. I'm not really sure how much to put in or how far open to adjust the draft door. i'm going with the wood setting initially and will adjust from there. They way it is set now it would overheat a little with wood (bottom draft door open between 1/8" to 1/4")but i had to do it to keep from getting too much creasote. hopefully that will work ok for coal. Im going to start with wood, once that gets going ill add some coal on the top, after that starts ill add another layer of coal untill i get about a 50lb bag in it and see what happens from there. I work at a hardware store so ill pick up a piece of threaded rod to use as you mentioned, I'm sure i can figure it out i just want to be sure i can do it before i make the investment in the coal. Here the coal will cost me about 975 for 3 ton just guessing i would use that much so i want to be sure i can make it work.