Saey Hanover I Advice

Found this forum yesterday, and already I've learned some good stuff. As someone who's new to coal, I was wondering if there's a certain amount of strokes or time when shaking down a stove? I use a 100-count method as a guide that seems to work OK, but I was never informed about how long I should shake. I also rake around the edges of the firebox and "knife" through the slots above the ash pan. I do this about every 8 hours, with the thermostat set at 4-5. I should mention this stove sits in the basement of my ranch-style house for the purposes of radiant heat, and it seems to do a fair job (though I will be installing floor registers for next season). I'm burning Blaschak coal (since that's what my dealer carries). Any advice for a newcomer? Thanks!

Hi, welcome to the club.

SHAKING THE ASHES:

Be gentle when you shake the ashes. A few short strokes are better than a large a large movement of the grate. The objective is to remove a small amount of the ashes without disturbing the fire. The fire should be settled down about a half an inch in the firebox, until the first live coals start to fall into the ash pan. Excessive shaking wastes fuel by allowing unburned coal to drop into the ash pan. It can also expose the grate to very high temperatures, which can warp or burn out the grates. The fire may go out if you shake too much by the cooling of the fire. Be careful in shaking the ashes so that you don't form clinkers. These form when very hot coal comes in contact with the ash layer. This occurs when you shake the fire too much or poke at the fire. Some coal, especially those high in iron, form clinkers. because clinkers will not burn and block the grate when formed in large pieces, you have to remove them as necessary before recharging.

REVIVING A FIRE:

Occasionally you may find that the fire is almost out before you remember or have time to refuel it. First, open the ash door to get a good draft through the grate. Then place a thin layer of coal over the entire top of the fire. DON'T POKE OR SHAKE AT THIS TIME. After the fresh coal has become well ignited, shake the grates and refuel.

AFTER THE FIRE GOES OUT:

This will happen from time to time even to the most experienced fireman. You dump the grates, shake all the ash and coal out, and screen the ashes for unburnt coal, if you want. Often it is better to remove the coal through the feed door. Then start all over. If the fire does go out on you, look at it as an opportunity to clean the stove and the stovepipe out and perform any maintenance your system needs.

NewtocoalinNY wrote:... shaking down a stove? I use a 100-count method as a guide that seems to work OK ... I also rake around the edges of the firebox and "knife" through the slots above the ash pan ... I'm burning Blaschak coal ...

Your shaking method sounds reasonable, and sounds like it is working pretty well. I do wonder about the need to tend the stove every eight hours. A common problem for new coal burners is shaking too gently, too little, leaving too much ash in the firebox which reduces air flow and makes less room for adding new coal. Many experienced coal burners shake until they can see a red glow over most of the grate area when looking from below, through the ash pan door. I almost always shake until I get a few half-inch burning coals in the ash pan. Then sometimes I have to poke from above and/or below and shake a little more to deal with "dead" areas in the coal bed. If you think you may be leaving too much ash unshaken, then be a little more aggressive. You may be able to reduce shaking/reloading to twice a day instead of three times, if you can load more new coal each time.

P.S. Blaschak is good coal. There are other good ones also, but you won't go wrong with Blaschak.

Thanks for the advice. I think you may be right, time to get a little more agressive. I tried something else earlier that I read somewhere in this forum. I opened up the front glass door and actually "poked and raked" the ashes in the firebox from the front rather than from the two slots provided above the ash pan. This made more coal drop from the hopper and seemed to allow a better spread in the firebox. I'll keep you posted as to progress. In the meantime, if there's any other advice, keep it coming. It's gonna get real cold here this week! Thanks!

I have not had any experience with the Hanover but have used both the Saey Bremen I and II. These were both the older model stoves made in West Germany. I believe the Bremen has been discontinued. Anyway, I am assuming that the shaker mechanism for your Hanover is similar to the Bremen. Is it a horizontal sliding, flat piece of cast iron with slots in it to allow ash to fall into the ash pan? If it is, you can shake it 100 times or 200 times and still not consistently remove enough ash from the fire basket to maintain a long term coal fire. You are right, you need to become more aggressive. My Saey routine was to open the viewing door and rake the fire from front to back and from side to side. I used a tool that was a metal rod about two feet long with a one inch right angle bent into the end. Raking from the top will break up any bridging of the coal and sift the ashes to the bottom of the fire basket. Any remaining coal in the hopper will drop down and fill the fire basket where it will become the fuel for keeping the fire going. I would then slice/rake the remaining ashes (now at the bottom of the fire) through the openings just above the grates. Force these ashes into the ash pan until you see multiple hot coals begin to fall through the grates. Finally, and probably least importantly for this kind of stove, give the grates a short shake. A few minutes with the clean out door open for increased draft and you will have a coal fire to be proud of. Do not leave the stove with the clean out door open. This includes answering the door or phone, using the bathroom, chasing the kids or whatever. I would close the clean out door once the blue dancers were well established. This routine worked with both my Saey stoves and an Efel of similar design. Sounds like you are well on your way and keep up the good work. Joe

Thanks Joe! I just got done doing basically what you said. When I pulee out the ash pan to go empty it, there was the nices red glow illuminating the ash pan compartment. Guess you just have to show the stove who's boss, huh? My shaker rod is in the back left corner, a vertical rod that moves back and forth, sliding the grate and (presumably) causing the ash to fall through into the ash pan. Simple enough in theory, but......
Thanks for the encouragement!

NewtocoalinNY wrote:Simple enough in theory, but......

I think that describes just about all shaker grates. I don't know if any of them really do the job, all by themselves, without additional poking and prodding either from above or from below or both.

I recall reading advertisements for some stoves with "roller grates". Anybody know what those are, and whether they work better than shakers?

I have never heard of a roller grate. Was this something associated with European stoves? Joe

Joe in NH wrote:I have never heard of a roller grate. Was this something associated with European stoves?

It may have been. I don't remember. It was back when I was first researching coal stoves, probably 20 years ago. (I wish I had been smart enough to convert then -- but in my area coal was as expensive as fuel oil at that time.)