Marathon wood/coal/oil boiler

Hello,
First post...i am desperate...I have a boiler (http://www.marathonheaterco.com/boilers.html) model YCOB24...i am trying to burn coal for the first time in my life. I can't seem to maintain the 180-190 degree temperature. Any suggestions? How much coal do people burn a day? My water temperature right now is around 120 degrees, and i keep adding coal, but the thermostat just won't elevate...and when it does elevate it goes up to about 260-280 degrees and blows steam. I also have in-floor radiant heat, if that matters... I live in way upstate NY near the Canadian Border...anyone know of any coal distributors in the area? I am a newbie and any information would be helpful. Thanks

Do you have the draft UNDER the coal open and a baro damper set up correctly to maintain a good draft for the stove?

What's your procedure for loading, shaking, etc....

I shake the ash until i can see a red glow...then load a layer of coal through out...The damper is controlled automatically and is located in the ash door...

What is the baro damper????

Baro (or Barometric Damper) Regulates your draft, it goes in the exhaust pipe and opens/closes to maintain a constant draw on the stove. (Not recommended for wood) but normally used for coal and other heating devices.
http://www.fieldcontrols.com/pdfs/01575700.pdf


Not be confused with a MPD or Manual Pipe Damper which many wood burners use to control the draft of the stove too, it's a manual handle in the stove pipe to choke down the heat coming out of the stove..

As for how much coal per day, depends on your heating situation....most of us can go thru 40-100#'s / day depending on what you are trying to heat.

Thanks for the info...any tips on keeping the temp regulated?

tucker11 wrote:I shake the ash until i can see a red glow...then load a layer of coal through out..
Thanks for the info...any tips on keeping the temp regulated?

A layer? It needs to be filled all the way up to make heat, to the top of the firebrick and then mound it up in the middle. Don't be bashful with the coal, it may take 2 or 3, 50# bags to fill it, once going it should make plenty of heat. It sounds like you are running a very thin fire, that's why it runs away.

Once the boiler is up to temperature, it should take care of itself, you will just have to adjust the draft for the range of outside temps.

tucker11 wrote:Thanks for the info...any tips on keeping the temp regulated?

As mentioned above, a shallow fire will behave like you've described. Fill the firebox (probably 8" of so worth of coal) and see how it performs.

Do you have a dump zone setup with this boiler? Sometimes hand-fed units have problems overshooting and need a large dump zone for the excess heat.

What is a "large" dump zone? I don't want to over fill it and have it over heat on me...i woke up this morning to find out that i had lost my fire...so i started it back up...very frustrated and pissed off...I do believe that i am being to bashful with my coal only because i don't want it to over heat...does it matter that i have radiant heat? Or that I have a combination boiler? Thanks

Take a few pics of your boiler.Show what your new load of coal looks like inside the firebox. Show pic of your barodamper.Show ash pan contents. Show damper on doors etc.
Not enough coal (your not burning wood) is one of the worst problems'shallow bad,heaping full a must do.

http://www.marathonheaterco.com/boilers.html Here is the link to my boiler...YCOB24. The contents of my ash pan are chunks and ash...the baro damper is just behind the boiler in the chimney pipe...if this is no help i can some pics to you later...thanks for the info.

I am also heating my house using radiant infloor heating...the house is still under construction, but "weather tight". I see most people on here have just straight coal stoves...am i an outcast with a combination boiler? I am very new to this and getting very frustrated!!! Please help! Thanks

People buy the multi fuel for the options, if one is not available, they can switch over. The combo's loose some efficiency since they have to be setup and adjusted slightly different for different fuels.

Most of us already have a heating system (gas or oil) and just add the separate coal only stove, furnace or boiler a heating source so we don't have to use the existing one.

Don't be concerned about adding too much coal.. the heat output of a coal fire is determined by the area of the fire, not the quantity of the fuel.. The depth of the coal bed which is the quantity of fuel available to burn determines the duration of the fire..

Load on the coal.. coal is a 'community' fuel. An individual piece of anthracite coal added to a fire will not burn.. even a handfull won't burn very well, but if you cover the whole firebox with 8" of coal, the burning pieces of coal support each other and make for a steady, reliable fire.

To control the heat output, just adjust the amount of combustion air entering the ashpan vents.. keep any air vents above the grate closed. All combustion air to a coal fire must come from under the fire, through the grates..

Hope this helps..
Greg L.

LsFarm wrote:Don't be concerned about adding too much coal.. the heat output of a coal fire is determined by the area of the fire, not the quantity of the fuel.. The depth of the coal bed which is the quantity of fuel available to burn determines the duration of the fire..

Load on the coal.. coal is a 'community' fuel. An individual piece of anthracite coal added to a fire will not burn.. even a handfull won't burn very well, but if you cover the whole firebox with 8" of coal, the burning pieces of coal support each other and make for a steady, reliable fire.

To control the heat output, just adjust the amount of combustion air entering the ashpan vents.. keep any air vents above the grate closed. All combustion air to a coal fire must come from under the fire, through the grates..

Hope this helps..
Greg L.

I believe the above post should be added to an FAQ section.