Coal Dummy...

I have another question, guys... thanks so far! I was told that in order to keep the fire going all night, that I should close the air intake valve (I am assuming that it's the thing you twist open and closed on the ash pan door) all but one turn. Should that be enough air to keep the fire going? Thanks!
Shellie - again

Hi Shellie,

I'm burning a Mark II and we leave the air intake valve open 1 turn over night. It's more then enough to keep the fire burning over night as a newbie. Once you pin point your air intake valve settings you can move a little plus or minus to maximize your heat production without fear of over firing the stove or under firing to produce less heat. Make sure you “fill it up to the top of the fire bricks.” I usually leave the ash try door open for a couple of minutes after filling my stove to recharge it. Set a timer because you’ll forget it’s open. If you haven’t already done so you may want to get a couple of thermometers or burn indicators for your stove to show you 1) the stove temperature and 2) the temperature of the exhaust pipe. With this information you can really pin point the settings on the air intake valve and maximize your coal usage. There are several threads on the forum on just how to do this. Lisa

THANK YOU! I can go to bed now... LOL
Shellie

Hi again Shellie,

I forgot to say to make sure you shake the fire down before you load it up for the night. You need to have a strong glow in the ash tray to carry you through the night. I tend, shake and load, my fire when I get up in the morning and in the evening just before I go to bed. If I'm around I look in on it now and then during the day but that's not really necessary. If I'm running the stove full out like the last couple of days I can expect to shake out a trayfull each time. Lisa

Lisa,
Thanks for the advice. I can't seem to get it loaded to full... when I do, the fire dies. Last night before bed I shook it down till it glowed. then I added a layer. I dumped the ash, and waited with the door open a little while. then I added another layer and left it for the night. when I woke up this morning it was still going strong. I shook it down again, and added a layer... repeat. I did it again at noon, and at 4 pm. It seems like if I leave it alone too long with the air intake open 2 or so turns that it goes out, and if I leave the air intake too open at night it goes out. But I still cant get it filled up without almost putting it out. Should I just let well enough be? Thanks
Shellie

Shellie_wnj wrote:I can't seem to get it loaded to full... when I do, the fire dies.

Do you open the ash door for a few minutes before you shake it down?

coaledsweat wrote:Do you open the ash door for a few minutes before you shake it down?

Excellent point!!

Unless your room is air tight, I don't think it's even possible for a full stove, with good draft & the ash door open...to go out. Try leaving the ash door open longer (stay in the room with it until you close the door) & I'll bet your stove full problem will go away.

Try reversing how you shake.
When I am running the stove on high, 500* body temps, I add a light layer of coal across the fire beforeI shake down so that I have new good coal going.
I will somtimes be adding 30-50% fresh coal to the stove in the morning on cold nights.
I can get 500* body temps with just 1.5 turns of the spinner, two full turns pushes it to just over 600* and I do not want/like to run the stove that hot.
You may be running too much air through the stove and sucking heat out the chimney.
Do you have a barometric damper on the stove?
A picture of the stove setup always helps!

You will get it going properly jus hang in there.
The following thread if you have not yet seen it will show how you can soon tame the stove to do your bidding!
Not Enough Heat...

Please understand that I’m a relative newbie myself, we’ve been burning for 3 years but only fine tuning our stove protocols this season when I chanced up this forum.

With my limited experience I wonder if your coal bed is burning too hot,too fast and creating too much ash and smothering itself as the unburned coal on top pushes down on it. This happened to us a lot in the beginning. When you go down and discover the fire is dying, can you see a glow in the ash pan at all? Are the top layers of coal unburned and covered with a light coat of ash? Even when we didn’t know what we were doing we never had the air intake valve on our Mark II open 2 turns. That would create too much heat and cause the coalbed to burn too quickly. Do you have a stove top thermometer? The best $12 I ever spent. 500 degrees is the max for my Mark II and we are able to maintain a stove top temperature of 400 with the setting at 1 full turn or less. My suggestion is to open the ash door for a couple of minutes before you shake and get the fire awake. Then I’d take a poker and poke around the coal bed – not stir but poke here and there. Then I’d shake again. You’ll be surprised how much more ash comes out. I’d fill the stove to the top of the fire bricks and I’d set my air intake valve at 1 full turn or ¾ of a turn and let it go. When I say “fill it up to the top of the fire bricks” I mean that the coal is to the height of the fire bricks in the rear of the fire box and sloping down to the bottom of the door. That’s full on my Mark II. I might leave the ash tray door open for a couple of minutes depending on how red the coal bed is. But then I’d leave it alone. I hope this works for you or that it triggers some other responses.

I don’t think you should “let well enough be.” I’ve discovered that burning coal requires a whole bunch of patience and that’s something I don’t have a lot of – my husband tells me I’ve never met a microwave that’s fast enough for my tastes. LOL Learning to burn coaling is a lot of hit and miss. But I know that if you can hang in there you will overcome the learning curve and be able to heat your home and benefit you family through burning coal. Yeah, you’ll spend a little more in coal while you are learning but it’s still cheaper then oil or natural gas. One day you’ll realize that you’ve lost count of the days since your fire went out. On that day take yourself out for ice cream! Good luck, Lisa

Man oh man... I wish I had the kind of time it seems necessary to properly learn this! Sit with the door open before I shake - I am lucky I get a chance to fully shake it before the kids start trying to get down to see the stove, fighting with each other or some other urgent thing. Seems like they only NEED something when I am down there (which is an awful lot lately). I will give it a shot. I still havent gotten to the store to get a thermometer, I don't know what baro thingies are... I will try and take a pic and see what happens. Thanks guys.
Shellie

**Broken Link(s) Removed**Thermometer

http://www.fieldcontrols.com/draftcontrol.php
Model RC
Has to be installed in the pipe if you do not already have one.
If you don't have one, your strong draft may be causing the fire to burn too quick or suck the heat up the chimney.
It is a semi-handyperson type of install. Pictures will help us help you.
If you are time constrained, toss some coal on the fire before shakedown, open the air one full turn, chase the kids, return in 15 minutes, shake down, add more coal, chase the kids for 15 more minutes, turn the air back to the original setting and relax.
Kitchen Timer is handy to remind you to return to the stove in 15 minutes.

Good idea with the kitchen timer! Ok, off to take some pics...

Hi Shellie,

Yeah, beating the learning curve on coal burning takes time. It feels overwhelming especially if you are cold and chasing kids all day; been there. The Cape Coaler is right – anything can be accomplished 15 mins at a time. And the slow response time of burning coal is great for stretching out the process of keeping a coal stove burning. Put the timer in your pocket and go for it.

If you need a barometric damper here is an Amazon.com company that has the best price I’ve found on the one most recommended on the forum.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D1FX7K/ref=asc_df_B0 ... nkCode=asn I’ve never done any pipe work but it seems easy enough and the forum has a lot of threads on this subject to help you.

It will all come together – Take care, Lisa

lowfog01 wrote:If you need a barometric damper here is an Amazon.com company that has the best price I’ve found on the one most recommended on the forum.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D1FX7K/ref=asc_df_B0 ... nkCode=asn I’ve never done any pipe work but it seems easy enough and the forum has a lot of threads on this subject to help you.

That is pretty pricey. You should be able to get that baro and TEE at the local heating supply house for about $40.