TLC 2000 Burning on Only One Half of Grate?

Everything has been going splendid with burning and I'v been sucessful with shaking down and poking HOWEVER, Tonight after 12hrs I went to the stove and found only one half had lighted ambers and the right half looks like just burnt ash. After a through shake and poke The right side looks dead and can only get the stove pipe to 200 or so with ash door open. How can I remedy this condition ?
Jack

Sounds like you have ash built up on that side. If your poking and shaking hasn't helped, you might want to get a small shovel and clean out that side of the stove; could have a clinker that is preventing the ash from going through the grates.

Once you have that side cleaned out, refill with fresh coal and check on it after a few hours.

Just open the ash door & add a thin layer to the good side (don't poke the good side) & see if you can shovel out some dead ash from the dead side. Them just fill the dead side (full) with fresh coal. In the morning, you'll have a full fire going again.
Keep the good side going nice & lively...The fire will eventually spread to the bad side.....overnight.

A similar problem with my Alaska Channing was caused by oversized lumps of coal stuck in the feeding mechanism.

I actually was in the process of doing that before I read your post and the burnt coal on that side looks like petrified wood . I took some out and moved a few from the left side to the right and I am adding a little bit more to see if I can get a burn. Think the wife was burning a little hot today. She's not feeling well and had it 84 in here

Devil,
Hope your right . What's the word ,Patience ????

Jack Magnum wrote:Devil,
Hope your right . What's the word ,Patience ????

Yujp...patience. Don't try to move coal from the good side to the bad....you'll put it out by doing that. Leave the good side alone & just keep adding coal to keep it burning well. Dump a load of fresh coal on the dead side & the fire will spread itself. Patience is the key!
Guaranteed you'll have a nice full fire in the morning. You need to keep doing an aggressive ash clean out for a few days, due to these cold temps & burning it so hot.
Perfectly normal.

Thanks so much, Nice to have you guys here with immediate answers.

Jack Magnum wrote:Thanks so much, Nice to have you guys here with immediate answers.

That's why we get paid the big bucks!

Seriously, fire rarely burn evenly. You will generally have one good side & one bad side. As long as you don't disturb tghe good side, you could pretty much clean out the bad side ...down to the grates & the fire will spread back just fine. The key is to leave the good side alone.....& have patience!

Devil,
You sure called that one right. I woke up and it had a full glow across the whole grate. I opened draft all the way and let the fire liven up then shook down and poked and reloaded. What a beautiful thing. You can tell I am getting old when I get excited over a fire. We have mid 40's for temp right now so I imagine I'll be cutting the draft back. 84 degrees is alittle much 4 me. Anything special I need to do besides cut back on the stove coal draft control knob ? Thanks again 4 all the help.
Jack
P.S.
One of my neighbors came for a visit the other day and commented on how nice and warm the house was and he thought the stove was an electric job!!!!!! The ambers were all glowing nicely.

Glad it worked out for you Jack!...40* here right now...Heat Wave!! ...Just for today I guess but then it's just going back to NORMAL low temps!

Make sure you rev up you fire good & then do an aggressive shake & Poke down to the shaker grates as there's still plenty of ash in there from the cold days Get rid of as much as you can by doing 1/2 of the firebed at a time, while leaving the other side still flaming well & then reverse the procedure next shake down.
You can really clean out the ash while still running your stove.

I have another question. my stovepipe from the collar to the horizontal pc is about 18-20 inches and then horizontal from there right thru the wall thimble about a 26 inch run. MMy question is this. I am burning Jeddo coal which is quite dusty, When I add coal to the hot ambers I notice quite abit of dust ash or what ever goes up the stove pipe flue. Will that build up in the horizontal line and if so what symptoms should I look for ? Right now I notice more of a sulfur smell whem I am loading the stove after a shakedown and poke. After I am fully loaded with the doors closed there is NO smell.

Jack Magnum wrote:I have another question. my stovepipe from the collar to the horizontal pc is about 18-20 inches and then horizontal from there right thru the wall thimble about a 26 inch run. MMy question is this. I am burning Jeddo coal which is quite dusty, When I add coal to the hot ambers I notice quite abit of dust ash or what ever goes up the stove pipe flue. Will that build up in the horizontal line and if so what symptoms should I look for ? Right now I notice more of a sulfur smell whem I am loading the stove after a shakedown and poke. After I am fully loaded with the doors closed there is NO smell.

Allot depends on your setup Jack & I'm not familiar with Jeddo coal. I can easily get by just cleaning out the pipes when I dismantle them for the summer. Others here need to clean the fly ash out a few times a heating season. (If your draw seems fine I wouldn't worry about it but, the next time your stove goes out, it never hurts to take the elbow off & look inside.

Gotcha ,Thanks. Jeddo coal burns good but real dull and dirty and dusty. Next year it's Blashak 4 sure. I'll probably get it in the summer.

Jack Magnum wrote:Gotcha ,Thanks. Jeddo coal burns good but real dull and dirty and dusty. Next year it's Blashak 4 sure. I'll probably get it in the summer.

I burn nothing but Blaschak & find I have maybe a 1/4" of fly ash in my horizontal pipes when I remove them in the spring.