Who Thought Buring Coal Could Be So Much Fun?!

So im through a full week of burning my new(for me) MKiii. I find my self "tending" the stove for about an hour a day. Most of the tending is logging temps and gage readings, but its still stove time, LOL. The last few nights I have been able to really put it through the paces with the low overnight temps in the teens. It seems as if I have found the appropriate ranges for the primary air and MPD. Not sure the Baro has really done much for me? Seems like I end up keeping it covered with foil more often than not. Last night I had the primary open 2.25 turns, MPD closed and the Baro reading .045-.05. Stove held 425-450 and pipe was just below 200 from the spring thermometer. The stove like to eat coal when the primary is open. Seems like I have been using about 50#/day when its cold and much less when day temps are in the 40s. Best news is the oil burner has not run since I started the stove over a week ago. Only issue I seem to have is the front and rear shaker does not like to clear the ash from the sides closest to the firebox. I need to use my handy piece of hooked wire to "floss" the shakers to allow better air circulation. Also learned that the stove likes to burn much better without the ash pan in place. I only put the ash pan in when its time to shake down.

What do you guys think is an acceptable Mano reading? I have not gone below .04 yet. Max temp on the stove has been 450* kinda sketched out to go any higher.

0.04" is good. The barometric damper should be set to just start to crack open at 0.04" with the objective of keeping it from exceeding that value.

You are using both a MPD and baro?
What is the order of the devices from the stove to the chimney? Including the mano.

+1 on the draft of .04 being good. Regarding temps, your Mark III can easily handle 550* and even 600* on the stove body (from personal experience).

Keep an eye on the draft number....if you see it dropping from the .04 you normally see then it may be time to clean out fly ash from horizontal flue pipe of the baffle at the top of the firebox or at the exhaust port in the back (if your is a rear vent). Having a T in strategic places rather than a 90* can make it easier to clean out these spots. Except the top of the baffle plate which you have to struggle to snake in a shop vac hose to get cleaned out. If you don't clean there then the heat transfer to the distribution air tubes on top is not nearly as efficient.

I also had to scrape along the firebrick occasionally to clear the ash there, the front would clog up for me faster than the back and the sides. I just ran a regular fireplace poker along the edges.

In your setup you may not see the benefit of the baro until we get windy conditions.

Have fun keeping warm!!

I currently have stove-Mano-MPD-baro. I'm trying to keep the stove pipe at 200* or lower while keeping the stove as warm as possible. IIRC Harman wants a .06 draft which seems excessive. Pipe temp jumps pretty high when I pull .06. It seems like a waste of energy with a draft that high. Is there a general ratio to follow between stove temp and pipe temp? Just check my usage and I actually used 70# when I topped it off this evening. I ran it pretty hard yesterday and last night though.

Qtown1835 wrote:I currently have stove-Mano-MPD-baro.

Good

Qtown1835 wrote: Is there a general ratio to follow between stove temp and pipe temp?

Short answer, NO.. Too many variables to accurately strap a "ratio" to stove and pipe temps. They are only a good reference and are unique to your set up, to see what adjustments give you better stove vs pipe temperatures.

I agree with Lightning on the ratio being different for each install. You will get used to the difference in temps that you normally see at different heat levels and if you get away from YOUR ratios then look for the reason.

For instance after the stoker has been firing steadily for about 1/2 hour I am used to seeing a flue temp of about 260* on the probe gauge when my stove body temp is at 625* measured with the IR while the manometer reads .04. If those numbers get away from that I start looking at why it might be so. Once I found a combustion blower not seated properly (took the better part of a day to find) when I looked into why the stove temp topped out at 400*. Another time I found the cap off the bottom of my chimney when I couldn't get a draft to go above .02 at full burn. Lower than normal manometer readings also got me to clean out fly ash. Once I couldn't figure out why the flue temp was so low when I was using a magnetic gauge only to find out the gauge was stuck. That is when I got the probe and IR gun.

You'll get used to your numbers and learn what to look for when they get out of 'spec' for you.

Wanna have real fun .. name all the pieces of coal you put into the stove and then lament about their "deaths" ...

davidmcbeth3 wrote:Wanna have real fun .. name all the pieces of coal you put into the stove and then lament about their "deaths" ...

Wow.. personify the coal and have mass killings? Yikes!

Lightning wrote:

davidmcbeth3 wrote:Wanna have real fun .. name all the pieces of coal you put into the stove and then lament about their "deaths" ...

Wow.. personify the coal and have mass killings? Yikes!

Name or number them and then into the stove. That is a bit morbid I must agree. LOL .

Think of how the poor coal nuggets feel!

lsayre wrote:Think of how the poor coal nuggets feel!

I know how I feel... WARM!

Qtown1835 wrote:

lsayre wrote:Think of how the poor coal nuggets feel!

I know how I feel... WARM!

Man, you're cold !