Coal Quality on Long Island

I'm at a loss these past few years about the quality of coal on Long Island. This fall, I inserted new firebrick (thanks to Doug Crane). After getting a load of bad burning coal from one dealer last year, I tried the other LI coal dealer this year. The few bags of Blaschak coal that I bought from them burned clean with a minimum of ash, but storing bagged coal is difficult on my property. I have a 2-ton coal bin, so I ordered their bulk nut coal. After a day of burning, large pieces of coal fuse together and won't allow me to shake down the ash properly. The fire goes out after 2 days of burning no matter what I do. I've been burning coal for over 30 years and have not had this problem before. Has anyone else out there experienced this dilemma, and do you know of any solutions to the coal forming oversize clinkers and suffocating the fire? There's a long winter ahead, and right now I have to start yet another coal fire.

JohnD. wrote:I'm at a loss these past few years about the quality of coal on Long Island. This fall, I inserted new firebrick (thanks to Doug Crane). After getting a load of bad burning coal from one dealer last year, I tried the other LI coal dealer this year. The few bags of Blaschak coal that I bought from them burned clean with a minimum of ash, but storing bagged coal is difficult on my property. I have a 2-ton coal bin, so I ordered their bulk nut coal. After a day of burning, large pieces of coal fuse together and won't allow me to shake down the ash properly. The fire goes out after 2 days of burning no matter what I do. I've been burning coal for over 30 years and have not had this problem before. Has anyone else out there experienced this dilemma, and do you know of any solutions to the coal forming oversize clinkers and suffocating the fire? There's a long winter ahead, and right now I have to start yet another coal fire.

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Good Morning John,

Part of me tells you to shake the grates more often.

So much of it depends on the coal that is being reclaimed in the previously
mined areas they are reclaiming that have huge waste coal piles(called gob)
and the areas they are strip mining to expose the un-mined pillars of coal left
in the old mines that they are reclaiming for the coal.

I had the same issues before I had the chimney extension
installed and it added three feet to the chimney.

I always had to deal with large clinkers before I added the
chimney extension. I also was nit in the habit of tickling (shaking)
the coal grates often.

I switched to oiled coal this year and the difference in burning
is immense.

For what its worth, I scoop the coal out of the dump trailer with
an aluminum ice scoop into five gallon pails and the little water
that is there sinks to the bottom of the pail and it also leaves
the fines and wet dust in the trailer for me to collect later.

if you have time take a bottle of mineral oil and mix it in a gallon of water
and put it in a clean new plastic sprayer and spray the coal with it and
you should see quite a difference in how well it burns.

Happy holidays to all from 1,140 feet above mean sea level above the shores of Cayuga Lake.

The only thing I can think of is to run at a lower heat setting at least for a day or two to see if there is any difference.

Thanks for your help, Izaharis. My fire's been out, after quitting on me overnight. I tried your suggestion and mixed the mineral oil with a gallon of water. With a clean spray bottle, I sprayed about 30 lb in a bucket, and when I fire it up again - it's been too warm for firing right now - I'll see how the spraying worked. I sprayed it in stages in the bucket and then let it dry. Should I let it dry completely before I add it. I have a small glass window in my Crane 44, and I don't want it to crack.

The spraying sounds like a great idea. I have nowhere to go at this point, so I appreciate it. Hope it works. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for sharing.

To Franco B: I've run my Crane at a stack temp. of about 300, as recommended. If I run it at lower temps, the fire goes out.

JohnD. wrote:Thanks for your help, Izaharis. My fire's been out, after quitting on me overnight. I tried your suggestion and mixed the mineral oil with a gallon of water. With a clean spray bottle, I sprayed about 30 lb in a bucket, and when I fire it up again - it's been too warm for firing right now - I'll see how the spraying worked. I sprayed it in stages in the bucket and then let it dry. Should I let it dry completely before I add it. I have a small glass window in my Crane 44, and I don't want it to crack.

The spraying sounds like a great idea. I have nowhere to go at this point, so I appreciate it. Hope it works. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for sharing.

To Franco B: I've run my Crane at a stack temp. of about 300, as recommended. If I run it at lower temps, the fire goes out.

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Hello Johnd,

I would let it dry some more and it will be a
bit shiny when you scoop it.

The mines either spray it--the mineral oil or diesel fuel on
the coal as it passes under a row of nozzles on the
conveyor belt that travels to a bagging bin, enclosed stockpile
OR the sized coal is oiled/sprayed as it is conveyed and dumped
into a waiting truck and delivered to a coal yard.

Don't throw a lot of it into your stove at first as its going hiss and smoke
for a bit and until you see how well it burns and you may want to simply
keep a low fire in the stove being sure to tickle the grates every
couple of hours when you are up.

You will find that a little spray will go a long way john so no worries.

I love the no dust aspect of things and I simply pour whats dust/small coal
water/ left in one bucket into another simply to keep everything contained-

I have been scooping my coal out of my dump trailer as I have not made bin yet.

The snow/water simply sinks to the bottom of the pail and I pour the water and coal
fines into the next bucket as I mentioned to reduce the mess to a minimum.

Hi Izaharis,

Just wanted to update you on my coal situation. I didn't burn coal for awhile, because temps were too warm down here. But after starting again, I tried the mineral oil you suggested, but I still had the same problems. It turns out I had a very bad batch of coal delivered. I tried everything to make the coal work, but the giant clinkers fused together and smothered the fire. After 3 hours, no matter what I did, the fire would choke itself out. Shaking it down was impossible with these clinkers blocking all heat and air. I was making a new fire every day, to no avail. Finally, after a month of battling with this coal and losing, we went to Rella Coal, where we had made the purchase. As soon as we walked in the door with the box of clinkers, they knew immediately that we were one of the recipients of the bad load of coal that they had received from the mine, which the owner said had never happened in 35 years. They came and removed the bad coal, delivered new coal, which I opted to upgrade to Blaschak, and my stove is now humming like a top, keeping us warm, with normal coal tending. It's how it should be. I really do appreciate the tips you gave me to try to make it work. And thanks to Rella, I'm a happy coal burner again.

Good to hear JD--Nice:)