I Have Problems Tending a Surdiac Properly

Wayne Single Shot · Post by **Wayne Single Shot** » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 11:44 am

I have read a lot of topics about surdiacs and was having some trouble with it going out. The manual suggested a 13' flue pipe and I only had 12' and I thought 1' wouldn't make that much difference. Wrong, and after reading topics here I added three more feet of insulated SS and when I fired it up several hours later my building 10' X 45' was up to 100 degrees F. I closed the intake draft and in the morning it was at 90 degrees in my shop. Down hill from there. I do have a barometric damper and it is set to not open easily. I use the tool in the 3 slots several times a day and also poke the fire down in from the main door and after the initial start up can only maintain 50 to 60 degrees. Raked it down this morning and had decent coals, left the ash door open hoping that would help it take off better and almost 5 hours later it is close to out. I thought the longer (now 15' flue) was going to be my complete answer except for regulating the intake draft. Not certain, but I believe mine is the 715 model. I'm certain that I'm not tending the stove in the correct manner, just need some directions. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Post by **franco b** » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 3:55 pm

Good heat on initial start up and downhill from there is almost always caused by not clearing ash enough. Joaq says the slicing poker has to have the correct side up to push ashes out the back of the fire pot.

Wayne Single Shot · Post by **Wayne Single Shot** » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 7:01 pm

I have been concerned that I was not getting the ashes cleaned out well enough; but with the tool (long skinny flat bar with loop handle) that I have which came with this stove 2nd or 3rd hand is what I'm using and run it back and forth in the 3 slots and also in the main fire chamber. I just don't seem to comprehend how to do it any better.

franco b wrote:Good heat on initial start up and downhill from there is almost always caused by not clearing ash enough. Joaq says the slicing poker has to have the correct side up to push ashes out the back of the fire pot.

Post by **franco b** » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 7:37 pm

Here is what joeq has to say about riddling.

Diary of a Surdiac

warminmn · Post by **warminmn** » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 7:50 pm

Slide the bar forward and back, and side to side, until you are getting a few red coals coming thru the grates. Sometimes it wont be red chunks but ash that is burning red. Also you will start feeling chunks of coal while slicing instead of a smooth feeling. You may not feel the chunks much if you are using pea sized coal, but will with nut size.

Are you using a hopper? If not, make sure to fill the stove up when reloading. The deeper you can get coal the better, but not onto the glass or over whatever the stove has on the inside for your coal bed. If you arent using a hopper, nut coal may even help you some but I don't think nut works well if you are using a hopper with that stove.

Are the gaskets all good?

Read thru this long post. Diary of a Surdiac

A few pics may help us too. Include pics of how full you have the coal bed after loading, and a closeup of what the coal looks like when you are having problems. A picture of your slicing tool too.

Wayne Single Shot · Post by **Wayne Single Shot** » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 8:02 pm

I thought that I had read all of that thread, but I guess I was more concerned about not having enough draft at that point in time. I'm going to the shop right now and see if I can resurrect the fire with some proper ash cleaning. Thanks for chasing me back to that link. The photo story really helps. Thanks again.

franco b wrote:Here is what joeq has to say about riddling.

Diary of a Surdiac

Post by **franco b** » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 8:35 pm

Let us know how you make out, and be sure the hopper is at its highest position.

confedsailor · Post by **confedsailor** » Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 9:18 pm

You can go side to side but only if the ash is deep, if the ash is shallow and you slide sidewise it knocks a bunch of coal in the pan. I have burned nut in my hopper, but its starting to warp and can bridge at times. I made a new poker-hoobie from a piece of 1/8X1/2" steel, and I made it about 18 inches long, Now its no longer a knuckle knocker and the wide flat shovel point does better at shoving the ash off the grate. When I run my 513 flat out, 4.5-5 on the dial, it makes a metric butt ton of heat, but has to be poked every 2 hours. Turn it down to an easy 2-3 and she'll go 5-6 hours. Overnight I put her on -1-0.5 on the dial and she'll hold a fire for 10 hours on occasion. I have a fan that blows on the heat exchanger, but when I bank her for the night the fan goes off, otherwise the stove gets a chill and sputters out. Your mileage my vary...

Just remember, you want a bright glow across the ash pan when you are done poking.

Wayne Single Shot · Post by **Wayne Single Shot** » Sun. Dec. 21, 2014 8:17 am

Thanks for all the words of wisdom, this morning the shop was up to 77 degrees with outside temp at 32. Properly & vigorously poking the ashes last night tipped the scales in my favor. The picture was worth a thousand words as always. Through all of this research I have become a fan of the Glenwood Base Heater which I first came across on utube while researching Surdiacs. William explains the design of the Glenwood very well; and it seems like a much simpler & easier stove to tend along with great efficiency. Now the search is on to find one that I can restore since the restored price is more than I care to spend, although I do believe it is well worth the price that is advertised. Restoring antiques is something I enjoy & the Glenwood is very pleasing to the eye as well. Again thanks for all the help in solving my problem.