Clayton 7.1 Cleaned My Chimney

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deepwoods
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Post by deepwoods » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 2:59 pm

Yesterday late AM I fired up the Clayton for only the second time. I have to say it's got a Learning Curve for sure! Last nite I shook her down and added coal in small layers. I had the draft spinner wide open without using the bypass. front face temp was 500*. All was going fine until I put the last layer on the fire. Face temp took a steep dive to around 250* and that's when she decided to WOOF! Popped my chimney clean out door open, shot a pretty blue flame out the baro. (I have fastened the cleanout door. Cannot have that happen again) I then went into extreme mode and cracked the load door and opened the ashpan door about 2" and put a tractor wheelweight in front of it in case it decided to blow again. I closed the load door when it recovered to 350* and left the ashpan door open until it got to 500*. I put it in bypass and started turning in the spin draft till it came down to 375*. I was 1 1/2 turns from closed. It was 3:00 AM when I felt it had stabilized and I went to bed.
Today @ noon I had about the same experience but to a lesser degree, just one "little" woof. It seems when I set the load door a little ajar and get some air over the fire the stove likes it. Always is that last layer I put on that causes the trouble. I have been allowing about 30 minutes between layers and when I look the fire is lively with lots of blue flame. I guess my Clayton learning curve continues on. My wife has a cat. It's 5 years old and hates me for no apparent reason. Wonder if this Clayton has an attitude :?
Just checked Clayton and it is rolling along on a full load of coal @400* with spinner out 1 full turn. It can be such a nice stove when it wants to be. Just likes to be fed a certain way.
I recently moved the baro farther away from the stove. I was careful handling it but after I reinstalled it the damper wants to stick near full open (this is before I fired the clayton up yesterday) I put a small c-clamp on it to prevent it from going to the full open position and sticking open. Damper still has 90% of it's arc to swing but needs to be fixed.

 
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michaelanthony
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Post by michaelanthony » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 3:38 pm

My biggest "change my shorts" puff back, more like boom back was during a mild day in my box stove. I've learned to cover my baro with a 6" cap, aluminum foil works fine, loading coal in small batches more often instead of one large reload helps. My baro still leaks air when closed so covering helps otherwise the leaking air traps the coal gas. I also unscrew my load door spin draft altogether so there is no obstruction and the coal gas can ignite asap and burn off. Good luck this time of year is the 'crash course' in burning successfully.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 3:49 pm

deepwoods wrote:Yesterday late AM I fired up the Clayton for only the second time. I have to say it's got a Learning Curve for sure! Last nite I shook her down and added coal in small layers. I had the draft spinner wide open without using the bypass. front face temp was 500*. All was going fine until I put the last layer on the fire. Face temp took a steep dive to around 250* and that's when she decided to WOOF! Popped my chimney clean out door open, shot a pretty blue flame out the baro.
That there is what I call an epic PuffBack! Puff backs occur when volatile gases bake out of the fresh load of coal and accumulate in the fire box. There will be a point where the volatile gas/oxygen mixture reaches critical mass and that's when a small flame will peek up thru the fresh coal layer and WHAMO!!

What needs to happen to prevent this is to keep these volatile gases diluted below that proper fuel/air mix so they can't explode. You are discovering this already. What I do is keep my load door propped open (after loading fresh coal) only a quarter inch so that air can come in over the fuel bed and dilute the gases and also air will be pulled up thru the grates to get the fresh coal burning. Once the blues show up, keep the load door ajar for another few minutes so they get well established. You don't want to seal the load door too early. The only fire I layer is a new fire. After that, I shake and pour it on. Recently I added 90 pounds on top a couple inches of hot coals lol. Also keep in mind that some coal sources have more volatile gases than others. I've found that red ash tends to be more explosive than white ash, for example..

Here is my ignition sequence - during this sequence the ash pan door is open till the end
Shake down - Load fresh - Prop load door open a quarter inch -
Blues light up (usually takes 15 minutes after loading, can take longer sometimes)
Let burn till flue pipe reaches 350 (temp taken at the top of the pipe, 12 inches from breech)
Close load door - Close ash pan door
Set combustion air controls for the burn cycle
My baro still leaks air when closed so covering helps otherwise the leaking air traps the coal gas.
Mike, sealing the baro makes me nervous. The air entering the pipe will further dilute the gases so the whole chimney don't explode IF there is a puffback.. :shock:


 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 4:57 pm

Bank the coal when reloading.

 
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deepwoods
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Post by deepwoods » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 5:29 pm

Hi Lee, Clayton told me loud & clear I NEED AIR! This evening I will simply put the complete load over a good bed of hot coals, load door cracked and ash door open. Wait for 350* on the pipe, close her up and (hopefully) set the burn. I moved the baro out away from the stove so I can get temp readings. I just ordered another temp gage so I can see difference between stove face & pipe when running the bypass. Coal I have is making white ash. Have no idea what coal company it comes from. Only 2 dealers in my area and each is about 25 miles from my home. Forced to buy bagged, no bunker yet. Seems to have a fair amount of fines in it but burns good. Going to shut Hitzer down tomorrow and use the Clayton for balance of this heating season. Temps could be considerably colder and Clayton could handle it for whole house. I kept the Hitzer going as back up in case the Clayton turned out to be unreliable.
Thanks much for the ignition sequence!!
Last edited by deepwoods on Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 5:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 5:38 pm

Like suggested--bank the coal too.


 
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Post by franco b » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 8:34 pm

After loading fresh coal take a poker and bore down through the fresh coal to the grate level in several spots making a small opening through the coal. This allows an easy path for some primary air and heat to penetrate the bed and ignite gas. You will get much faster ignition of the gas this way. Close ash door when gasses are burning well and check again in a minute or two.

 
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deepwoods
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Other Heating: Ruud propane forced air system

Post by deepwoods » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 8:54 pm

coaledsweat wrote:Bank the coal when reloading.
Please explain banking. This stove has a long firebox with lots of room for moving coal around.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Mar. 29, 2015 11:51 am

deepwoods wrote:Please explain banking. This stove has a long firebox with lots of room for moving coal around.
Banking is done right after shake down and before loading fresh coal.

After shake down, use a tool to push the remaining burning coal towards the front or back of the fire box, heaping it against the liner. Then fill the created void with fresh coal. This way, the fresh coal ignites as the fire makes its way horizontally across the fuel bed. By having a group of exposed burning coal at one end of the fuel bed, AND since the volatiles are baked out as the fire makes it's way laterally (instead of all baked out at once), the risk of puff back is pretty much eliminated.

I've tried banking, but my preference is too add an even layer on top. :)

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