New Guy Looking for Direction

You wanted the fire to go out ??

Lightning wrote:No no, don't waste it. Shake shake shake, get as much ash out as you can. Then push whats left up against the sides, clear a valley in the center best you can. Then build a kindling fire, or use charcoal to reignite.

Will do, thanks!

windyhill4.2 wrote:You wanted the fire to go out ??

Well... I was gona caulk the fire bricks together today to better stabilize them sitting on the sides. Got the bricks to fit snug up against the side walls with the help of a 1" mason drill bit. But took for ever to cool down so never got around to that. But seems like every time I poke or stir the red hot coals it tends to dies out. How come?

wildwood wrote: But seems like every time I poke or stir the red hot coals it tends to dies out. How come?

Probably because the bed depth is too shallow. Coal needs a compact burning mass to maintain enough heat. Each piece of coal radiates it heat to its neighbors. With a shallow bed you are on the edge of not maintaining enough heat and when you stir it disturbs the relationship of one piece to another. Nut coal should be at least 8 inches deep to not be so sensitive. Pea coal would be OK with 5 inches or even less.

Also, you don't "poke" a coal fire. You leave it alone until it's time to shake the ashes down.

-Don

wildwood wrote:Question if I may... So I let the coal burn it's self out and this is what I found in the furnace.

image.jpeg

Can/should I just bank it all to the back and add a bucket of fresh coal on top of the bank and light up some wood? Or should I be cleaning this all out? Seems like a waste to me. I cracked open one of the pieces and there's good black coal in the nuggets. Suggestions welcome.

I don't understand, did you choke or starve the fire intentionally?

If it just quit on it's own then you have some internal mods to get done to do better at burning the coal to a powder/ash.

his problem is still not having a deep enough bed, he's got fire brick laying down in there, that's only 4.5 inches, it should be at least double that. before you correct this you will have nothing but problems arise.

I think H. B. is right. More coal will make this boiler work much better.

An easy way to do this is, stack firebricks on top of the ones you already have in place. You can put some furnace cement on them to hold them in place against the boiler. This will give you 9" of firebrick. That should be plenty.

-Don

It's an error that most new coal burners make, but one that is easily remedied. Just one time, put 120 pounds in there and see how awesome it burns. That's all it will take

Lightning wrote:It's an error that most new coal burners make, but one that is easily remedied. Just one time, put 120 pounds in there and see how awesome it burns. That's all it will take

120lbs!!! That's 3 x 40lbs bags! It'll fit for sure and burn for ever I bet. Also I'm having a problem with my shaker getting jammed but I feel that's also related to not having enough coal for a full bottom glow or burn. I'm getting nuggets jammed in there. Starting to feel that with coal its full load / full power or be disappointed a few hrs later. Once it's burning strong I should be able to close the bottom damper and let it idol, right?

Yes your correct it will burn forever, but after 12 hours shake and tend it again, I would go every 12-14 hours till you get the hang of it, once it full, I would be supposed if u go though 25-30 pounds a day.. And yes once it's full and goin, it will idle down nicely.

Yes, it should idle a lot more stable with a thick coal bed, at least 8-9 inches deep all the way across.

About the shaker jamming, short choppy strokes, very short, that way a nugget can't get clearance to bind between the grates.

Good luck and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Once you get a full load in there, 80 to 120 pounds, your twice a day feedings will only be 20 to 30 pounds. Once the full load is going, it doesn't take much to keep it going. Most people light it once in the Fall and then let it go out in the Spring. You will be one of these people soon!

Happy Thanksgiving,

-Don

Thanks guys, I'll let that all soak in and be looking at getting the furnace going full time soon. It's been warm up here and been shy about dumping so much in. Trying to save as much $ as I can.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Alex

Quick update. Expansion tank is in! Was pretty uneventful going in, spin off spin on. Burned some wood last night and the pressure was more tame given the temperature I got the boiler up to. Didn't go over 20psi. Seems like the new tank is doing its job. Glad I did it! Been a heat wave up here CT so still waiting to fire up some coal. Maybe next week. Gives me some more time to work on the fire bricks. Think I'll try and go with two rows on each side as suggested.