Blaschak Coal Quality Issues This Year?

I picked up 20 more bags of Blaschak Nut on Saturday and they have been consistent so far...I'm hopeful it was just an isolated incident.

getting a good amt of fines (maybe 5 cups/bag) ... it burns ... no foreign matter (wood, human teeth, etc)

went through a ton last month ...

In the last few years they almost doubled their production and as it usually go's,the quality control dosen't keep up with production.This is the first year using Blaschak and i'm not impressed at all.Not enought heat and twice the amount of ash,witch means twice the work for the same amount of money.I got bulk stove size from a supplier and can't complain about sizing and fines since it was in and out of the truck beds a couple times,but their wasn't any forigen material in it.

Same thing this year here in Québec, lot of big pièces in the Blaschak bagged nut size. Also lot of very small pièces. No problem for the Sunnyside but the big pieces jam in the Goldens magazine.

I'm using Blaschak bulk rice. Haven't had any problems with fines or size. Burns great and has consistently been 10%-12% ash by weight. Never really burned anything else, a couple of bags of no name coal here and there so I can't compare to other brands but I'm satisfied enough to not need to try another brand.

A few mixed oddball sizes may be a Pain in the butt, but its better than finding 2B stone mixed in

I posted about the same issues back in December, including some pics of the odd coal pieces and the ash I'm getting.

Post by MarkV - Not So Sure About This Year's "Blaschak" Bulk Nut...

I burned Blaschak bulk nut from the same dealer last year. The coal was all uniform color, much shinier black, and the pieces were more round, not the flat, shale-like pieces that make up much of the coal this year. Last year's coal had almost no fines; this year, fines down to rice size pieces, throughout the load. Last year's coal seemed harder, too--when I dropped a piece on the concrete floor, it seldom broke. The coal I have now, if you drop a piece, it often shatters into three or four much smaller pieces.

It doesn't burn as hot, and I had an issue when the temps got warmer the second week I was burning with the fire almost going out. It has been burning ok during the last two colder months, but I'm really concerned when we get back to warmer daytime temps in March.

I've been meaning to call the dealer and find out if any other customers reported problems. If I find out anything I'll post back.

I've been burning Blashak nut and stove coal this year. I have to qualify my coal usage with the fact that I'm using coal that I bought two years ago and had stored in my basement. So I can't speak about "this year's" coal quality. But so far all is well. Some bags of stove have chunks more along the size of nut coal, but not bad. The nut coal I use has been very consistent and I've gotten some very long burn times (15+ hours) in this incredible cold we've been having for the past two months. Never burned anything but Blashak for the past three years, so I have no idea if it's ash content is any higher or lower than other brands. Bottom line - I like it. I better like it, I have another 8 skids of it outside!!

i buy bulk blaschak rice from a dealer and have not seen any difference in this years supply from previous years. It is consistent in size, no fines issues and burns well enough to heat the house. I haven't burned anything else to compare heat output and ash since that dealer is closest/best price and I haven't been motivated by bad coal to drive any further.

Same here t---no problems in 6 seasons--even opening a few of the 80+ bags of NUT & STOVE I picked up last week--nary a complaint:)

Burning Blaschack pea here with no problems on size or quality. Size is very consistant.

I burn primarily Blaschak pea in bulk, no problems. Bought 10 bags of Santa Nut, lotsa BIG pieces. Close to stove size. Minimal fines. Something interesting-we went away for a week, came home and had to clean out and re-start the Kodiak. First burn always the most heat due to fresh coal all roasting. However, ash content was really low for hopper amount. Just my imagination?

Blaschak pea this year seams a little bigger than last year, but still consistant in size and good quality.

I'm in the middle of an experiment. I turned my aqua stat temps up to 210 high and 190 low with a Diff of 15. This means the stoker will satisfy at 195 off of low limit. My thinking is that hotter water more efficiently transfers heat from the hot water to hot air coil. Since more heat is able to come off the coil to satisfy the house thermostat, the stoker will run for shorter amounts of time when TT calls for heat, thereby burning less coal. I realize the higher the water temperatures, the higher the standby losses. It is counterintuitive, but it appears I'm burning less coal per Degree Day. Going to average it over several days to be sure. I'm burning Blaschak Rice.

Just an update for the bulk blaschak rice I've been using. I've been paying close attention to the ash pan over the last week or so checking for shale or other unburned stuff. It has been very 'good' from the standpoint of being completely burned up. It pretty much all crumbles from the granola into powdery ash when pinched. Even this past weekend when we touched 60* and the stove was idling for much of the day it was all ash since I left the combustion fan on all the time.