Shaken Not Sliced

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stonyloam
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Location: Western NY

Post by stonyloam » Sun. Mar. 15, 2009 9:13 pm

Just foolin around. It got to over 50 today, but I did not want the stove (VC 1st gen.) to go out, also didn't want the house at 85. This morning I tried a little experiment. Now that it's all sealed up tight (thanks to door gaskets) the airflow through the coal bed is much better than in the past. I usually shake and slice pretty thoroughly to remove as much fine ash as possible to sustain good airflow and high heat, The slicing being VERY important in a VC. I knew that I would not need a lot of heat today, so just shook it down and did not slice at all to see what would happen, if it went out, oh well. What happened is that it burned at a very low rate all day, and about 8PM I shook and sliced and it is coming back quite nicely for the cool of the evening. It appears that controlling the fine ash with no or varying amounts of slicing can allow better (low) burn rate control. Interesting (to me anyway)! :)

 
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oliver power
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Stoker Coal Boiler: KEYSTOKER Kaa-2
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Post by oliver power » Mon. Mar. 16, 2009 7:37 am

Yes, when it comes to coal stoves, controlling air flow is the trick, whether it be by vents, ash, or both.


 
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rewinder
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Post by rewinder » Mon. Mar. 16, 2009 8:06 am

Hey Stony, that's exactly what I do on these warm days too. this weekend I shook at 7AM, and didn't tend it again till 8PM, it only took 8 lbs of coal to fill again ( that's 2 scoops of my plastic grain scoop).

 
hyway61
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Post by hyway61 » Mon. Mar. 16, 2009 8:23 am

Yep.. that's pretty much how I'm handling these warmer days. That and only banking to one side of the fire box.
I have a SS outside chimney and the problem comes when draft gets broken if the flue cools down too much...

hyway61

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