Penn Coal Stove (Chubby Knock Off)

BigBarney · Post by **BigBarney** » Fri. Oct. 28, 2011 2:31 pm

jpete:

What I notice is that when you add wet coal to the fire you lower the stack temperature

because a lot of energy is expended to heat the water to steam, but still only 212*, not the

usually higher fire temperature. In my boiler I also get a slight reduction in the flue because

even before dry new coal absorbs enough heat to ignite, the new coal absorbs heat, which

causes this down effect. You have to drive off all the water before the coal has heated enough

to ignite and this energy comes from the hot bed of coals in the fire reducing the flue temperature.

BigBarney

jjs777_fzr · Post by **jjs777_fzr** » Fri. Dec. 06, 2013 6:16 pm

I did a few video's of my startup today. If you want to know how to start a coal fire - and learn all the tricks of this fine art - do not watch my video's

But it may be interesting for anyone with absolutely nothing else to do.

I own both the Penn and Chubby stoves. I switch between them when I feel like it - for a change of scenery.

Temps outside just north of Boston have been around the mid 40's today with overcast/cloudy conditions.
Furnace has been off all day and temps on my first floor have stayed a constant 71F all day.
I have been skeptical of folks trying to heat their first floor living spaces with a cellar located heating appliance - but it does offer some benefits.
For my house - I've noticed once temps drop below 32F I either get my pellet stove going in my LR or the wood stove in the sun room.
I have a tough layout to heat with any single appliance.

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Mon. Oct. 06, 2014 12:21 pm

JJ,

How familiar are you with Penn stoves? I came across one in my area for sale, real cheap. I'm going to look at it this week. I did notice that the viewing window is small like the Chubby's and the top of the stove has a small cover identical to the Chubby's. All of the Penn stoves I've seen have a large cover that opens with hinges and a large viewing window. You think Penn made several versions or is this a frankenstove? Any problem areas I should look for?

Tom

Edit: It seems near impossible to get parts for these stoves. I've searched online and cannot find pictures, parts or anything Penn stove related

Eb426 · Post by **Eb426** » Mon. Oct. 06, 2014 6:53 pm

just curious. which stove came out first? the chubby or the penn?

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Sat. Oct. 11, 2014 11:35 am

Just picked up the Penn stove off craigslist. The guy wanted $50 but it was pretty rough. I told him I'm going to pass on the stove, it needs too much work. He said to make him an offer, he just wanted it gone. I walked away with the stove for $25. I figured if nothing less I'll scrap it and make a few bucks. Got it home and ripped it apart, decent shape. Needs a grate, gaskets, mica, door handles and a good cleaning. Probably sink about $150 into it, but she'll be good as new. My chubby grate seems to be about 1/8" too big, odd. I thought these stoves were identical? I may have to grind down the chubby grate a bit to get it to fit. Thoughts?

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Sat. Oct. 11, 2014 1:34 pm

Next dilemma. The chubby has a 12" grate that cost $100, the penn has a 11.75" grate that cost $178. The 12" grate won't fit in the Penn. Should I get the larger grate a grind it down to fit, or get the right grate?

KingCoal · Post by **KingCoal** » Sat. Oct. 11, 2014 1:48 pm

depends, does the chubbie grate line up with the support tabs and not interfere with any other feature in the Penn. ?

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Sat. Oct. 11, 2014 2:58 pm

KingCoal wrote:depends, does the chubbie grate line up with the support tabs and not interfere with any other feature in the Penn. ?

Other than the diameter of the grate, it should work fine if I grind it down. The chubby grate does have a hole in the center for the support.

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Sat. Oct. 11, 2014 3:08 pm

I plan on restoring it and possibly selling it. I'm looking at sinking about $150 - $225 into it for parts. Worth it? I know it's no Chubby, but Chubby's are getting $800+ for a fully restored stove. What do you think the restored value of a Penn stove would be? I cannot find them anywhere, I just happen to stumble across this one!

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Fri. Oct. 24, 2014 4:46 pm

Finally finished the restoration of the Penn Stove. Dumped a little bit of money into it and a lot of elbow grease! Replaced the gaskets, mica and grate. Installed new spring handles. Fabricated a new shaker handle since the original was missing. Fresh coat of paint and polished all the cast parts. Ready to put into service!

buck24 · Post by **buck24** » Fri. Oct. 24, 2014 5:43 pm

The Penn came out really nice. Great job. She looks brand new again.

nortcan · Post by **nortcan** » Fri. Oct. 24, 2014 6:13 pm

Great. Looks just like a brand new stove

JRLearned · Post by **JRLearned** » Sat. Oct. 25, 2014 4:16 pm

How is the shaking action on the Penn? Looks like a significantly different layout than the chubby.

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Sat. Oct. 25, 2014 10:11 pm

JRLearned wrote:How is the shaking action on the Penn? Looks like a significantly different layout than the chubby.

I haven't used it yet but it seems about the same, just a different motion. More leverage on the Penn.

fishhead631 · Post by **fishhead631** » Fri. Dec. 05, 2014 8:27 pm

TC, Beautiful job on that stove.... Good luck with it.
E

Penn Coal Stove (Chubby Knock Off)

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