New to This!!! HELP!

 
nate
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Post by nate » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 8:56 am

I am from central PA (Williamsport area). I have been burning coal in my previous home for 4 years in a Leisure line HyfireII. We recently moved and our new home has a Harman hand fired stove. The previous owner told me he was running nut coal and could successfully have a fire last up to 8hrs until needing a shakedown/refill.

Well the weather has begun the turn and I decided to try her out. I bought three ton of nut coal, got a raging wood fire started in the stove and dumped some on. Presto! Coal is a go....for about two hours :mad:

As the coal slowly dies out I tried to shakedown and add more coal to keep her alive. I even opened the ash pan door up to increase the draft, but all for not I lost the fire. This has happened to me over and over again and I do not know what to do? Any help? Its getting cold around here!


 
CapeCoaler
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Post by CapeCoaler » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 9:05 am

Have you checked the pipe and chimney to make sure it is clear and clean...
Sounds like a lack of air flow...
Gaskets good, no leaks above the fire, cleanout on the chimney closed...
Then there is this thread...
How to Light a Hand Fired Coal Stove

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 9:11 am

Yeah more than likely the draft is weak to begin with ... then add temps that aren't quite that cold yet, & you have next to nothing. I haven't pulled more than a .03 on the manometer since I lit up Tuesday afternoon. Temps haven't dropped below 38° during that time. In the dead of winter it usually pulls a .05 or more. I normally burn for 24 hours without shaking or reloading.

Might have to open the air inlet more than normal to compensate for the lack of draft.

Then there's the possibility of varmints, or other obstructions in the chimney ...

 
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 9:20 am

How much coal are you adding to the stove? The bed of anthracite must be 6+ inches deep in order for the first to sustain itself. Check out the chimney like the others have suggested, then on your next burn make sure you add coal to the top of the firebricks.

-Robert

 
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jpete
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Post by jpete » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 10:28 am

A couple places to check.

Above the fire box on the baffle, ash tends to collect.

Also, pull the pipe out of the back and check for "snow drifts" on both sides of the outlet.

Either of these places will cut down on the breathing ability of your Harman.

I've had my MkI running since Saturday with 60* daytime temps and yesterday I was "hands off" for 20 hours and probably could have gone 24.

Running nut coal with the air inlet opened 3/4 turn.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 11:34 am

How far above your roof peak does your chimney extend--& yes, as already suggested--check for blockage in chimney---8 hrs???something simple going on that needs to be tweeked--if you had the ash door open & still lost it--it's gotta be the chimney

 
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Chuck_Steak
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Post by Chuck_Steak » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 3:34 pm

The first thing I would do is ask the previous guy more questions.
Like if he ever ran it 24/7... how he did it.
He may have just used it as a supplemental source of heat.

If that isn't an option, I'd say your chimney isn't blocked too badly,
because you had a decent fire going, it just didn't last a long time.
That, imo only, seems more like an insufficient coal bed...
Like mark3 said.

When you get that wood fire going, and you have some good coals
AND some wood left, add small amounts of coal at a time until it
gets rippin', then add more coal let it catch, and then try to get it
to near the top of your bricks.
If your coal bed looks like a BBQ grill type bed, it's gonna die an early death..
Gotta be fairly deep for it to work good.
The size of the coal bed does not dictate 100% the amount of heat you get,
the air intake does.
IOW, a shallow bed doesn't give you a 'little' heat when that is all you want.
You want a deep bad, and throttle down the air..
And don't forget, you need to have the whole surface area of your grates covered
to maximize your airflow THROUGH the coal, not around it.


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 3:42 pm

Where did you get your coal?? PM me with that one--a friend from Wilkes Barre area is having the same problem w/ his nut

 
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Post by nate » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 3:52 pm

Thanks guys, I think you are all hitting on a good point here. I was only putting maybe a three inch deep bed of coal on the grates, probably still leaving up to 4 inches of the fire bricks exposed. I think my chimney draw is ok. I had the chimney cleaned only about a month prior to this and as far as a wood fire goes it draws fine. I did talk to the previous owner and he assured me he used the coal stove as his primary heat source. Actually when I toured this house he had a great coal fire going, and when I think of it I saw no fire bricks at all!! :oops:

I am gonna give her another go tonight and see what we get. Thanks for all your input and I hope to have good news tomorrow!!!

 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 5:23 pm

Fill the fire box all the way to the top of the fire brick in the back and to the edge of the loading door opening in the front. My Mark I burns 12 hours with no problem, yours should as well.

 
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VigIIPeaBurner
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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 7:07 pm

Be sure to back of on the air and reset them for coal burning after the wood fire. Under fire air is the main feed. Too much air feed and the heat goes up the chimney resulting in short burn times not to mention lack of heat to the room.

 
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lowfog01
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Post by lowfog01 » Thu. Oct. 21, 2010 7:19 pm

Do you have any thermometers on the stove? If so how hot is it burning? It could be that your under fire air intake is open too far and you are burning very hot for a short period of time. If you're not filling it up to the top top of the fire brick a hot fire will go through coal fast; as the guys suggested, fill it up. I can go for 15 plus hours in my Mark II without giving it any attention at all. Good luck, Lisa

 
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Post by nate » Fri. Oct. 22, 2010 8:35 am

Well last night I filled her up to the top off the bricks and I would say got good results. I started the fire about 9:45pm, I then played with the air inlet till I thought I had a good draft. I must have fallen asleep around 11 and was woke up at about 3am to find the fire raging and the room at about 100+. :lol:

In my sleepy (sweating profusely) :blowup: state I closed the air inlet down to about a quarter turn open. After opening some window I fell back to sleep, I woke to find the fire all but out at around 6am. I think the fire would have continued for many more hours if I hadn't closed the air off so much.

How far open do you guys run the air inlet? I'm sure it varies on draft but just to get a ballpark. Also I do not have a stove thermometer, if I get one what is the "magic" number I need to shoot for?

 
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Post by CapeCoaler » Fri. Oct. 22, 2010 9:19 am

With a baro on my Mark II 3/4 to 1.5 turns was all I needed...
How many turns did you have when it was too hot...
And you know now 1/4 is too little air...
Split the diference...
To get a starting point...
Even a 1/4 turn makes a difference...
Make an adjustment then wait an hour to see how that works...
Coal reacts slowly...
Stove body temp just above the loading door and to the left side...
180* to 450* depending on outside temps...

 
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. Oct. 22, 2010 9:22 am

Nate--you gotta know what your air inlet was set at before you fell asleep--TOO MUCH and now you know that 1/4 is TOO LITTLE--somewhere between the two settings is where you need to be right now--as it gets colder--those settings will change--nothing about this coal burning--except the safety issues--is carved in stone--things play into it--ex: chimney,type coal,weather,etc--it strikes me that you have found the range you need to play with-in :) Later my friend Seems like me & capecoaler were typing at the same time :lol:
nate wrote:Well last night I filled her up to the top off the bricks and I would say got good results. I started the fire about 9:45pm, I then played with the air inlet till I thought I had a good draft. I must have fallen asleep around 11 and was woke up at about 3am to find the fire raging and the room at about 100+. :lol:

In my sleepy (sweating profusely) :blowup: state I closed the air inlet down to about a quarter turn open. After opening some window I fell back to sleep, I woke to find the fire all but out at around 6am. I think the fire would have continued for many more hours if I hadn't closed the air off so much.

How far open do you guys run the air inlet? I'm sure it varies on draft but just to get a ballpark. Also I do not have a stove thermometer, if I get one what is the "magic" number I need to shoot for?


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