Pcitures

Hey, I'm going through the large learning curve of switching from wood to coal and being a visual person, can you post photo's of what a good coal fire should look like? I want to make sure mine is burning right. I rarely get blue flames coming through (except for when I shake and reload), but then its just red coals. Is that right? I just added coal, so I will let it burn a bit and post a few pics as well so that we can compare.

Thanks for all the help so far.

Here ya go!

Another one after a long burn. A few less blue ladies present:

This Gibraltar DDI has just over 100 lbs of nut anthracite burning.

And here is mine about 45 min after I did a shake and reload 500 stove temp

Only a few blue ladies in the back, but hot glowing coals in half the front - the front does not burn good - ever.

PC 12-47E wrote:This Gibraltar DDI has just over 100 lbs of nut anthracite burning.

That looks nice and hot!!! I have about 75# or so of stove coal in mine and have nothing like that! HMMMM I'm sure its me, but what am I doing wrong?

Could very well be the brand of coal your using. Lots of variations in burns from brand to brand.

If not, might just need to poke the coal bed down in the front before shaking down & reloading. Sometimes more ash gets trapped in one section more than another, and that section wont burn.

SMITTY wrote:Could very well be the brand of coal your using. Lots of variations in burns from brand to brand.

If not, might just need to poke the coal bed down in the front before shaking down & reloading. Sometimes more ash gets trapped in one section more than another, and that section wont burn.

Someone else told me that the front not burning is normal for the Harman - but I still don't have good flames - maybe I don't need them? I'm burning blaschak stove coal. Thinking about switching to nut for the next delivery of 2 tons?

HanSoSlow wrote:

PC 12-47E wrote:This Gibraltar DDI has just over 100 lbs of nut anthracite burning.

That looks nice and hot!!! I have about 75# or so of stove coal in mine and have nothing like that! HMMMM I'm sure its me, but what am I doing wrong?

What type of stove do you have? My Harman SF-250 would burn through the coal very fast at the very front edge of the fire (just by the loading door). The fire box was a few inches lower in front of the loading door. The Gibraltar also had trouble at the front edge of the fire because the fire box was not as high as the sides and back of the stove. After I raised the height of the cast iron banking bar, just inside the loading doors, the fire burned much more even. If you look at the picture in my last post you will see fire brick, that I added, under the cast iron banking bar. If you can make the fire box about the same height on all four sides the stove will burn much better......
Good luck, Eddie

PC 12-47E wrote:

HanSoSlow wrote: That looks nice and hot!!! I have about 75# or so of stove coal in mine and have nothing like that! HMMMM I'm sure its me, but what am I doing wrong?

What type of stove do you have? My Harman SF-250 would burn through the coal very fast at the very front edge of the fire (just by the loading door). The fire box was a few inches lower in front of the loading door. The Gibraltar also had trouble at the front edge of the fire because the fire box was not as high as the sides and back of the stove. After I raised the height of the cast iron banking bar, just inside the loading doors, the fire burned much more even. If you look at the picture in my last post you will see fire brick, that I added, under the cast iron banking bar. If you can make the fire box about the same height on all four sides the stove will burn much better......
Good luck, Eddie

Sorry, I should have said I was burning a Harman SF-150. I cannot load much in the front, so I never get a good bed there. Would the local Harman dealer have a banking bar for the front? So you have an SF-250? Does your fire look anything like mine? I'm burning a lot of coal and don't seem to get the heat I thought I would. Stove temps usually 400 stack 150-175. draft of -.06 to -.08 just tested it this weekend and still have it hooked up. The temp 10' in front of the stove with the blower on is 72 right now with stove running 500/200. Lots of red glow, but no blue ladies. The bottom air vent is 2 full turns - SEEMS LIKE A LOT - I read others running 1/2 - 1 full turn not 2. I shake it down until red coals are dropping.

If it was my setup I would try adjust the baro so your draft runs closer to .04-.05. I would also try closing the spinner knob another 1/2 turn so that you are 1-1/2 turns open. You may want to try these things one at a time to see the individual impact of each.

Harman will not have a banking bar for your stove but you may be able to use one from another brand.
The SF-150 and SF-250 stoves are not as wide as most other brands. So it is possible to cut a wider bar for use in your stove.
We burned the SF-250 @ 550-575*F at the top of the side and about 225*F on the stack temp.
This was at-.06 WC.

PC 12-47E wrote:Harman will not have a banking bar for your stove but you may be able to use one from another brand.
The SF-150 and SF-250 stoves are not as wide as most other brands. So it is possible to cut a wider bar for use in your stove.
We burned the SF-250 @ 550-575*F at the top of the side and about 225*F on the stack temp.
This was at-.06 WC.

Thanks you for the info so far, I wonder if running at 400 is just not what the stove likes, maybe 500 is a better option? I measure my temp just below the two center air holes (where the heat blows out).

titleist1 wrote:If it was my setup I would try adjust the baro so your draft runs closer to .04-.05. I would also try closing the spinner knob another 1/2 turn so that you are 1-1/2 turns open. You may want to try these things one at a time to see the individual impact of each.

Hmm I don't have a baro since I was drawing -.06 as it was called for. If I adjust to 1.5 turns on the spinner I get a constant 400 which is nice that it is constant over a long period. It just seems like I should be getting more heat.

Adjust your barometric damper to pull .04"
Close the air vents in the loading door, all air should come from the spinner vent in the ashpan door.
Make a bent-wire poker from 3/16" or 1/4" wire, the wire frame from a political sign works good, make an "L" on the end about 3" long.
Use this bent poker to go through the ashpan door and poke up from below through the gaps in the front grate, opening up the clogged gaps in the grate.
You will have a cascade of ash falling from the front grate if it is clogged.
This is a very common issue with the front grate in the Harman grates.. the front grate needs extra help clearing out the ash along the front bar.

I'd keep some stove coal, and get some nut right now,, add several inches of nut over a layer of stove, this should slow down the rate of burn some..

BUT the most important thing is to adjust the barometric damper to .04", this keeps more of the hot air in the stove, heating the stove body and your house instead of heating up the chimney..

Greg L