A Bad Coal Experance Today

The weather has been mild lately, so the stove has been idling low. This morning woke up to a chilly house, with the stove down at about 150. So I cracked the ash door and and tried to make a mental note of it, then went to make coffee, saying to myself one of these days this move will be the end of this stove. 45 minutes later as I was blissfully enjoying a cup of coffee my son bursts in the room in a panic telling me that the stove is at 800 deg. Well the thermometer only goes as high as 800. the dull red glow in small circles on the top, sides and front load door indicated a little higher temp . Makes me glad the stove is made of 1/4" and 5/16" plate with heavy grate's.
I know don't tell me I've heard the timer trick. I'm not that organized. What I need is a alarm tied in to a thermometer. Anybody have any leads on something like that? or ideas on how to fab. something like that?

Homeowners Insurance paid up? Smoke detectors OK? Batteries replaced semi annually? CO detector have a backup?

Nice to be lucky,......so when are we going to talk about a stoker for you? Memory is the first think to go they say.....

Red Hot steel 'cooking' is a wonderful smell....kinda like napalm.

Your experience is exactly why you always read on this site; "Never Ever Walk Away And Leave The Ash Pan Door Open". You can stand in front of the stove for 45 minutes with the ash pan door open, trying to get the fire perked up. Or, you can walk away for 10 minutes, and burn the house down. Many of us have done the same thing you have. It's scary! Lisa's timer idea can't be any simpler. Place it around your neck like the metal of honor. When it goes off, STOP what you're doing! Check your stove imediately. Close the ash pan door, and hang the timer by stove. My self, I never leave the stove without closing the ash pan door. And still, I'll go back and double/triple check.

I have closed the ash door and reminded myself that I closed it, left the house, then drove 1/2 a mile away and turned around and drove back to the house to check the door to make sure I closed it.

Here is a setup that one of the members over at Hearth.com came up with. Looks like a good solution for those with a hand fired stove!! It's an older link and he stated he would build some for sale if there was some interest. Maybe worth checking out. Good luck.

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/v ... ead/21198/

I looked at that link...it's for a wood stove not a coal stove.

Unfortunately that link is from 2008. But I know they exist now so I will have to do some research. I have made a new resolve not to leave the stove while the door is open, but since I am no stickler for rules I think a insurance policy is in order.

Wood'nCoal wrote:I looked at that link...it's for a wood stove not a coal stove.

What would be the difference? You can change the setpoints to whatever you wish. He can set it up to take the readings from the flue or the stove body. I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

I'd try to keep it simple..... get a heat snap switch. Place it "in the correct spot" and wire it to a battery and noise maker. If it gets too hot "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA".

My timer broke and I wasn't able to find a replacement so I've been pretty slack about using a timer lately and it has led to many near overfires. It's just too easy to forget the ashdoor is open. Especially in the spring when you recharge the stove so often. The around the neck one I had broke after 5 years and I couldn't find a replacement. I tried the timer on the microwave but it was too quiet. I finally found a clip on one from Sunbeam that I clip to my collar when the ash door is open. It seems to be working out and it has the most irritating beep you could possibly imagine. A nice feature is that it automatically resets itself to go off again unless you stop it - sort of like a snooze button. That's nice so I don't have to drop everything to run in there at that exact moment, the alarm will remind me again in 5 mins. It also has a magnet on the back so that I can stick it to the fire place tool stand and so it's always there. $4.00 at the Grocery store. To me it's the best insurance policy there is. Lisa

Has any one ever considered that opening the ash pit door like that might just be an overall bad practice to begin with? Is it really necessary to do that on a regular basis? I'm not trying to be a smart here, I think some discussion on why it is done and should it be a part of a proper stove tending method would be helpful. Helpful especially for new comers.

ceccil wrote:

Wood'nCoal wrote:I looked at that link...it's for a wood stove not a coal stove.

What would be the difference? You can change the setpoints to whatever you wish. He can set it up to take the readings from the flue or the stove body. I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

I know, I was making joke.

wsherrick wrote:Has any one ever considered that opening the ash pit door like that might just be an overall bad practice to begin with? Is it really necessary to do that on a regular basis? I'm not trying to be a smart here, I think some discussion on why it is done and should it be a part of a proper stove tending method would be helpful. Helpful especially for new comers.

For the most part, the only time I have the ash pan door open is when I'm emptying the ash pan. I empty the ash pan, put it back, and close the door. 99.5% of the time, I close the door after inserting the ash pan. It's the other .5% I'm concerned about. Lots of people leave the ash pan door open in order to kick up the fire before adding coal. The HITZER, being hopper fed, I don't have that concern. I top off the hopper, and let it be.

Pete69 wrote:The weather has been mild lately, so the stove has been idling low. This morning woke up to a chilly house, with the stove down at about 150. So I cracked the ash door and and tried to make a mental note of it, then went to make coffee, saying to myself one of these days this move will be the end of this stove. 45 minutes later as I was blissfully enjoying a cup of coffee my son bursts in the room in a panic telling me that the stove is at 800 deg. Well the thermometer only goes as high as 800. the dull red glow in small circles on the top, sides and front load door indicated a little higher temp . Makes me glad the stove is made of 1/4" and 5/16" plate with heavy grate's.
I know don't tell me I've heard the timer trick. I'm not that organized. What I need is a alarm tied in to a thermometer. Anybody have any leads on something like that? or ideas on how to fab. something like that?

I use the timer on the microwave, I set it and go check the stove when the beep alarm sounds.

I take 20W-50 motor oil & smear it on the pipe. If it gets over 400° it smokes like hell & sets off the smoke detector ... and smells like the '89 Blazer .... so it makes me not want it to happen again.