New to Coal and Just Bought My First Stove

You are right. Get her installed first. Then down to Larry so when she is done you are ready to FIRE HER UP!

It looks to be in pretty good shape.(as much as a pix can show) Did the person you bought it from use it recently? If so ask them about the air tightness of it.

I would make sure the grates shake well and move easily and make sure that the doors (especially and most importently the bottom ash pit door) fits tightly when closed and has NO air leaks. Also the primary vents on that door should be relatively tight (to the door) too, so that you have good control of how much air you feed the stove. Those vents are your throttle so to speak and if that door and the vents are nice and tight then you are good to go and do not need to have Larry rebuild it. If not and air can leak, you won't have good control and the stove will run hot with no way to cut it back. Check those things and report your findings.

CC, the stove looks in good condition but as Steve said, one photo doesn't show the grate, interior of the stove, if the stove is air tight....If you feel confortable to check these principal points try it yourself but if your not ask Larry for a quotation to restore it. larry is a man you can trust for these stoves, he KNOWS all his "kids".
A stove is not a toy, well not shure of this one , seriously restore a stove should respect some very important safety points.
Good luck.

SteveZee wrote:It looks to be in pretty good shape.(as much as a pix can show) Did the person you bought it from use it recently? If so ask them about the air tightness of it.

I would make sure the grates shake well and move easily and make sure that the doors (especially and most importently the bottom ash pit door) fits tightly when closed and has NO air leaks. Also the primary vents on that door should be relatively tight (to the door) too, so that you have good control of how much air you feed the stove. Those vents are your throttle so to speak and if that door and the vents are nice and tight then you are good to go and do not need to have Larry rebuild it. If not and air can leak, you won't have good control and the stove will run hot with no way to cut it back. Check those things and report your findings.

I don't think the grates shake very well or easily. The bottom vent seems tight but quite rusty and hard to move. Bottom door has new gasket maybe the top door too. Not sure about the gasket underneath the lid. The guy I bought it from never used it. He bought it a couple years ago but was now relocating and didn't want to take or store it. He said the previous owner did use it.

There is still everything else possible related to this project that I need: bin, floor and wall protection, co monitors, damper, pipe. Frig, I don't even have any coal or a supplier at this point. Literally all I have is the stove. And some pokers that came with it. Sort of overwhelming. I suppose I should be grateful that the chimney is hopefully all set.

My heating guy is coming out next week for my furnace maintenance and checking out what I want to do.







The bottom vent seems tight enough. It's kinda difficult to move but that could be from the rust.

I'll post a pic soon of where I'm setting up the chubby.

Better tight than loose on the primary vents CC. Give it shot of WD or some lube and work it a bit and it should be fine. Same with the grate and shaking mechanism. Don't get overwhelmed as everyone goes through all the same things with their first hookup. If you have concerns you should take it to Larry and have at least the grates attended too or phone him and ask about them being stiff. He states on his website that there is some modification on the new style stoves that the grates rotate as if on bearings. Take it one item at a time and you'll be good to go. You still got time. On those Chubbys the rotation is in conjunction with a poker to properly shake the ash down. If you haven't seen it, take a look at Larry's video on vimeo about starting and running the stove. You can see the shaking technique at around the 16 min mark. http://vimeo.com/8506320 You said the door gaskets all look good so I wouldn't bother to have it redone this season unless you can't get those grates to shakes easily.

CC

Don't forget you need some sort of ash pan if you don't already have one. Like Steve mentioned give those parts a good squirt of WD40 and see what happens. Chances are you do not need a new firepot or grates. The Chubby firepopts are pretty darn tough. If you do need to replace it and or the grates, don't lose much sleep over it. A small investment now in getting set up will pay for itself many times over in the very near future.

Feel free to PM me if you need some help.

ciao!

Check the grates for foreign debris...someone may have burned old lumber and left a nail or two in the grates. Unburned coal and/or rocks can also bind things up.

The grate doesn't move as much in larrys video but his has the updated shaker I believe. I will check for debris tomorrow and try some wd40.

Chubby is going in my tiny living room. The flue opening should be in the top left corner. I think I will likely need to move my tv and rearrange which sucks cuz I love my current setup. How far away should the tv be from the stove you think?

I'm not buying anything else until I cut open the drywall and make sure the the flue opening is there. Hopefully it's just capped.

Welcome to the Forum! I joined when oil went nuts in 2008. It looks like this winter oil prices are going to be similar to back then.

Where are you in Maine? Private message me if you'd like. If you are near me I'd be glad to come take a look at your Chubby. I had one for a while, but just fixed it up & resold it. I put a new style grate in mine. The original style didn't work very well at all. It's fairly easy to check.... take a flashlight & look under the grate. Does it have a center pivot? If not, it's the old style. The old ones scrape a lot on the edges & turn hard. The new ones pivot in the center & turn easy.

The Chubby does have a bit of a learning curve, as does any hand fed coal stove. With no training at all it's possible to have a "puff back" which can be scary & even a bit messy. But, puff backs can easily be controlled. What will you do with the ash? If you live in a city it can be an issue. Coal makes WAY more ash than wood does. Sometimes I think it comes out the same size it went in!

With a few hand tools the place where the chimney is can be found. If it has a hidden cap perhaps a magnet will find it.

Fred

It's definitely the old style. Larry did instruct me to use a poker to shake rather than the original shaker piece.

Haven't decided what to do with the ash yet. I would like to widen my driveway

A tad brisk this morning wouldn't you say? I actually turned my furnace on last night. Gonna grab some coffee, some wd40, and today's goal is cutting the wall. Will report my findings back later.

What makes you think there is a flue opening behind the wall? Was there a stove in the past? If not then all you'll find is chimney which isn't a big deal. I had to move my thimble higher and it wasn't that hard. Knock out 3 or so bricks, mix up some mud (mortar) and pop in the thimble and slap the mortar around it. A mason could do it in an hour tops. If you already have one all the better.

No stove in the past but neighbors in my development have one. I looked closely this morning and can see where the wall was patched. I also took a pic last night of someone else's woodstove hookup (same layout as my house) so I have the exact location where it should be. It's reassuring to read that it isn't that huge of a deal in case the opening isn't there I was under the impression it would be a huge pita.

My chimney is double flue, clay tile masonry, inside. Oil furnace goes up one side. The solid fuel side has never been used. Do you guys think that will present any problems? I have heard nothing but negative comments from friends when I tell them of my intentions. Of course everyone burns only wood or pellets. Nobody burns anthracite. People are saying that the interior is probably compromised since it was never used. I had it inspected and cleaned last year and received a quote for a ss liner which was astronomical...thru the roof so to speak haha. I said eff that and put the project on hold. In all fairness I was considering a woodstove at the time and I'm sure it would be best to line with ss if I was going to burn wood but I have since switched my goal to coal. Everything I've read seems to indicate that my chimney is ideal for burning coal.

Anybody have any thoughts on that? I will post up some pics soon of the chimney and also when I cut the drywall. I need to get off my lazy butt and just do it. My brother is going to be annoyed when he sees I've cut a hole into the wall he just painted. Teehee

Chimney is about 30 years old. If it has been used to burn wood then it was decades ago.





Need to find the sawzall now.