Saving A Dying Fire

Wood'nCoal wrote:
It's my intention to get the deep-mined coal at some point. Coalberner is waiting for me to make the trip.

I've used Blaschak, it's very good as strip coal goes, the coal I'm burning now is from somewhere around Tamaqua, PA (strip-mined).

I may be wrong but I hope you are not disappointed that you will find No drastic difference between deep mined coal and stripped coal . I've been at this a good while and Blaschak coal is about as fine a fuel as one can get . Only place I plan to try this season is a place called Shermans near Hegins I have heard many many good things about this coal and it is the blend that matters more than how it was mined . Reading is strip mining a section at the old Locust Summit Breaker site, (near the Merrian Patch, outside Locust Dale; torn down in October, 2002) I stopped to talk with them and look at the coal, they are in to the Mammoth Vein one of the most premium samples of anthracite on earth, I handled a chunk about a cubic foot it was smooth and you could see yourself in it, when broken it was jagged and sounded more like glass than rock . This coal would produce a super hot fire and very little ash but would burn quick it needed to be blended to produce a more favorable usable and versatile fuel . You will however save some money and have a good time I hope

I too have been burning Blaschak coal for years now & have never had a problem with it. Geting back to saving a dying fire, I think the key is being available to add a few shovel fulls of fresh coal whenever you see the top of the fire starting to get ashen b4 you really start to lose it. Now that I am semi-retired, I am around alot more to check the fire & am trying to get by with shaking it down only once a day while spreading a shovel full of fresh coal across the fire every so often. (I don't know if I am actualy saving coal by doing this but I am definetly creating less dust & I feel that I am wasting less coal with fewer shake-downs) So far this procedure is working fine but I'm sure I'll have to modify it when January hits!

coalstoves I also have been burning coal for many years aswell and I tried coal burned coal over a 35 mile area so I know what is good and what is not good also most of my famiIy members where deep coal miners I live 1.5 miles from one coal breaker and 2.5 miles from another both are strip both are *censored* coal I drive 26 miles one way to buy deep mine coal because in burns great and lots B.T.U.'s and low ash
And yes I burnd Sherman which is 12 miles from me it is ok but not consistent one time you will get good coal the next time you will get crap coal They mix to and there local is Exit 112 off of I-81 Route 25 outside of Newtown and right down the road from them is Hegins coal co. not in Hegins but in Newtown another place that is in consistent with Quality they also mix and if you go pass them onto 209 towards Pine grove outside of Ravine you will find one of Blaschak coal breakers which used to be franklin coal co. I also tried that stuff to aswell as there stuff up in mahanoy city which is 8 miles from me none of them compares to the three deep mine coal breakers that I buy from and yes two of them are in The upper split the middel splitand the lower split of the Mammoth Vein The differences between strip coal and deep is deep mine they recover 80% of the coal with 20% waste stipped coal is about 50% recovery of coal and with 50% waste not all of that waste is separated so you will get more of it with strip also some of the stripping co. and the deep mines are in the same vein of coal it all comes down to how it is clean at the breaker and what breaker you go to The three breakers I go to are deep mine breakers only way because they own the coal mines Also with alot of the stripping mine co. there are into Refuse Production her is the lists of Refuse co. Stripping mines and Deep mines One more thing I will add since June I have Help or took over 30 members from this Fourm and I have not had any complain yet about the coal they bought so I think that says somthing about the Quality of the coal If it was not any good I would of not have took that many or any members to buy coal with all of this said Have a nice day

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[/quote] How do you like the new coal is better then the last stuff I bet it is a little hotter [/quote]

==> So far it's been great. I'm surprised how consistent it is. I can control the amount of flame with the vent knob like it was a gas fire. It uses significantly less air than the last load.

It's definitely got a different smell to it. When I load it up it stinks outside until it gets going again. Doesn't bother me, but the wife seems to always be outside at just that time - haha.

The red ash doesn't match my driveway stone, but has done a good job filling to potholes! - haha. I'll cover it with new stone in the spring.

coal berner wrote: Since June I have Help or took over 30 members from this Fourm and I have not had any complain yet about the coal they bought

Thanks for posting the links to the mining statistics it is always good to see them again and makes finding them easier when searching for them .

If you don't mind my asking what are the companies and locations you prefer, you may have posted the contact info for them earlier and I missed it, seems we are in the same neck of the woods (I live within walking distance of the Harmony) .

From my "DUEL FLUE POST"

Well, I gave in yesterday when I got home after work with the kids. The 'EFEL' I started in the morning burned all day , but was almost out by 6PM, just one hot spot. No chance of a normal restart. So I hooked back the oil burner 'flue pipe' , hardly any ash in the down section of the "Tee".
I fired up the 'old junker' and kept an eye on both. Slowly , my hot spot get brighter, and finally blue flames started dancing! Success!! By this time the house was warming back up via the baseboard. I did have to shut down the the oil burner, and the EFEL was back and pumping out the heat. It burned just fine all night, We were down to 16 degrees last night/morning. It did burn out by morning, I forget to add that 2nd bucket of coal before bed!

Well, it looks like I found a good use for that "old junker" oil burner!

This is a timely topic.
I had a heavyweight boxing match with my fire last night. Half live half dead.
I wanted to shut it down but it was 12 degrees and ended up at 4 by morning. With those temps, firing up the propane furnace is not a desirable option in this old house.
30 trips down stairs later I was satisfied that it was back to almost normal.
At one point I had a coal fire in the front and a wood fire in the back.
Still plan to shut it down to clean when temps are more normal. Too much fine ash packed in along the edges.
Drives me crazy not having 100% surface area workin' for me.

sparky wrote:This is a timely topic.
I had a heavyweight boxing match with my fire last night. Half live half dead.
I wanted to shut it down but it was 12 degrees and ended up at 4 by morning. With those temps, firing up the propane furnace is not a desirable option in this old house.
30 trips down stairs later I was satisfied that it was back to almost normal.
At one point I had a coal fire in the front and a wood fire in the back.
Still plan to shut it down to clean when temps are more normal. Too much fine ash packed in along the edges.
Drives me crazy not having 100% surface area workin' for me.

I started a thread under the General Topics heading regarding old houses, you might want to look at it, I'm going to add more about my place when I have time.

BTW, I had to dump amd restart this morning (the stove, that is).

John

Mastiffman wrote:

How do you like the new coal is better then the last stuff I bet it is a little hotter [/quote]

==> So far it's been great. I'm surprised how consistent it is. I can control the amount of flame with the vent knob like it was a gas fire. It uses significantly less air than the last load.

It's definitely got a different smell to it. When I load it up it stinks outside until it gets going again. Doesn't bother me, but the wife seems to always be outside at just that time - haha.

The red ash doesn't match my driveway stone, but has done a good job filling to potholes! - haha. I'll cover it with new stone in the spring.[/quote]

Good to here by the way it will be always be consistent from them and yes you do not need as much air plus not only should it burn hotter but it should burn longer that is the differents in good deep mine coal V.S well you know
One more thing How much dog food do you go threw Love you big kids I have two friends that have Mastiiff
Great breed

A suggestion was made by Greg a while ago about making a wire like poker to push up through the grates from the bottom to dislodge packed ash and clinkers after shaking the Harman. I did that, but never had a good result, until today, the fire was low, I got it going a little more, shook it well, but there didn't seem to be much air flow. So I used the wire poker tool, after pushing it up through the grate I realized that if I twist the handle back and forth, the end will move inside the ash bed...and presto, the ash & clumps broke up. A few more times in different places, some more coal here and there, and now a full nice fire. Learn something new every day!

I've heard this is a problem limited to Harman hand fired stoves, due to the grate design.

hey woodncoal
I poke and prod under my grates every few days its amazing the ash that comes out that the shaker leaves behind especaly in the very font and back what a diference after I clean it out I think your right about this being prone to the harmans the wholes in the grates are so small

Dano wrote:hey woodncoal
I poke and prod under my grates every few days its amazing the ash that comes out that the shaker leaves behind especaly in the very font and back what a diference after I clean it out I think your right about this being prone to the harmans the wholes in the grates are so small

It could also be due to the way they move during shaking. I can't say, I have never operated another coal stove. I'm very satisfied with the Harman, Greg (Ls Farm) suggested the wire idea a while ago. Tonight was the first time I had real success getting even air flow back. Usually when I start having this problem it was the beginning of the end for that fire. I'll keep you posted.

Used to do the wire poker thing all the time with my Wonderwood circulator stove, many years back. I used a bent coat hanger which worked great. I have tried the same with my Harman coal stove but I need a sturdier wire.

I used the fender to cowl stiffener strut from a '70 New Yorker, it is plenty long and the tube at one end was flattened about 3". I just bent the flat end 90* and it works like a charm.

Many of the political signs have a wire frame, the smaller signs have wire from .125" [1/8"] up to maybe .2" The larger signs use 0.250" [1/4"] wire, so go pilfer a sign, clip off a leg and bend a 90* 4" or so 'L' on one end, and a loop on the other for a handle..
About the best use for a political sign I've ever seen, they don't start fires very well, most are plastic now..

Greg L