Clayton 1600 M

Thanks a lot for the help guys!
Any of you guys recommend the inducer fan mtr?
My dad uses his to get the fire going after shakedowns

I know ideally u want air under the fire,so that's why I'm curious about them working
With my setup

Any and all feedback with this clayton is welcome
Any other tweaks to this machine while I have her apart?

Xwoodburner wrote:Any of you guys recommend the inducer fan mtr?
My dad uses his to get the fire going after shakedowns

I know ideally u want air under the fire,so that's why I'm curious about them working
With my setup

IN the manual it shows to mount that fan above the ash pan door. I wish I could see where exactly that air enters the fire box. If its coming in behind that front liner, then most of that combustion air is probably getting underneath the coal while some is coming up over thru the bypass passages. If that inducer fan air is coming in above the front liner and just shooting over the top of the coal bed I don't see it helping much. In fact, it could hurt efficiency since it would just carry heat out the chimney. I'm sure it works great for wood. Could you get a picture from inside the firebox of the front where that inducer is pushing air in?

Another thing with inducers is, you don't want a situation where the fan creates positive pressure in the fire box since Carbon Monoxide will find a way out into the furnace room instead of up the chimney. Usually not a problem when the chimney is pulling good but on warmer days during times of low chimney draft gotta be careful. Just keep watch on the mano..

Xwoodburner wrote:Also anything I can do to help it shake better.....it burns fine as long as I shake the heck out of it......and I mean a lot
Sometimes I have to shake it for 20 min to get out the ash

Shaking for 20 minutes seems quite excessive.. Your grate system is different than mine. Yours has the 6 or so small grates that lay parallel to each other where mine has the 2 bigger grates that are in line with each other. I'm thinking yours is a much better design than mine. Pull the grate system out and check for any warping on the grate frame or grates themselves. Check the linkage that's connected that moves the grates for any slop/play loose bolts, worn joints or whatever that would inhibit there duty clearing ash. What size coal have you tried in it? Nut or stove size runs best in these. Anything smaller could cause binding in the grates OR restrict combustion airflow up thru it causing your fire to burn slower/cooler.. Most of all, make sure there isn't the possibility of them being upside down. They maybe symmetrical, mine weren't.. I had mine upside down for nearly the whole first year I burned. The previous owners had them upside down and I didn't know any better till I pulled them out to replace one that I broke. Made a huge difference.

Hopefully someone with your grate system design could chime in

lightning, I think you just covered it for ANY grate system---well done neighbor:)

Well I took everything out of the clayton.... The firebricks,the end plates and the grates
I would recommend anyone who has issues with these stoves to do the same!!
I can see exactly what's going on. My front and rear plates were completely cracked
Rather than throw them out,I welded them and tack welded in plates to cover the bottom where it would allow air to bypass
Once I see if I can get it burning,I'll get new ones
I also realigned the shakers and they work a lot better
The inducer opening is going to put most of the air downtown the ash pan

I am thinking she will work better

I do have another question
What are ur thoughts on a chimney cap?
I put one when I was burning wood,and I had great draft
Could this be taking away from my draft with coal?

All I can tell you is that I have a cap on mine--some people don't--nothing ventured, nothing gained.

freetown fred wrote:All I can tell you is that I have a cap on mine--some people don't--nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I have a cap on mine also, but I would be interested I whether or not there is a consensus regarding caps being either detrimental or beneficial to draft.

Nice job on the mods.. I'm sure it will help Chimney cap, I use one and I recommend anyone to use one. Reason being, some fly ash will accumulate on the chimney surfaces. Rain falling down the chimney will #1 carry the fly ash to the bottom of the chimney and it will build up their (or possibly run down your flue pipe), eventually causing blockage or #2 the combination of water and fly ash creates sulfuric acid that will eat any metal it comes in contact with (for example a metal chimney clean out doorway OR metal chimney liner if either is present). I don't think a cap inhibits draft draw whatsoever unless it becomes clogged with soot, which I haven't seen happen but I suppose is possible if burning bituminous coal.

With coal there is actually less exhaust leaving the chimney than with wood, so the cap should have even less impact on chimney draw using coal. You would need to expel hundreds of cubic feet per minute of exhaust volume for a cap to inhibit any flow. That just isn't gonna happen with a coal fire. A coal fire only expels a few cubic feet (10 -20 cubic feet per minute maybe more, maybe less?) per minute of exhaust volume. That's my take on it someone correct me if I'm mistaken...

Ok guys, I'm looking at all aspects of this clayton to help with draft

I replaced the shaker handle,as it was quite worn where it connects to the grates
It seems to shake much better
I also noticed alot(2-3 inces of fly ash up on the top fire brick chamber that goes to the flue
I've cleaned everything and am replacing most f the fire brick

Next I'm looking at my coal from last year. Bought it locally from superior
Place had great reviews
They called it stove sized,I think it was possibably larger
I'm noticing that there is alot fine coals and coal dust mixed in
Wondering if this my be some of my issue with keeping it going?
Any thoughts

Chimney Draft Failure

Here's a thread I started about draft. Some good stuff here

Coal fines will inhibit combustion air flow up thru the coal bed resulting in a slower cooler burning fire. Some people screen them out. I was successful last year burning coal saturated with fines by giving her more primary air. It can be time consuming getting a fresh load burning though.

Thanks to all the help from u guys!!!
I tried out the furnace for a few days,and I believe that we have tamed the monster
I took everything apart,plugged the holes in the liners
And repaired the shakers
It shakes the ash so much easier
As soon as I shake and reload it,it's back up and firing
Before the shaker handle was not transferring the shaking to the grates
And it took forever to get ash out

Next up is installing a barometric damper!
What is the best method to set it up?
I installed it In a tee.....
Do u set it while its firing?
If so.....how hot?
Thanks

Hey Bro! Good to see ya back on the board. You should get a manometer to go with that barometric damper. They are fairly cheap and simple to operate and install. I recommend the Dwyer Mark II model 25. You need one to properly adjust your new barometric damper. It will also help you monitor your draft so you can watch for low draft or a draft failure on warmer days.

Thanks for all the help lighting!
I have the manometer....
Just not sure how to set the baro
What should the stack temp be?
When setting it?
Or is that unimportant

Yer Welcome partner! Set it during mid burn (a couple hours after re loading) when you have a normal size fire going.