New Member, New Stove

Welcome and congrats Scottaw on a successful baptism into the coal cult!

The first hurdle (getting a good first fire lasting through the night) is cleared and the others are coming up....shake down refinement and heat distribution.

We're here for ya as you progress through your new addiction.....

By the way, my theory on Fred cataloging all our locations is so he has pit stops laid out on an upcoming 8N road trip!!

Ok, couple more questions...

The coal is currently glowing right to the bottom of the hopper, that's normal and safe right? There's no indication that anything is burning in the hopper, just checking.

Is there a purpose to the wire on the ash pan? I think I'm just going to cut it off if there isn't, it makes getting the ashpan out of the stove more difficult than necessary.

I've seen several mentions of a washer for the shaker handle. Any links to discussions there? That side of the stove is running hotter than the other side.

Think that's all the questions. Stove sides are right around 300 with e ash door closed and thermostat at 12. Keeping the basement a nice 72 and warming the floors above. It's 20 outside.

Scottaw wrote:Ok, couple more questions...

The coal is currently glowing right to the bottom of the hopper, that's normal and safe right? There's no indication that anything is burning in the hopper, just checking.

Is there a purpose to the wire on the ash pan? I think I'm just going to cut it off if there isn't, it makes getting the ashpan out of the stove more difficult than necessary.

I've seen several mentions of a washer for the shaker handle. Any links to discussions there? That side of the stove is running hotter than the other side.

Think that's all the questions. Stove sides are right around 300 with e ash door closed and thermostat at 12. Keeping the basement a nice 72 and warming the floors above. It's 20 outside.

Anthracite burns primarily with air from below, and much less with air from above so you can store coal in the hopper without the fire going up into the hopper as long as the hopper lid is sealing well when closed to keep out air.

The wire is a handle.

If one side isn't as hot you may need to scrape the grates on that side from below to clean them out. They make knife blade like tools for this, or you can make your own.

michaelanthony wrote:That oil boiler ran for 45 yrs. and you could have lit that again with out checking you chimney, something tells me your liner is ok. Just wish you lived closer that install would cost you a couple pizza and maybe JUST MAYBE a couple cold ones.
Don't forget to ask what coal ash and h2o makes, and is that bad for stainless steel

it's even worse for plain black pipe....stainless will resist corrosion better. I've had a few cars with factory stainless coated exhaust systems, and they went nearly 200,000 miles with the factory system

the premium metal pipe chimneys and flue liners, are stainless.

masonry is the longest lasting of all, but gives up a ton of heat if the chimney is built outside the home.

Welcome to the forum. I also have a 50-93 in a 18 x 28 foot on slab, family room. It sure gets hot and is doing a 2400 SF house. 1200 each level. Good luck and keep posting.

Well I almost lost the fire today, still might.

I gave it a stir to try to revive a dead spot before I shook it down this morning, and I was down to glowing in just one side of the fire. Not being sure why it was dying I went with my first guess of "didn't shake enough ash through" gave it a good shake, covered the bark with foil, and left the ash door open for the past few hours. It looks like I may have a glow across the entire bottom again.

So where did I go wrong? I've heard after the first few days to be a little more aggressive with it so I don't have an air blockage on the bottom. Should I be stirring it around at the bottom of the hopper or shaking and leaving it alone?

Another note. As I was trying to figure out what was going wrong today I noticed a fairly large gap the installers left in one of my pipes. The pipe is out of round and there is a 2"x 1/4" gap around one of the joints. I currently have it covered in aluminum foil, could this extra air getting into the flue be the reason I can't get the stove over 300 even when it is burning well?

This truly is an every day learning experience. But my save tonight keeps me in the one match club...for now.

Scottaw wrote:So where did I go wrong? I've heard after the first few days to be a little more aggressive with it so I don't have an air blockage on the bottom. Should I be stirring it around at the bottom of the hopper or shaking and leaving it alone?

Coal fires don't like to be stirred. Most times, stirring a dying fire will kill it.

Scottaw wrote:As I was trying to figure out what was going wrong today I noticed a fairly large gap the installers left in one of my pipes. The pipe is out of round and there is a 2"x 1/4" gap around one of the joints. I currently have it covered in aluminum foil, could this extra air getting into the flue be the reason I can't get the stove over 300 even when it is burning well?

Can you get a picture of this? Any holes or gaps in the pipe would allow cooler air into it and have the effect of reducing draft and very well could hamper heat output. But that wouldn't happen when its "burning well", the reduced draft pressure would not allow it to burn well..

titleist1 wrote:Welcome and congrats Scottaw on a successful baptism into the coal cult!

The first hurdle (getting a good first fire lasting through the night) is cleared and the others are coming up....shake down refinement and heat distribution.

We're here for ya as you progress through your new addiction.....

By the way, my theory on Fred cataloging all our locations is so he has pit stops laid out on an upcoming 8N road trip!!

Naw, he is looking for people who live close enough to help him with the haying next summer.

And we're still alive! When I woke up this
Morning I still wasn't hot, but I had a pretty good glowing bed, so I felt safe enough to give it a good shakedown, and there was problem #1, I shook for quite some time until any coals fell through, I was choking the fire from below. So I emptied the ash pan, left the door wide open for 5 minutes and had blue flames over the entire area. Once they established I waited another 5 and shook down until I had lots of burning embers falling. All closed up again now and the fire has taken off again. I'll let you know in a few hours how we're doing heat wise.

Few hours, ha! I've got the sides of the stove to 400 within an hour. Guess that was an easy fix, straight user error. I now realize that a few embers in the ash pan isn't enough. Seeing the glow from above in the ash pan is where I need to be.

Thermostat at 12, flapper is closed, running 375-400 on the stove body.

Going out today to buy a heat shield (installers said not necessary, but I'm close to tolerances in an old house) and pick up another load of coal.

I spent about 6 hours in the last 2 days piddling around with this, you guys weren't kidding, addiction is the right word.

Scottaw wrote:Few hours, ha! I've got the sides of the stove to 400 within an hour. Guess that was an easy fix, straight user error. I now realize that a few embers in the ash pan isn't enough. Seeing the glow from above in the ash pan is where I need to be.

From pg 4 of the 50-93 Owner's Manual: "You should shake the grates until you see bits of red coals dropping into the ash pan the whole way along the grates".

Scottaw wrote:Few hours, ha! I've got the sides of the stove to 400 within an hour. Guess that was an easy fix, straight user error. I now realize that a few embers in the ash pan isn't enough. Seeing the glow from above in the ash pan is where I need to be.

Congrats on clearing the second hurdle - learning the nuances of the shake down process for your stove!!

How are you doing with the heat distribution throughout the house?? Usually that is the third hurdle for stoves.

by the way....my name is bob and I am a coal addict....new members are expected to bring donuts to the group therapy support sessions!!

Scottaw wrote: left the ash door open for the past few hours.

This doesn't seem right from everything I've read with leaving the ash pan door open. I'm still new at this myself though. Does anyone else think this is incorrect or am I wrong?

BTW, twice I had my fire start to go out over the past few weeks. I think it was ash build around the edges. As someone else already mentioned, it's suggested by the manufacturer that poking the edges may be needed on occasion.

His fire was dying so he let the ash pan door open attempting to revive it.

Lightning wrote:His fire was dying so he let the ash pan door open attempting to revive it.

Ok, I just here the horror stories of people forgetting to close the door. I guess it makes sense as long as you're there watching it.