Shaking a Chubby
I am new to hand fed stoves, so bear with me. Recently I purchased a Coal Chubby for $100, added $10 worth of gaskets and voila, nice heat. Such a steal I thought. It puts out plenty of heat for my 900 Square foot shop (with just a tarp for a door at present). The problem is shaking down the ashes. I am trying to keep it going all night so there are enough coals in the bottom to get it going again in the morning. I have been successful only twice, with a nice glowing bed of coals 10 hours after last firing. Most of the time the coal has burned out and not burned up the coal, just suffocated itself. I have tried shaking gently, vigorously, only a couple times to many times. what's the secret?
- ONEDOLLAR
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Lew
What size of coal are you using? Try giving it a little more air when you leave the show. Also might not hurt to give a few poker through the grates after you shake down and fill her up.
Do you have a manual pipe damper installed? A Baro? What is you location. All of these things help us figure these things out. You should have no problems getting an easy 12 hour burn time with no problems getting her going back up to temp with a Chubby. I was getting 14 hours with a Chubby Jr and I get an easy 16 now with the new Chubby. I wonder if your tarp for a door could be causing some draft issues?
What size of coal are you using? Try giving it a little more air when you leave the show. Also might not hurt to give a few poker through the grates after you shake down and fill her up.
Do you have a manual pipe damper installed? A Baro? What is you location. All of these things help us figure these things out. You should have no problems getting an easy 12 hour burn time with no problems getting her going back up to temp with a Chubby. I was getting 14 hours with a Chubby Jr and I get an easy 16 now with the new Chubby. I wonder if your tarp for a door could be causing some draft issues?
- jjs777_fzr
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Here's the url to the video from the manufacturer. It helped me realize how important it is to poke the fire.
The shaking mechanism is not going to be enough to maintain a good airflow through the bed.
http://vimeo.com/8506320
The shaking mechanism is not going to be enough to maintain a good airflow through the bed.
http://vimeo.com/8506320
- buffalo bob
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great vido
- D-frost
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Lew, Sounds like you got a good deal. I'm going to be a new member of 'Club Chubby' myself. I just bought a used Chubby to replace a Jotul #118 wood burner. I have to make a parts run to "taxachusetts" this week. The 20 minute video that Larry Trainer has on burning the Chubby is excellent. If you want an education on Chubby, use the search block at the top right of the screen. It's a very good source of knowledge.
Best of luck to you,
Cheers
Best of luck to you,
Cheers
- D-frost
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Onedollar,
NO-NO, I'm joining the "club". I already have 'religion'!!!
Thank you for the welcome.
Cheers
NO-NO, I'm joining the "club". I already have 'religion'!!!
Thank you for the welcome.
Cheers
- windyhill4.2
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Fantastic video indeed,WOW !! and that was a brand new chubby ??
- ONEDOLLAR
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The Chubby in that video is one Larry made in the 80's. They still look the same. Haven't changed much in 30 years on the exterior.windyhill4.2 wrote:Fantastic video indeed,WOW !! and that was a brand new chubby ??
- tcalo
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I've been burning a Chubby for a few years now. Included in the sale of our house was one of the original rear vent Chubby Coal Stoves. It had the original wood handles and 1st upgraded firepot. Larry was amazed to see it. In order to shake the coal I had to open the ash door and attach a handle to the grate, then shake the crap out of it. A plume of ash billowed out of the stove every time. Talk about messy...UGH! I traded it in for a reconditioned top vent. The new shaker grate is a world of difference. I recently started a tread about the Chubby shaker grate system, Shaker Design.
Thought I would run down memory lane with you...back to your question. Like most have said, there are many factors that influence a burn. More information about your setup would be very helpful. I normally open my MPD and ash door, then throw a few scoops of fresh coal on top. This helps the fire wake up. NEVER shake a low fire, guaranteed to go out...or take far too long to revive. Once the fire is ripping (about 5 minutes) then I close the ash door and primary air. I leave the MPD open and shake the crap out of the stove. Once I get a nice glow under the grates then I stop shaking. I open the primary air 100%, feed my poker through it and dig between the grates until the entire bottom of my coal bed is glowing (by feeding the poker through the primary air opening it helps eliminate any ash from leaving the stove). I then load the stove up with fresh coal and wait for the pretty blue ladies to make an appearance before adjusting my settings for the long burn.
I usually burn Blaschak coal and average 12+ hours. This year I used a different supplier and have been getting much shorter burn times with a lot more ash. I normally tend my stove twice a day, but this year I find myself having to tend the stove 3 times a day to get the most out of it. Ash has been a nightmare. My point...everything affects how a stove burns. Location, insulation, coal quality, weather, etc. Sorry for the long reply, just thought my situation may help answer some of your questions. Good luck, and welcome to the Chubby cult...
Thought I would run down memory lane with you...back to your question. Like most have said, there are many factors that influence a burn. More information about your setup would be very helpful. I normally open my MPD and ash door, then throw a few scoops of fresh coal on top. This helps the fire wake up. NEVER shake a low fire, guaranteed to go out...or take far too long to revive. Once the fire is ripping (about 5 minutes) then I close the ash door and primary air. I leave the MPD open and shake the crap out of the stove. Once I get a nice glow under the grates then I stop shaking. I open the primary air 100%, feed my poker through it and dig between the grates until the entire bottom of my coal bed is glowing (by feeding the poker through the primary air opening it helps eliminate any ash from leaving the stove). I then load the stove up with fresh coal and wait for the pretty blue ladies to make an appearance before adjusting my settings for the long burn.
I usually burn Blaschak coal and average 12+ hours. This year I used a different supplier and have been getting much shorter burn times with a lot more ash. I normally tend my stove twice a day, but this year I find myself having to tend the stove 3 times a day to get the most out of it. Ash has been a nightmare. My point...everything affects how a stove burns. Location, insulation, coal quality, weather, etc. Sorry for the long reply, just thought my situation may help answer some of your questions. Good luck, and welcome to the Chubby cult...
Thanks for the replies. I have a MPD on the back of the stove, no barometric damper and lots of draft. The chimney is 7 inch metalbestos, 3 ft. through the wall and 12 feet straight up. there is 8 feet of black stove pipe before it enters the chimney. with the MPD and bottome draft open, you can hear it whistle when starting a wood fire over clean grates. I haven't the time to watch the video now but am very happy that you guys could point it out to me and that someone took the time to make it. From you guys have said, I believe my problem is not getting the grates clean enough. If I lay on my side and poke through the gates until I see a glow, then I have much better results. I guess I will have to make aspecial poker to clean the grates better. Thanks again.
- jjs777_fzr
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Since this thread is about shaking - I should throw in...if I come home to a very low fire where just one or two coals appear to be burning...I now use a cup full of wood pellets to get it going again. The pellets take right off and establish a nice draft where I can then perform the shake down - maybe throw another cup full of pellets in - get the fire roaring and then throw in a scoop or two of coal.
Prior to using wood pellets to reestablish the fire - I was hunting for bits of wood and small wood splits. Heck with that. I sort of felt like I was cheating using wood pellets but for 4 or 5 bucks a bag - it has saved the fire for me on more than occasion and if I shake it to dump the ash - I don't mind losing a few glowing wood pellets embers.
Note - for me - establishing a real nice draft before I shake is essential - as I find all ash dust gets sucked right out the flu rather than inside the dwelling. Last thing you'd want to do is inhale coal ash dust.
Prior to using wood pellets to reestablish the fire - I was hunting for bits of wood and small wood splits. Heck with that. I sort of felt like I was cheating using wood pellets but for 4 or 5 bucks a bag - it has saved the fire for me on more than occasion and if I shake it to dump the ash - I don't mind losing a few glowing wood pellets embers.
Note - for me - establishing a real nice draft before I shake is essential - as I find all ash dust gets sucked right out the flu rather than inside the dwelling. Last thing you'd want to do is inhale coal ash dust.
- dcrane
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Thats a heck of a good tip that makes sense and ive not seen mentioned before! GGjjs777_fzr wrote:Since this thread is about shaking - I should throw in...if I come home to a very low fire where just one or two coals appear to be burning...I now use a cup full of wood pellets to get it going again. The pellets take right off and establish a nice draft where I can then perform the shake down - maybe throw another cup full of pellets in - get the fire roaring and then throw in a scoop or two of coal.
Prior to using wood pellets to reestablish the fire - I was hunting for bits of wood and small wood splits. Heck with that. I sort of felt like I was cheating using wood pellets but for 4 or 5 bucks a bag - it has saved the fire for me on more than occasion and if I shake it to dump the ash - I don't mind losing a few glowing wood pellets embers.
Note - for me - establishing a real nice draft before I shake is essential - as I find all ash dust gets sucked right out the flu rather than inside the dwelling. Last thing you'd want to do is inhale coal ash dust.
-
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Hey, I'm also new to burning coal and also have a chubby. This is my 2nd season burning. Currently, my fire has been going since the warm up into the 70's a few weeks back. Yes, it was a bit of a learning curve for me. Overnight burns are a cinch now. What did it for me was replacing ALL the gaskets onthe stove (including the top lid gasket). Also, don't be afraid to close up that air vent to just a hairline crack. If the gaskets are good, she will burn almost 24 hrs with the vents closed up. As fas as shaking, last season my stove would get ash bound pretty quickly. I discovered that my grate was warped and not shaking correctly. I bought a new one and the difference is night and day!! I've also found the hotter you burn the stove, the more clinkers form and the harder it is to shake, so keep that in mind. Hope this helps!!
Ohhh, another thing, during the pre-season clean-up, I broke my cheap vogelzang baro damper. I took it off and never replaced it. I only have an MPD now. My stove seems to run better w/out it.
Ohhh, another thing, during the pre-season clean-up, I broke my cheap vogelzang baro damper. I took it off and never replaced it. I only have an MPD now. My stove seems to run better w/out it.