Pea Burning as Hot as Nut?

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jschaefer7406
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Post by jschaefer7406 » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 12:03 am

Hello all,

Hoping to hear from a few who switch between sizes, preferably nut and pea. I know there's a dedicated thread on size comparison, sorry if this should be there :?.

Brought home 2 ton of pea yesterday, first time in ever burning anything but nut. Was hoping it would burn cooler, but seems to be burning every bit as hot as the nut did :(. Now, before everyone says "air leak", wouldn't it still burn cooler given the same air? I know my furnace isn't 100% air tight, never will be. But nothing else changed, just the size/brand...

New coal is DiRenzo, nut was Mallard. The Mallard nut seemed to burn hotter than previous I've used (UAE, local before that). So unless DiRenzo coal is just generally THAT much hotter burning than Mallard, I don't know what gives. I'll make do, just was hoping for a little more control for the warmer months ahead :).

Any info appreciated, thanks

Joe


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 2:03 am

HI Joe! No matter what size coal, you should be able to turn down your primary combustion air to achieve a cooler burn. If your primary air is closed and its still burning too hot then it is leaking too much air. A replacement of the ash pan door seal may be needed. You may be able to reduce draft strength with a manual pipe damper or barometric damper to achieve a cooler/slower burn also ...

Overall, the smaller coal will be happier to burn at a cooler/slower rate than the bigger coal. Bigger coal will burn easier at a hotter/faster rate than the smaller coal. Burn rate is still dictated by the amount of combustion air it is given.

Since coal is a pretty much an unrefined fuel (other than for sizing), every location where coal is mined can have slightly different burning characteristics which shows up in the different brands. We get what nature created.

Hope this helps.... :D

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 5:15 am

Your new coal is probably more sensitive to airflow...I burned a couple hundred lbs of Direnzo a month ago and had to cut the air back, it burned very hot.

 
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michaelanthony
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Post by michaelanthony » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 7:09 am

I just switched from Reading 'nut to Reading pea and the biggest difference is the uniform size with pea and much, MUCH CLEANER! I will not buy Reading 'nut next year. I think the Vigilant likes pea better anyhow. I am getting temps that are slightly lower and I think that is because I am using less coal by volume. I am getting better burn times with the pea and next winter I will stick with it.

 
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Post by dcrane » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 7:23 am

Lightning wrote:HI Joe! No matter what size coal, you should be able to turn down your primary combustion air to achieve a cooler burn. If your primary air is closed and its still burning too hot then it is leaking too much air. A replacement of the ash pan door seal may be needed. You may be able to reduce draft strength with a manual pipe damper or barometric damper to achieve a cooler/slower burn also ...

Overall, the smaller coal will be happier to burn at a cooler/slower rate than the bigger coal. Bigger coal will burn easier at a hotter/faster rate than the smaller coal. Burn rate is still dictated by the amount of combustion air it is given.

Since coal is a pretty much an unrefined fuel (other than for sizing), every location where coal is mined can have slightly different burning characteristics which shows up in the different brands. We get what nature created.

Hope this helps.... :D
GOOD LORD that's a perfect, short, complete answer... your leaving me speechless :mad3: (im going back to bed) toothy

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 7:59 am

Thanks Doug, yer a good man! :D

 
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Post by BPatrick » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 9:36 am

I've had different ton pallets from the same supplier burn different. No matter what size coal you burn if the coal is higher quality with no red ash then it's going to run hotter. Completely agree with what's been stated earlier, air control is the secret to controlling the temps. With the same air settings (both under-fire and over-fire), different sized coal will burn at different temps. I've found personally in my antique stoves, that pea tends to create clunkers while stove and chestnut does not.


 
jschaefer7406
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Post by jschaefer7406 » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 5:49 pm

Thanks for the replies.

Did replace all door gaskets in November when first fired. I know my furnace isn't air-tight, doubt it ever will be. I know for a fact the loading door probably leaks, but being secondary air, shouldn't make the fire burn hotter...

Either way, what has me stumped is that even if there ARE leaks, they didn't change. Must be just the source change?

Thanks,

Joe

P.S. - I am running a baro, set to .04". Have an MPD, but don't use it much (let the baro handle it)...

 
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Post by Lightning » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 6:56 pm

Does the furnace still run too hot with the primary completely closed? Or can you dial it down to the heat output you want? What are your pipe and over the load door temps at the lowest you can idle it down?

 
jschaefer7406
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Post by jschaefer7406 » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 7:08 pm

Lightning wrote:Does the furnace still run too hot with the primary completely closed? Or can you dial it down to the heat output you want? What are your pipe and over the load door temps at the lowest you can idle it down?
Lee,

Lowest I could get the nut was around 125° stack temp (magnetic thermometer, 12" above furnace). Don't have a thermometer on the front yet, not sure if it'd read accurate or not being a furnace and not a stove. Haven't had the pea shut down completely yet, is open just a hair. Afraid to shut it too far and go to work, being a new learning curve and all...

With the primary completely closed, I can get it to where the circulation blower will cycle. If it is open even a hair, blower will run not-stop (set to come on @ 150°, off around 90° or so). House is still pretty warm like that on warmer days though, even with it cycling. There will be a glow beneath the black coals, still some dancing ladies when shut completely down. Not sure what a low idle bed looks like, as this is the coldest I can idle mine. I would think I should be able to get the stack temp to around 100° and have the blower stay off, but no such luck :(...

I know its been said that the primary should be able to choke the fire, I've never been able to do that in the 3+ years I've been burning. Dollar bill trick passes on the ash door, would think it should be reasonably tight then.

Thanks for the help,

Joe

 
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Post by Rob R. » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 7:12 pm

I'd throttle it with the MPD and see what happens.

 
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Post by Lightning » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 7:22 pm

Hmmm.... 125 degrees, 12 inches up the pipe is pretty low. I have to keep a close eye on draft pressure running that cool.. 8-)

I like Rob's idea, maybe it would throttle back further closing the MPD some..

 
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Post by Dennis » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 7:22 pm

jschaefer7406 wrote:New coal is DiRenzo, nut was Mallard. The Mallard nut seemed to burn hotter than previous I've used (UAE, local before that). So unless DiRenzo coal is just generally THAT much hotter burning than Mallard, I don't know what gives. I'll make do, just was hoping for a little more control for the warmer months ahead .
Just last week I was at Cabalas and took a 20 mile ride north to DiRenzo coal in Pottsville,picked up 1/2 ton of nut.I was burning Balsachk stove.From my compairsion the DiRenzo burned waay much hotter with waay less ash. DiRenzo seemed to be mixed white and red ash.I used the same air combustion and noticed small sized cilnkers,same as the old UAE(I needed the air up to max for the Balaschk,so next year I will be cutting back on the air and will be getting my coal from DiRenzo next year. :dancing:

 
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Post by Lightning » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 7:40 pm

Dennis wrote:getting my coal from DiRenzo next year
Dam it man! I want some a that!! 8-)

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 8:06 pm

Lightning wrote:
Dennis wrote:getting my coal from DiRenzo next year
Dam it man! I want some a that!! 8-)
Get the drill out again, . . . you'll need smaller salt and pepper shakers ! :D

Paul


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