Coalpail.com Forum

Hi
I have a Brown tile WESO coal/wood stove. Ive been using it now for about 7 years only with wood.
I know your all wondering how I got this stove. Well it was in a house that my stepson moved into. It was connected to the same stack as the furnace. IT looked so nice that's the reason we moved it from, CT to VT. I'm very happy that it I wasn't doing the moving....lol
When it got here we moved the garrison out to the shed. Been using wood since then.
I tried some coal last night. It didn't keep going like the wood. Wood would make it from 10 PM until 6AM some days more some less.
What am I doing wrong? I started with a wood fire got a good bed of red coals going then I added the coal. Looking at the coalit is like gray on the outside but feels solid. Meaning that it hasn't burned all the way, right? I got one bag 40lbs 3>3 1/2 " for the price of $7.50.
My goal is to use wood then switch to coal at night. I read somewhere that it would burn long and just as hot as wood. It is anthracitic coal from PA. Also some of the coal felt damp. But it was in a plastic bag and was stored outside under a shed then I got it and it came into my home that was warm. I was thinking that could be the reason. any ideas about that.

Thanks

Not familar with your stove & cant find it online. Are you sure it's designed to burn coal? (Does it have shaker grates, a deep coal bed & a way to let air in only from below the coal bed?) Post of few pics of the inside of your stove

Devil5052 wrote:Not familar with your stove & cant find it online. Are you sure it's designed to burn coal? (Does it have shaker grates, a deep coal bed & a way to let air in only from below the coal bed?) Post of few pics of the inside of your stove

You wouldn't be able to find this stove online it was built in the 70's during the fuel problems of those times.
It has a shaker grate, and the fire box is about 5 " deep at the botton of the door going down, and about 16" > 18" wide and about 8" deep. I'm not sure if that is all that is needed for a deep coal bed. There is a flap at the rear of the stove towards the bottom. I could controle it and keep it open or it is ment to work automaticly. If the knob is turned it closes the flap then as it needs air it opens on its own.
Will get back with a few pictures soon.

This should help.
http://www.homewarmth.com/pdffiles/coalburningtips.pdf
Once going, anthracite needs to completely fill the firebox to the top of the firebrick. All the air to the fire needs to come from below, close all vents above the grates as they are for bituminous or wood only, not anthracite.
I would not attempt to switch burns between wood and coal on a daily basis. Once you are into a coal fire, stay with it until its too warm and then go back to wood.

Devil5052 wrote:Not familar with your stove & cant find it online. Are you sure it's designed to burn coal? (Does it have shaker grates, a deep coal bed & a way to let air in only from below the coal bed?) Post of few pics of the inside of your stove

Here are some pictures I hope

Here are more pictures

It looks like it could burn coal but not sure how the shaker works?? If you get it working, I would take coaledsweat's adice about mixing wood & coal fires. It is way too much of a pain to clean the stove out daily & restart. Just turn the fire down at night & keep a coal fire going 24/7. Most of us here start our stoves in the late fall & run them non-stop through the winter. Even with a hand-fired stove yoiu can cut your workload to maye 15 minutes a day total. Let us know how it works & maybe someone familiar with your stove will chime in. Good luck with it.

I don't think its going to be a good anthracite burner. The grate is for wood, maybe you could burn bituminous in it. The firebox should also be lined with firebrick. It may have a proper grate available for anthracite, if you could find one it would be worth a try.
I would try and sell that and get a real coal burner if you want to enjoy the experience.

I (well, my Dad) have a red WESO stove. I am in the process of getting it up and running. I have a contact at the importer in NH that I have yet to call. Maybe this post will prod me along.

The manual says it is designed to burn bituminous coal but I have an additional sheet that came with it from a UL lab that claims it was tested with anthracite. My dad tried to burn coal in it back in the late 70's/early 80's but never did get the hang of it so we just used wood. Now that I have some experience with coal, I'd like to give it a shot myself.

Keep in touch with me, maybe we can figure this out. I have to regasket the doors and make sure there aren't any others that need replacement before I fire it up. I also want to add a baro damper.

EDIT:Judging by your pictures, I'd say you need new door gaskets as well. The soot buildup above the door looks a little rough. And I see you took the panel off in the top. Mine has never been off. Is there a gasket there as well?