Chronicles of the Clayton

 
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joeq
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Joined: Sat. Feb. 11, 2012 11:53 am
Location: Northern CT
Hand Fed Coal Stove: G111, Southard Robertson

Post by joeq » Fri. Nov. 09, 2018 9:01 pm

I give it a 10 second reaction time. "HOT". :twisted:
(TOTP) :evil:

 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 7:16 am

Looks like there is a potential pizza oven under that grate!! :lol:

 
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Lightning
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Posts: 14658
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 6:04 pm

titleist1 wrote:
Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 7:16 am
Looks like there is a potential pizza oven under that grate!! :lol:
Oh man, I'm thinkin anymore than minute and it would be completely vaporized haha

 
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Ky Speedracer
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Posts: 492
Joined: Sun. Dec. 21, 2014 9:38 pm
Location: Middletown, Kentucky
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Florence HotBlast NO.68 & Potbelly
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: HotBlast 1557M
Coal Size/Type: Ky Lump & Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil

Post by Ky Speedracer » Wed. Nov. 28, 2018 3:13 pm

Hello Lightning. Hope you have been well.
I'm curious as to any update to your new "flat grate' with the "slicer" setup.
I haven't gone very far back in this thread yet, or researched your other threads (I know, this is the lazy way out... lol). I've seen where you have referred to them favorably a couple of times.
The original "rocker" grates work just fine for bit. I've tried anthracite a couple of times in mine and always get frustrated after a couple of days burning it with clearing ash.
Just curious.

Steve


 
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Lightning
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Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Wed. Nov. 28, 2018 10:02 pm

Hey Steve, thanks for your interest. About half way thru last heating season I had the radish with the shaker grates after finally breaking the nub on the rear grate. I love the new way with slicing on top the grate. It does a fantastic job of clearing ash with a lot less effort, and it's faster too. I wish I would have stumbled upon this method a long time ago. As for a downside with this technique, the only thing I can come up with is that it a little more messy. Ash tends to ride on the bar while pulling the bar outward. But no big deal to me in my dungeon of a basement. I give it two thumbs up over the shaker grates and all the mishaps I've had with using them. Not to mention all the blood sweat and tears I put into making them better, which eventually failed.

How have you been? How's that awesome Kentucky lump treating you?
Last edited by Lightning on Wed. Nov. 28, 2018 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Dieselpowerf350
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Posts: 200
Joined: Sun. Oct. 25, 2015 6:51 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Hotblast 1557m
Coal Size/Type: All and I want more....lol!
Other Heating: Oil

Post by Dieselpowerf350 » Wed. Nov. 28, 2018 10:08 pm

Steve, anthracite isn’t bad in our stoves. You just have to shake a little, scrape the sides, reload and floss underneath. I’m set up like Lenny except I have an induction blower. It only takes about 7 minutes for recovery.
I like both coal. I’m going out Saturday to Holloway tipple in Ohio and get some lump bit coal for my buck stove. I will say if you can get the hang of burning anthracite that will be your go to coal. 18-32 hours roughly I get depending on temps.
Lightning is the man follow his shake and reload and you can’t go wrong.

 
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Ky Speedracer
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Posts: 492
Joined: Sun. Dec. 21, 2014 9:38 pm
Location: Middletown, Kentucky
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Florence HotBlast NO.68 & Potbelly
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: HotBlast 1557M
Coal Size/Type: Ky Lump & Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil

Post by Ky Speedracer » Thu. Nov. 29, 2018 11:36 am

Aww, the the good ol' US Stove rocker grate nub... I recall your frustrations with the breaking those over the years. Fortunately (and I say the following after I've looked for and found a great big solid piece of wood to knock on...), In just a touch over 4 years of using this stove, I've never broken a nub (now I'm doomed... lol).
As you know, I burn primarily bit and the ash clearing for it is very similar to clearing ash for wood. The rocker grate setup in these stoves actually clears the ash for me quickly and easily.
Living this far south in comparison to most of the guys on here, I only have a fraction of the burn season that you all have in the north. We typically only have about 6 to 8 weeks of of what "we" consider really cold weather. Temps that can reach low single digits to mid 20s. My primary forced air furnace is oil fueled. Since heating oil prices aren't stupid expensive at the moment, we tend to take the lazy way out and use it most of the time. Plus, I have pretty easy access to quality bit coal for $175 per ton for my add on HotBlast stove. We tend to use it in January and February because it keeps the house crazy warm cheaply.
With that said, I do find the anthracite burning intriguing. I have burned enough of it in my stove to appreciate the long burn times, and more interesting to me, the even temps that you get with anthracite. Bit burns easy and hot for several hours and the slowly falls throughout the night.
On the other hand when I burn anthracite, it burns really well for about the first 3 days. Then I begin to get cold spots in the fire bed, primarily in the back. I know why; it is because of the connection between the two rocker grates in this stove. I can shake and clear the front of the fire box pretty well. But, in order to clear the back part, I have to aggressively run a poker under the fire bed to clear ash. That seems to upset the anthracite fire an makes really tough for it to recover for some reason. Then I have half a stove burning and the other half basically has to start over...
I have not bought any bit yet this season. Part of me wants to make the grate change and commit to anthracite for a season.
Just thinking out loud...
Sorry, probably should start another thread with my musings and not derail yours...

 
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Dieselpowerf350
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Posts: 200
Joined: Sun. Oct. 25, 2015 6:51 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Hotblast 1557m
Coal Size/Type: All and I want more....lol!
Other Heating: Oil

Post by Dieselpowerf350 » Thu. Nov. 29, 2018 12:01 pm

Yes bolts through the shaker to connect them together works wonders. In my case it takes longer to poke up through the bottom than recovery time cause of my blower on the ash door. When I get a chance I’m probably gonna switch out and try the flat grate like lightning. That’s the only down to this stove is the shaker having trouble. The one thing I found helpful is to run a poker underneath before shaking it kinda helps break it up more.
If you can find Lehigh anthracite try that. It’s night and day in my stove. I’ve tried reading and it doesn’t seem to last as long and leaves big chunks. Santa coal just didn’t seem to burn as hot, but burned to a powder. The Lehigh burns hot and a white fine ash


 
KingCoal
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Joined: Wed. Apr. 03, 2013 1:24 pm
Location: Elkhart county, IN.
Hand Fed Coal Stove: 1 comforter stove works all iron coal box stove, seventies.
Baseburners & Antiques: 2014 DTS C17 Base Burner, GW #6, GW 113 formerly Sir Williams, maybe others at Pauliewog’s I’ve forgotten about
Coal Size/Type: Nut Anth.
Other Heating: none

Post by KingCoal » Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 8:06 am

Lightning wrote:
Sun. Dec. 18, 2016 5:31 pm
Thanks man, love those black rocks. I have to admit, I've done many modifications to this unit. I think the best feature I put on this stove is the thermostat controlled primary combustion air. It runs off the thermostat in the living room. It opens when we need a little more heat and closes when there is just enough. In the meantime it's at a cruise setting wherever I want it be by the manual combustion air control. The occasional automatic revving of the fire seems to keep it healthier too.
Hi Lee, can you post a pic of the actual hardware on the stove that makes the air adjustment?
And if you don’t mind maybe send me a PM about the circuits that make it function ?
Thanks
steve

 
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Lightning
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Posts: 14658
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 3:32 pm

KingCoal wrote:
Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 8:06 am
Hi Lee, can you post a pic of the actual hardware on the stove that makes the air adjustment?
And if you don’t mind maybe send me a PM about the circuits that make it function ?
Thanks
steve
Hey thanks for your interest.. I've since sold the actuator and don't have the furnace anymore but I'll try to do some digging and see what I can find.

 
KingCoal
Member
Posts: 4837
Joined: Wed. Apr. 03, 2013 1:24 pm
Location: Elkhart county, IN.
Hand Fed Coal Stove: 1 comforter stove works all iron coal box stove, seventies.
Baseburners & Antiques: 2014 DTS C17 Base Burner, GW #6, GW 113 formerly Sir Williams, maybe others at Pauliewog’s I’ve forgotten about
Coal Size/Type: Nut Anth.
Other Heating: none

Post by KingCoal » Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 3:59 pm

Scroll down one topic, found it in your thread about the very thing.
Now all I need to know is how to energy the actuator and I’m golden
Thanks
steve

 
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Lightning
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Posts: 14658
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Tue. Feb. 01, 2022 5:48 pm

Here is a similar one, there are many to choose from on ebay. This one uses thermostat voltage, 24AC or DC.

This one doesn't have the spring return, but others do.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Johnson-Controls-M9108-G ... 632-2357-0

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