Newbie Needs Advice on Purchase

 
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coal berner
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Post by coal berner » Wed. May. 28, 2008 3:09 pm

Cyber36 wrote:It sounds like something is wrong if your fire is out after only 12 hours. :?
Are you filling it as high as you can when you load & shake down? Maybe try lowering the stove temp during the day when you are at work?? Sounds like a fixable problem to me!
Load & shake down?? I've been doing it the other way around, which is what I thought I learned here. At times, I have had struggling fires. Should I switch? Oh, the other issue is - shaking down hot or under normal conditions. Again, I've heard both & have been doing mine hot. Yes, it's a hand-fired.............[/quote]

Cyber36 Always shake a hot fire never a low one Open the ash door for a few Minutes get the fire hot then shake the
ashes down shut the ash door when shaking if you can on your unit some units would have to stay open during shaking after shaking open the ash door again then open your loading door fill the unit up with coal to the top of the firebricks
keep the loading door crack open a little so the gases will go up the chimney also keep the ash door open for a few
minutes until the new load of coal catches then shut the ash door and loading door all the way adjust air if needed Never walk away with ash door open or loading door Oh one more thing if you loading door as air adjusting knobs then you don't have to keep the loading door cracked open after you fill up You can use them to help wash away the gases until the new load of coa is burning completely then you can shut the air knobs on the door You will have a happy coal fire

 
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grizzly2
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Post by grizzly2 » Wed. May. 28, 2008 9:45 pm

I love my Hitzer 30-95. Gravity fed hopper. Non-electric thermostat controled draft. I have gone 30+ hours without stoking, and 17 hours without shaking, and it looked like it could have gone quite a bit longer without shaking. This fall I will experiment with burning wood to take the chill off in the evening. I think rather than taking the hopper out, I will turn the hopper arround to create a baffel so the flame does not go right up the stove pipe. I chose the Hitzer so I could burn wood or coal. Like some of the other guys are saying, burning all coal is the simplest and cleanest way to go. I too want to take advantage of free wood. Once I do start a coal fire, I will keep it going continuously until spring.

From all I read, the Harman stoves are also a good choice if you have a good dealer. The factory will not deal directly with the customer if you have questions or problems. The Hitzer factory is very responsive to email enquireies, with a next day response in my experience.

Good luck and you will never be sorry you switched to coal. :)

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. May. 29, 2008 9:47 am

coal berner wrote:Always shake a hot fire never a low one Open the ash door for a few Minutes get the fire hot then shake the ashes down
This is where a stack thermometer will be very usefull. When you open the ash door and watch the temperature react, it will tell you how healthy your fire is. If it reacts fast and the temp comes right up, you are in good shape. If it reacts slow, you know it is hurting and will require a little more time and attention to detail. I always put about 150* higher temp in the stack (unless the fan is going, then it is already up there) before the shake, then bank and reload. ;)


 
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captcaper
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Post by captcaper » Thu. May. 29, 2008 12:04 pm

I too need some advice. I burnt coal in Onset Ma. for 14 years with a Chubby made by Plymouth Stove works but sold it years ago. I now live in Northern NH and want to get back into it. I've lost touch on which are which stoves.

The big problem I had with the Chubby is the shaker wouldn't knock down the ash good so I had to open the ash door and use the poker they gave me to poke up inbetween the grate to pull and knock down the ash. It made a mess dust wise in the house.

Which stoves have a good grate system so I can avoid this same problem? I remember old stoves use to use a crank and the grate would spin around grinding down the ashes..it did a nice clean job with out dust.

 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Thu. May. 29, 2008 12:36 pm

captcaper wrote:I too need some advice. I burnt coal in Onset Ma. for 14 years with a Chubby made by Plymouth Stove works but sold it years ago. I now live in Northern NH and want to get back into it. I've lost touch on which are which stoves.

The big problem I had with the Chubby is the shaker wouldn't knock down the ash good so I had to open the ash door and use the poker they gave me to poke up inbetween the grate to pull and knock down the ash. It made a mess dust wise in the house.

Which stoves have a good grate system so I can avoid this same problem? I remember old stoves use to use a crank and the grate would spin around grinding down the ashes..it did a nice clean job with out dust.
I think most members here would recommend a few stove manufacturers amongst which Harman is a very well made stove & I would recommend any that fit your needs.
http://www.harmanstoves.com/ (any of their stoves will be light years ahead of you old Chubby)
(btw...the problem you mention above sounds like "Bridging" which can happen with any stove & has more to do with inferior coal than the stove itself. Whatever stove you get, make sure you read here what brands of coal are good. I had terrible problems with Reading Coal last winter....very bad Bridging)
Last edited by Devil505 on Thu. May. 29, 2008 2:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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captcaper
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Post by captcaper » Thu. May. 29, 2008 1:36 pm

I just got back from my local Harman dealer and he had a Mark III and I liked the grate shaker system very much. The stove looked very well made. I just had one problem with it in that it didn't have a top loading feature which I liked in my Chubby very much.

I don't like to bend over and shovel. My back can be stiff some days. He wanted $1800 and $300 a ton. $200 for 4 ft. section of Class A SS for my venting. I guess things are more money now for sure.


 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Thu. May. 29, 2008 2:46 pm

captcaper wrote:I just got back from my local Harman dealer and he had a Mark III and I liked the grate shaker system very much. The stove looked very well made. I just had one problem with it in that it didn't have a top loading feature which I liked in my Chubby very much.

I don't like to bend over and shovel. My back can be stiff some days. He wanted $1800 and $300 a ton. $200 for 4 ft. section of Class A SS for my venting. I guess things are more money now for sure.
Take a look at the Harman TLC2000...It is a top loader & my local Harman dealer just quoted me $1469.00 with a black door.

 
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coal berner
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Post by coal berner » Thu. May. 29, 2008 5:34 pm

coaledsweat wrote:
coal berner wrote:Always shake a hot fire never a low one Open the ash door for a few Minutes get the fire hot then shake the ashes down
This is where a stack thermometer will be very usefull. When you open the ash door and watch the temperature react, it will tell you how healthy your fire is. If it reacts fast and the temp comes right up, you are in good shape. If it reacts slow, you know it is hurting and will require a little more time and attention to detail. I always put about 150* higher temp in the stack (unless the fan is going, then it is already up there) before the shake, then bank and reload. ;)
Yep you are correct I have two probe thermometers in the stack one before the heat reclaimer and one after also have
one on each side of the stove where the hot air comes out also have two magnetic ones on it to one above the loading
door on the front of stove and on above the baro I am coverd looks like a NASA project :lol: I always control by the stack temp thats way I can get a 36 to 40 hr burn on a load of nut It also helps when you burn the good stuff ;)

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