Heat Battle

Yesterday was a very trying stove day, for some reason. I was re-entering my normal stove cleaning ritual as I do everyday, when returning home from work, and my 111 "totally refused" to take off. Performed the normal poke, add, and de-ash, wait for the fire to build ' shake her down good, re-add more LA stove coal, got lazy cause the LA hod was M/T, so I added a layer of TSC nut coal, and seriously believe that's what was choking down my fire. I did add some more LA stove to the top of the pile, but after "4 hrs!" of having my clinker door, ash pan door, and MPD wide open, and in DD, I still couldn't muster over 300° on the barrel. My pot temperature, (which is measuring down low) was it's normal 500+ degrees, but even after poking and breaking through the top of the coal bed, (plenty of blues) and orange underneath, but the barrel would not come up. I let the Mrs. do her magic when she offered, and just B4 the end of the evening, the temp barely made it to 400°. the oats were mid 30s, but was the barometric pressures affecting it? Who knows. Tonite, all went as normal, and got her blazing to 500° in no time, and closed it back to normal.
Anyone else ever have these type of weird issues?
Here's a few photos of the stove last nite. Not very good, but you get the idea. Sorry for the crooked one.
this shows the doors open, all nite This one is the pot state, after about 3 hrs opened up. here's the gauge, after the same 3 hrs burn plenty of draft And finally the OATs.

Im not saying its the issue, but I know my draft reading always drops to its lowest right before it starts snowing or raining, and just a while after it starts. Thats with all other things being the same. I know its windier here than most places, so if no wind it would likely get lower.

Your coal issue isnt helping either.

new note to self.

after successful evening tending with proper coal and ritual ALWAYS go get 2 full hods of coal and bring in beside the stove for both tomorrow morning and evening.

repeat every evening, just makes things go so much smoother. kind of like getting up 1/2 hr. earlier to be sure you can do it right and have it purring before needing to rush out of the house.

KingCoal wrote:new note to self.

after successful evening tending with proper coal and ritual ALWAYS go get 2 full hods of coal and bring in beside the stove for both tomorrow morning and evening.

repeat every evening, just makes things go so much smoother. kind of like getting up 1/2 hr. earlier to be sure you can do it right and have it purring before needing to rush out of the house.

1/2 hr earlier?! Never happen. That'll mean going to bed 1/2 hr earlier. Impossible in my house.
The rat race will continue, a few more years till retirement.
(But point taken Steve. Don't leave the hods M/T)

I've noticed on cloudy, cold damp days - the kind of days when even if it's below freezing it starts to get foggy - the stove is very slow to recover, no matter what I do.

I'll have to check the barometer whenever it happens and see if there is a pattern.

Paul

Most definetly with my old Buderus hand fed. It would struggle with heavy damp air outside. I have a good insulated masonry chimney on an inside wall besides.

The stoker does not seem to be affected at all.

On low pressure days the chimney won't draft as well

Joe..... rev the fire up BEFORE dumping, poking, shaking etc.

Always do Scott. Still didn't work.

scalabro wrote:On low pressure days the chimney won't draft as well

Why not?

Lightning wrote:

scalabro wrote:On low pressure days the chimney won't draft as well

Why not?

The air is too heavy.

You know Lee

Joe, I bet the 111 was just severely ashed up. If the coal bed is clean and you have good draft it's got to happen

Sometimes I notice the same thing with the Crawford but it's always because I didn't get enough ash out.

Dry air is heavier than wet air.

Well, what a difference a day makes. She's doing her normal coal cooking tonight, maybe because it's 25 rather than 35? Maybe because the TSC nut has worked through. Maybe it's scared cause there's been a Russian ship off our coast all day?( ).
Don't know, but I just set it up for the nite, and top layered it with the nutty coal, cause that's all that's left. I think I still have a bag of Scott's Santa stove coal in the shed. Warm weather is coming back for a while, so toning it down will be beneficial...for a while.

scalabro wrote:Dry air is heavier than wet air.

Does this mean that draft is easier on a humid day as opposed to a dry day at the same OAT?

Joe, youll get there. Heck there are still days were I set my stove up for the temp and wind I think im good and I come home to a weak fire that needs some tlc before I throw fresh coal on. And then there are days were the house is humming along with 75* heat I shake the pot down and im like holy crap you only used 15lbs............. There are so many variables (temps inside and out, wind, weather, high and low pressure, fully ash cleared, coal size, coal fins, coal quality.) If one of theses is off you may come home to a weak stove. The fun is figuring out all this lol.