Coal Stove Help in NE Bombogenesis!

 
smilesjusa
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Post by smilesjusa » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:11 am

Hi everyone,
I live in NH and in the midst of this “bombogenesis” while struggling to learn about the coal stove we inherited in our new house. It’s the second day of finally getting this Efel coal stove to run overnight but the fire was almost dead this morning. In trying to fire it up, we’ve only got the fire going well in one half of the stove. The other half is totally dead, except in the very back. We have a great fire in just one side but obviously not much heat. I’m nervous to clean it out while so hot but I need to get it going. What should I do? Can I get it going again with letting it die completely - seems like that could take a while.

Generally what’s the best method to get the stove going again after it’s been burning overnight. I have no idea why it was doing great night one and not so much on night two. Please someone help keep us warm!

Thanks in advance for any help.


 
c&t coal
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Post by c&t coal » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:27 am

Just sounds like your'renot. loading enough coal in to make it through the night. Get a good wood fire going on top of what is left of the coal that is burning till you have a good bed of wood coals as well as open flames then basically start over adding coal a layer at a time till you have some nice blue flames coming through. Once it's going good, don't be afraid to load it up, control the fire with the bottom draft.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:30 am

Welcome aboard! There are many pros here to help you with that stove.

In the meantime, new coal burners often make the error of not clearing ash thoroughly. Try clearing ash better in the dead zones right now, then give it some time to respond with the ash door open for about 15-20 minutes. Also don't be afraid to get as much coal into it as possible, heat output is easily regulated with primary combustion air.

 
smilesjusa
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Post by smilesjusa » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:51 am

I think I’ve rescued the fire by shoveling some of the dead coals out and putting charcoal in its place, then building the fire up as normal. Yay!

Tips on what to do in the mornings to enliven a very low fire would still be very much appreciated.

 
smilesjusa
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Post by smilesjusa » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:53 am

Lightning wrote:
Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:30 am
Welcome aboard! There are many pros here to help you with that stove.

In the meantime, new coal burners often make the error of not clearing ash thoroughly. Try clearing ash better in the dead zones right now, then give it some time to respond with the ash door open for about 15-20 minutes. Also don't be afraid to get as much coal into it as possible, heat output is easily regulated with primary combustion air.
Do you mean the ash directly on the grate? That may be the case, I haven’t found the balance of enough slicing and shaking. I’m always scared to put the fire out with too much slicing. Is there a way I can tell the right amount of ash clearing? Thanks so much for your help.

 
smilesjusa
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Post by smilesjusa » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:55 am

c&t coal wrote:
Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:27 am
Just sounds like your'renot. loading enough coal in to make it through the night. Get a good wood fire going on top of what is left of the coal that is burning till you have a good bed of wood coals as well as open flames then basically start over adding coal a layer at a time till you have some nice blue flames coming through. Once it's going good, don't be afraid to load it up, control the fire with the bottom draft.
There was plenty of coal in the hopper when my hubby was up at 4am but it seemed not to be going down into the fire.

Thanks for the tip on the wood to start up in the am. That had crossed my mind but I wasn’t sure if I should burn wood in there. I don’t like using that charcoal inside the house.

 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 1:43 pm

smilesjusa wrote:
Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:53 am
Is there a way I can tell the right amount of ash clearing?
Many people, after shaking, use a rod with a short right-angle bend at the end. Open the ash door, put your head way down low, and use the rod to poke up through the grate holes from underneath. Wiggle it around to get more ash to fall. I like to see a red glow underneath from at least half the grate holes when I am done. My rod is made from a paint roller -- removed the roller cage, straightened out the rod and then bent the last few inches at a right-angle to slide up through the holes.

Sophisticated high-tech grate poker:
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Post by titleist1 » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 2:26 pm

I have been missing the stapler from my desk the last 6 months, now i know where it went...

It sounds like you are ash bound from the overnight burn. Maybe not clearing it enough before bedtime. There is an art to doing enough but not dumping the fire, like rberq says look for the red glow!

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 3:07 pm

smilesjusa wrote:
Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 9:53 am
I’m always scared to put the fire out with too much slicing. Is there a way I can tell the right amount of ash clearing? Thanks so much for your help.
Your welcome! Looks like your getting some good pointers. Often times if the fire looks weak, open the ash pan door for a few minutes to rev up the fire before you start your ash clearing routine. ;)

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 3:35 pm

Always rev it up before servicing it.

 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 3:38 pm

Lightning wrote:
Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 3:07 pm
Your welcome! Looks like your getting some good pointers. Often times if the fire looks weak, open the ash pan door for a few minutes to rev up the fire before you start your ash clearing routine. ;)

What Lee and CS said.

When you open the stove to shake ash, and/or refuel, it lets in a lot of cooler room air. That weakens and can even stall the chimney draft. Getting it going again with a load of cold coal just makes it tougher. But if you first just open the primary and stove pipe dampers to let the fire get stronger so that the stove and chimney get good and hot, then the draft will have a better chance at maintaining enough strength to deal with a load of cold coal, or being open to cold air while you clear ash.

And rberq's comment about seeing an even orange glow throughout the ash pan is another main point.

That orange glow tells you that you've cleared enough ash to get through the night. If there are any dark areas in the pan, you need to poke up through the grates above that area to loosen the ash that is stuck there.

And after you do any poking through the grates, it's a good idea to do a little more grate shaking to make sure the firebed has settled into where you just dug out ash. Otherwise you might have a void above the grate in the firebed that will burn through sooner and then the incoming air will take the path of least resistance and bypass the rest of the firebed. Then the fire will slowly die out.

After your sure the ash is well cleared, top off the firebed with layers of fresh coal as full as it can go. Let it get burning well and then set your dampers for overnight.

Paul

 
franco b
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Post by franco b » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 3:48 pm

You can't slice too much. you can also poke those dead zones from above to clear more rapidly. Poke the dead spots then slice. In general the hopper will only feed coal when the coal bed drops when slicing. This will vary with a particular coal.

Also after slicing give the coal bed some pokes to make sure it has dropped as much as possible. The coal bed should be nearly black with new coal after clearing ash. Thorough ash removal will give the longest hottest burn. As long as you have some coal burning yellow hot the fire will revive quickly no matter how dead it looks. That is because you are feeding hot coal from the hopper.

 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 5:58 pm

titleist1 wrote:
Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 2:26 pm
I have been missing the stapler from my desk the last 6 months, now i know where it went...
Looks like a stapler but it's really a weight to hold my book open while I eat.

 
smilesjusa
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Post by smilesjusa » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 6:33 pm

This is all VERY helpful! Thank you all so much.

 
ddahlgren
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Post by ddahlgren » Thu. Jan. 04, 2018 7:04 pm

Sounds like all very good advice as usual. I have found that I do a little bit of slicing to begin with just to make sure some air is getting through to get the coal bed going. The big thing is to not dump the heat you have by opening things up not needed. I go from full closed damper to half open while doing this the leave ash pan door a half inch open and give it 4 or 5 minutes to get going. For me wood is really the best hope if really screwed up and almost out. It will pick the draft back up and makes some coals to relight. Don't ever lose the thought coal has to get over 1180 degrees to burn and that does not happen with newspaper or anything like it. It is all a matter of practice and if the stove is small 12 hours between servicing it might be too long in this weather. My Crane 404 and 1874 house needs every 8 in this weather just to stay on top of it. If I wake up for the 1:00 am pee call I will check the stove add a couple scoops and give it a couple shakes and slice a tiny bit so I wake up to a warm house. Big thing is always make sure stove is in the overnight run mode as far as settings and doors concerned before walking away from it. If unsure go check it not fault in keeping it all safe and being sure about it.


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