Getting two Vigilant II coal stoves soon

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TheTradesmanChannel
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Post by TheTradesmanChannel » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 3:19 pm

Hello, brand new here, I found the site through research and the info here is great!
So one of my YouTube viewers watched a video of me building a coal grate for my Lopi woodstove (strictly experimental, not as a way to heat the house) and offered to trade me two Vigilant II coal stoves for some boiler parts. The stoves look to be in good shape and I am very excited. So hopefully within a couple of weeks I'll be converting to coal from wood...wish me luck.

Jim


 
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Lightning
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 3:25 pm

I'd like to see the video. Could you post the link?

welcome aboard ;)

 
TheTradesmanChannel
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Post by TheTradesmanChannel » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 3:41 pm

I normally do timber framing on my channel
but once in awhile I throw other stuff in. The first video is the build, the second is the fire and keep in mind I had no idea what I was doing and I ran it twice to see how it worked, the grate is out of the stove now and I'm back on wood but I will be switching to coal as fast as I can..,




 
franco b
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Post by franco b » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 4:43 pm

A for effort. The critical part is that coal needs a deep bed. For nut coal that would be about 8 inches minimum. A banking bar in the front of the stove grate would help to get that deep bed.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 5:09 pm

+1 with what Franco said and I admire your effort. Also, you would need a way to clear ashes, possibly with a riddle bar that could be inserted at the grate level. Coal has approximately 10 times the ash content as wood by weight so it's very important to clear ash at every tending.

You have the right idea though that combustion air has to come up thru the coal bed.

It's not whole heartedly true that a coal fire is hotter than a wood fire. The difference is duration. Coal has more BTUs packed into it than wood and those BTUs can be released in a more controlled fashion. With better control of heat production the stove can manage absorbing those BTUs and radiating them to the house more efficiently instead of them going out the chimney. It's my thinking that a coal fire uses more of the available oxygen that it's presented with than a wood fire. This translates into a lot less heated air mass going up the chimney since 80% of the combustion air is nitrogen which does nothing other than soak up heat and go up the chimney.

 
TheTradesmanChannel
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Post by TheTradesmanChannel » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 5:36 pm

Excellent response. It was a fun test, it burned for about 10 hours but there just wasn't enough air coming through it to burn it hot enough to warm the house...now when I threw a couple of pieces of pine kindling on top it would create enough draft to get it going quite well. All in all it was a fun project that was quick and I really liked the coal. I am very excited about getting these two stoves, going through them and figuring this out. It's funny but I work on big industrial burners for a living but this was something much different.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 5:43 pm

Well I think you'll really enjoy your adventure with coal. I know it's been a lot of fun for me and still is. I'm a bit of a tinker train also. I have a multi fuel unit (anthracite, bituminous or wood) and modified it to burn anthracite.


 
TheTradesmanChannel
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Post by TheTradesmanChannel » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 5:47 pm

Lightning wrote:
Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 5:43 pm
Well I think you'll really enjoy your adventure with coal. I know it's been a lot of fun for me and still is. I'm a bit of a tinker train also. I have a multi fuel unit (anthracite, bituminous or wood) and modified it to burn anthracite.
Nice, I love making functional things. I've been timber framing a new shop alone for the last year and a half, 28x50 2 story affair and I've started a very large sawdust burner for it...being a wood shop I can keep it stocked up.

 
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nortcan
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Post by nortcan » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 6:40 pm

Good idea to try it. Too many peoples are scared to try something because they are scared about : supposed it doesn't work...what they will say...
The most important thing is to TRY. If someone do something, peoples will talk about and if someone do nothing, peoples will talk...
I got many new Vermont castings wood stoves and tried a lot of things on them. Got a Vigilant ll coal stove and if you take a look at my videos you will see some experiments I tried. When I decided to go for antique base burners, the V ll was just perfect.
One important thing is the gap between the grates . For the first 2/3 days all is good, the ash falls down easily in the ash pan but after that the *fun* begins. A larger gap is (according to me) a must to clear the ash and avoid ash build up.
Good luck and keep on the good work. I enjoyed to see your videos.
Salutations from Canada

 
TheTradesmanChannel
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Post by TheTradesmanChannel » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 6:51 pm

nortcan wrote:
Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 6:40 pm
Good idea to try it. Too many peoples are scared to try something because they are scared about : supposed it doesn't work...what they will say...
The most important thing is to TRY. If someone do something, peoples will talk about and if someone do nothing, peoples will talk...
I got many new Vermont castings wood stoves and tried a lot of things on them. Got a Vigilant ll coal stove and if you take a look at my videos you will see some experiments I tried. When I decided to go for antique base burners, the V ll was just perfect.
One important thing is the gap between the grates . For the first 2/3 days all is good, the ash falls down easily in the ash pan but after that the *fun* begins. A larger gap is (according to me) a must to clear the ash and avoid ash build up.
Good luck and keep on the good work. I enjoyed to see your videos.
Salutations from Canada
I have been watching your videos for a few days, that's why I was excited when I had TWO Vigilant II coal stoves fell into my lap because of the two videos I posted on my channel. The maintenance videos you posted with your daughter were most helpful.

 
scalabro
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Coal Size/Type: Stove / Anthracite.
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Post by scalabro » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 7:06 pm

Say goodbye to burning wood 🤪

 
TheTradesmanChannel
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Post by TheTradesmanChannel » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 7:26 pm

scalabro wrote:
Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 7:06 pm
Say goodbye to burning wood 🤪
That's the goal...now I wait for the trip from northern NY to Maine to pick them up. I've been thinking about it for years.

 
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Rich W.
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vermont Castings Vigilant Multi-Fuel (coal for me); Vermont Castings Vigilant 2310 in the shop
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: System 2000 Oil Burner; VC Resolute Woodstove (sold) Jotul 8 Woodstove (sold)

Post by Rich W. » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 8:26 pm

I migrated from woodstoves to a Vigilant 1400 multi fuel stove because I wanted to try coal, but wasn’t sure that I would leave wood burning completely. Sold on coal, no looking back! Then I found a new leftover Vigilant 2310 in Maine at a good price, and that replaced my VC Resolute in the shop. You will LOVE your Vigilants. Any issues...answers are in this experienced and friendly community. I owe my success to them! Good luck!

 
TheTradesmanChannel
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Post by TheTradesmanChannel » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 8:44 pm

Rich W. wrote:
Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 8:26 pm
I migrated from woodstoves to a Vigilant 1400 multi fuel stove because I wanted to try coal, but wasn’t sure that I would leave wood burning completely. Sold on coal, no looking back! Then I found a new leftover Vigilant 2310 in Maine at a good price, and that replaced my VC Resolute in the shop. You will LOVE your Vigilants. Any issues...answers are in this experienced and friendly community. I owe my success to them! Good luck!
I'm looking forward to it, I've been burning wood since I was a kid...the stove in the above videos came from the house I grew up in, I've been tending the stove since I was 8...it was always my job. I love the stove and it'll be different not having it in the house but I enjoy trying out and building new heating devices. Last winter I turned an old wood stove I had kicking around into a used oil burner. Kept my shop heated all winter for free. Burns dirty though but very controllable.

 
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michaelanthony
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vigilant 2310, gold marc box stove
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Coal Size/Type: 'nut
Other Heating: Fujitsu mini split, FHA oil furnace

Post by michaelanthony » Tue. Jan. 09, 2018 9:50 pm

Welcome! We (us forum folks) can't wait for the new stoves coming to us :lol: the owner too! Kidding aside, Vigilant 2310 are a special breed and I (we) know you (we) are going to have a blast with them.
You know what they say, "pictures or it didn't happen!" :yes:


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