Old Clayton Furnace Issues

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 1:56 pm

Good God man! The thing is empty, fill it up!


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 2:18 pm

jibs1723 wrote:
Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 12:49 pm
I don't have any pics of the firebox without a fire right now, but in this pic you can see that the rear cast iron plate is warped and has a piece missing. it was like that when I bought the stove.
That's okay if it has a fire. I was hoping to see some pictures of the fire box along the top of the fire bricks and the back wall along the top of the rear liner with the camera flash ON. ;)

 
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michaelanthony
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Post by michaelanthony » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 5:43 pm

Is there air coming up behind the broken cast iron plate in the rear of the fire box? If so plug the air inlet with fiberglass insulation. Can you put fire bricks in front of the cast iron plate without impeding the movement of the grate or grates?

edit: to repeat "coaledsweat" EEEK! that stove is 3/4 empty, fill her up, then add more!

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 6:10 pm

Dr. Lee....... :lol:

Yes, when I seen Clayton Furnace, the first thought that went through my mind was "Step Aside........No One Knows The Clayton Like Lightning".

I see others feel the same way. :lol: It's All Yours Lightning..... I'm going to sit this one out. :)

 
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 6:37 pm

Thanks fellas ;) I'm hoping to see some evidence of air wash trails on the fire box walls to then do what Mike suggested. Seal around the front and rear liners and possibly along the sides. Just need some better pics. Once that is fixed, the furnace will have much better combustion efficiency by way of using the oxygen that is introduced, instead of it being blown right on by the fuel bed.

 
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Post by jibs1723 » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 7:46 pm

Here's a pic I took tonight of the rear of the firebox. I haven't stoked this in 24 hrs as I haven't been in the garage but I shook it down and you can kinda see the small area in the middle that's still got a little life. That's pretty normal to what happens. The front and back dies and then it's next to impossible for me to bring back. Thanks again everyone for all the responses!

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Post by coaledsweat » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 8:49 pm

That's normal when you try to run a coal appliance almost empty. Fill the damn thing up for the love of God! You should NEVER see anything but raw coal on top of the fire. If it's burnt, you're done. There are three components to a coal fire. A bed of ash topped with burning coal and then a layer of fresh fuel. If you are missing one of these three, you screwed up your fire.


 
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 8:56 pm

Ah, yes I see evidence of air bypassing the fuel bed. You can see the air wash trails on that back wall circled in blue. It also looks like air wash trails circled in green along the sides above the fire brick. Are there gaps there along the sides? The remedy is to stuff those locations with fiberglass insulation. Seal all those bypasses all the way around the fuel bed the best you can. The objective is to make sure all the combustion air coming in underneath has no other choice than to go up thru the burning coal. This will get you the best use of your combustion air and cut down on heat going up the chimney. It will also help you get longer burns since you won't need to burn so hot to get the heat you want into the space you want heated.

Other than that, I would suggest using a poker of some sort to lift the coal and agitate ash to fall towards the grates. The objective here is not to mix or stir but instead to persuade the ash towards the grates. Just lift the coal and gravity will do the rest. So when clearing ash, first rev up the fire, shake some ash out, do the lift/heave with a poker tool, then shake some more. You want a nice orange glow radiating down into the ash area from above after clearing ash. As mentioned fill it to the top of the bricks, even mound some more on top. Close the load door, leave the ash pan door open until the fire recovers, could take 20-30 minutes, it could take less depending on draft pressure. Once the fire has recovered and you have a nice plume of blue fire over the fuel bed close the ash door.

Lastly, pick up a magnetic stove thermometer and put it over the load door so you have a way to monitor the furnace temperature at least. ;)

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Post by michaelanthony » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 9:24 pm

coaledsweat wrote:
Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 8:49 pm
That's normal when you try to run a coal appliance almost empty. Fill the damn thing up for the love of God! You should NEVER see anything but raw coal on top of the fire. If it's burnt, you're done. There are three components to a coal fire. A bed of ash topped with burning coal and then a layer of fresh fuel. If you are missing one of these three, you screwed up your fire.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^...and listen to Lightning, do it a.s.a.p. When you're done you could possibly remove the draft inducer and fabricate a metal cover for the hole that swings from one screw above so you can adjust the air intake. That stove should hold 80 lbs give or take.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Feb. 06, 2018 10:07 pm

Jibs, for more information about sealing the air bypasses click this link in my signature,

Clayton / Hot Blast Mods and Tending for Anthracite

 
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Post by jibs1723 » Wed. Feb. 07, 2018 11:26 am

Thanks for that link Lighting. I actually have another thread bookmarked on my computer about the Clayton from this forum but i hadn't seen that one. I will do those mods asap and get back to you with the results. Makes complete sense though what you say. My install wont be as pretty as yours however since my end plates are a little worse for wear.

 
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Post by jibs1723 » Thu. Feb. 08, 2018 3:03 pm

Update: I cleaned the stove out last night and pulled the firebrick and both front and rear cast iron plates. Due to the warpage of the plates instead of stuffing insulation at the top, I filled the gap between the grates and the front and rear of the firebox before putting the plates back in. I didn't see any way for air to bypass the firebricks so i didn't put any insulation in those areas. I started a fire and ran it overnight. Even with the thermostat set to 45 the garage was 50 when I went out this morning to check on the stove. It has never stayed warmer than the stat was set before and it dipped into the teens last night. Had a full bed of live coals better than I have ever seen after 12hrs untended. I am optimistic that was the trick. I shall see when i get home tonight if my reload was successful this morning and if the fire is still strong. I tend to be a little lax on the morning routine as I'm always tight for time. Heres a look after i opened up the ash door for a few mins this morning. Best its ever looked! Thanks for all the help guys!

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Post by Lightning » Thu. Feb. 08, 2018 3:27 pm

Awesome! You'll notice now that it will heat much better with less coal usage. Just don't be shy about filling it to the top of the brick, even mound more on top, at every tending. And don't forget that these units get ash bound easy, use the shake - poke/heave - shake again technique. Try to get a magnetic thermometer and stick it over the load door so you have something to reference and compare with.

Thanks for the update! :D

 
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Post by titleist1 » Thu. Feb. 08, 2018 4:01 pm

Good job jibs! Thanks for the follow up!

Way to go Dr. Riddler - Another successful Clayton Coal Sore healing !! :lol:

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Feb. 08, 2018 4:03 pm

Ugh! Still not full. :what:


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