It's Time to Ignite the Anthracite

 
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wilder11354
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Location: Montrose, Pa.
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF260 Boiler
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Coal Size/Type: nut or pea, anthracite
Other Heating: crown oil boiler, backup.if needed

Post by wilder11354 » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:46 pm

No coal yet! Guess tomorrow morning gonna get 8 bags to hold me over till coal delivery of 5 tons friday!


 
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jedneck
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Location: South Central PA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DSM Antramax
Baseburners & Antiques: Florin 20-12, red cross oak double heater, 3 columbians a epoch, emblem and palace
Coal Size/Type: nut or stove
Other Heating: Southbend Banner range

Post by jedneck » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:47 pm

1st 50lbs of pea makin heat. Cant wait till i can put it in cruise, hot a few wndowstats open already.

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Lightning
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Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:48 pm

KingCoal wrote:
Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:41 pm
coal it's what's for winter buddy :yes:
Totally! :)
Sunny Boy wrote:
Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:43 pm
Good team work, Lee. Never hurts to teach a kid how to do more than just use a wall thermostat. ;)

Paul
Right on Paul, thank you!

 
Scottaw
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Post by Scottaw » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:50 pm

We just got the chill today in PA, but I’m going to hold out a few more weeks. The heat pumps will take the chill off just fine. Got all the materials in the driveway to build a 4 ton bin this weekend.

 
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freetown fred
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Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut

Post by freetown fred » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:53 pm

Nice on the bin S!!

 
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Jjones6840
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Post by Jjones6840 » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 9:08 pm

Just fired mine up tonight for the first time this season

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Lightning
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Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 9:13 pm

Jjones6840 wrote:
Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 9:08 pm
Just fired mine up tonight for the first time this season
Well welcome aboard Jones! I see yer using a Hotblast there. You got anthracite burning? Let me know if ya need any help with it. :)


 
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SawDustJack
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Post by SawDustJack » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 9:17 pm

IMG_3756.jpg
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Started her back up tonight like a lot of you. Used some matchlite for the first time and it was easy and keeps everything nice and clean! Great tip!

 
franco b
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Coal Size/Type: nut and pea

Post by franco b » Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 11:48 pm

Lightning wrote:
Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:45 pm
Gotta love a young spirit
Just keep her away from the superhero outfit.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Oct. 13, 2018 8:32 am

I think I am going to fire the EFM up tomorrow. Going to try wood pellets for the first time to light the stoker.

 
charlesosborne2002
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Post by charlesosborne2002 » Sat. Oct. 13, 2018 9:41 am

Not to be argumentative, but my stove's manual says never use starter fluids or other other combustibles (no self-start charcoal either), but does not say why. I guessed that maybe since there is no secondary air in it to let them burn off, the volatile gases could go boom at just the wrong time, like when I open it to add more coal. Mine only holds 40 pounds, so there is not a lot of room for gases to dissipate. Am I wrong about the reasons?
Lightning wrote:
Fri. Oct. 12, 2018 7:24 pm
We have our fire lit with the fine assistance of my daughter. Here she is posing while coal is tumbling off her shovel lol. I started with a layer of Royal Oak hardwood lump charcoal and soaked it real good with lighter fluid. I also used a small brown paper bag pulled partly down thru the grates to act as a wick right at the front of the stove. Then before lighting we added about 5 shovels of stove size and half a bag of nut size. I had Daisy light the wick, she was entertained lol. "Is it gonna work Dad?" "Oh yeah, give it few minutes"

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And this is the first layer taking off, with flash on and with flash off.
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20181012_184043.jpg

The second layer is on now, got about 75 pounds in the stove currently. As I'm finishing this post the second layer has some pretty blues on top.

20181012_192015.jpg

20181012_192040.jpg

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

Post by Lightning » Sat. Oct. 13, 2018 11:01 am

charlesosborne2002 wrote:
Sat. Oct. 13, 2018 9:41 am
Not to be argumentative, but my stove's manual says never use starter fluids or other other combustibles (no self-start charcoal either), but does not say why. I guessed that maybe since there is no secondary air in it to let them burn off, the volatile gases could go boom at just the wrong time, like when I open it to add more coal. Mine only holds 40 pounds, so there is not a lot of room for gases to dissipate. Am I wrong about the reasons?
No, I don't disagree with that. While lighting mine with lighter fluid soaked lump charcoal there is a point when vapors above fuel bed accumulate and try to ignite BEFORE the chimney draft gets flowing. It's within a few minutes of first lighting. It's almost like a very "gentle" puff back happens and pushes some fire downward and out the ash door a few inches. At that point I'll prop the load door open an inch to dilute those vapors as the chimney starts to pull.

I can understand the warning in your manual. I suppose there could be some risk of things going wrong with using lighter fluid. A cold stove and first fire is the ONLY time I would use lighter fluid. Putting lighter fluid on a fire that seems to be dying, or to rekindle a fire could absolutely be lethal and people have been injured or worse by attempting that.

 
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wilder11354
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Joined: Sat. Jan. 29, 2011 10:48 pm
Location: Montrose, Pa.
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF260 Boiler
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 50-93
Coal Size/Type: nut or pea, anthracite
Other Heating: crown oil boiler, backup.if needed

Post by wilder11354 » Sat. Oct. 13, 2018 11:59 am

fired up... got 400# in bags for the week, till coal delivery comes. Still building coal bed before i fill hopper and adjust for low steady heat, Wood flames bring temps on stove on body/chimney fast but its slowly settling back down as Anthracite takes hold.

 
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Homesteader
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Post by Homesteader » Sat. Oct. 13, 2018 1:38 pm

Been burning wood a few times over the last few weeks but this morning it was 43deg. and raining so I said what the heck, started the wood fire and got the black rocks cooking. Supposed to be cool all week with on and off rain. Got around 2 1/2 tons Lehigh left and Santa came last week with a pallet so I should be all set.
Santa Coal.jpg
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Sure feels nice and toasty in here now. :)

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Burning Coal.jpg
.JPG | 76.3KB | Burning Coal.jpg

 
charlesosborne2002
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Post by charlesosborne2002 » Sat. Oct. 13, 2018 2:11 pm

Sometimes when getting a wood stove going I would put a few wads of newspaper on top of the wood as well as under it--that raging paper on top starts an updraft but is not really too hot in itself. The updraft is like blowing air on the wood. In the case of coal, I assume that by the time I start the coal there is already a good updraft.
Lightning wrote:
Sat. Oct. 13, 2018 11:01 am
No, I don't disagree with that. While lighting mine with lighter fluid soaked lump charcoal there is a point when vapors above fuel bed accumulate and try to ignite BEFORE the chimney draft gets flowing. It's within a few minutes of first lighting. It's almost like a very "gentle" puff back happens and pushes some fire downward and out the ash door a few inches. At that point I'll prop the load door open an inch to dilute those vapors as the chimney starts to pull.

I can understand the warning in your manual. I suppose there could be some risk of things going wrong with using lighter fluid. A cold stove and first fire is the ONLY time I would use lighter fluid. Putting lighter fluid on a fire that seems to be dying, or to rekindle a fire could absolutely be lethal and people have been injured or worse by attempting that.


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