are there different grades of anthracite?

ratherbeflying · Post by **ratherbeflying** » Fri. Jan. 18, 2019 11:41 am

i dont even know how i would locate, let alone remove a rock or klinker from the grates. never had to fight that demon yet. thank god..

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Fri. Jan. 18, 2019 11:59 am

Fishing for rocks isn't difficult if the firebed is not deep, like some of the antique base heaters and base burners.

If you use a right-angle tip poker, like many antique stoves came with, you can "feel" the harder rock when you push the tip up through the grates while riddling and scraping to clear ash. Then, wiggle that angled tip down through the firebed, hook it under the rock, and move it up to the surface of the firebed where you can lift it out with BBQ tongs.

Don't keep the poker down in the firebed for a long time or you could melt the tip off.

I also keep a mechanic's telescoping-handle inspection mirror hanging near the stove. If you slide the plastic sleeve off the handle then they are just metal and glass so the heat under the grates don't bother them. If the grates get jammed, I can look up through the grates with the mirror to see exactly where the jam is and then push it up with the right-angled tip poker.

Paul

ratherbeflying · Post by **ratherbeflying** » Fri. Jan. 18, 2019 12:13 pm

oh great idea with the mirror! thanks!! i hope i dont have to go through that anytime soon hahaha

rberq · Post by **rberq** » Fri. Jan. 18, 2019 5:48 pm

Different grades of anthracite? I think I'm getting different grades from one bag to the next of Blaschak. Same setting on the bimetal thermostat, but for a day or two it will burn 50 to 75 degrees hotter per the stovetop thermometer. Then back to normal for a couple days, then hotter, and so on. Color me confused.

ratherbeflying · Post by **ratherbeflying** » Sat. Jan. 19, 2019 8:08 am

rberq wrote: ↑
Fri. Jan. 18, 2019 5:48 pm
Different grades of anthracite? I think I'm getting different grades from one bag to the next of Blaschak. Same setting on the bimetal thermostat, but for a day or two it will burn 50 to 75 degrees hotter per the stovetop thermometer. Then back to normal for a couple days, then hotter, and so on. Color me confused.

i think the bimetallic takes time to react and then change the temps of the stove, if it gets hotter it may not start to lower the primary air until its 30* over the setting, then by the time the coal starts to react, the stove temporarily gets hotter from shutting down the primary and keeping the heat in the stove for a little longer, before the coal starts to cool. i dont think a bi metallic would ever truly be able to keep the temp exactly at a degree.. especially without a baro, do you have a baro?

ratherbeflying · Post by **ratherbeflying** » Sat. Jan. 19, 2019 8:09 am

because even with different quality coal, it is still regulating by temp, it doesnt know the coal is better it just sees the stove is hotter and adjusts from there.

rberq · Post by **rberq** » Sat. Jan. 19, 2019 9:46 am

ratherbeflying wrote: ↑
Sat. Jan. 19, 2019 8:09 am
because even with different quality coal, it is still regulating by temp, it doesn't know the coal is better it just sees the stove is hotter and adjusts from there.

Yeah, that's what I'm having trouble understanding. I do have a baro, and I'm familiar with the temperature overshoot when reloading or upping the setting. But this 50 degrees extra lasts hour after hour after hour. The stove-top thermometer must be seeing more heat but for whatever reason the bi-metal control is not -- they are some distance apart.

ratherbeflying · Post by **ratherbeflying** » Sat. Jan. 19, 2019 11:04 am

rberq wrote: ↑
Sat. Jan. 19, 2019 9:46 am
Yeah, that's what I'm having trouble understanding. I do have a baro, and I'm familiar with the temperature overshoot when reloading or upping the setting. But this 50 degrees extra lasts hour after hour after hour. The stove-top thermometer must be seeing more heat but for whatever reason the bi-metal control is not -- they are some distance apart.

thats pretty odd, do you have an ir gun? if you shoot the same spot right next to the bi metallic and read temps and see if that area actually is cooler then it normally is for the stove top? do you have a mpd? maybe slight differences in the setting of the mpd would change what parts of the stove get different levels of heat? or maybe if the ir gun shows the area next to the bimetallic is actually in normal range but the stove is just running hotter or cooler then maybe thats just the accuracy of the bimetallic showing its face?

ratherbeflying · Post by **ratherbeflying** » Sat. Jan. 19, 2019 11:05 am

i dont have one so i dont know if a 50* fluctuation is normal for a bimetallic to keep in range or not.

keegs · Post by **keegs** » Sun. Jan. 20, 2019 6:34 am

To the OP... Maine is almost a coal desert and TS may be the only game in town for many of us. I usually pick up 4 or 5 bags at the local TS on my way to our place in Bwater and have found over time that the quality and size of the product in the bag varies and sometimes significantly. I don't know where TS sources its anthracite. Sometimes there's big, almost stove size chunks (I prefer the big chunks) and sometime there's walnut size pieces with more fines than I'd like. There's a guy in Easton that runs trucks down to Blaschack. He sells it in bulk and bagged. His prices are a bit more but I like to support the small business when I can. I've also burned fair amount of Kimmels (TS used to stock Kimmels but I haven't seen it in a while) . I don't know if I can consistently tell the difference in any of it.

One tip I have is to try to burn the coal in such a way that produces the finest ash; e.g. If I shake and floss too much I increase the amount of wasted un-burned or partially burned coal. So I try to keep my shaking to a minimum and to time my feedings accordingly. Good luck with it.

Beeman · Post by **Beeman** » Sun. Jan. 20, 2019 8:27 am

At the suggestion of my brother Ashcat, I switched from Superior coal to Blaschak this year. I am doing fine after the switch and some things I noticed are worth passing along: I noticed initially that a 5 gallon bucket of Blaschak felt lighter to carry, but I did not actually weigh the buckets. Blaschak produces less ash and is whiter whereas the Superior was more red in color. Pouring the coal into my Hitzer hopper, the Blashak has a higher, more ceramic "ping" sound that the Superior, which seems to be a softer anthracite. Also, the crackling sound of new anthracite hitting hot coals in a fire is louder and a noteworthy difference to my wife in the next room away from the stove. The Blaschak seems to be a higher quality anthracite with fewer impurities.

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Sun. Jan. 20, 2019 11:38 am

ratherbeflying wrote: ↑
Sat. Jan. 19, 2019 8:08 am
i think the bimetallic takes time to react and then change the temps of the stove, if it gets hotter it may not start to lower the primary air until its 30* over the setting, then by the time the coal starts to react, the stove temporarily gets hotter from shutting down the primary and keeping the heat in the stove for a little longer, before the coal starts to cool. i dont think a bi metallic would ever truly be able to keep the temp exactly at a degree.. especially without a baro, do you have a baro?

True statements regarding a bimetallic combustion control. For the 1st part of the last question I don't agree with your thought. Once coal combustion and firebox condition stabilize, so will the stove temperature stabilize. As with any heating device, stable conditions inside and outside the heated space have to be assumed when we talk about this topic.

One point not mentioned is the room variables that happen when the stove is reloaded. The stove naturally cools, more so with a batch burner vs a hopper fed stove. Therefore the room cools too. More cold air washes heat away from the stove's vertical surfaces as the cooler air washes over the stove. The bimetallic control automates combustion rates simply by physical expansion/contraction. A barro regulates flue pressure, not stove temperature. Stove temperature is easier to manually control with the consistent draw the baro regulates above the fire but this does not regulate combustion so much as it does even out varying draft pressure.

Post by **LehighanthraciteMatt** » Mon. Jan. 21, 2019 10:28 am

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑
Wed. Jan. 16, 2019 11:06 am
Have used both Blaschak and Lehigh and both are good. Had some rocks in the bags of Lehigh stove size, but no problems with the nut size.

Paul

Paul, Can you tell me when this happened and where you purchased the coal? This should never be the case. If that happened we ALWAYS want to know about it immediately....

ratherbeflying · Post by **ratherbeflying** » Mon. Jan. 21, 2019 11:10 am

LehighanthraciteMatt wrote: ↑
Mon. Jan. 21, 2019 10:28 am
Paul, Can you tell me when this happened and where you purchased the coal? This should never be the case. If that happened we ALWAYS want to know about it immediately....

thats awesome im glad to see you guys caring and trying, i cant imagine how hard it is to keep rocks out of the bags!!

Post by **LehighanthraciteMatt** » Mon. Jan. 21, 2019 11:14 am

ratherbeflying wrote: ↑
Mon. Jan. 21, 2019 11:10 am
thats awesome im glad to see you guys caring and trying, i cant imagine how hard it is to keep rocks out of the bags!!

It shouldnt happen, I mean we are not perfect, but if something like that does happen we need to know in order to address it. Something definitely went wrong there..