Newbie with a potbelly

Don't let the subject fool you, I'm actually a thin guy. But I just moved to NEPA (Northeast PA) and I am beginning my learning adventures with coal (anthracite in particular). I purchased the cheapest stove I could get my hands on (a new US Stove Potbelly Caboose) and I am looking for tips on how to effectively burn coal. I've read a bunch of posts on this site and I want to say thank you for all of your helpful info!

I've been doing well getting the fire going. My main trouble is that when I have a really nice fire going to bed, by morning, the stove is full of a bunch of ash, a lot of half burned cold coals, and a few live ones that are just barely hanging on. I'm not able to keep it going for more than 12 hours.

From what I've gathered here, I purchased a stove that is going to be difficult to work with. But it's what I got now and I'm determined to figure this out. Any helpful tips, especially from those who have used potbellies, is much appreciated!

Merry Christmas!!!

Welcome to the forum P.B., and a Merry Christmas to you!

I'm not sure you will get a 12 hour burn time out of a potbelly. One thing that will help you out is controlling the draft. Make sure the doors are sealed well so the fire can't breath through them uncontrolled.

The next thing in the chimney. What kind of chimney do you have, size and height? Do you have a draft gauge? It doesn't look like you have a draft control in the stove pipe.

If your chimney drafts really well, and it's not controlled, your stove will suck down the coal really quickly.

-Don

Nothing unusual about your experiences so far PB. Coal doesn't burn like wood and it will likely take a few more fires for you to begin to get the hang of it Practice makes perfect..... Haven't had any personal experience with it but a lot of folks here recommend Lehigh coal. It should be available to you there in NEPA. Here's a video that Larry Trainer provides that describes the daily tending cycle of a hand fed coal stove. https://vimeo.com/3060371 . If you stick with it, it won't be long before you'll be singing the praises of anthracite. Welcome t the forum.

Thank you. I think I will like it once I get the hang of it. I heated with wood for many years and quickly realized heating with coal is a different animal.

I do have a damper on the vent pipe. That helps reduce draft. At some point I'll install gasket on the loading door to reduce draft more. The chimney is concrete block with a clay liner, 8"x9". Thanks!

I get 30 to 40 hour burns out of a Vogelzang potbelly. I sealed the ash door with grill sealing tape, and sealed the loading door with standard rope. I get it going well and shut the MPD all the way, run the primary intake about 1mm open and the secondary air all the way open.

Legs on that stove will get you a bit more heat from currents.

I put a big rock under my stove (the stove in my photograph) and within a day realized my heat was not moving about the house as it did. I would read 74 degrees 20 feet from the stove before I placed the rock, and 68 degrees after I placed the rock... and all other temperatures the same. The rock had to go.

Although the bottom of those heaters don't get very hot it was apparent that flow under the heater made a pretty big difference in how it heated the house.

I almost forgot...

I sealed up the little flap for the grate access, too.

I drilled the flap and the stove body... tapped the stove body and installed a screw. I close it and use a common drawer knob to cinch it tight. I also put grill sealing tape on the flap. That and the ash drawer need to be airtight.

I put fireproof felt between the primary slider and the ash door as well.

I have an Army Cannon pot belly, and I second everything McNair said. Potbelly stoves aren't really made to be airtight, so everything you do to cut back on the air being sucked in will help. I used door gasket tape on both my doors, gluing them on with Rutland gasket cement. If you have one, you may want to try to decrease the air space on the side port for the shaker handle.

BTW, be careful with the fire. I had another potbelly years ago, and the bottom got a dull red glow in no time. Unfortunately, that's an easy way to ruin a stove. Good luck! Curt

Thank you, everybody. I have added gasket rope to all of the doors and can already see a difference. With a bit more modification, I think this will work out decently.

Excellent!

Enjoy! Be careful! G-d bless you and yours.

my vogelzang pot belly chinese stove in my garage was ok at best burning wood,buy the "grate system, not being normal barely shook thru. if your grates are 2 pieces looking like a pie plate good luck. decent coal stoves burn well + need much less attention than wood stoves + coal in NEPA is abundant + cheap especially if you haul your own + ashes in my town can be dumped on the local cinder pile used on roads. you could look for a good used stove or a nice stoker stove with a hopper that burns longer, depends on if your warming a basement or a whole house + your budget. new england stove works have nice made in usa wood stoves of various sizes + prices if interested. i am putting their smallest in my garage this summer replacing my tired chinese vogelzang pot belly as i only fire up while working there.

I love the Subject title of this thread

Not sure how your setup is in the basement but if it's like mine those block walls are a big heat sink. It may not be in the cards for you but it would be best to locate the stove on the main floor.

heated basements with ample vents-registers to the next floor is ideal IMO, heat naturally rises + a warm floor is very comfortable. i found a big enough vent that you could walk on after extensive searching, Atlanta Supply was the place, they had various bigger sizes in both ornamental iron $$$ as well as various colors on good sized ones that are plenty strong. just checked + they are still there.

I just posted this on another thread, and thought it would be useful here.
My most important newbie notions...
1) Multiple CO detectors, and
2) A countdown timer (watch, phone, egg timer, etc) set and reset for 10 or 15 mins at a time after loading until your stove is firmly in cruise mode! It’s too easy to get distracted and let your stove gallup!