Coalpail.com Forum

Hello,
I am new to coal stoves and I am asking for help. My goal is to have a hand fired coal stove that can heat my 16X20 wall tent while elk hunting. I purchased a Florin 213 coal stove because it's in great shape and weighs less than a 100 pounds. From what everyone is telling me, I should be able to light a coal fire and keep it burning for at least 8 hours before it needs to be refueled. The longest I can keep it burning is about 4 hours. I have tried both nut and stove anthracite coal. I believe the stove is getting too much air, especially through the shaker slot. See photo. I stuffed some insulation in the hole to stop the excess draft, which seemed to help. I can get the coal burning hot. When I add 3 or 4 inches of coal it turns red all the way through within an hour, even when I close the air way down. Can I close the air all the way without it going out? Should I have a manual damper in the stove pipe to slow down the draft? I'm not sure what to do here; any help would be appreciated.

How about a pic of the grates and fire pot while empty...
Ya need a good 8-10 inches of depth in a coal bed...
Uncontrolled air from bottom of grates is main problem...
MPD yes...
Close it down to just a sliver and it should be fine...
Magnetic thermometer on barrel will help...

Thank you CapeCoaler. I will have to add a lot more coal and cut way down on the air. I'm not sure if this stove is salvageable. That large air hole around the shaker is gonna be hard to close off. Rolled up fiberglass insulation works ok, but it's not perfect.
Attached is the burn pot and grate photo.

Get some gasket material specifically for stoves. You should be able to get 2-3 ft pieces in different thicknesses, and it should run about $10 per kit. Pack it into the slot from both sides (inside and outside). You may have to play with it to make it tight. Be aware, though, you'll have to take some/all of it out when you want to use the lever. My parlor stove double the burn time when I sealed the slot. You may be able to triple your time, since your hole/slot has more space around the lever.

Yes, you definitely need a manual pipe damper (mpd) in your flue exhaust pipe.

The damper that is inside the stove is to switch between direct and indirect modes.

You are also missing the grate slider plate. It is the piece that the red arrow points to in the picture.

Paulie