50 degrees and still burning

First season ending burning coal and finally got a good routine. Bought a new Vigilant 2310 because of price and appearance sitting in living room but first 4 months use was less than ideal. Started with TSC coal then Blaschak and Reading but didn't see a difference aside from price. My mistakes were shaking grates too often, slicing unburnt coal through grates, and letting coal burn down too low before adding coal. With 20 foot 6" double wall flue in a masonry chimney, inlet flap opened 1 inch, the stove is working perfectly on a 50 degree rainy March day. So here is what works- Every 12 hours open ash door/ damper add 1/2 bucket coal. After it catches shake and slice grate until orange coals drop, should make half a pan full. Empty pan, shake grates again and add other half of pail. Once caught close ash door and damper and do not disturb for 12 hrs. Most here know their stoves but figured I'd post for other beginners like me.

69* here today & the Hitzer is running in the high 200* range. I usually let it run into early May.

JohnB wrote: ↑

Sat. Mar. 30, 2019 2:12 pm

I usually let it run into early May.

I think middle of May for us, stove is in basement family room.

After I let the coal go out in May I burn up all the wood scraps that I've saved over the Winter when I need to knock off a morning chill. Lots of windows on the East & South side so if it's sunny but cool the house will still warm up nicely Spring & Fall without a fire.

Bubbalowe wrote: ↑

Fri. Mar. 29, 2019 11:10 am

After it catches shake and slice grate until orange coals drop, should make half a pan full. Empty pan, shake grates again and add other half of pail. Once caught close ash door and damper and do not disturb for 12 hrs. Most here know their stoves but figured I'd post for other beginners like me.

Bubbalowe,
Glad you’re getting the hang of the Vig. I have two, and also went through the learning curve. One change to your procedure that I would highly recommend is to empty ashes as the first step (when they are cold) and not after shaking (when they are hot).

I also think you can put the whole pail of coal on the low fire (I do) and it will come back. I set a countdown timer (phone or watch) for 10 to 30 minutes depending on the situation, and that keeps me connected if I get distracted. Enjoy your Vigilant. Great stove!

Hitzer 503 running with the fans off just radiant...
Mid 50's day but it tumbles back...
Ocean effect will keep it chilly for a while...
Let the stove ash up during the day shake at night...

Same here--Vigilant 2310, my first year with coal. We have had warm weather for several weeks, so I let it go out and a few times tried wood in the evening.

The wood takes some learning, but it actually puts out enormous heat with wood (take care not to overheat--when it gets around 700 degrees I open the doors and let the temp drop, but the heat output is still plenty. I make smallish fires and try to keep it in the back away from the glass.

All I can get is TSC coal, and I have been happy with that. I too began to see black coal in the driveway where I dump ashes, so I slice a bit less. Your regimen sounds about like mine now. We had a mild winter, so it was not an ideal test--a lot of 50 degree days all winter.

I was going to do wood tonight, but it is going to about freezing tonight and tomorrow night, so I went ahead and put coal on the wood fire--less trouble and it goes all night for a snug house.

When the coal is running I like to cook on it--I have a collection of old cast iron cookware, but also use other pots too. Soon I will have to resort to a Lodge cast iron hibachi grill on the porch for a while.

Bubbalowe wrote: ↑

Fri. Mar. 29, 2019 11:10 am

First season ending burning coal and finally got a good routine. Bought a new Vigilant 2310 because of price and appearance sitting in living room but first 4 months use was less than ideal. Started with TSC coal then Blaschak and Reading but didn't see a difference aside from price. My mistakes were shaking grates too often, slicing unburnt coal through grates, and letting coal burn down too low before adding coal. With 20 foot 6" double wall flue in a masonry chimney, inlet flap opened 1 inch, the stove is working perfectly on a 50 degree rainy March day. So here is what works- Every 12 hours open ash door/ damper add 1/2 bucket coal. After it catches shake and slice grate until orange coals drop, should make half a pan full. Empty pan, shake grates again and add other half of pail. Once caught close ash door and damper and do not disturb for 12 hrs. Most here know their stoves but figured I'd post for other beginners like me.

Will leave ashes in pan until next cycle and empty first as suggested, hoping will make less dust when emptying into 30 gal galvanized garbage pail. Yesterday's temp shot up to 67 but overnight went back to 32 so let stove run with windows open. It is nice not having the fire go out. Local TSC ran out of coal in January and got more in beginning March, kept price at $6.29. The other 2 local dealers sell Reading / Blaschak for $6.95. It shakes out to 1 bag a day or $188.70 a month to keep warm, very affordable for nice radiant heat.

My local TSC gives a discount for a pallet (one ton)--5% on the sign, but the manager gives me sale price of 10% off since I buy several. That takes it from regular $314 or $6.29 each down to $283 or $5.83 each bag.

Some ash left in the pan to settle may be all right, but the manual suggests emptying the ash pan when running so it will allow plenty of air under the fire. If you use the ash pan cover to lift it out, you won't stir up dust, but my stove is so close to the door (and outside container) I often just lift it out.

Even this winter when the temps were warmer than usual, here in Western KY (zone 6.5 in gardening climate) I used more than a bag a day--sometimes close to two. When it runs on low (the lever is to the right, about 2 o'clock), it still burns at about 300 degrees or more, and I read here that some people can burn lower than that. Maybe if I shake and slice less, there will be enough buildup of ash and clinkers to cool it down some, but the first time I lit it I only did that once a day and it smothered itself in a couple of days.

I read there is a chemical catalyst to reduce clinkers and increase full combustion, but could not find anything on it.

The way I cool it down but keep a fire is to clear the ash in the center only, leaving the sides ashed up. This way my fire is cut in half horizontally, but full depth for a long burn. I can run the stove in the 200s until the cold front comes through, then shake and clear the whole box and get back to more usual burn temps.

the only way i can successfully get a good burn at or under 200 is to shake down completely. allowing ash to build up first will only lead to the fire dying when trying to run real low. i also make sure i put a good layer of pea on top, maybe an inch or two, this slows down the air flow a good amount... if you dont have pea im sure a light layer of fines will work, make sure you dont smother it and maybe leave a line down the middle free of fines just to make sure there is air flow... and if you dont have a mano its best to have one, if you see the draft going under .005-.01 area you know to turn up a little... also secondary air flow helps if you have it, i dont so i just remove a few inches of loading door gasket on the bottom of the door to make sure there is some air flow to help maintain the draft since the primary is only opened a crack. pea coal is easier to burn low than nut.

I suspected pea coal burns slower, but I can't get it here. TSC just have nut and rice (and those by special order). I fear rice would slide through the grates. I never seem to have fines much--what is in the scuttle just goes over the top when I load.

My Vigilant 2 does not have secondary air in theory, but actually there is an iron plate in front (behind the doors, under the front grill) that closes the ash pan/primary air chamber--you take it out to slice the grates. When it is closed (in place), there is a clear 1/8 inch of space across the top, which lets air come up in front of the fire bed along the glass windows, thence over the fire. This gives hot secondary air and seems to prevent puff backs. After slicing, when the red glow is over the ash pan, you can see the crack across the front plate clearly.

I tried removing the plate altogether when burning wood, but the windows still get smoked, so it does not give an air wash that way, and for controlling the air it is just as easy to use the primary vent and/or crack the doors. If it gets too hot I open the doors all the way. This throws a lot of heat out front and the stove cools down to proper levels--still a lot of BTUs. (I have a fireplace screen for sparks.) The only real control I have found for smoky windows is to keep a smallish fire (about two logs) and keep the fire in back. That still puts out a lot of heat--but it requires frequent attention (compared to coal). Don't load wood through the top if the front doors are open or cracked--unless you like breathing smoke! (Also load with updraft only, damper open.)

The few times I did burn wood the Vigilant worked perfect although there is no wood stove down draft/ window wash. Smudged window is only a minor annoyance, early VC stoves didn't even have a viewing doors.

Yes, VC's had optional iron or glass panes in front. I thought about buying a pair of iron ones for wood or for emergencies. If the glass should break when everything is snowed in, I would have no heat. But I have not found them online. Of course, one could have them cut from common thick sheet metal.

I also found that the Vigilant 2 smokes a lot when loading from the top--not so much from the front if the logs fit.

Bubbalowe wrote: ↑

Tue. Apr. 02, 2019 4:33 pm

The few times I did burn wood the Vigilant worked perfect although there is no wood stove down draft/ window wash. Smudged window is only a minor annoyance, early VC stoves didn't even have a viewing doors.

Hitting high 60's to 70 this week in Western PA so stove is going out until next weekend when it's supposed to chill again. I don't stress starting up since switching from wood to charcoal, pour charcoal in coal pail, soak with lighter fluid and put in stove and light. Once charcoal is going coal gets added and is burning within 30 minutes, less work than tending a wood fire. After the stove goes dark for season will give a coat of stove polish, noticed cast iron always gets a little brown from the high humidity of our summers.