Unburned coal buildup

First season using coal on a Harman TLC 2000. I’ve had the fire go out a few times because there seems to be too much unburned coal / ash buildup. Usually after 2-3 weeks. The center of the pile will be red but it is sitting in a pile of greyish whitish colored pieces of coal, still solid not powdery ash. Shaking down twice daily but those unburned pieces build up and then I can’t get lit. Have to dump it all and restart. Any ideas what that is and why it might be happening?

Can you post some pictures of before and after shake down, and after loading? Could you describe your tending routine? Maybe you aren't shaking ash aggressively enough?

Could be lousy coal or maybe we can help with your tending routine

Where do you get your coal and what size is it? I have a TLC2000 sitting in the basement waiting to be installed at some point. There has been some good tips about modifying to add more coal and such in this model.

Maybe someone will be kind enough to provide the info again? From memory, I scarcely remember the points, not the details....

X2, on whose Nut coal you are burning?

How deep of coal bed do you maintain, cause too shallow will leave incomplete burnt coal, as will not covering the full grate area.

I’m in NJ and buying nut from Wilson Coal. I tend to leave the damper 1/3 open overnight. In the morning it’s usually still warm and glowing. My father in law used to own this house and he showed me his method: in the AM, open the ash door, wait 5-10 mins for coal to glow bright. Close door, shake down with short choppy strokes till it gets hard to shake. Usually ash and a few glowing embers land in the ash bin. Open the ash door back up, add 1/3rd of a pail from top door. Wait 10 mins. Add next 3rd. Wait 10 mins. Add last 3rd and wait 10 mins. Close door, shake a bit. I add enough so the coal reaches the top of the fire bricks. Then repeat before bed. I’ll post pics in the morning.

this one looks helpful: Post by Seagrave1963 - Legacy TLC 2000

Check this video from the same link. My sense is Seagrave1963 could be more careful with the fly ash.... once it gets airborne it will settle on horizontal surfaces... and by convection that includes upstairs.

I have a Harman boiler, however I would imagine that the grate systems in both are similar. With my boiler I had the same experience until I started using a poker around the edges regularly. When you notice the edges dying, use a poker to clear the ash then shake & I think you will be OK.

Here’s some pics of this mornings routine. It got down to 29 last night but the house stayed at 69. 2000sqft.

Gfunk27 wrote: ↑

Thu. Dec. 05, 2019 10:23 pm

First season using coal on a Harman TLC 2000. I’ve had the fire go out a few times because there seems to be too much unburned coal / ash buildup. Usually after 2-3 weeks. The center of the pile will be red but it is sitting in a pile of greyish whitish colored pieces of coal, still solid not powdery ash. Shaking down twice daily but those unburned pieces build up and then I can’t get lit. Have to dump it all and restart. Any ideas what that is and why it might be happening?

What you describe is what I had before I fixed the grates on my range. I'd shake the grates several times a day, the dusty ash would fall through to the ash pan, but it wasn't enough "action" to break up the fused ash.

After a couple of weeks that fused ash would build up and fill the bottom half of the firebox, not only making ash clearing tougher, it was reducing the amount of burnable fuel the firebox could hold. Heat output dropped way off. I'd have to let the stove go out, clear all those chunks of fused ash that had turned into clinkers and restart the firebed. Then all would be good for a few days until the buildup of fused ash in the bottom of the firebed started again.

I fixed the grates so that I can daily rotate them to grind and dump the fused ash while it's still in the crumbly stage before it forms the harder clinkers. In your case, with grates that can't be rotated, you'll need to get in and break them up so that they can fall though the gaps when shaking the grates. Either by use of an angled tip poker up through the grates, or riddling, or slicing at the grate level from above. Then do the shaking to finish clearing the dusty ash.

Paul

Nice setup Gfunk27

We've had the TLC2000 for a few years now and really like it. We too had issues with inconsistent burning and found that the cause were clinkers forming that restricted the air from the primary air. Also found, by trial and error, that we were shaking too much and running too hot for too long. I suspect it was because we were "impatient" with heat as we had propane and natural gas "conditioning"! Over time and with practice, we've refined our procedures and now have consistent heating with minimal tending as well as more complete burning of the coal bed and less ash in the short horizontal chimney run and top shelf in the stove.

On a side note, until this year, we had been using Tractor Supply coal. We just switched to bulk delivery from a local supplier (Haines B Holt Co. in Federalsburg, MD) who gets coal from the Centralia mines. This coal takes a bit longer to light but burns more completely and hotter with less ash. Haven't had any signs of clinkers yet either.

The TLC is a beautiful stove. The huge window is awesome. I had one, I sold it - I needed something quick and easy to tend thus the reason I have the Hitzers.
I know you said pic is before tending, but the coal level seems kinda low. I bought mine late in the season, When I finally learned how to properly use it the season was over. Anyway, what I found to work the best was mounding the coal right up. level to the bricks only on the edge and immediately started to bank it to the center. I would get what looked like 4-5 inches of coal peaked in the center. If felt like it burned hotter longer and it was easier to tend and I never got the " looks like I need to start over fire" which with short coal beds seemed to be more common.

I have a TLC 2000. They discourage leaving the bottom door open for any extended time.
I ALWAYS fill my stove thru the front door and I fill it all the way to the top of the fire bricks. In the morning, I shake the stove and then use a poker to make sure there are no "voids" where the coal looks like its full, but there's nothing there. I then refill to the top of the bricks. I've been doing it that way for 15 years or so. I usually leave the draft on the bottom door at the 3rd notch unless it gets really cold.