Hitzer 354: First coal fire in a few days

Lightning wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 6:51 pm

With the fuel bed black and not very active I'd rev it up good before shaking ash so that recovery after loading is quicker.

About how long should the loading and recovery process take?

I let the pipe get to about 225F this morning, then added about 12-15lbs and it took a little while for the coal to catch it seemed. Maybe it’s just me being new and not knowing what to do and what to expect.

However long it takes H. It's coal, not wood.

Hoytman wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 7:28 pm

warminmn,
I hope you didn’t take my “no way” comment in a negative light. I didn’t mean it like that. When I wrote that I was surprised by the possibility to run it cooler, that’s all. Wasn’t implying it couldn’t be done.

Nope, no prob. When you get your manometer it will all make more sense because you will see how much draft you actually have.... as a double benefit, i can tell for a short while before its going to snow if the wind is light as my gauges drop.

And Fred is right. However long it takes.

Added 15 lbs this morning, 9.5 this evening.

Yep you can close the window if it gets below the 'Wife Comfort' range...
See I told you the warmer temps are welcomed...
I get 'The house is freezing' when it hits 70*...
Its only 'chilly' at 71*...
LOL...
At the current temps...
If you get a slight glow of orange below the black top layer...
You are good to shake...
The 503 shakes from inside the ash door...
So the stove gets a goose if it needs it or not..
In the warmer weather i only shake at 6pm...
It still gets cooler at night so the extra heat that gets generated from the shake down is a plus...
During the day the extra ash will slow the fire when it is needed...

Ok...I understand that.

IAT 74F this morning.
OAT 30F
...and this is what I woke up to... It’s warm in here, but I’m starting maybe to get used to the heat now...it seems it could be just a tad warmer not being fully dressed. When it was 77F in here the floor was just a tad warmer, naturally. However, it was also 17F outside then also. Sort of odd then that being warm now by almost double that the house feels that much cooler...even though the inside difference is only 3*F. I suppose the radiance being slightly less is making it feel that way.

AND??????????????????????????????????

Just put 8.4 lbs in, ash door shut, damper just a tad open and spinners open 1/2 a turn, lazy blues.

Still thinking I need to see the new coal catch and see blues...even with glowing red holes. Not sure if that’s right or not.

In a few more minutes will fully lock spinners shut and close the damper all the way. I did NOT shake down this time. I could do it now, or I could wait until evening. Ash pan is empty. Making sure not to let it get too full.

If I were to shake down now, after just refilling, everything closed up, how would I do it?

Do I open the damper back up?
Would I open spinners?
Would I open ash door again to rev the fire a bit, shut the ash door, then shake?
Or, leave everything closed and just shake?

Edit:
I am feeling a little more comfortable tending now. That’s good. Less stress. Just trying to figure out a few things as it seems there could be several ways to tend, empty, shake down, and close things up.

yep and those several ways will be discovered by doing it one way now ( which you have ) and watching the effect till the next full tending and taking notes

then tomorrow doing it with a new variation and noting those results

if on the 3rd day you wish to try yet another way go ahead noting those results then compare the 3 for signs of the greatest favorable results.

it might be that it seems parts of all 3 become your actual common practice. that wouldn't be strange it's just the way we gain and process understanding.

seems to me you're doing fine. you are recognizing a new comfort zone, the CO detectors aren't going off and you haven't blown up the house with a back draft explosion. pretty good for the first few days of learning the stove and coal in it i'd say.

H, stop thinkin & let the stove do what it was built to do--all you gotta do is tend her every 12 hrs(CONSISTANTLY)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Still thinking I need to see the new coal catch and see blues...even with glowing red holes. Not sure if that’s right or not.

Yep...need to take some notes. Been keeping a few numbers, but not what I’m doing during tending.

Going to start a new and dedicated journal this evening that I can reference next fall/winter. Once I feel more comfortable with it I may not even need it after a few years burning the stove.

I suppose some of my confusion on when to shake and such comes from reading other thread where, if my memory serves me, some people crack a load door when they shake down or something like that...the idea is keeping dust out of the house and possibly in the pipe.

Seems like to me the stronger the draft the more the dust...fly ash...whatever it’s called...would can be carried up and out of the chimney easier. The way I have been shaking the fire isn’t roaring like it was in start up with stove temps 400-500 plus degrees. Even then it seems like the ash door would need to be open to allow a better draft, but then there’s the ash falling into the pan to think about. Maybe I’m confusing ash and fly ash?

H, you're confusing EVERYTHING!!! You have had suggestions on how to run that stove (33 pages worth) Each stove, situation is different. You have ALL the basics--now it's down to trial & error--nothing here is carved in stone--ya get a lil dust--learn from it & don't do the same thing. Doors open, closed, dials 1/2 turn--3 turns--YEP, trial & error. The balls in your court now. Nobody's gonna come & do it for ya.

Yeah, theres not really a carved in stone specific method for tending the stove. You'll find your variation of stove operation thru just doing it.

Fly ash is basically ash dust that is very light and will follow the air currents. Shaking with the ash door closed will make for less of it going up and settling in the pipe.

But since you are a new coal burner, doing the whole tending procedure every 12 hours will give you good learning experiences even if the stove doesn't absolutely need it. Maybe in a few weeks you can try extending that time between tendings, or possibly doing a half version for morning then a full version at evening.

When I ran my hand fed stove I did 24 hour burn cycles mainly. Only thru extremely cold days would i do 12 hours, usually 15-20 days per year. Then on really warm days running low and slow I would skip days, doing 48 hour burns..

The first season is about learning what your stove needs to keep it happy and developing a routine that works for you

freetown fred wrote: ↑

Thu. Jan. 23, 2020 5:30 pm

H, you're confusing EVERYTHING!!! You have had suggestions on how to run that stove (33 pages worth) Each stove, situation is different. You have ALL the basics--now it's down to trial & error--nothing here is carved in stone--ya get a lil dust--learn from it & don't do the same thing. Doors open, closed, dials 1/2 turn--3 turns--YEP, trial & error. The balls in your court now. Nobody's gonna come & do it for ya.

GOOD ONE FRED.....