Changed Stoves

Another trick I learned on this forum is to cover the grates with paper prior to laying in the coal. Then cut a hole (6 x 6 in my case) and place the matchlite on the hole with coal all around it, covering the grates. The air will concentrate through the hole to get things going, and the eventually burn off the paper and allow the fire to spread to the coal placed on the paper. Works well for me; hope it helps others.

What the heck J---you're not up yet??????????????/ LOL

freetown fred wrote: ↑

Thu. Feb. 27, 2020 7:15 am

J, it comes a time when--be damned with the research & just do it--personally I'm a matchlight guy--been workin for 10+ yrs. I just dump the whole bag over the grates, wait till it gets going & then slowly start putting the anthracite to her. Mornin buddy!!

JM, if you have an established fire going fairly strong, and it's been going for a while, say 10 to 15 min enough to warm the chimney with MPD open smoke SHOULD NOT back draft into the room when load door is open. Could there possibly be some sort of blockage within that stove? The results you describe with the "paper test" are exactly what would happen if you performed that test with the MPD closed.
Jim

JM,

Glad to hear you got the firebox back as it should be and the hopper hatch sealed. Two more things checked off the list!!!!

When you open the door and get smoke.... is that just while burning wood,.... or the first few minutes of burning coal,..... or after the coal fire has been burning for 15-20 minutes ???

A fresh layer of coal poured onto a hot firebed will sometimes outgas faster than even a well drafting chimney system can take away all the sulfur-smell volatile gases that are first produced by fresh coal.

My base heater does that and it's door is not as big an opening compared to the stove pipe as your Saey. And the chimney is very tall with a very strong draft. Sometimes it's just a case of the door opening size being very large compared to the stove pipe size while the coal bed is outgassing at it's most volume time.

After 15-20 minutes of burning that layer of coal should have burned off the majority of volatiles and not make a stink when you open the door,... slowly. If you open the door quickly the turbulence might be sucking out some smoke/smell.


And one other thing,.... stove draft is not as strong on rainy days as dry days. Damp air is lighter and less likely to produce as much draft strength as the same stove/chimney system on dry days. Don't let that lead you to believe the stove is still having problems.
Paul

Thermostatic bi-metallic primary air damper adds a new twist from previous used stove aswell...

Time for another update!!

I took advice from Fred and nepacoal and I put a 1" layer of anthracite then maybe 15-20 match light charcoal briquettes then started it. I had a coal fire going within 30 minutes!! Since then it is running beautifully but I am not having the same heat output as I was previously mainly because I used to close my MPD once the gases were burned off to help maintain some heat but I am not sure if I can do that with this stove due to the thermostat.

As of right now I am averaging 250-275 degree stove top temps; which my previous high was 150, and my pipe temp is 150; which my previous high was 100. The stove is now heating the room its in to 73 and the rest of the main floor to 68, but no heat is heading upstairs as of yet. There is a nice glowing bed and blue flames coming up 2-3 inches above the top of the coal; which I am not sure if that's good or bad. It could have been doing it in my previous stove but there was no viewing glass. Due to the height of the blue flames I am apprehensive to putting in the hopper and loading it because I have read about hopper fires and do not want one to occur.

I went onto my roof and checked the chimney - it is actually a 7"x7" clay liner and there are no obstructions anywhere. I do not seem to have any drafting issues and now when I load two shovels worth of coal I get a brief smell of the gases but once I close the door they disappear within a few minutes. The distance from where my stove feeds into the chimney to the top of it is only 10 feet; so I am not sure if that could be contributing to some of the problems I have been experiencing.

Does anyone have experience with a MPD and thermostatic bi-metallic damper? As McGiever said it is definitely a game changer so I am learning the nuances of that.

All in all I am extremely thankful for everyones input because I am well on my way to enjoying the stove! I thought I was dooooooomed!

Put the Hopper in...

JMHudsonValley wrote: ↑

Thu. Feb. 27, 2020 9:47 pm

Time for another update!!

.

Does anyone have experience with a MPD and thermostatic bi-metallic damper? As McGiever said it is definitely a game changer so I am learning the nuances of that.

All in all I am extremely thankful for everyones input because I am well on my way to enjoying the stove! I thought I was dooooooomed!

In my house I have a 30-95. It has a MPD , a barro and a bi-metallic. I don't think I've ever used the MPD so when I put the 50-93 in the garage I didn't bother installing one. Both stoves operate easily with the bi-metallic. I am so impressed with the b-metallic that the other day I ordered a complete bi-metallic kit from Hitzer for another stove I picked up.

DITTO on S & C's post J--just give it a try --I've got just bi-metallic thermo--no BARO or MPD--works well. You'll find sweet spot on bi-metallic--sometimes when sub zero temps I need to play with bi-metallic--same with shoulder temps. Looks like you're doin just fine!!

get a manometer installed so you can see FOR SURE what your draft strength is.

in the mean time, 2-3 inch blues are not going to start a hopper fire. 12" flames won't for that matter. hopper fires happen because the hopper load door isn't sealed properly and a draft gets established at the top of the hopper. fill the rest of the firebed to the level of the bottom of the hopper, let it burn off the gasses for 15 mins. then put in the hopper and fill it up.

from then on you are going to fill the hopper, shake the ashes, refill the hopper and walk away. empty the ashes before they touch the bottom of the grates.

I have a DS 1400 with a bi metal thermostatic controlled primary air system. unless the flap binds for some very unusual reason there is no way that system will contribute to a over fire or other dangerous outcome. it is designed to do just the opposite.

I also have an MPD and a mano. with the mano. I can tell what temp. and wind are contributing to my draft strength. with the MPD I can keep the draft my stove sees no higher than -.02 and it will operate safely down to -.005. at or below 25* my MPD is fully closed. it is very rarely open further than 45*

I control heat out put with the bi metal dial.

you are well on your way, keep at it.
steve

CapeCoaler wrote: ↑

Thu. Feb. 27, 2020 10:15 pm

Put the Hopper in...

I read this and literally threw it in right away and poured a bucket of coal and didn't look back! It has been burning with no issues since last night - the room its in right now is a toasty 81 while the main floor is 74 and my upstairs is 69! When I get home shortly I am going to dial it down and pay attention to the thermostat. My Stove pipe temp is running an even 200 degrees with the MPD open all the way.

After really looking over the stove I was changing the thermostat and I noticed when I moved it from 1-4 it was staying closed, but when I went to 5-8 it was opening normal. It appears that there is something going on with the thermostat. When I take the handle and apply a little bit of pressure pushing it up; the thermostat moves smoothly from 1-8. When I let it go and I move from 1-8 it is very choppy. We are supposed to have a few days this week of 60 degrees during the day so I may let the stove die down and address whats happening.

KingCoal wrote: ↑

Fri. Feb. 28, 2020 7:45 am

get a manometer installed so you can see FOR SURE what your draft strength is.

This will be my next step - I need to educate myself more about these to move forward on it.

I am really thankful for everyone's assistance and giving advice and I am glad to be a part of this community! Hopefully this post can help someone in the future. There was definitely a bit of a learning curve with the Saey 92 but now is time for the fine tuning to get her purring along without any issues.

Below are some pictures I took at 4:30 this morning when I woke up!

excellent !! if you can please post some close up pics of the air flap and it's pivot points.

there might be some roughness on the "posts" or in the "openings" they move in.

Or, it could be that the stove is running and producing enough heat that at the present setting of the dial it simply won't open it more than an hair because it isn't perceiving a need.

this will happen when you are running the MPD wide open. the draft will be high and the velocity of the incoming air will be high too, in this case the bi metal spring will keep the flap mostly closed to keep from surpassing the desired setting.

on the other hand, if you close the MPD to a 45* angle the draft will be dropped some and to keep the output consistent with the bi metal dial setting it will open the flap some to allow more of the slower moving air.

i would try that tonight. without doing anything else, close the MPD to 45* and watch the flap for a while.

when i want to drop the output on my stove i close the MPD to about 20ish * and turn the dial down till the flap is open about 1/8".

these are things you can do as slow moving experiments as they take an hour or so to actually show mature results.

so cool that you are enjoying new and satisfying results

KingCoal wrote: ↑

Fri. Feb. 28, 2020 7:50 pm

excellent !! if you can please post some close up pics of the air flap and it's pivot points.

there might be some roughness on the "posts" or in the "openings" they move in.

Below are pictures of the bimetal thermo. If these aren’t any good let me know and I can take new ones or more specific ones. It does make sense about it closing due to the heat of the stove. That would mean it’s working correctly then! I just wish I had a guide on what the “temperature” was for each setting of 1-8.

The picture of the stove is what it looks like currently. I do have it cranking because the temp is dropping a bit tonight. Stove top temp is around 375 and the pipe is at 200 even

I’ve not seen these at all, so I am not at all familiar with it. Can you back the camera away and take some more pics of everything on the stove. Looks like it has a side load door as well as a front door? Nice looking stove.

That bi-metallic appears to be...well, bi -metallic, but I hear there are some that are fluid filled and have heard they are more precise or more accurate.

Hoytman wrote: ↑

Fri. Feb. 28, 2020 9:48 pm

I’ve not seen these at all, so I am not at all familiar with it. Can you back the camera away and take some more pics of everything on the stove. Looks like it has a side load door as well as a front door? Nice looking stove.

That bi-metallic appears to be...well, bi -metallic, but I hear there are some that are fluid filled and have heard they are more precise or more accurate.

Yeah after watching it I turned it up from 5 to 6 and the flap has been slowly closing as the stove is heating up so maybe it’s working correctly. I’m not used to using one.

I’m learning patience with coal. Lol. Wood is so volatile and instant in how it can change compared to this.