Bituminous Coal use here in Montana

 
longears9
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Anthra Max 15 cvoal stove with blower.

Post by longears9 » Fri. May. 07, 2021 11:28 am

You Folks may not know much about the use of Bituminous Coal but we (welcome to spring and summer ) Just got our new Anthra Max 15 coal stove and the only coal we can get here in Wyoming and Montana is Bituminous @ $55.55 per ton.
Pea coal size: Golf Ball size. Seems to burn really great. My concern: It's sprayed with oil (petroleum oil I assume) and the oil does have a slight odor. Nothing sinister. Do I need to take any precautions when using the stove with this coal? Could the fire in the stove "flash" out the door because of the oil? Do I need to cover the coal in our bin to keep moisture (rain and snow) off and out of the coal? We're sitting on top of a few gazillion tons of Bituminous coal here in Montana. No Anthracite. Your replies would be appreciated. Thanks.


 
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warminmn
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Location: Land of 11,842 lakes
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Junior, Efel Nestor Martin, Riteway 37
Coal Size/Type: nut and stove anthracite, lignite
Other Heating: Wood and wear a wool shirt

Post by warminmn » Fri. May. 07, 2021 12:46 pm

Are you sure its sprayed with oil? Did they tell you that? Bit smells like tires and oil burning naturally. It will need to be covered or it comes apart and turns to dust. How long that takes depends on the coal. Anthracite does not do that but bit does. Lignite seems to do it quickly. I think its called sub bit, what you have in your area.

I am not familiar with your stove but you need to let your stove breathe a while with over and under fire air after loading and then close it up, but not completely. how long to do that and how depends on a lot of variables.

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longears9
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Anthra Max 15 cvoal stove with blower.

Post by longears9 » Fri. May. 07, 2021 2:43 pm

Yes indeed it's been treated with oil. I wish I knew how to copy and paste or upload a picture of the coal to show you. Thanks for the other info. We have the stove fired up and it sure puts out lots of heat! Still learning how to operate it. :-)

 
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warminmn
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Location: Land of 11,842 lakes
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Junior, Efel Nestor Martin, Riteway 37
Coal Size/Type: nut and stove anthracite, lignite
Other Heating: Wood and wear a wool shirt

Post by warminmn » Fri. May. 07, 2021 4:35 pm

You could ask the mine what kind of oil they used and then look online and see how dangerous it is, but I wouldnt think it would be much worse than the coal is. Ive put it into bags and thrown the whole thing in before as that gives me an extra second or two before the smoke rolls out.

Larger coal will usually work better but if its working good then it wont matter.

Here is just one way of posting a pic but there are so many browsers and smart phones around that its hard to say what works. Post by The Great Corncoalio - How do I post a pic?

 
Hoytman
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Location: swOH near a little town where the homes are mobile and the cars aren’t
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Coal Size/Type: nut coal
Other Heating: electric, wood, oil

Post by Hoytman » Fri. May. 07, 2021 6:59 pm

I wasn’t aware you could burn bituminous in a D.S. stove. I thought it voided the warranty, but I could be mistaken ( you better check).

 
longears9
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Anthra Max 15 cvoal stove with blower.

Post by longears9 » Fri. May. 07, 2021 8:38 pm

DS Stoves: Contact person: Larry 717-768-3853 I asked him, before we purchased the DS-15 and he assured us that it did not cancel the Warranty. As if I can mail the thing back to them if there was a warranty issue. 550 pounds! They ain't Amazon :-)
We're using the stove as I type and it's doing wonderfully. 30 pounds = 2 days at 80 degrees. Wife loves that, I don't (to hot) :-)
2 months ago it dropped down to -34 below here in Central Montana. Propane was and is $2.80 a gallon. Thanks Sleepy Joe.!

 
Hoytman
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Location: swOH near a little town where the homes are mobile and the cars aren’t
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Coal Size/Type: nut coal
Other Heating: electric, wood, oil

Post by Hoytman » Sat. May. 08, 2021 11:01 am

Not sure what the sleepy Joe comment is all about?!?! There’s only one Sleepy Joe, and I do NOT support him...at all.

Glad you did your due diligence in inquiring about your stove, but I know I wasn’t dreaming, so I did a quick search for you here. Perhaps the warranty is only voided with certain stoves burnjng bituminous, but again it pays to be sure...because as you said shipping that much weight costs a lot.


Just scroll down through both pages of topics and you’ll see why I had a concern for you. I assumed all their stoves were not covered with warranty when burning bituminous. Guess I was mistaken.
search.php?keywords=D.S.+%2B+bituminous%2B+warran ... mit=Search

I do my best to keep up with stoves and to try and help people here. I’m quite capable of mistakes.

Does your stove have the reburn in it?

I believe the Comfortmax 75 and Anthramax do have the reburn, as does the 110 and the 160, but those two I’m not sure about burning bituminous either. Seems I seen a video that said bituminous would void their warranty as well.


 
fig
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: T.O.M (Warm Morning converted to baseburner by Steve) Round Oak 1917 Door model O-3, Warm Morning 400, Warm Morning 524, Warm Morning 414,Florence No.77, Warm Morning 523-b
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Clayton 7.1/DS Machine basement stove/ Harman SF1500
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Coal Size/Type: Bituminous/anthracite
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Post by fig » Sat. May. 08, 2021 11:37 am

I tried burning bit in my DS basement stove and it didn’t go very well but that could have been due to the type and size of bit I ended up with this year. It was very small almost stoker coal. It seemed like it wasn’t getting enough air and I had several large puff backs. I eventually gave up and just bought anth. I think that the basement stove needs more over fire air. I did install the side vents from a riteway but even that didn’t help.

 
longears9
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Anthra Max 15 cvoal stove with blower.

Post by longears9 » Sat. May. 08, 2021 4:37 pm

Our new DS Anthra Max 15 coal stove heats our home past any expectation we had. As I've mentioned, we have access to Bituminous Coal only here in Montana. You were right. Soft coal does void the warranty of any DS Stove. We've completed, to our satisfaction, our learning curve regarding the safe use of the stove. The size of our coal is what they call "Pea Coal" golf ball size very consistent. Learning the "Draft", the "Damper", the "Air Wash" controls took some time but we've got it down very well. We've installed the Excel brand of chimney system and the components make for a very safe and effective use of the stove. The DS 15 does have the "re-burner" feature. I weighed out 30 lbs of coal (bit) and it kept our home at 75-80 degrees for over 24 hours. The oil used to suppress dust has a little concerned. We are going to look into that asap. Looking at the load of coal I picked up doesn't seem to have really any small particles (dust) anyway.

 
Hoytman
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Location: swOH near a little town where the homes are mobile and the cars aren’t
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Coal Size/Type: nut coal
Other Heating: electric, wood, oil

Post by Hoytman » Sat. May. 08, 2021 5:14 pm

Never said I was right. LOL! Only that it had been mentioned here. Sorry for the confusion. To confirm or deny what has been discussed here in the forum I would have to call D.S. I did just look at their brochures and all I see mentioned as a fuel is “coal”, and what type is NOT specified...so maybe you were right. LOL! Just wanted you to be safe and aware of the discussions here since you are new.

Those Anthramax stoves seem like very nice units.

Since you’re in Montana, I believe is what you said, did you buy from Obadiah’s? I think they carry D.S. stoves.

 
longears9
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Anthra Max 15 cvoal stove with blower.

Post by longears9 » Sat. May. 08, 2021 5:54 pm

You were and are a big help. We bought the stove by way of the Amish Community about 15 miles from here in Moore, MT.
IT'S GOING TO SNOW TONIGHT!! We've learned how to use the stove and it's doing very well indeed. I Must keep and eye on it with regards to giving it to much air to fast. Flames up and gets real hot fast. I noticed that somewhere in my memory I had smelt coal smoke before and I just couldn't remember the "Ah-Ha" is came to me. After Vietnam I spent 2 years in Italy and they used it there quite a lot. Thanks Again. :-)

 
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warminmn
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Joined: Tue. Feb. 08, 2011 5:59 pm
Location: Land of 11,842 lakes
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Junior, Efel Nestor Martin, Riteway 37
Coal Size/Type: nut and stove anthracite, lignite
Other Heating: Wood and wear a wool shirt

Post by warminmn » Sat. May. 08, 2021 6:19 pm

Once you get used to it being 80 degree's you'll be cold when its 79. Glad its working out. Lots of folks here just leave a window open if warm out and heat 100% with coal from first fire to the end. I didnt know there were Amish in Montana. Try some of their homemade cinnamon rolls sometime. I'd weigh 400 pounds if i were Amish, lol

 
Hoytman
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Location: swOH near a little town where the homes are mobile and the cars aren’t
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 354
Coal Size/Type: nut coal
Other Heating: electric, wood, oil

Post by Hoytman » Sat. May. 08, 2021 6:27 pm

Thank you for your service!!

 
charlesosborne2002
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vigilant II 2310
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Post by charlesosborne2002 » Sun. May. 09, 2021 2:57 pm

Hoytman wrote:
Sat. May. 08, 2021 11:01 am
Not sure what the sleepy Joe comment is all about?!?! There’s only one Sleepy Joe, and I do NOT support him...at all.

Glad you did your due diligence in inquiring about your stove, but I know I wasn’t dreaming, so I did a quick search for you here. Perhaps the warranty is only voided with certain stoves burnjng bituminous, but again it pays to be sure...because as you said shipping that much weight costs a lot.


Just scroll down through both pages of topics and you’ll see why I had a concern for you. I assumed all their stoves were not covered with warranty when burning bituminous. Guess I was mistaken.
search.php?keywords=D.S.+%2B+bituminous%2B+warran ... mit=Search

I do my best to keep up with stoves and to try and help people here. I’m quite capable of mistakes.

Does your stove have the reburn in it?

I believe the Comfortmax 75 and Anthramax do have the reburn, as does the 110 and the 160, but those two I’m not sure about burning bituminous either. Seems I seen a video that said bituminous would void their warranty as well.
I have a Vigilant 2 coal stove (Vermont Castings), so it is of course different, but they are sold, ready for bit coal; if you use anthracite, as I do, you have to remove a plate from the main air input to allow much more air, and attach a brass warning plate to the front saying that it is limited to anthra. If I used bit coal now, getting all that air, it could melt or crack the stove (even with the air flap closed down--it is not meant to seal tight, and swings loosely). I am wondering if a stove with Anthra in the name is for anthracite? The manual should tell you what it can burn... available online. Be sure to check the stove temp and don't let it get too hot. If I ever let it get too hot (usually with wood) I open the front doors like a fireplace until it drops down, with the internal baffle open for direct vent..

I read that Wyoming coal is sub-bituminous (which might make it less hot) and has very low sulfur (the acid rain stuff), so you are polluting less than firewood. Your coal or stove dealer, or a local licensed chimney sweep, can tell you about chimney deposits for your coal. I am in KY, which is #2 in coal production after WY. (We were #1 for ages.) That is why McConnell would never let clean air bills come up for air, much less a vote. But ours is all good-ole sulfurous stuff for electrical plants.

By the way, I bought mine on eBay and they did replace it. It was brand new discontinued stock, and included freight shipping with local shipper delivery to the house. But the local trucker saw it had been dropped and smashed up, so he reported it. They send another perfect one right away while he returned the wreck.

I looked it up and found that industrial coal is sometimes shipped by pipeline. After it is broken, it is mixed with water or oil to make a slurry, which goes through the pipe. I would guess it is raw crude oil, not Pennzoil PurePlus. So it adds to your smoke.

Your coal is very cheap--I have to pay around $300 a ton (in bags).

 
longears9
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Anthra Max 15 cvoal stove with blower.

Post by longears9 » Thu. Jun. 03, 2021 9:24 pm

Can anyone with a DS 15 Anthramax coal stove or maybe something similar, let me know how much coal (Anthracite) their stove consumes during a 24 hour period in the winter?


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