Yukon Big Jack - can't seem to get coal to work

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sat. Nov. 27, 2021 11:12 am

Maybe you could get some lighted pictures to show where exactly the gaps are so he can plug them ;)

Oh damn, nevermind I see it!


 
lee192233
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Post by lee192233 » Sat. Nov. 27, 2021 11:24 am

Lightning wrote:
Sat. Nov. 27, 2021 11:11 am
Maybe you could get some lighted pictures to show where exactly the gaps are so he can plug them ;)
Circled areas. Basically need to close all the gaps above the firebox.
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lee192233
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Post by lee192233 » Sat. Nov. 27, 2021 11:52 am

Here's a pic of my inducer fan and it's settings that I have marked on it. Gives a little idea on how much air it needs.
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Also I think I set the furnace blower fan to come on at 120, off at 95 and limit at 170 degrees air duct temp. Completely different than my wood settings. I had to learn that coal heat is slow and steady vs. wood burning.

 
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D-frost
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Post by D-frost » Sat. Nov. 27, 2021 12:11 pm

Lee.............
The 'Ghost'...I guess......Lee, thank you, great post........this should help a lot. I was referencing my Eagle I oil/wood/coal, but, this guy is a little different construction.
Cheers

 
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Post by Hoytman » Sat. Nov. 27, 2021 8:21 pm

lee192233 wrote:
Sat. Nov. 27, 2021 10:45 am
Hi,
I have a Big Jack that I've gotten to run really well on coal. I have a thread that where I go over what I've done to make it work. Here's the rundown.
-Disregard everything the manual says.
-Bricked the sides with 2.5 firebrick and the back with 2 pieces of 1.25.
-I do run the baro. Get a manometer so you can check your draft. .03 to .05 for my unit works well.
-Stuffed the gap around the top of the firebox with fiberglass. This keeps all air going through the grate.
-Do not touch the coal bed from the top side. I use a 5/16" steel rod bent at a 90. The part that is bent is about 5" and the long handle is about 3' long. I use it to shake down the firebed every 12 hours.
-Fill the firebox to over the top of the bricks. I can get about 80 lbs in mine the it's heaped.
-I pretty much run mine with just the damper on the induction fan. No secondary air through the loading door spinner.
-The thermostat will kick in and bump the temp up. I don't allow the induction fan to run until I get the coal bed to idle nicely. You have to figure out the base air settings before you bring the added input of the induction fan.
-Get an IR thermometer so you can see your stove temps

Here's my procedure for shaking down every 12 hours,
-Open ash door for a couple minutes to get the firebed ripping.
-Take the 90 degree poker and run it through the grate from underneath and rake back and for through each opening in the grate to knock the ash out. I was getting about 1/2 pan of ash every shakedown.
-Close ash door
-Fill firebox again to heaping
-Crack secondary on loading door to allow a little secondary air to burn volatiles off.
-Open ash door and pull out ash pan. Allow ash door to remain cracked about 2". Take ash outside. Bring pan back in, put back in furnace and close door. Never forget to close ash door!!!! You will destroy the grate and maybe the furnace.
-Set timer on phone for 15 min to close secondary air spinner.
-Enjoy coal heat!

Coal needs a set schedule to perform properly.

Hope this helps,
Lee
Great post that should help the OP, minus one caveat.

I would recommend never getting in the habit of walking away from an open ash pan door. Close it. Go empty the ash pan. Come back inside open ash pan door and return ash pan to it’s location. Leave the door open a bit if need be then...watch it...and never walk away from it before closing.

Accidents/Distractions happen, as does heart attacks. Either one in this case means an open ash pan door and no one to shut it. That means an over-firing stove. Prevent it by closing the ash pan door every time you walk away from the stove. What have you lost? A few minutes! Big deal.

 
lee192233
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Post by lee192233 » Sat. Nov. 27, 2021 8:28 pm

Kinda hard to get distracted when you have a 300 degree ash pan in your hands. I do agree though never leave the ash door cracked unattended.

 
lee192233
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Post by lee192233 » Sun. Dec. 05, 2021 7:21 am

I wonder if @Khan1969 got his Big Jack working? I hope he didn't give up.


 
Khan1969
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Post by Khan1969 » Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 1:57 pm

lee192233 wrote:
Sun. Dec. 05, 2021 7:21 am
I wonder if @Khan1969 got his Big Jack working? I hope he didn't give up.
Sorry I haven't been on for a while was on the road for a month and left this headache to my wife. But while I was gone, she found a very important diagram buried in some paperwork that showed all the fresh air supplies to the fire chamber. Which allowed us (her) to close all of those off. Fixed 99% of the air flow problem in the 10 minutes it took her to plug them.

Now for the next problem and hopefully I can get that solved today with a little home made fire bricks. The spare fire bricks that I used to line the edges of the fure chamber on top of the steel plates along the fire grate are being eaten away by the coal to the point where several of them no longer exist. So I did some research and bulit a couple forms, going to use 3000 F refactory cement to make them. Buuut! I miss calculated the voluume and need more, unfortunately I can't get anymore 3000 F in the region. Anyone know if I can use 2400 F instead?

 
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Post by Khan1969 » Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 2:04 pm

Another Update since my wife fixed the fresh air problem we are able to hold the temp in the house at 72 - 74 f easily. But the burn time doesn't seem to be as long and we're using more coal Than I figured. ( a little over 60 lbs a day, 80 With Temps at zero) We have to add about 20 - 30 lbs every 6-8 hours. If we wait 12 hours the fire burns out. But really this isn't too big of deal with wood we were stocking every 6 hours anyway. And at least the fire doesn't go out every night like wood did. So the house is actually 72 when we get up in the morning.
The real challange will be tonight, We're expecting -16 F with -40 Wind chills.

 
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Post by leward » Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 2:09 pm

They should last awhile, but most any Tractor Supply or big hardware along with masonry supply stores would also have fire bricks (you can cut to fit if need be)

 
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 2:14 pm

Khan1969 wrote:
Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 2:04 pm
Another Update since my wife fixed the fresh air problem we are able to hold the temp in the house at 72 - 74 f easily. But the burn time doesn't seem to be as long and we're using more coal Than I figured. ( a little over 60 lbs a day, 80 With Temps at zero) We have to add about 20 - 30 lbs every 6-8 hours. If we wait 12 hours the fire burns out. But really this isn't too big of deal with wood we were stocking every 6 hours anyway. And at least the fire doesn't go out every night like wood did. So the house is actually 72 when we get up in the morning.
The real challenge will be tonight, We're expecting -16 F with -40 Wind chills.
I am glad to hear things are going better.

 
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D-frost
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Post by D-frost » Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 2:53 pm

Khan....
Good news.....nice to hear back how you're doing. Happy New Year to you and the Mrs!!!!
Cheers

 
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Post by Khan1969 » Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 3:24 pm

So does anyone know Will 2400 F refractory cement hold up to a coal fire?

I really don't want to drive 90 miles when I can only drive 30 or better send the teenagers. they can learn to drive in the snow.

I was reading in another thread how build the form and cure it, that"s easy enough.

 
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Post by Khan1969 » Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 3:24 pm

D-frost wrote:
Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 2:53 pm
Khan....
Good news.....nice to hear back how you're doing. Happy New Year to you and the Mrs!!!!
Cheers
Happy New Years to you and yours as well.

 
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Post by Jerrybro » Sat. Jan. 01, 2022 9:22 am

Khan1969 wrote:
Fri. Dec. 31, 2021 2:04 pm
…But the burn time doesn't seem to be as long and we're using more coal Than I figured. ( a little over 60 lbs a day, 80 With Temps at zero) We have to add about 20 - 30 lbs every 6-8 hours. If we wait 12 hours the fire burns out. But really this isn't too big of deal with wood we were stocking every 6 hours anyway. …
That could be right. 1 ton of coal is equal to about 1.3 cords of wood and I recall you stating that you burned 15 cords of wood per winter. With those numbers and knowing how long your heating season is you can calculate the approximate coal usage. I haven’t read the entire thread, but if the coal is now burning it is time to activate the baro damper. If you leave it blocked it off you could be over drafting the fire sending a lot of heat up the chimney and wasting coal.


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