Clinker Conundrum

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 10:32 am

Bringing back an old topic, maybe just as a refresher.
We've posted pics of some of our larger, or unusual shaped clinkers, but today I noticed a "lack" of clinkers, while emptying my ash pan.
clinkers 001.JPG
.JPG | 513.9KB | clinkers 001.JPG
For days now, our winter has been pretty tame, with the oats upwards of 50° for the highs, and 40s for the lows. I've barely tended the stove over 16 hr periods, with minimal shakedowns. Only some slight riddling every 10 hrs or so, just to keep the coal bed breathing. Maybe drop in a small scoop of fresh stuff on the top.

This morning we've experienced a frt from the north, that has brought us back into the 20s, so while performing a complete shakedown, and refill, I noticed (the photo above) a pan full of what looks like wood ash, rather than the clumpy clinkers this stove is more prone to.

So why the difference in scaling? Not that it bothers me, cause the stove makes heat, whether there's clinkers or ash. Just curious about this characteristic. Is it...
1-Because the stove was idling for days?
2-Didn't go through so many high heat to low heat performances?
3-Got lucky with the coal from the bags?
4-Maybe nut coal has a bigger tendency, than burning stove size?
5-none of the above?
6-Some of the above?
7-All of the above?


 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 11:21 am

Its #1. No heat, no clinkers. Im sure coal brand and your stove have some to do with it too.

Im working on a clinker garden but I only had 1 last year and 0 so far this year. I had quite a few in previous years. I dont run much over 400 degrees anymore, its the likely reason. .

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 11:31 am

So you believe it's the lower heat WM? Before the warm spell, I sometimes run my stove 450-500°, to get the house warmer, because the stove is a smiggen on the smaller side. I remember William saying he liked running his G6 at 450. I think the 111 can handle it, with its suspended pot.

In the off season, I began burning wood, just for some instant heat, for a short spell. I was amazed at the little ash left over from wood. This last ash dumping I did this morning, reminded me of that. There are still some chunks in there, just not the size and amount I'm use-ta seein.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 12:26 pm

Yes, pretty sure its the heat. Thats when Ive gotten them anyway, when Im pushing my stoves hard. Now if I need to run my large stove past 400 I just light my 2nd stove. Im warmer that way too as my chair is 5 feet from my Chubby jr, the 2nd stove I light.

 
Jerrybro
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Post by Jerrybro » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 12:45 pm

Everything I’ve read says heat, even as far back as an 1869 Scientific American article.

 
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D-frost
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Post by D-frost » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 1:09 pm

Joe,
I'm with Warm... on this. I got my ed-u-ma-ca-tion on a Chubby...Chubby was a good teacher!!!! I'm pretty sure each set-up is different, but find the high temp that will not make klinkers(350* is my top temp), and, when more heat is needed, light up another stove. I also experimented with the 'low' side. Chubby would go 150* with all powder ash. The Herald below 200*, I'm in trouble. I tested the Harman, ran it 150* for 10hrs.....and it was putting out heat...........purred like a kitten!!!!! I think this Summer we're going to swap out the Herald and the Harman. The Harman holds more coal(less tending), and, the Mrs likes the big window view. I have Blaschak and Lehigh bagged. What's the saying"low and slow"!!!
Cheers

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 1:52 pm

Yes, it has to do with getting the coal up around the fusion temp. Stay below that fusion point and you get more powdery and less "chunky" ash the lower you run the temps.

Running a kitchen range, where the temps are daily changed up and down for whatever the cooking, baking needs are, or just room heating, you get to see what type of ash the operating temps produce. And ash type is definitely related to firebed operating temps.

With the GW#6 I tend to run it at a constant hot temp all the time, so it produces a lot of chunky ash,..... but with a lot of iron slag. It uses the same nut coal that the range uses, but the range even run hot rarely shows any iron slag in the ash. I haven't yet figured out why all the iron slag in one stove and not the other. :?

Paul


 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 2:10 pm

Good observations, men. Thanks for the input. I'll have-ta keep an eye on those temps. I was wondering about the stove size, compared to the nut. I guess the nut coal can fuse itself into a bigger size, like stove.

 
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Post by Jerrybro » Mon. Jan. 03, 2022 3:03 pm

Clinkers are caused by the temperature of the coal fire. While you can get a relationship between fire and stove temps, I think it is stove specific. In the years we’ve been using the Harman I’ve never driven it high enough to get clinkers and that is with temps as high as 600F measured on the side of the stove. Currently I have 520 on the side, about 420 near the glass door, 400 on the top, 350 at the exhaust connector on the stove and 125 at the pipe where it meets the chimney bung.

 
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Post by ColdHouse » Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 5:00 pm

I have 2 identical Hitzer 503 stoves. One stove runs at a higher temperature than the other because there is more heat required from that area. The stove that runs at a lower temperature has no or very few clinkers. The stove that burns hotter definitely has clinkers. Both stoves burn the same coal.

 
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Post by McGiever » Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 7:17 pm

ColdHouse wrote:
Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 5:00 pm
I have 2 identical Hitzer 503 stoves. One stove runs at a higher temperature than the other lbecause there is more heat required from that area. The stove that runs at a lower temperature has no or very few clinkers. The stove that burns hotter definitely has clinkers. Both stoves burn the same coal.


Regularly Making clinkers is not a good attribute for any stove. ☹️

 
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Post by waytomany?s » Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 8:25 pm

McGiever wrote:
Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 7:17 pm
Regularly Making clinkers is not a good attribute for any stove. ☹️
You and Fred have a word of the day calendar? :annoyed:

 
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Post by ColdHouse » Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 11:14 am

Maybe I don't know what a "Clinker" is. All I know is the stove that burns at a lower temperature has ash dust particles when shaken. The stove that burns hotter has tan formed pieces of light material almost like a glued together ash. Not heavy and not hard. There is a difference in the ash coming from two exact stoves burning same fuel that are set at different temperatures.

 
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Post by joeq » Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 11:22 am

This is a clinker
klinker 001.JPG
.JPG | 395.1KB | klinker 001.JPG

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 11:35 am

ColdHouse wrote:
Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 11:14 am
Maybe I don't know what a "Clinker" is. All I know is the stove that burns at a lower temperature has ash dust particles when shaken.
Quite simply, a clinker is ash that has fused together to form a solid object similar to a stone. This is more likely to happen as the stove is ran hotter hence the reason you see more clinkers in the stove you run hotter.

Its thought that iron in the coal is the main fusing agent. From what I've learned, red ash coal has more iron than white ash so it tends to clinker more easily. Coal from varying parts of the field have varying amounts of iron so its all up to mother nature what you get..


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