Shakedown

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MidnightMadman
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Post by MidnightMadman » Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 5:54 pm

Do I need to shakedown every time I add coal? I am here a lot and I add coal about every 6 or so hours.

 
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gitrdonecoal
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Post by gitrdonecoal » Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 5:58 pm

well it all depends on how hard you work your stove. I load every 12 to 18 hours or so. rule of thumb with me is twice a day, mourning and night.

 
MidnightMadman
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Post by MidnightMadman » Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 6:08 pm

mudman wrote:well it all depends on how hard you work your stove. I load every 12 to 18 hours or so. rule of thumb with me is twice a day, mourning and night.
how can I tell it needs it?

 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 6:57 pm

MidnightMadman wrote:how can I tell it needs it?
I add coal all the time without shaking down. By doing this you can get by with shaking down once a day, unless you aere running your stove real hot on frigid days. You'll develop & "Eye" for what your fire looks like, but I wouldn't try to push things beyond shaking down at least once a day with a hand fired stove.
By "salting" the fire with fresh coal a few times a day, you'll avoid having to SAVE an almost dead fire. If you ever see allot of ash on top with just some glowing hot coal.....watch out!!......You have a very fragile fire that can't be touched! (Just open the ash door & try to get it to liven up (maybe 10 minutes) & then keep adding a little coal & letting that catch too. It may take you 20-30 minutes by doing this, but you can often save a dying fire. After your whole fire is roaring again, you can shake down normally.

Remember the forum rule: One match for the whole season!! :lol:


 
Salemcoal
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Post by Salemcoal » Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 10:51 pm

Hi Midnight Madman, Here is the routine I've gotten into with my Gibraltar. I get up at about 545 in the morning and make coffee. I then open the bottom ash door and wait till the stove is at about 450 . If I've havent closed it down alot during the night it will be at least 450 anyway. I then shake the stove until I see plenty of red coals. I then load up the stove to the top of the firebricks. I keep the ashpan door open about five minutes and then close it but keep the air control fully open while I take a 10 minute shower and get ready for work. I then close the air control and go to work. My wife may or may not throw a few shovels of coal on during the day. When I get home from work at about 430 I will shake the stove a little and throw more coal on. It is always still running fine at this time but this is a convenient time for me to take care of it. Then before bed anywhere from 9-11 I give it another little shake and load it up for the night. If I miss tending to it one of these times the stove will still be fine. One of the best tips I have learned from this forum is to never shake a dying fire.

 
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VigIIPeaBurner
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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Sun. Dec. 21, 2008 2:00 am

Hey, if you're wondering what a fragile fire looks like, Devil505 called it on the pictures in this link. It takes you to a fire I had not visited for 18 hours. Of course that was back in October and it wasn't 16 degrees like it is tonight :) Devil505 also has the procedures to treat this ailment wisely listed below the pictures. Hope this link helps you: What Should My Established Fire Look Like?

 
CapeCoaler
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Post by CapeCoaler » Sun. Dec. 21, 2008 11:02 am

Add coal before the shake so you have fresh coal burning before the shake.

 
hyway61
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Post by hyway61 » Mon. Dec. 22, 2008 8:31 am

I'm heating a rather small cottage with my Russo C-55. Usually, I'm running stove temps only in the 220-300* range. Most of my problems...actually all my problems....revolve around the tendancy for this stove to get 'ash bound'. In all instances the shaker grate ( a 2 grate tilting affair) seems to get locked up by a piece of coal wedging itself between the outside grate teeth and the frame of the stove....so far almost impossible to see let alone clear with out shutting down, cleaning and finding the blockage. If I could prevent or clear these lockups I think it would be smooth sailing for some long runs. Advice sought...

.hyway61


 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Mon. Dec. 22, 2008 9:09 am

hyway61 wrote:I'm heating a rather small cottage with my Russo C-55. Usually, I'm running stove temps only in the 220-300* range. Most of my problems...actually all my problems....revolve around the tendancy for this stove to get 'ash bound'. In all instances the shaker grate ( a 2 grate tilting affair) seems to get locked up by a piece of coal wedging itself between the outside grate teeth and the frame of the stove....so far almost impossible to see let alone clear with out shutting down, cleaning and finding the blockage. If I could prevent or clear these lockups I think it would be smooth sailing for some long runs. Advice sought...

.hyway61
If it is a piece of coal and not a rock or a clinker, letting the stove burn away for a few more hours should allow that offending piece of coal to burn up some and you would then be able to shake it loose. If it is a rock or clinker, you may be able to loosen it from below with a piece of rod bent at 90*. Of course the hard part there is finding exactly where the obstruction is to poke at it from below.

 
hyway61
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Post by hyway61 » Tue. Dec. 23, 2008 8:42 am

titleist1 wrote:
hyway61 wrote:I'm heating a rather small cottage with my Russo C-55. Usually, I'm running stove temps only in the 220-300* range. Most of my problems...actually all my problems....revolve around the tendancy for this stove to get 'ash bound'. In all instances the shaker grate ( a 2 grate tilting affair) seems to get locked up by a piece of coal wedging itself between the outside grate teeth and the frame of the stove....so far almost impossible to see let alone clear with out shutting down, cleaning and finding the blockage. If I could prevent or clear these lockups I think it would be smooth sailing for some long runs. Advice sought...

.hyway61
If it is a piece of coal and not a rock or a clinker, letting the stove burn away for a few more hours should allow that offending piece of coal to burn up some and you would then be able to shake it loose. If it is a rock or clinker, you may be able to loosen it from below with a piece of rod bent at 90*. Of course the hard part there is finding exactly where the obstruction is to poke at it from below.
.
Yep...tried that waiting for the offending nugget to burn off. Unfortunately doesn't work that way all the time, and eventually I can end up ash bound and cooling down. I think I need to fabricate a few more custom tools for this stove that work around the perimetres of the grate that can dislodge blockages....something like a 3" or 4" wide mini hoe ( from about 1/8" thick steel) that can be worked up between the grate and stove frame by feel and less by sight.

hyway61

 
BM-80
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Post by BM-80 » Tue. Dec. 23, 2008 9:40 am

hyway61 wrote:I'm heating a rather small cottage with my Russo C-55. Usually, I'm running stove temps only in the 220-300* range. Most of my problems...actually all my problems....revolve around the tendancy for this stove to get 'ash bound'. In all instances the shaker grate ( a 2 grate tilting affair) seems to get locked up by a piece of coal wedging itself between the outside grate teeth and the frame of the stove....so far almost impossible to see let alone clear with out shutting down, cleaning and finding the blockage. If I could prevent or clear these lockups I think it would be smooth sailing for some long runs. Advice sought...

.hyway61
Hello Hyway61 (Revisited?)

Don't know what size coal you're burning (Stove..nut...pea?) but have you tried burning a smaller size of coal? For example, if you're burning nut maybe you could try pea instead. Of course, anytime you "try" a different size you should only buy a few bags until you find out if it works or not...

 
hyway61
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Post by hyway61 » Tue. Dec. 23, 2008 10:01 am

BM-80.....Yes, I have been burning bagged nut from Kimmel, which seems to be a blend of all different sizes. And, OMG, my wife suggested trying a smaller size and she may be right, too...I hate that when that happens... :) Manual for the stove recommends nut, however. The pieces that get lodge and bind the grate around the perimeter frame seem to be burned down to 1"-1 1/4" anyway.

..hyway61

 
CapeCoaler
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Coal Size/Type: Pea/Nut/Stove

Post by CapeCoaler » Tue. Dec. 23, 2008 10:09 am

Try some of the Blaschak Coal in Nut size, burns nice, little to no crap in the coal.
I use it as the 'controll coal' when experimenting.
Do not go small to Pea size stick with Nut.

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