New Guy Wanting to Switch to Coal Questions

Any luck???

No luck, I think maybe because I don't have a liner it may not be creating enough draft to keep the coal going. Have to figure out something for next year.

This is what I have. Remember it's from early eighties.

Coal likes a deep bed,...several inches at least. Once the coal is burning in the middle, load it it up to just below the fire bricks. Leave an area of burning coal uncovered when loading. It allows volatile gases to burn off slowly without creating a a puff back boom. Try her one more time loaded up before throwing in the towel!

Here's a pic of my stove after I just filled her up. It took me a long while to get her going too. I think I mentioned 1hr earlier in this thread but I could have been longer (1.5hrs). If you can get a decent area in the middle going with red and blue flames I would fill her up and sit back and watch. The little area isn't going to go out but only spread. My only concern is that it would take a really long time for you to get it going. You would need the top door closed and the bottom door open. Never leave the room with the ash door open because once the coal gets going you could easily over fire your stove.

The pic is just after I filled it up to the top....

Ok, so I gave it another shot tonight, this time I used 4 pieces of good oak and got a good burn going then started adding coal. The pictures is what I had after an hour, makes me happy lol. No I have a couple questions, when do I shake it? And when you guys empty the ash pan I assume you shut it down? or just use little shovel and metal can while it's going. My main concern is how long to burn before o add more coal, Right now it's burning on Nut coal with some stove added. I still have 5 bags of stove coal, I think i'm going to get some Nut by bulk since the place is closer to me then use the bag stuff like when I goto work etc.

Very good Jammin. Nice photo.
Most of us shake the grate once every 24/Hrs, just after emptying the ash pan. Load at 12 hrs intervals. Working the stove every 12 Hrs is easier to scedule, ex. 8 Am fill the stove, 8Pm take the ash pan out and empty it. Shake the grate and after that fill it up again. Repeat that till Spring time
Some variations can be done according to every stoves, house......
Watching Larry's video (Chubby stoves maker) and William's ones or mine A Different Vigll Coal Stove Part 1 and 2 can show you some ways to make the 24 Hrs routine.

Thx. i'm not ready to burn it full time yet, probably start next week. So I choked it down before bed and didn't do anything else, it was still going this morning when I left for work at 5, my girl left at 8. so it was still going on the 11th hour which made me happy.

On your shake downs, make sure you just do a few short, choppy ones--you should get a good portion of red coals in the ash pan--don't over do the shake down--then top her off--this is all once you get running full time:)

Thx. guys, where do I find these videos? Just started running full time tonight.

I just had to redo it and start it up again because I think I had it choked down to much when I went to work. So I got it going at 8pm, I leave for work at 6am, so I should just add coal in the morning before I leave, then I will add again at 6pm tommarow after work? and not worry about shaking it till 8pm tommarrow night?

Jammin416 wrote:I just had to redo it and start it up again because I think I had it choked down to much when I went to work. So I got it going at 8pm, I leave for work at 6am, so I should just add coal in the morning before I leave, then I will add again at 6pm tommarow after work? and not worry about shaking it till 8pm tommarrow night?

I'm very new at this but my experience is that I have to shake her down every time I load her up with coal. If I don't do this, the ash accumulates and doesn't allow for a nice draft. So for most people its shaking down two times a day.

ASHDUMP wrote:

Jammin416 wrote:I just had to redo it and start it up again because I think I had it choked down to much when I went to work. So I got it going at 8pm, I leave for work at 6am, so I should just add coal in the morning before I leave, then I will add again at 6pm tommarow after work? and not worry about shaking it till 8pm tommarrow night?

I'm very new at this but my experience is that I have to shake her down every time I load her up with coal. If I don't do this, the ash accumulates and doesn't allow for a nice draft. So for most people its shaking down two times a day.

+1 .. shake and empty .. the ash will lower air flow if too high ...

ASHDUMP wrote:

Jammin416 wrote:I just had to redo it and start it up again because I think I had it choked down to much when I went to work. So I got it going at 8pm, I leave for work at 6am, so I should just add coal in the morning before I leave, then I will add again at 6pm tommarow after work? and not worry about shaking it till 8pm tommarrow night?

I'm very new at this but my experience is that I have to shake her down every time I load her up with coal. If I don't do this, the ash accumulates and doesn't allow for a nice draft. So for most people its shaking down two times a day.

I agree with this ^^^, though during mild days we can go 24 or even 36/48 hours without touching it on some stoves (simply to get through mild days without burning up coal and so we don't have to restart a fire)... most the winter involved 12 hour intervals (for maintaining a quality coal bed and heat production). You will only have to empty the ashpan every 24 or 48 hours but its wise to do the shakedown/loadup on 12 hour intervals during the winter (24 hours during milder seasons/days).

If your recent photo is showing your stove an hour after loading it up, it appears to me that its cranked up way to high (reduce the drafts control/close up damper). Its nice to have a good hot bed before you load her up (I do this by first opening the bottom for door a minutes when I wake up, then closing and doing shake down (I empty pan if needed after that because my ashes go into an outdoor steel barrel), you can open the bottom door again for another min or two if needed to get things nice and blazing red (coal bed is now a lot lower and plenty of air coming in through grate now)... get a full hod of coal and load her up and now close down her draft and mpd and she will burn nice, hot and SLOW for the next 12-24 hours! In your photo it appears to me that coal bed is going to be burned up at that rate in a few hours

If your trying to use up the stove coal, try to keep the stove coal for the top of the coal bed each time you load it up (this will ensure its complete burn before it reaches grate and will help ensure an even distribution of air through the entire coal bed during the burn cycle).

I really can't get it to burn for a really long period, I have to do ashes before bed and again before work then if it is still going again after work. I just can't get it to burn slow and steady, I have to have it burn orange hot to keep it going and can't get that nice consistent blue flame, if I let it go to long it will end up going out. and I seem to get alot of ash and sometimes the coal isn't burned all the way, I assume that's from having to burn it to hot. My ash pan just slides in the front and it doesn't have a door like the newer ones, maybe that's causing a draft problem. I need to figure out something to put in there for next winter, maybe a sell feed insert or a self feed coal boiler. There is my fire place is lined with steel and it takes up a good bit of room, hoping I can remove that to get a better insert in there and use a liner. I'll have to keep messing with this so I can stay warm this winter lol, plus I have a ton of nut coal to burn. So you guys shake it down then load it correct? I have been trying to make less of a coal bed( not as thick) trying to keep from creating to much ash to keep a good draft.

Jammin416 wrote:I really can't get it to burn for a really long period, I have to do ashes before bed and again before work then if it is still going again after work. I just can't get it to burn slow and steady, I have to have it burn orange hot to keep it going and can't get that nice consistent blue flame, if I let it go to long it will end up going out. and I seem to get alot of ash and sometimes the coal isn't burned all the way, I assume that's from having to burn it to hot. My ash pan just slides in the front and it doesn't have a door like the newer ones, maybe that's causing a draft problem. I need to figure out something to put in there for next winter, maybe a sell feed insert or a self feed coal boiler. There is my fire place is lined with steel and it takes up a good bit of room, hoping I can remove that to get a better insert in there and use a liner. I'll have to keep messing with this so I can stay warm this winter lol, plus I have a ton of nut coal to burn. So you guys shake it down then load it correct? I have been trying to make less of a coal bed( not as thick) trying to keep from creating to much ash to keep a good draft.

Franco said early in this post... "It sounds very much that air is bypassing the coal grate which is fine for wood. Examine carefully all the places the air can go. It must go through the grate and not go around." he is very correct, only the air is not bypassing the "grate"... its actually bypassing the burning coal bed.

Its great you finally got a nice coal bed cookin', its also great that you know its burning orange hot and cant get it to turn down and maintain a slow even burn cycle, its also great you posted a photo of it after load up and orange burn and also a pic of your grate... all tell tails to me that you need to take that stove and throw it in the dumpster so you can spend a few hundred and get a decent coal burner. Can you see the edges of that burning coal bed (all 4 edges about 2"-5" in are ZERO burn areas! This not only does the obvious... IE: large stove that has about 10" total around each of the 4 sides of useless space, will leave unburned coal constantly, will allow by pass air to migrate from your coal bed to the outer edges as it attempts being primary air through the coal bed, etc.... but the worst effect it has is it will prevent you from ever having a steady, controlled, low burn (coal needs to maintain a min. temp coal bed and this coal bed HAS to hold heat to get a low burn... you essentially have an air conditioner blowing across your coal bed on all 4 sides by having those inches of what I call "dead space"). If you look at Ashdumps photo above you will see how his coal bed is burning across the entire coal bed (your stove is not and cannot do that!) its a design flaw for sure!

Im sorry my advise is not better than saying chuck that stove and buy one better designed look on creigs list or ebay and I know you can get something to "fit the bill and the wallet"! don't be afraid to come back and ask for advise on a particular stove you see or take photo's and ask about condition if needed PRIOR to making the purchase... im going to keep my fingers crossed for you to find a quick, inexpensive solution

FYI: for Ashdump... your not loading that 404 up as much as you could, throw another 10lbs on it and don't be afraid to bank it up on the rear baffle as much as you can without it eventually falling out the load door (this will act as a "hopper" in effect).