Coal Not Burning Totally to Ash

Hi all, looking for some help. I am a very ripe newbe to coal. I have a Reading Lehigh I started today for the first time. I am burning rice coal. I believe the coal is a good quality. I followed the advice given to me on how to dial it in. Without going into to much detail, I was told to adjust the "high fire", then the "low fire". I thought I did it right, still dialing in the low fire, but I think getting there. My problem is the coal is not burning totally to ash. I can see pretty much black pieces dropping along with grey pieces into the ash pan. Not that none of it is burning through, but it looks like more is not than is. Seems I'm wasting alot of coal. I should let it be known I'm not a real "handy" kind of guy. If any more info is needed for any opinions sorry about the lack of it. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Greetings! You need to get more time on the unit burning at different rates. Certainly slow dow the feed rate IF black coal is coming off the stoker plate.
However, you still need to learn the characteristics of the Reading stoker before panicking. There is a learning curve with each appliance, and you have started from square one.
Open the door several times a day to look at the length of 'dead coal' getting ready to drop off the stoker plate. You should not be sending any unburnt coal to the ash bucket.
The coal you have might have some shale or crap in it, so if you think of it, lay out some ash and photograph it for us to look at. Good luck and allow each adjustment several hours before you jump on it.

Collect some of the unburnt pieces from the ashpan and place them back on the grate. Watch them carefully. If they don't burn then it's impurities in the coal. You will find some partially unburnt pieces in the ash, it's the nature of the beast.

Thanks for the replies guys. It looks like the stove has gone out. I'm stumped. Hopefully these pics work and are OK. Here is a pic of the grate. Below is some ash from the pan.

Whistlenut, to late not to panic, already am . You say to wait hours between adjustments, I was told to wait 1/2 hour. The manual says 15-20 minutes. So perhaps thats the problem from the get-go. I'm just doing what I was told to, I hope anyway. I should probably mention its about 60 degrees out now. That shoudn't matter though, should it? it should still burn but just barely I'm guessing. I was told its going to take some getting use to. I was hoping it would be easier than this. My wife is not amused at the lack of heat. The stove is out now. Again any ideas?

Your draft may have hot been strong enough to maintain a fire with those settings.

Relax! This coal thing of ours takes a little time to learn. We have all been there.

I agree with Rob, good chance of lack of air (draft). Do you have a manometer to check your draft?

I have a direct vent kit on it. It came with no paper work what so ever, and I know nothing about it. I have no idea what a manometer is, sorry. I'm assuming I should.

Manometer Install

What you want is a dwyer 25 and some brake line, also make sure to pay close attention to the warning about the red liquid.

ValterBorges wrote:
What you want is a dwyer 25 and some brake line, also make sure to pay close attention to the warning about the red liquid.

Wow, there's a warning about the red oil? Short of what might happen if one drinks it by mistake, what's that all about?

ValterBorges wrote:
What you want is a dwyer 25 and some brake line, also make sure to pay close attention to the warning about the red liquid.

I get confused just trying to read that. Nobody ever mentioned these to me before, are they a must?

Come on guys your hitting a newbe with manometers, brake lines, draft settings and such. He's just learned what coal is for cripes sake. Back it down on the jargon and explain in plain English.

A manometer is a device used to check the draft on your stove. Since you have a stoker with a direct vent fan, you will need to get, borrow, or buy a manometer to ensure that the draft is sufficient for your stove. What it looks like is the direct vent is not set properly for a "warm" day. Draft changes from day to day depending on the outside temperature. Draft is critical for proper operation of your stove. Type Manometer in the search box on the top right corner of the page and read up on what it is, what it is used for, and how to use it. That will cut down on your confusion rate.

By what im seeing the fire burned out due to the warm temperatures. That can be told because the ash went way up the grate. The unburnt "coal seems to me that it may be some slate or shale. The Reading stove does not require a ton of draft, because of the fan. I have not used a direct vent ever so it may be a problem that im not aware of. Where are you located?

I'm in upstate NY. Its warm now, but getting colder tomorrow. There is an adjustment on the direct vent, which I would think is for draft. What else would it be? Its a rod that pulls in and out. I didn't want to mess with it not knowing for sure.

Yep difference between a stoker going to a chimney and a stoker going to a direct vent fan. Direct vent has to be set properly for it to pull the air and gasses from the stove and push them outside. The direct vent fan has to be pulling more than the combustion fan is pushing in so the firebox will be in a negative pressure. If they are not balanced out then the combustion fan will put more air in than the direct vent is pulling out. Then the gasses stop flowing and when that happens the fire will go out.