4th Year With LL Coal, the GOOD and Issues

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gerry_g
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Location: Eastern MA
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Post by gerry_g » Mon. Nov. 25, 2013 9:56 pm

I happen to love my Pioneer even though coal in MA cost much more than Iin other areas, it I about 1/3 the cost per unit of delivered heat of alternatives. I don't have natural gas as an option where I live.

The benefits are very clear,fuel cost ($380/ton beats any option I have) The Coal-Trol is perfection. I could write a long list if what I great!

So, here are my problems:

- I have a Duravent chimney with a 2' horizontal section. fire code clearances were very tight and I could not use a power vent. The horizontal section plugs with fly ash any year I have substantial mild weather and the stove runs low. My Pioneer is top vent (my only fire code clearance option). how to keep the horizontal section clear is an real issue, I might try replacing my elbow with a t and cap. I might be able to ashvac the horizontal se3ction just by removing the cap on he tee. Basically the updraft at mile temps (still needing heat) is low.

- Oiling photos should be be in the supplied documents and on he web! Locating the oil hole access is not obvious.

- Something needs to be done to make the "glass"(ceramic) acid resistant. I know most "glass" (ceramic) is designed for wood stoves which produce alkaline byproducts and needs alkaline resistant "glass". Coal is acidic, thus. the chemical etching and cracking is far to short A spray on buffer might well do better than silicone which merely deflects the acid. Better yet, an acid resistant "glass". Replacing the "glass" every two years is an insult despite the great support from LL. I realize most "glass" is made for alkaline wood stoves.

- Summer storage - I just put a very small "personal fan" blowing into the combustion blower. It keeps a updraft which prevents summer condensate.

All of the above is intended as constructive suggestions. My Pioneer is fired and saving me a fortune!


 
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tsb
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Post by tsb » Mon. Nov. 25, 2013 10:30 pm

They make a pant load of heat don't they ?

 
Billyirons
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Post by Billyirons » Mon. Nov. 25, 2013 10:41 pm

I own a top vent LL Pocono with a four feet of horizontal run of ss vent.
I do have a barometric damper. About once a month, (when the stove is idling), I pull off the whole damper assembly
and use my very old METAL (not plastic) shop vac to clean. It takes me about 2 minutes and no shutdown.
I did mark the barometric damper & vent pipe so I do not have level it each time.

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 5:57 am

gerry_g wrote:I might try replacing my elbow with a t and cap.
BINGO! I do believe that is the answer. As for time between cleanings, every stove is different. They say to check a new stove after 30 days....that will give you an idea if it needs cleaning every month or every 2 or 6 months. A lot has to do with the stove design, a lot with the type of coal, a lot of course with the amount of draft & amount of coal burned. Once you have a cap & T it's now a 3 minute job. Either vac it, or build a little half moon scraper and drag the ash out and let it gently drop into an ash pan. With a little care & luck any dust will be drawn up the stove pipe.

 
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dcrane
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Post by dcrane » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 6:25 am

oil holes are indeed on the web and on supplied documents ... http://leisurelinestoves.com/files/60739861.pdf

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 9:44 am

All stove glass crazes. It's not chemical etching - it's heat. If you keep the glass cool, it'll stay crack free forever. Kind of impractical though ...

 
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gerry_g
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Post by gerry_g » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 2:41 pm

dcrane wrote:oil holes are indeed on the web and on supplied documents ... http://leisurelinestoves.com/files/60739861.pdf
Those instructions are for the power vent, not the stove.


 
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gerry_g
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Post by gerry_g » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 5:12 pm

SMITTY wrote:All stove glass crazes. It's not chemical etching - it's heat. If you keep the glass cool, it'll stay crack free forever. Kind of impractical though ...
It isn't glass, it's ceramic. And sometime ago Matt (at the factory) sent me this: "As you suspected it is a chemical etching issue and no matter what it will happen eventually."

LL clearly indicate never to use glass cleaner, only ceramic stove top cleaner and suggest a spray with silicon lubricant after cleaning.

Given fly ash, there always will be some mechanical etching but I'm looking to reduce the chemical etching.

 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 5:24 pm

i've often wondered what the 'etching' or 'crazing' or 'spider webbing' was caused by. I looked closely at the ceramic in the off season and it looked to me like the pattern was within the thickness of the ceramic. the surface of the firebox side of the ceramic did not seem to be any rougher (etched) than the outside surface. that caused me to wonder if the ceramic is actually multiple layers of thin film and the heat separated these layers. I did not examine it microscopically so I could be wrong!

i am very sure it happens worse on my stoker than it ever did on the hand fed. maybe the air wash on the hand fed kept the ceramic just cool enough to keep it from happening.

 
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gerry_g
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Post by gerry_g » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 5:25 pm

gerry_g wrote:I might try replacing my elbow with a t and cap.
Freddy wrote:BINGO! I do believe that is the answer..
Actually, I wish I had installed my outside SS chimney clean out tee with the cap horizontal rather than t the bottom. The bottom of the outside tee fills with fly ash quickly, not that it hurts anything. But it causes a curl in the updraft and dumps the fly ash there quickly. Had I installed it so the removable cap was at the end rather than bottom, I could open it from the outside and clean the horizontal section easily with NO dust inside the house. It would be a major overhaul to change it now. The SS has been together 4 years, trim plates sealed...

 
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Uglysquirrel
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Post by Uglysquirrel » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 7:44 pm

Re:glass, clean it good and take several dozen pictures of the burn.

Then print several copies to stare at.

Life is to short to worry about crazed glass.

Focus on other maintenance.

Enjoy the heat my friend!

 
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gerry_g
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Post by gerry_g » Fri. Nov. 29, 2013 3:02 pm

Uglysquirrel wrote:Life is to short to worry about crazed glass.
Some of us use our stoves in living areas and appreciate when the ceramic appearance matches the superior visual craftsmanship of the LL stove.

 
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theo
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Post by theo » Fri. Nov. 29, 2013 4:38 pm

Uglysquirrel wrote:Re:glass, clean it good and take several dozen pictures of the burn.

Then print several copies to stare at.

Life is to short to worry about crazed glass.

Focus on other maintenance.

Enjoy the heat my friend!
This is so true, the first year I always cleaned the glass with every ash dump, the second year was every 2 ash dumps clean the glass, now into the fifth year and it only gets cleaned when I shut the stove down in the spring,,,,,,, other then that its burn baby burn!

 
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Uglysquirrel
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Post by Uglysquirrel » Sat. Nov. 30, 2013 8:47 am

gerry_g wrote:
Uglysquirrel wrote:Life is to short to worry about crazed glass.
Some of us use our stoves in living areas and appreciate when the ceramic appearance matches the superior visual craftsmanship of the LL stove.
WOW!!! I can beat that !

Though Gerry, you gave me a compromise idea. Clean the glass, fire the baby up to feed rate 42, take a 20 minute M-PEG of it before it starts the spidering, mount a heat resistant LED TV on the stove and simply watch the video repeat itself.....

 
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Hambden Bob
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Post by Hambden Bob » Sat. Nov. 30, 2013 8:58 am

Kinda like watchin' reruns on what we in Ohio call the "Amish T.V." ! .... toothy :help:


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