Unburnt Coal in Ash

rharris wrote: ↑

Sat. Feb. 05, 2022 4:23 pm

Here is the ash content that makes it out the chimney pipe. My buddy said he does not have this type of ash in his chimney.

Add another length or so to that chimney. It's too short. It won't stop the fly ash from coming out. My chimney is around 23' - 25', and still has fly ash around the top.

I'd also set your baro to at least -.05. -.04 seems a little low for a stoker.

Early fire pictures display the classic “smiley face”.



Here’s a prior one.
Post by Anlott410 - Keystoker 105

If you really want to get to the nuts and bolts of it and see if your adjustments are helping you can take measurements.

Start with a full and level hopper and empty ash tub. Then track your coal going in until the ash tub is full. If you are using bags, its easy to count. If you are using bulk, weigh a full level bucket and count buckets (subtract a couple pounds for the bucket itself).

Once the ash tub is full, weigh it. Subtract a few pounds for the tub itself. Then bring the hopper back to level, you'll end up leveling the hopper with a partial bag or bucket so be sure to add that to your coal used weight. The point here is to get as accurate as possible so you can believe in the numbers.

Once you have your weight totals for ash and coal used, you'll calculate ash divide by coal used. Anthracite is naturally around 8 to 12% ash.... and you'll have some unburnt as mentioned. If you are scoring over 20% then there likely adjustments that can be made to help. If you can get it to 15-17% I think that would be more acceptable.

rharris wrote: ↑

Sat. Feb. 05, 2022 3:26 pm

Sorry for the sideways pictures - iPhone

If using CHROME, "Enhanced Image Viewer" extension allows you to hold Alt button and mouse wheel to rotate, you can zoom, etc.

Have you tried another coal source for the unburnt coal?
For the coal usage, if your draft is high then that will suck heat out of the stove. My Keystoker is set at .02. A manometer is cheap compared to a ton of extra coal now.

Picked up idle a bit and settled on 9. Set the barometric damper a little lower and it cooled the chimney a bit and starting to get tan flaky ash and less coal in the pan. It was a bit warmer today, but i think in the last 24 hours I used between 60-80#, big improvement and headed in the right direction. I appreciate all the help.

cArNaGe wrote: ↑

Sun. Feb. 06, 2022 4:45 pm

Have you tried another coal source for the unburnt coal?
For the coal usage, if your draft is high then that will suck heat out of the stove. My Keystoker is set at .02. A manometer is cheap compared to a ton of extra coal now.

X2. High draft can also be a cause of excess fly ash accumulation. Until such time as you have a manometer, old school would say you have adequate draft as long as, when running hot at full fire, the flame from a lit match gets drawn inward (rather than blown outward) if you crack open the fire door by a tiny amount. A very small negative draft over the fire is all you should need.

Mike