Smoke From Furnace Door When I Add Coal

I am still learning and really appreciate the generous patience of all who advised me in this thread.
Post by michaelanthony - Cold Air Return. Do I Need It?

I am going through step by step to get this furnace really cooking.
I apologize for the length of the post but wanted to give as much detail as I can
I was wondering if I may have a draw problem and/or whether I should put an extension on my chimney.

When I add coal to my Hot Blast 1557, I get smoke out the door.
This is a new install and have been using it for about a month.
Both furnace and stainless liner.
The liner was installed several years ago but never used until now.
I 'm embarrassed to confess I did not check for bird's nests or any other obstruction before I hooked up the furnace but I seem to get a lot of smoke out of the chimney.
Not sure if that's the problem.

I have a double flue brick chimney.
My propane furnace is in one side and the coal furnace in the other.
Both sides are lined.
The chimney terminates at my peak which is 3' higher than anything around.
No trees within 40-50'.

Both flues are capped and end at the top of the chimney with separate rain caps.
They are the same height.

In the other thread, I was told that I should have installed an 8" liner.
I only have a 6".

I cleaned the line from the furnace thimble to the chimney connection just several weeks after I started using it and that was pretty sooted up.

My problem in the other thread was I couldn't get a hot enough fire but I seem to have somewhat solved that.

Thanks for reading this thesis and any suggestions/

Does the chimney cap have a screen on it? They get soot build up too.

I don't remember since I installed several years ago. I don't think so but I will have my son crawl up on Friday.

Thanks for your reply

That very well could be it. Use some binoculars and check it from the ground tomorrow if possible.

I don't own a set of binoculars.

Maybe your coal is oiled to reduce dust!
Snuffy

Would it feel oily?

I grew up with coal until my early 20s (40 years ago).
It looks like coal.
Seems in the past, my dad had some high sulfur coal and you could see slight red straks in it but this is pretty clean
I got it from a local mine

Doesn't that have a sliding bypass damper? Are you using it when you open the door?

Thank you

Do you mean in the flue or in the doors?
I have the chimney damper wide open, the upper loading door slider is closed because I'm burning coal, the bottom door is usually open when I load coal and the bottom draft is usually open almost all the time

Your profile says you burning bit. The instructions you just gave were perfect and dead on for burning anthracite coal, not bit. This could be part of your problem.

I am burning bit.
What should I be doing differently?

Thank you

larryfoster wrote: I have the chimney damper wide open, the upper loading door slider is closed because I'm burning coal, the bottom door is usually open when I load coal and the bottom draft is usually open almost all the time

I am not an expert on this forum but here is something you could try....close the bottom draft when loading the coal...perhaps by having the door open too much air is trying to get up the chimney.

I had a similar situation with my cookstove ..I had the draft open all the way and the ash pan door open at the same time...when I had a new fire going I would get smoke coming back into the house...turned out I just had too much draft.

It is not the same, however it could be similar.

Neal

larryfoster wrote:Thank you

Do you mean in the flue or in the doors?
I have the chimney damper wide open, the upper loading door slider is closed because I'm burning coal, the bottom door is usually open when I load coal and the bottom draft is usually open almost all the time

My bad, I saw in a parts list a damper and assumed it was for bypass. What that does is reroute the exhaust path away from the loading door before you open it. I found a PDF on your unit and it doesn't have one (all of these narrow appliances should). That said, I recommend that you rev the fire up good by opening the lower door, a few minutes should do it. Do your shake and dump the ash, then close that door and the draft regulator before you open the loading door. Open that door slowly. This way the only way to feed the chimney is through the loading door. The draft regulator and lower door being open are doing that now and when you open the loading door the smoke spills out. Shut the lower air supply off and it should help.

Thank you coaled sweat.

I'm letting the fire burn out today to clean out the soot build up from the flue and some big clinkers I found this morning on the grates.

I'll try your suggestions out and report back.

I still don't know if I'm getting enough draw from my chimney.

Any suggestions on how to check that while I have it apart?

You can use a candle or cigarrette at the door (opened slightly) to see if you have a draft but the best thing to do is get a manometer and read it while burning. Then you know exactly what the draft is.