Burning Bitumious Lump Coal in a 1557M Hotblast

Before adding a combustion blower you really need to see why the chimney isn't drafting, if that is the problem. If the chimney isn't drafting properly, a combustion blower could make the fire box go positive pressure which can force carbon monoxide into the stove room.. a dangerous condition as you probably already know.

You shouldn't need a combustion blower. I have not yet seen anyone benefit by using one...

Can you describe your chimney and post some pictures of your set up?

No one will benefit from a draft inducer burning wood, which is what 99percent people use with my furnace. They are useless with wood because I always leave all of my draft adjustments closed with wood and it still burns hot. I keep the slide on the feed door closed and the ash door closed and my house stays 76 and up. When it gets sub 0 ill open the spin knob on the ash pan maybe 1 turn and it'll keep the house warm. So a inducer would be pointless cause it's already Hott with everything shut down. The draft inducer has a thermostat you can adjust just like your air condition.

So with coal needing more air from the bottom which my stove doesn't offer a lot I guess, the inducer in theory would provide some control of the heat. I've just read a lot of places where people say they are a must when burning coal in my stove. The stove manufacture of course recommends one. I was just wanting some feedback from someone that has one and used it while burning coal

As far as a must is concerned, I must disagree lol... as far as manufacturers knowing what's best for a specific application, well that's questionable too

Before adding the blower, I recommend shaking and poking up thru the grates to improve combustion air flow up thru the coal bed and installing a manometer to measure draft strength...

Good luck...

Sounds like I'll just forget coal. I'm not going to try and poke under the grating everyday which is near impossible in my setup, just to get a little heat. Nor will I spend a lot of money on a fancy machine just to burn coal.

Fancy machine? A manometer is around $30 on eBay and simple to install. Yer gonna give up that easy? Weren't you prepared to spend money on a combustion blower anyways? Coal is so much better than wood. I ain't even gonna waste keystrokes on that part.. You came here for advise. With a little effort you could be reaping the benefits of burning coal. Isn't that what you want?

I have zero trouble with my stove now. The only reason I considered coal is lack of cutting and splitting and not worrying about cresote. I stuff my stove to the max with wood and do zero messing with it. Fill it up once in the morning and once at night. All I have to do Is pull a brush throw my chimney every so often cause the stuffing with wood like I do causes cresote but it's worth the hassle not tending to my stove every 6 hrs. If I'm going to have to tend to coal more than twice a day it's not worth it

Oh ok... continue burning wood then, if yer happy with it. That's fine partner..

Well I wanted input from people with experience using my model stove

For what its worth, this same stove comes with many names. Clayton, Hot Blast, Fire Chief are a few, there are more. My furnace is nearly identical to yours. There are only a handful of people here on the board that use these appliances. Most of them burn anthracite which requires some modifications to have good success. Bit coal should burn just as good as wood in these appliances and doesn't require any modifications to the unit itself, just requires different combustion air settings provided the chimney draws properly.

There are many positives to burning coal, for one you can store your whole winter supply in a basement bin. Then there is the cutting splitting hauling that's eliminated and the chimney fire risk associated with wood. So don't give up so easily. Hopefully someone with our style unit that burns bit coal will comment.

I think your stove has two ash door adjustments knobs where mine only has one. And your stove is a little bigger as well

That second one you see on the ash door next to the spinner was added later. I don't even use the spinner at all. Just the one on the right side. I've done a lot of mods to mine..

How tall is your stack? is your connecting pipe and stack clean? Do you get lots of smoke from the loading door when you reload?

Most importantly, are you FILLING the firebox? Coal, yes, even bit coal, needs to be full enough to burn properly.

if you were filling it right and had proper draft you could melt your stove into a puddle w/ bit coal by leaving the ash door open.(It will burn HOTTER than anthracite for a given amount of air).

I don't have one of these stoves, but I do know coal and chimneys, if burning wood gives you good performance and draft, it can work with coal, I think you're not filling the firebox FULL w/ lump coal or you need to VIGOROUSLY shake the ash down.

When I burn wood I leave quite a bed of ashes because it seems like it holds more heat. When I'm burning coal I try and remove all ashes right? So the coal is right down by the shaker grate and grate is clear to let air through? Then try to not melt or warp my grate?

That's correct. Shake till red embers are falling and an orange glow is radiating down thru the grates...