Round 2

 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 5:06 pm

Hey fellas so I've been pretty happy with burning the bit I got last year and mixing it in with the wood for really decent results. I found a new coal yard that sell pocahontas coal from wv. The little bit I found on it people compare it to Kentucky bit. It's pretty pricey but I figured I'd give it a try since I'm getting tired of splitting 3 cords of wood every year. I picked up 1050 pounds for $130. Seems like highway robbery for bit but that mine is about 3-4 hours away and apparently they are not mining much out of it any more.
Loaded some in on a nice bed of wood coals and it took off like a champ. Kept layering it in slowly just to be safe and temps skyrocketed. Here's a pic of the coal bed after 3 hours. I know I need to fill it higher but I wanted to try it out first. House jumped 2 degrees pretty quick and was 75 when I left. Maybe I'll finally lock out and find a decent coal that burns well and I can get easily.

Attachments

20181207_163304.jpg
.JPG | 185.9KB | 20181207_163304.jpg


 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 8:21 pm

:D doing well so far. Doesnt smell as good as the coal from cobra mine but it goes away very quick (about 15 min.) Going to load it full before bed and clear the ash and see if it last the night.

Attachments

20181207_200135.jpg
.JPG | 126.7KB | 20181207_200135.jpg
20181207_201255.jpg
.JPG | 108.7KB | 20181207_201255.jpg

 
franco b
Site Moderator
Posts: 11416
Joined: Wed. Nov. 05, 2008 5:11 pm
Location: Kent CT
Hand Fed Coal Stove: V ermont Castings 2310, Franco Belge 262
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood Modern Oak 114
Coal Size/Type: nut and pea

Post by franco b » Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 8:55 pm

How is the smoke? You are close to anthracite price.

 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 9:25 pm

franco b wrote:
Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 8:55 pm
How is the smoke? You are close to anthracite price.
I can actually get anthracite cheaper lol. Smokes for about 15 min then is completely gone along with the smell. I think I need to work on my loading technique though. I've read some people can get it to not smoke at all. I'm sure my neighbors would appreciate that

 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 10:05 pm

Cleared the ash loaded two scopes more to top her off for the night and emptied the ash pan. Sat down here to watch the temp for a few min to make sure I still had it dialed in right and got a puff back through the spin dial on the ash pan. First time i had this with bit how normal is that?

 
corey
Member
Posts: 1035
Joined: Fri. Nov. 14, 2014 11:14 am
Location: Southwest VA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Buck Stove Hybrid
Coal Size/Type: Eastern KY bituminous

Post by corey » Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 10:40 pm

Jgib4 wrote:
Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 10:05 pm
Cleared the ash loaded two scopes more to top her off for the night and emptied the ash pan. Sat down here to watch the temp for a few min to make sure I still had it dialed in right and got a puff back through the spin dial on the ash pan. First time i had this with bit how normal is that?
It happens with bit especially if you cover the entire coal bed that not good.

 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Sat. Dec. 08, 2018 7:23 am

corey wrote:
Fri. Dec. 07, 2018 10:40 pm
It happens with bit especially if you cover the entire coal bed that not good.
I had it happen when I burned anthracite but never the bit I used before.
Fire was completely out this morning. Only 7 hours later. Went to bed it was 76 woke up it was 69 and the heat pump was running. I dont think it was totally the coals fault it might have been the way I loaded it. Going to see if I can find some good loading techniques for tonight

Attachments

20181208_071754.jpg
.JPG | 196.8KB | 20181208_071754.jpg


 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Sat. Dec. 08, 2018 7:22 pm

So far I'm only able to get about 4-6 hour burn times out of this stuff. If I dampen it back it dies out. Any advice? I will say it puts off way more heat then the other coal I've tried, very sensitive to over the fire air and ignites extremely easy.

 
User avatar
BunkerdCaddis
Member
Posts: 708
Joined: Sun. Jan. 18, 2015 10:26 am
Location: SW Lancaster County
Stoker Coal Boiler: Bairmatic-Van Wert
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Van Wert VW85H
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Saey Hanover II working when I feel the desire, Waterford 105 out on vacation, Surdiac Gotha hiding somewhere
Coal Size/Type: pea/nut/rice/stove-anthracite, nut/stove bit when I feel the urge
Other Heating: oil fired hydronic

Post by BunkerdCaddis » Sat. Dec. 08, 2018 11:15 pm

Jg,
I don't know how far you had to go to get that coal and I by no means know much about bit coal but I got some Fisher Nut from W. L. Hall up near Bedford @ $138 a ton that I am burning in my little hand-fed right now. It's about 20 minutes to a half hour till I get the volatiles burnt off but then it settles down to a nice civilized bed of coal and lasts about 7 or 8 hours. It takes more air than my Lehigh Anthracite does but still makes some pretty impressive heat. It gets kinda sticky while it's burning off and clumps together which is a little annoying but I've never burnt bit before so I have nothing to compare it to.

 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 5:30 am

BunkerdCaddis wrote:
Sat. Dec. 08, 2018 11:15 pm
Jg,
I don't know how far you had to go to get that coal and I by no means know much about bit coal but I got some Fisher Nut from W. L. Hall up near Bedford @ $138 a ton that I am burning in my little hand-fed right now. It's about 20 minutes to a half hour till I get the volatiles burnt off but then it settles down to a nice civilized bed of coal and lasts about 7 or 8 hours. It takes more air than my Lehigh Anthracite does but still makes some pretty impressive heat. It gets kinda sticky while it's burning off and clumps together which is a little annoying but I've never burnt bit before so I have nothing to compare it to.
Closest bit I have to me is 1 hour away but its pricey at 260 a ton. The closest mine looks like it would be the one you just mentioned. It's two hours from my house and 1.5 from my work. That's a decent price for it.

 
User avatar
BunkerdCaddis
Member
Posts: 708
Joined: Sun. Jan. 18, 2015 10:26 am
Location: SW Lancaster County
Stoker Coal Boiler: Bairmatic-Van Wert
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Van Wert VW85H
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Saey Hanover II working when I feel the desire, Waterford 105 out on vacation, Surdiac Gotha hiding somewhere
Coal Size/Type: pea/nut/rice/stove-anthracite, nut/stove bit when I feel the urge
Other Heating: oil fired hydronic

Post by BunkerdCaddis » Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 10:11 am

Jgib4 wrote:
Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 5:30 am
Closest bit I have to me is 1 hour away but its pricey at 260 a ton.
Wow :o is that delivered? That's almost $100 more a ton than my last load of Anthracite and you're not that much further south. Yeah, message member Coaljockey here on the board I'm sure they can set you up with some decent bit coal, they are not a mine but reseller. When I was out in October they had the Fisher Nut, Pittsburgh Lump and I think some Anthracite.

 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 10:43 am

BunkerdCaddis wrote:
Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 10:11 am
Wow :o is that delivered? That's almost $100 more a ton than my last load of Anthracite and you're not that much further south. Yeah, message member Coaljockey here on the board I'm sure they can set you up with some decent bit coal, they are not a mine but reseller. When I was out in October they had the Fisher Nut, Pittsburgh Lump and I think some Anthracite.

Talked to him a little over the summer. Really knowledgeable in this stuff

 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Mon. Dec. 10, 2018 7:00 pm

Dug into the pile and found some big chunks. Been mixing that in with the nut and my bit I had left over from last year and between the two I am getting decent burns now and less smoke on load.
I've been trying to load only one side at a time since my puff back leaving a open flame on one side or the other and so far this is the result. To say I'm happy with this is a understatement. I'm really hoping I have a few of the kinks worked out and I can keep this going. I'm at 12 hours as of right now continuous without it going out or having to add wood to keep it going.

Attachments

20181210_185314.jpg
.JPG | 158.8KB | 20181210_185314.jpg
20181210_185332.jpg
.JPG | 338.4KB | 20181210_185332.jpg

 
Jgib4
Member
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun. Jul. 30, 2017 7:08 pm
Location: Carroll county maryland
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Fire chief 450

Post by Jgib4 » Tue. Dec. 11, 2018 8:26 am

Was completely out by 630 this morning which would have been a 8 hour burn. Besides getting up in the middle of the night to feed it I'm at a loss.

 
corey
Member
Posts: 1035
Joined: Fri. Nov. 14, 2014 11:14 am
Location: Southwest VA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Buck Stove Hybrid
Coal Size/Type: Eastern KY bituminous

Post by corey » Tue. Dec. 11, 2018 8:56 am

Jgib4 wrote:
Tue. Dec. 11, 2018 8:26 am
Was completely out by 630 this morning which would have been a 8 hour burn. Besides getting up in the middle of the night to feed it I'm at a loss.
How deep is the coal bed looks shallow i had same issues till i started filling it up to top of bricks?


Post Reply

Return to “Hand Fired Coal Boilers & Hot Air Furnaces/Stoves Using Bituminous”