Crystal Crawford Moved in / This Winter Is Going to Be HOT !

Video please!

PC 12-47E wrote:

SteveZee wrote:Eddie that's Crawford's equivalent to my Star Herald. The dimensions are close enough. Mine has a 10" fire pot and the same 14" depth. This makes for really nice long burns. I'm telling you it's amazing what they put out for heat for the amount of coal. It uses less coal per load than my cookstove and burns twice as long on a load. My guess is that these size stoves are in the 45-50k BTU range.

Hey Steve,
My stove looks like the fire brick are thick...I just had the tape measure out again and the burn pot is 9 1/2" X 14" at the load door and 17 1/2" high in the sides & back. My Jotul 507s are in the 45,000 BTU range and I have one burning right now. I think the Crawford may edge out the Jotul by just a bit....

buck24,
We are going to fire her up in just a few minuets. I have the Jotul burning as slow as I dare and have lots of window stats open to get the house cool. The outside temp is 56* F but I cant wait to light the stove.

Eddie

Man, you didn't waste any time. Excellent, I hope you remembered the pipe damper. You are about to cross over to the other side now.

She's a Beaut!!....cant wait to hear how she heats!

The MPD is open about 1/2 way the ash door vent is just about closed. I had to add a bunch of pea to slow her down. She is burning off some new stove black...

Pics

once you get the fire started and the first blue flames start showing, fill up the stove and set the dampers. You don't have to wait until you get an inferno going. Set the back pipe to indirect draft and experiment with your air adjustments from there. The stove will slowly heat up to the temperature you want and it will stay there. It's harder to go backwards.

Crystal is in indirect mode 500*F @ the top of the barrel, 550*F @ the top of the indirect pipe, 300*F @ the bottom of the indirect pipe. I had to close the MPD....She is going to put out the HEAT !!

It will settle down in a little while. Make sure you don't have any leaks. Now, you are off and running. It will take you a day or two to learn the stove.

wsherrick wrote:It will settle down in a little while. Make sure you don't have any leaks. Now, you are off and running. It will take you a day or two to learn the stove.

We just had a small puff-back....it opened the load door very slow...

Added lots of pea....and the stove has settled down.

A puff back is a good sign that the stove is tight. Do yourself a favor and leave the secondary air on the loading door all the way open. These stoves cook out the gas for long, long periods of time. You will be getting blue flames for many hours, opening the secondary air will prevent puff backs and allow those gasses to burn very efficiently.

Hi Will,
I now have the secondary air open all the way.
I am chasing down a few air leaks... One on top of the shaker handle as it enters the stove body. Also the boot rails as they enter the base of the stove. I stuffed some carbon fiber cloth over the shaker handle. The boot rails got a bead of Permatex ultra black. I do have some fiberglass insulation if I need it.

The stove barrel near the top is @ 400*F and steady although the ash air vents are closed all the way.....

Those little air leaks won't hurt performance very much, but if you can stop them it's fine. Now that you've cut the air off the stove will keep cooling down slowly until it finds its balance.

Very good PC12.
These stoves give a lot of heat on small loads. The first fires are important for learning how the stove reacts and how to find the best settings. But you will see after a few days of burning that it's being easier to slow down the fire and to control the heat output as the ash begins to choke the fire a little more.
As William said, don't wait too long after loading the stove for closing the dampers and set the air damper almost closed. If not it's like wanting to ignite all the anthracite load in one shot. Hard to get a full burning load on the way down.
If the air leaks are important at the footrest hooks, better to seal them cause right in the ash pit. Easier to adjust the burning rate from the air damper than from many holes everywhere.

nortcan wrote:Very good PC12.
These stoves give a lot of heat on small loads. The first fires are important for learning how the stove reacts and how to find the best settings.

If the air leaks are important at the footrest hooks, better to seal them cause right in the ash pit. Easier to adjust the burning rate from the air damper than from many holes everywhere.

The stove has burned for nine hours after filling it with pea anthracite. Eight and a half hours of blue ladies with no sign of them ending. During this time the stove temp at the top edge of the barrel has been in the 450*F range.
I am going to see how long the stove will burn at this temp and will let the fire go out. The air leaks need some work around the footrest hooks and this will be much easier with the stove cool.
The air gap above the shaker handle also needs a better fix and I am not sure what to do with that.....
Also a flashlight in the ash pit may help me find more air leaks.
Overall I am very happy with the Crystal Crawford #112.

The next prodject will be the Art Stewart #14 baseheater that needs a full restoration . The Auburn Stove Foundry needs to make two cast iron parts that are cracked then the stove may go to the Antique Stove Hospital.

Eddie

A great start for a charming lady. Best of luck and may you have a long lasting affair.

Greetings from Boston! Just chilling in the hotel eating breakfast. Had to pick up the little lady coming in from the UK.
Anyways, The Crystal is looking good Eddie. The footrests for sure you might get some air blocked there but I feel like the shaker handle slot has got to designed into the picture? On mine I cut a piece of flat gasket and made a slot in it to fit over the handle and block off the slot a bit. Not sure it makes much difference though. That said I also run mine with the primary vents closed and usually get a 350 degree top of barrel burn on nut. What Will said about the secondary open is right on and also slows the burn somewhat. If I want less than 350, I will open the ashpit check vents about half too. They will slow it also. Lastly, not as rigorous a shake will after a while also allow a little extra ash and further slow it too. There are allot of little things on these stoves that effect them. Come dead of winter, we won't be looking to slow em down!