My New Glenwood Oak 30 - Pics Attached - I Need Advice!

Hi guys,

After sealing the stove I tried another fire last night. It took me a while, for some reason the charcoal didn't want to start this time. I used the charcoal with a ring of coal method. Once the charcoal caught I added a few small scoops of coal. I think I may have the draft leaks under control, but future burns will tell. It was at 450 and I closed the primaries and put damper at 45 and it went down to 400, I opened the primaries back up and the temp went up. Then my lack of experience with the stove kicked in... After adding a little more coal (1/2 full) I closed the primaries to see how it would react and it quickly dropped to 300. I couldn't see any more flames and the fire seemed to go out and the temperature quickly dropped to 250 and below. I opened the damper and primaries, but it would not recover. I was going to leave it as it, but I was concerned of gases building up and eventually sparking - don't know if this is a valid concern? So then I shoveled some coal back out and it eventually came back to life. I let it get around 450 again and filled it.

Then something happened I wasn't expecting. I could see small blue flames on the top layer. All vents, dampers were open, but if I closed the loading door the flames would go out. If I opened the door and threw a match in the blue flames would ignite again, but if the loading door wasn't open an inch it would go out. Even with the secondary vent open it would go out unless the loading door was open. I tried this 4 or 5 times before again shoveling out most of the coal. When I got down to the old coal it ignited and started to burn well.

Obviously I have some to learn the stove's settings, but wanted to see if anyone had advice on what exactly was happening last night and how I should be doing it. I think perhaps I'm not giving the fire long enough to get established before adding fuel? I watched William's videos and he waited about an hour before filling the stove after starting it. I thought I had waited that long, but maybe not. Should this time (about an hour) roughly correspond to a particular stove temperature? When you fill yours what does the temperature drop to and how quickly does it rebound? I'm assuming when I couldn't see any flames and the temp was 250 it wasn't burning properly or was out?

Thanks again.

By opening the door to get blue flames to ignite you are not just adding air over the fire, you are also bypassing air that would normally go up through the coal bed. Next time try decreasing the primary openings to see if the blue flames stay lit with the door closed. Too much primary air can blow those flames out. With the right balance they will stay lit, although with a brisk hot fire they will also stay lit with the door closed.

Marty, Marty! You had it! I would have just let it alone. This is common and nothing to worry about. Just open the secondary vent on the feed door and you it would have been fine. These stoves are very forgiving and rarely if ever puff back. Once you had it full and had any blue flames, you are good to go and are in "recovery time". If you were nervous just leave the door cracked for 20 min till you see good flame but I always have this after a large refill and just close the door, open the the secondary feed door vent, leave my primaries and MPD wide open and take a 15 -30 min break then check it again. Anyway, live and learn my friend. Better to be cautious I suppose. In William's vid he's showing how easy it is to get started. Had you just left it, within another hour you would have seen it cruising along. On the initial start up it is "more informative" to add layers and ignite each till you have it full. William is showing that you don't actually have to do that if you don't want to.

The good news is it seems like you got the leak problems solved! I think you are good to go. Well done.

SteveZee wrote:Marty, Marty! You had it! I would have just let it alone. This is common and nothing to worry about. Just open the secondary vent on the feed door and you it would have been fine. These stoves are very forgiving and rarely if ever puff back. Once you had it full and had any blue flames, you are good to go and are in "recovery time". If you were nervous just leave the door cracked for 20 min till you see good flame but I always have this after a large refill and just close the door, open the the secondary feed door vent, leave my primaries and MPD wide open and take a 15 -30 min break then check it again. Anyway, live and learn my friend. Better to be cautious I suppose. In William's vid he's showing how easy it is to get started. Had you just left it, within another hour you would have seen it cruising along. On the initial start up it is "more informative" to add layers and ignite each till you have it full. William is showing that you don't actually have to do that if you don't want to.

The good news is it seems like you got the leak problems solved! I think you are good to go. Well done.

Thanks Steve! I'm getting there with your help. I had tried to leave the secondar vent open, but the flame kept going out and the temperature dropped to 200.

I just tried again. I got the fire going for about 50 minutes and the temperature was 650. I added coal and dampered to 45, closed primaries to about 1/4 and went to indirect draft mode and a few minutes later the flames appeared and dropped to 400 and then came back to 450. The pot was only about 1/2 full so I added more to top it off and I lost flame again. I didn't open primaries or damper when I did this, maybe this was part of the problem? I let it go for about 10 minutes, but temp was getting down to 300 and I couldn't see flame. I threw a match in and it ignited the gas and now it seems to be burning fine, about 5 minutes later.

So you are saying last night or tonight when I lost flame and it got down to 200 if I had left it, the flames would have come back?

When I need to re-add coal is there a certain temperature the stove needs to indicate to ensure the new coal catches?

I've had a few mini "explosions" if you would when wood went out and the gases built up and then ignited, shaking the loading door pretty good. Are you saying I don't have to worry about this with coal?

I'm going to tell you this just once. So listen carefully. Coal is not Wood, Coal is not Wood. Repeat that to yourself until it sinks in.
When you start the Charcoal and the first charge of coal, let it get started until you have plenty of blue flames and RED coals.
Leave all of the Dampers wide open, except the secondary air damper in the loading door. Just crack it about 1/2 way or so.
NOW, fill the stove up to the top of the fire pot. Yes, to the top of the fire pot.
You won't see any blue flames for a good while UNTIL all of that coal heats up enough to give off the coal gas.
If you can see an orange glow down in your ash pan coming from the grates above. The fire WILL NOT go out. I'll say it again it won't go out.
What do you do now?
You wait until the blue flames appear and the temperature of the stove gets up around 300 or so.
Now, adjust the dampers and put the stove in indirect mode.
Try this and see what happens.
As you learn then you will discover how to work the dampers to render the heat out put you desire.
Don't be afraid of your stove, respect it, but; don't be afraid of it.

Your just about there Marty. When full/filled and you didn't have flame right away always leave everything open to the max and wait. That includes the secondary and that that will add air above and stop the mini explosions. The good news is that the stove is working now and will keep you and your fam warm when that oil burner doesn't light if the power goes out in the Blizz coing your way! Get it lit and feel free to call me if you have any questions. I'll be around or the machine is on and I'll call you back.

glenwoodoak wrote:I refinished a Glenwood Oak #30

So did I and I love it. As unimaginable as it sounds, I can't wait for another heating season to roll around so I can put it through her paces.

I was looking back through some old threads on the Oak 30 seeing what I might learn about her and stumbled across the picture of your brickwork. If you happen to live in Gray, I can just about guarantee I had a hand in building that setup.

Here's mine.

Marty,
feel free to PM me on any questions you might have on your #30, I love mine to death ..she is a great anthracite coal burning appliance!...they do have some quirks to learn through the burning stages...but once you get her figured out you will love her as I do mine