My New Crawford!

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scalabro
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Baseburners & Antiques: Crawford 40, PP Stewart No. 14, Abendroth Bros "Record 40"
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Post by scalabro » Wed. Feb. 05, 2014 7:38 am

Well a better result this morning that's for sure.

I'm still of the belief that yesterday and past experiences with kimmels in my MKII point to kimmels being inferior to Blaschak .

Today's OAT is fully 12* warmer than yesterday, I measured draft today and it's slightly less than yesterday, so I know it's not a draft issue.

So this morning I opened the MPD, placed the stove in direct draft, fully opened the primary air and let the coal bed get nice and bright.

Then I opened the check damper and shook , also I used a poker to clear ash through the clinker door. This is exactly what I did yesterday except now I loaded up with Blaschak nut.

550 on the barrel, 165 on the stack....all is well.


 
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BPatrick
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Post by BPatrick » Wed. Feb. 05, 2014 10:54 am

A couple of things. First, Different brands of coal are not the same. Some coal doesn't produce the heat like others, they, instead, produce yellowish flames and a lot of clunkers. Other brands release tremendous amounts of gas as they warm up and produce tons of heat. So, not all coal is the same; all you veterans know this but someone new to this would not so it's worth saying, like every chimney isn't the same, not all coal is quality.

Second, I used a direct draft Herald Oak No. 18 and used it to heat a big old country farmhouse built in the mid 1800's. I ran the stove at 500-600 easily as it wanted to run in that range. I had great draft so I had two MPD's installed. They were the old antique ones not the new hardware cheap ones. They weren't sealed, they had holes in them, and I ran the main one completely closed and the second one almost closed. The difference between 1vs. 2 MPD's was 55-75 degrees. It also lowered stack temps by 50 degrees. These 2 MPD's were apx. 18" apart.

 
PJT
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Post by PJT » Wed. Feb. 05, 2014 12:09 pm

Interesting BPatrick I would never have thought of using 2 mpd's.

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Wed. Feb. 05, 2014 8:25 pm

What kind of draft were you running Patrick? Was it so high, one MPD wasn't enuff?
As for different brands of coal burning different, could different loads of the same brands also be different. If Blaschac is drilling one vein, then three weeks later, move to a different part of the mine, could this also change burn rates?

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 10:09 pm

:alone:

 
scalabro
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Post by scalabro » Fri. Feb. 07, 2014 6:23 am

Mrs. Crawford has been keeping the house at 74 or better during the day and above 70 overnight on just over 40 lbs of Blaschak nut for the past few days. With these colder temps we have been having I'm amazed. Can't wait to see the results on quality stove coal.

This mornings results are super.

OAT 3*

Kitchen 70*

Barrel 575*

Stack 215*

Draft .10 WC

I have found that how I empty ash is key.

I pull the sliding grate out to its stop, then "slice" over the grate back and forth to clear all ash under the fire dome. Then right before I think it's going to collapse I slide the grate back in and shake. This collapses the dome. Then I shake until red coals the size of peanuts drop and stop. By now the sound of the fire is at a very audible level! Next I add two scoops (34oz) of coal every couple of minutes until she's topped off and the ladies are dancing. All that's left is to close the MPD, put the stove back into base mode and set primary and secondary air.

Today and the next 48 hours will be nice and cold here in Southwick so I can fine tune my technique.

Overall I am very pleased with my decision to choose this type of stove over the Harmon.

Plus, it turns out wifey thinks this stove looks better :clap:

 
Craw4
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Post by Craw4 » Fri. Feb. 07, 2014 7:37 am

Glad to hear your happy with the new girl Gek, I would have been very suppised if you weren't, I'm also interested to see how she does on stove.

Thanks for keeping us updated.


 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Fri. Feb. 07, 2014 9:41 am

Gekko wrote:Mrs. Crawford has been keeping the house at 74 or better during the day and above 70 overnight on just over 40 lbs of Blaschak nut for the past few days. With these colder temps we have been having I'm amazed. Can't wait to see the results on quality stove coal.

This mornings results are super.

OAT 3*

Kitchen 70*

Barrel 575*

Stack 215*

Draft .10 WC

I have found that how I empty ash is key.

I pull the sliding grate out to its stop, then "slice" over the grate back and forth to clear all ash under the fire dome. Then right before I think it's going to collapse I slide the grate back in and shake. This collapses the dome. Then I shake until red coals the size of peanuts drop and stop. By now the sound of the fire is at a very audible level! Next I add two scoops (34oz) of coal every couple of minutes until she's topped off and the ladies are dancing. All that's left is to close the MPD, put the stove back into base mode and set primary and secondary air.

Today and the next 48 hours will be nice and cold here in Southwick so I can fine tune my technique.

Overall I am very pleased with my decision to choose this type of stove over the Harmon.

Plus, it turns out wifey thinks this stove looks better :clap:
Good news. Sounds like your getting it dialed in. Glad it's working out like you hoped !!!!!!

And, keeping wifey happy is the best part of it ! :D Like the old saying," If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy !" :D

Paul

 
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BPatrick
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Post by BPatrick » Fri. Feb. 07, 2014 11:28 am

I have a strong draft, not too strong draft. Again, I've got a big old drafty farmhouse. It's 4,000 sq. ft. with 13' high ceilings. It was built in the 1850's so not air tight. The windows are all new and we do put plastic up and it helps but it's an old house. Because of this, we want to run the stove hotter, around 500-600 depending on the weather, this would be middle of winter burn, whereas, when it's warmer, we run them around 350-450. What I found is by letting more under fire air in, the temps would go up but I'd force more air up through the stove and out. I thought by slowing it down some I'd be able to extract more heat out of the stove and send less up the chimney. Now with weak draft this won't work, but with a good draft to strong draft, shutting the main one completely and almost closing the second one slowed the air coming out of the stove a little more allowing it to raise the stove temp and radiate more. I would check this by running all the settings the same and with 1 MPD it would be around 50-75 degrees less than with the second. I use the old antique MPD's with the holes in them so the draft doesn't stop completely. I feel that having them 18" apart made the heat exchange more effect. When I had them closer, it didn't do hardly anything, once I got them farther apart than 12" it started making a difference. I'd like to have had them 2' apart but my wife wouldn't have been able to reach. Since I have base heaters, now I only run 1 MPD. If your house is older and not as air tight as the new ones and you have a good to strong draft, this will work for you. CO detectors in every room and never had one go off with this set up.

To answer the coal question; I've found that different sizes of coal react very differently in the same stove. Besides the differences between quality and brand, stove coal, nut coal, and pea coal will all react differently. Direct draft stoves do much better with nut coal and nut pea mix. Base heaters, especially stoves with suspended fire pots, stove coal works so much better as the depth of the fire pot requires more air to be able to move between the pieces. While my Crawford 40 will burn nut coal; it was clearly made to burn larger stove coal.

 
scalabro
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Post by scalabro » Fri. Feb. 07, 2014 5:42 pm

I just had a really cool thing happen :twisted:

Mrs. Crawford is topped and blue ladies are dancing big time.......so for giggles I shut the secondary air and watched the ladies almost go out....then I fully opened the sec air, fast, Holy Crap!

Four "Bernz-O-Matic" torches blasted out of the four air inlets :eek2:

Next time I load her up I'll try to film it!

Muhahahaha!

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scalabro
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Post by scalabro » Sat. Feb. 08, 2014 12:22 pm

Gonna give the kimmels stove coal another try this evening on reload.

Agway would not take it back, I tossed the receipt.

Or should I build a HUGE bonfire outside and dispose of it that way :devil:

Suggestions?

 
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Post by LsFarm » Sat. Feb. 08, 2014 2:36 pm

I'd try the Kimmels and if it acts the same as before, burn it in a 50/50 mix with Blaschak.. it'll burn at least.

Greg L

 
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ONEDOLLAR
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Post by ONEDOLLAR » Sat. Feb. 08, 2014 3:17 pm

Gekko wrote:Gonna give the kimmels stove coal another try this evening on reload.

Agway would not take it back, I tossed the receipt.

Or should I build a HUGE bonfire outside and dispose of it that way :devil:

Suggestions?
Save the Kimmels.. I will take it.. how much do you have? Price?

Mark

 
scalabro
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Post by scalabro » Sat. Feb. 08, 2014 3:31 pm

ONEDOLLAR wrote:
Gekko wrote:Gonna give the kimmels stove coal another try this evening on reload.

Agway would not take it back, I tossed the receipt.

Or should I build a HUGE bonfire outside and dispose of it that way :devil:

Suggestions?
Save the Kimmels.. I will take it.. how much do you have? Price?

Mark
6 Bags.....I think the round trip fuel costs will equal the cost of the coal Mark, so come and grab it, I owe you a favor anyway ;)

We can shoot the P7.
Cheers

 
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wsherrick
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Post by wsherrick » Sat. Feb. 08, 2014 3:45 pm

I guess you can use the Harman for a door stop or maybe a card table.


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