Keeping the Glenwood 116 From Burn Out?

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specialtg
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Glenwood Oak #116

Post by specialtg » Sat. Nov. 11, 2017 9:20 am

Hello coal friends! I am a newbie coal burner. We have been successfully running the stove BUT it starts to die from the outside of the burnpot all round. We shake it and usually have to start the load process all over again.
I noticed there are large chunks of light crumbly malformed burnt coal.
Is this a sign of over firing? Or a crack?
Last night we had it loaded up going great at 10pm- filled to the brim.
I closed all dampers and at 5am the stove had just some coal in the middle but shook it down and the whole thing had to be restarted. It was 12 degrees here last night.
Thank you for any insight.

 
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Sunny Boy
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Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sat. Nov. 11, 2017 10:22 am

A 116 has a large enough firepot that it should easily burn through the night. With a lined firepot it holds about 50 pounds of nut coal.

But, we need more info about what your settings and technique are.

You say you closed all the dampers. Which ones, and are they fully closed ?

Was all the coal burned to ash, or was there a lot of unburned coal left in the firebed ?

What size coal are you using ?

When you reload for the night, do you shake ash enough so that you get an even orange glow showing in the ash pan, and then top off the firebed up to the top edge of the firepot ?

Are you letting the fresh load of coal get burning well (blue flames showing on top) before setting the dampers for the night ?

Is the ash pan empty or full when you set up for the night ?

BTW some coal will leave large chunks of ash, but they should be able to break up easily. If not then yes, it could be too hot, or your not rotating the grates to bust up and dump clinkers while they are still at the crumbly stage. The longer those big chunks stay in the firebed the tougher they can get.

Every morning, while the ash is deepest, you should rotate both sets of grate bars one, or two flats. That not only grinds the clinkers, it also turns the bars so they don't get heat stressed on just one side. If not turned they can warp over time. Then they can't be turned, plus they will dump good coal along with ash every time you need to shake the ashes down.

Paul
Last edited by Sunny Boy on Sat. Nov. 11, 2017 10:35 am, edited 2 times in total.

 
specialtg
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Glenwood Oak #116

Post by specialtg » Sat. Nov. 11, 2017 10:30 am

Every damper is shut right including the stove pipe one.

There are chunks of burnt coal left it's super light reminds me of coral in the ocean some were gold ball sized ad wouldn't shake down. There was a lot of chunks stuck to fire bed! I had to chip away!

I am using nut sized coal

Before bed we shook until embers fell!
The pot was full and roaring nice. Sealed as tight as we can.

The ash pan was half full

I suspect air leakage thru ash door. My flames are good size when it is all shut. Perhaps I need to add gasket or caulk or file the door?

Thank u so much! I just spent and hour+ restarting it and it's going great right now maybe too big of flames tho!


 
franco b
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Post by franco b » Sat. Nov. 11, 2017 10:52 am

I agree that the ash door is leaking. A bead of high temp. silicone on the door closed on a sheet of waxed paper with a cold stove should solve the problem.

Paul pretty much covered everything else.

 
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Sunny Boy
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Posts: 25559
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sat. Nov. 11, 2017 10:53 am

specialtg wrote:
Sat. Nov. 11, 2017 10:30 am
Every damper is shut right including the stove pipe one.

Ok for the secondary in the door and the MPD in the pipe, but normally the stove needs a slight amount of opening of the primary dampers in the ash drawer door.

There are chunks of burnt coal left it's super light reminds me of coral in the ocean some were gold ball sized ad wouldn't shake down. There was a lot of chunks stuck to fire bed! I had to chip away!

Yeah that sounds like it ran too hot and used up all the fuel too quickly. With all the dampers closed it sounds like there's a pretty good air leak somewhere before the grates.

I am using nut sized coal

Should be no problem maintaining a healthy firebed with nut, and enough fuel for a long overnight burn.

Before bed we shook until embers fell!
The pot was full and roaring nice. Sealed as tight as we can.

Ok with ash and firebed going well. However, having it, "Sealed tight", again it sounds like you have an air leak before the firebed that is allowing it to burn too quickly. Check under the stove for cracks, or seams that have lost their sealer.

The ash pan was half full.

Ok.

I suspect air leakage thru ash door. My flames are good size when it is all shut. Perhaps I need to add gasket or caulk or file the door?

Check the ash door for gaps. If you can close it on a dollar bill and then easily pull the bill out, that's a leak. Some have had success using high temp silicone on the cleaned edge of the ash drawer door and then close it on wax paper until it's cured to form a gasket.

I used a feeler gauge to find the tighter areas, marked them, and then filed them to bring the door in tighter all around. Also, check the hinge pins for play by pushing on the closed door and see if it moves in at the hinge end. If so, then gently bend the pins a bit to move the door in at that end.


Thank u so much! I just spent and hour+ restarting it and it's going great right now maybe too big of flames tho!

 
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swattley01
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Alaska Gnome 40
Baseburners & Antiques: Buckwalters Vale Oak 315
Coal Size/Type: nut / rice
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Post by swattley01 » Mon. Nov. 20, 2017 11:34 am

this guys problem is exactly what is going on with my stove, in the morning there is a small amount of hot coals in center and deep bed of ash below. first i have found the large clinkers to be from poor quality coal, i use BLACHALK coal as best i can find out here, kimples from tractor supply is horrible and in my opinion Reading is junk too. i do not get the klinkers using the blachalk coal. my ash door is something i been working on, this year i added flat window wood stove gasket to the ash pan door to seal it. the Barometric flue damper also helps a lot to slow down the draft.

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