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Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Sun. Oct. 07, 2018 10:16 am
by Sunny Boy
alpineboard wrote:
Sun. Oct. 07, 2018 9:02 am
Understood on the wood coal comparison and volume of energy stored/released.

I did my first burn with coal, need it to be out by the time folks get home, re: new paint still smelling (slightly).

So from a fresh start, put in approx. 15 pounds, probably 1/3 of the burn pot.

Got up to temp very nicely. Almost the same numbers on temp, slightly lower, 400 to 450 side burn chamber, 400 to 500 on back burner. But the base was still heating to 450 to 480F, so a deflector plate is definitely happening.

Outside temp was 55 to 60f, with blue skies, so high barometric pressure, so a reasonable draft for a semi warm day outside. I was getting the stove up to its peak operating temperature, without overheating it. Nice even low orange glow with the coal.

From looking at the coal burning from underneath thru the grates, ash pan door open, everything appeared well, no grate overheating. I see now, why and how the larger space between the grates works so well.

I believe that I am operating this stove the way it should be operated. Are my base temperatures higher than what other folks with base burners are experiencing? As someone stated earlier. I think I am ok with these temps, and this is why they are called "base burners".

Central, 2 story, 16" cement block, 8 inch round clay flue tile chimney.
First fires are always hottest and a shallow firebed will often burn hotter than a full firepot because of the easier airflow through it. So expect the lower stove temps to be a bit less as the firebed "ages" and there is some ash buildup on the grates - a good thing to help reduce the heat stress down on them.

I still put a steel pan under my GW #6.

When Wilson had the stove set up and running in his kitchen he had to put an aluminum heat shield on 2x4s under it because the wooden floor was getting so hot. I have the stove on a 3x4 foot, 1/2 inch thick hearth board, but even with that I didn't want to risk over heating and discoloring the wooden floor under it.

I never use large broiler pan from my gas oven, so I placed that under the base. It reduced the surface temp of the hearth board quite a bit. The pan also helps when emptying ash. I just slide it out a ways under the ash drawer door and it catches any ash that falls off when I take the ash pan out and shovel out whatever missed going into the pan.

Paul

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Sun. Oct. 07, 2018 11:37 am
by alpineboard
Thanks Paul, Will be on the look out for an baking pan of proper size, good hint on the ash clean up. Keep it simple.

Just have to say, very impressed on how this stove performs. Had the dry wood all set and running, stove fully up to temp, and came time to add another piece, So just put one larger piece sitting flat on the coals, It lit and burned with ease, perfectly the whole time alone. I kept monitoring the chimney output, zero smoke, just slow heat coming out of the stack for entire time of burn.
So this secondary burn chamber design and its efficiency is nothing new, been around since 1900.
Looking forward to a good heating season.

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Sun. Oct. 07, 2018 12:15 pm
by Sunny Boy
Yes, they had made great advancements in stove design by the early 1900s. But we seem to have lost it with new stoves that became popular as a result of the higher oil prices starting in the 1970s. Many of the new stove designers either didn't study what makes early stoves so efficient, or ignored it to save production costs.

Steve, (Kingcoal) proved that you can take a modern coal stove and improve it's performance by studying base heater designs and measurements and making that modern stove into a base heater.

Paul

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Tue. Oct. 09, 2018 12:46 pm
by alpineboard
The pic is showing too bright, it is not going that hot. But Paul, you were correct, the overall temps are decreasing a bit with added burn time.

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Wed. Oct. 17, 2018 7:04 pm
by wilsons woodstoves
wings best and our best are the same stove different door. same deal as a herald and a fireside, same stove. almost nothing will interchange with glewood, however you can install a set of gas rings on the116x but not the herald. paul is right it has a glenwood finial...……….wilson

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Wed. Oct. 17, 2018 7:17 pm
by wilsons woodstoves
woops I see Emery has already cleared that up...

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Sat. Oct. 20, 2018 10:21 am
by alpineboard
wilsons woodstoves wrote:
Wed. Oct. 17, 2018 7:04 pm
wings best and our best are the same stove different door. same deal as a herald and a fireside, same stove. almost nothing will interchange with glewood, however you can install a set of gas rings on the116x but not the herald. paul is right it has a glenwood finial...……….wilson
Thanks Wilson,
I noticed from Glenwood and other videos/pictures, That there is a "360 degree/full circle pre heat hot input air ring" on these Glenwoods, I am assuming that is what you mean by "gas rings". On my "Our best" this full circle ring is not there. The Our Best does have pre heat hot air input, same spot, just below the door, 8 holes, 1/4 inch dia, leading to a interior shroud, with same holes, inside.

Are you saying that I can put a Glenwood or similar full circle hot air ring in my Our Best? Possibly make my own , stainless tube , Harbor freight tube bender, drill some holes , and improvise into my existing system?

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Sat. Oct. 20, 2018 10:42 am
by Sunny Boy
It seems that Glenwood base heaters are the only stoves that came with that gas ring around the top of the firepot. It's a really nice feature for both wood and coal that makes the stove more efficient.

And at least one member reports it helps him burn off the extra volatiles of bit coal without the usual soot build up that burning bit in a non-bit stove gets.

When you reload the stove you can see blue/white jets about 4-5 inches long burning at each of the holes in the gas ring. That shows it's burning gas that it's heat potential would otherwise would be wasted up the chimney in a stove without the gas ring.

Wilson has fitted recast Glenwood gas rings to other makes of stoves, so you might want to PM him about it if your interested.

Paul

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Sat. Oct. 20, 2018 11:46 am
by mntbugy
Red Cross Oaks came with gas rings also. Holes go 2/3 around fire pot, with
3.5 in gap of no holes left & right of the load door.

Also has a manual slide damper just under load door to control air flow.

A magazine with 7 inch I.D. by 19ish long.

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Sat. Oct. 20, 2018 2:48 pm
by alpineboard
Understood, thank you

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Sat. Oct. 27, 2018 10:02 am
by alpineboard
Very impressed so far with heat output, and burn time. Have not totally filled it yet, waiting for it to cool of more for that.
Kind of adding 15 to 20 pounds , as time goes by. Easily getting 12 to 16 hrs and still going. Shake and go again.

What I have noticed , has been seen in other stoves on occasion, that sometimes after shaking/cranking, the burning coal is elevated above the grates , so am not getting any ash dropping when shaking, just take a poker and go at it gently from the top , here and there to get the burning coal to drop down.

Also noticing that the longer middle grates drop ash more quickly the side smaller grates. So am thinking before shaking , poke around at the side a bit, then shake, repeat, as needed. I am not fully rotating, just a quick side to side, back and forth motion, while watching thru the bottom air vents. Not a big deal, just get used to it. This has probably been spoken of before here.

Re: OUR BEST Base Burner

Posted: Thu. Nov. 01, 2018 8:58 am
by alpineboard
Running fine. IMO, thinking that the quality/performance of a good stove is its ability to run well in not so good conditions, meaning 45 deg f, overcast damp low barometric pressure weather. This picture is of theses conditions, and after 30 minutes of a morning reload on top of a running but not a full charging bed of coals, it lit with ease and the temps are 400 to 450 on the cylinder and on the back base. Consistently using 30 pounds of Nut over a 24 hour period. Again, very impressive.