Coalpail.com Forum

Wow! Its been a month or so heating with coal. It is awesome, I am so pleased with the stove. I would extoll the heating source's virtues, but you already know them.

So here is my update. Last we spoke, the shaker grate is bowed causing the shaker brackets to be spread apart so far that the shaker just falls through them. I wired the shaker in place just so I could use it for heating until summer. This worked well for a couple weeks however, the outer support ring is bowed also, so the shaker grate fell through.

I order a new shaker grate from Mountain View Hearth Products. The product arrived in two days. Its a sand cast part that appeared to be well made. I removed the original grate and installed the new one. The new grate bracket spacing is too narrow for my shaker or the front of my shaker is too wide for the brackets. I appears the sand casting has left nodules of metal around the brackets. I had to installed the shaker backwards, instead sliding the leading edge forward into the brackets, I pulled the shaker back through the brackets. On Monday I will have the machine shop fit the pieces together.

The new shaker grate matches the dimensions of the original one, but now I see the outer support is bowed also. In the summer, I'll pull apart the stove, potential have the machine shop make me a new grating or purchase a new grating.

For those in the Brattleboro, VT or surrounded area, Agway on Putney Road is good source of cost effective fuel ($6.99 per 40 pound bag of nut coal). Beware that the bags sits outside on plastic wrapped pallets. Many of the bags I have purchased contained water. The first time I dumped a half a hod of coal on the wood coals, the fire was extinguished like a light bulb. I buy four at a time and keep them near the stove, this allows them to dry out.

I appreciate all the support you have provided me. Thank you very much.

Remarefka wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 27, 2018 7:59 am

... Beware that the bags sits outside on plastic wrapped pallets. Many of the bags I have purchased contained water. The first time I dumped a half a hod of coal on the wood coals, the fire was extinguished like a light bulb.

The water may be already there when the coal is bagged, not from sitting outside. I have had a few bags freeze solid when stored in the garage, so I had to drop them on the concrete floor to loosen up. Some people pour the coal into 5 gallon pails and let it sit a few days to dry before use.

Thank you for this advice.

I know this was mentioned in an earlier post but your heat shield is inadequate. A radiant stove requires 36" clearance to combustibles. A properly installed heat shield will reduce that to 15". Just attaching that metal to the wall even with an "insulating board" behind it is not adequate. The heat shield should stand off of the wall about an inch. Even then the stove should be 15" off of the heat shield. Heat transfers through your shield to the studs in the wall which "bake." Over time the temperature required for them to burn is reduced. This is called pyrolysis. I don't know how long that stove has been in use there but I would not be surprised to see charring on the studs behind that wall. Please make these improvements to your installation.

As a Sidenote :

Many Thanx for Your return visits and Updates back to the Fine Folks who have helped You ! These People thrive on the full Loop Around of knowing they could give You a hand. We see so many "One and Done's" who drop in,gain relief,and are destined for no return nor feedback......

The heat shield on the wall is a concern for me. I have no ideal how long it’s been there. Come spring the stove, piping, heat shield, placement and chimney receive an overhaul.

The cabin represents an adventure for me. New location and plenty of labor to pour into it. The stove is a huge element of this adventure. I pictured coal as dirty and obsolete, a heat source of the 1800s. I am finding out is a viable fuel.

I am please to be part of this forum and experience base.

Glad to hear you plan to overhaul this setup. I forgot to mention the clearances to the single wall pipe to the wall and the wood around the window frame.

Awesome! Glad to hear you are doing well with it. Stay warm. I'm working the overnight at Rescue Inc on Wednesday.