Can’t control my new (to me) stove

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Oda5000
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Post by Oda5000 » Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 8:48 pm

I recently ventured into the coal heating world.
I bought a hand fed stove that someone removed from a house they were remodeling in Sheridan, Wyoming and brought it to Laramie.
They knew nothing about it.

It says Plymouth on it in a few different places and the house it came from was probably built in the 70’s (rough guess)

I bought two tons of Wyoming sub bituminous oiled stoker coal (what it has been using, its what everyone uses here) and paid an HVAC company to add the appropriate stove
pipe to my house which included a barometric damper

I built a small wood fire and added coal in small amounts, the fire started to blaze. I confidently shutoff the fresh air damper and expected it to slow down. It didn’t. Paint on the chimney was starting to smoke and I could see flames through the barometric damper. I accidentally discovered a solution by aiming a fan at the pipe. It cooled it enough to stop the runaway.

I have been using it three days. I have tried packing lots of coal in, I have tried burning little dashes at a time, I have tried closing the damper well before it flames up.

It will inexplicably burn Nicely sometimes but then then I’ll add a little coal and it runs away and I have to pull out the fan again.

It does not seem super air tight, but, it’s all part of the design. For example, there is an opening around the shaker handle shaft that seems like it could let in some air, there is no seal on either door and no way to add one, and I had to replace the mica glass and learned that is not all that air tight either.

In addition to a barometric damper, it also has a manual vent on the pipe as an original part of the stove.

I love this stove and I want to make it work but I’m at a loss.

Any advice would be appreciated!

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fig
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: T.O.M (Warm Morning converted to baseburner by Steve) Round Oak 1917 Door model O-3, Warm Morning 400, Warm Morning 524, Warm Morning 414,Florence No.77, Warm Morning 523-b
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Post by fig » Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 9:34 pm

Might have to disassemble it and reseal every joint with stove cement. That’s what I did with my first coal stove.

Some people have luck putting a bead of high temp silicone on the door and something that will release it on the mating surface once it seals. This helps create a better seal.

A manometer is advisable so you know what kind of draft you have. If your draft is too strong you may need an additional pipe damper. Hard to say with no manometer.

I bet it’s sucking air from all the joints as well as the loose doors.

What kind of coal are you using? Never mind I see it’s sub bit. I have no experience with that. Coal size might be an issue.

I have bituminous and it is somewhat volatile. It will run away fairly easily. I have to keep some flame alive in the burn chamber while loading or it will smoke bad and when it reignites it will light off the smoke that has accumulated in the stove and pipe. It will get the adrenaline going. If i load too fast and it gets too much air it will run away very quickly. It’s somewhat of a balancing act. Often it is hit or miss.

You might want to research that stove. Some stoves don’t burn bituminous well. It needs a lot of over fire air. If it’s a stove meant for anthracite it may not have much for over fire air supply.
Last edited by fig on Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 9:55 pm, edited 4 times in total.

 
Oda5000
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Post by Oda5000 » Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 9:36 pm

Sub bituminous Wyoming coal.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 10:02 pm

Stoker coal? Probably too small. That will not burn real great in that stove even if the stove is sealed but you have it so might as well burn it. I had some small bit coal with lots of fines, not sub bit, regular bit, and put it in bags. Memory tells me it was 6-8 pounds a bag. I'd throw one bag in the stove until it was burning well (past the flames up the pipe stage, been there) and then another bag, repeat. If you drink pop or beer the empty cardboard 12 packs work pretty good instead of bags too. I used mostly paper bags but if your careful plastic will work, or whatever else you can dream up... plastic if a spot melts before its in the stove it can get messy quick, lol

Most likely you need to load in small quantities at one time like I mentioned but maybe not. Every situation is different.

Fig is correct about sealing the stove. Wax paper works ok to use on the opposing side of the high temp silicone for making door seals as do other things. You need over fire air and under fire air which that stove likely has both of which is good. But it will need to be sealed up some so it doesnt run away from you quite as badly.

Larger sized coal will help a lot compared to smaller size.

Your in for a learning curve but once you figure it all out you have some super cheap heat for decades most likely. There are not many sub bit or lignite burners here but still lots of info on it and some helpers.

Edit: I would add a heat shield under and around the stove too with that wood floor.


 
fig
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Joined: Fri. Feb. 12, 2016 2:36 pm
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF360
Hand Fed Coal Stove: T.O.M (Warm Morning converted to baseburner by Steve) Round Oak 1917 Door model O-3, Warm Morning 400, Warm Morning 524, Warm Morning 414,Florence No.77, Warm Morning 523-b
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Clayton 7.1/DS Machine basement stove/ Harman SF1500
Baseburners & Antiques: Renown Parlor stove 87B
Coal Size/Type: Bituminous/anthracite
Other Heating: Harman Accentra, enviro omega, Vermont Ironworks Elm stove, Quadrafire Mt Vernon, Logwood stove, Sotz barrel stove,

Post by fig » Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 10:25 pm

I was thinking that stove pipe looked awful close to the wall as well. Maybe just the angle of the picture.

I’ve done the same with my bit fines. I put in boxes and tossed them in. I made sure I was putting it on an established bed of coals.

 
Oda5000
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Post by Oda5000 » Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 11:40 pm

The thing that made me question sealing it more tightly is the gap around the shaker handle.

This I don’t know how to solved but it seems to be part of the design.

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franco b
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Post by franco b » Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 11:51 pm

Oda5000 wrote:
Fri. Dec. 25, 2020 11:40 pm
The thing that made me question sealing it more tightly is the gap around the shaker handle.

This I don’t know how to solved but it seems to be part of the design.
Usually there was a partial circular piece of metal inside the stove with a hole for the shaker handle. it moved with the shaker handle and sealed that hole.

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