Efel Coal Stove Feed Plate Setting

I call it a feed plate so don't if I'm wrong. Does anyone know where this should be set at? I'm burning Pea coal and now that the outside temp has dropped I'm having trouble keeping the house warm enough. I have the plate set on the lowest setting right now. I was thinking about moving it up one notch so I could get more coal on to the fire. The problem is, now that the temps have dropped, the stove can't keep the house the warm. I have really good draft. I'm running the hand dampener around 45deg closed and the stove air intake is at #6. I can get the top of the stove up to 300deg but it doesn't stay that hot for a long time. I'm thinking if I can more coal onto the fire, it will burn at that temp for a longer time.

I inherited this stove from the pervious home owner so this is all new to me? Any info or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Yes; the larger the mass of burning coal the stove contains the more heat it will produce and for a longer duration.

The higher the hopper is set, it will feed more coal. If set too high the coal might begin to over flow the fire pot. Until that point is reached set it as high as possible. Do a good job of clearing the ash with a slicing poker and you should see 4 0r 5 hundred degrees on the stove top. Out put will be double.

Franco B thank you for the information. I'm going to try it in the middle and see where the takes me.
Again, Thank you

franco b wrote:Yes; the larger the mass of burning coal the stove contains the more heat it will produce and for a longer duration.

The higher the hopper is set, it will feed more coal. If set too high the coal might begin to over flow the fire pot. Until that point is reached set it as high as possible. Do a good job of clearing the ash with a slicing poker and you should see 4 0r 5 hundred degrees on the stove top. Out put will be double.

Hey Franco B,

I have mine set at the highest notch. I was told to do this on the onset by someone on the forum. I hope I was right to do that because now it's too late to change it. The previous owner of my stove told me that he always kept it on the lowest setting so that he could fit as much coal into the hopper as possible, but then I read here that my type of stove should be set at the highest. I've had no problems with coal overflowing, but then I keep an eye on mine at least two to three times a day.

With pea coal the highest notch is the right setting. If you wanted to use nut coal then the hopper plate should be set right on top of the supports. You want the deepest bed of coal in the fire box, not the most coal in the hopper.

franco b wrote:With pea coal the highest notch is the right setting. If you wanted to use nut coal then the hopper plate should be set right on top of the supports. You want the deepest bed of coal in the fire box, not the most coal in the hopper.

Excellent! I'm glad to have this verified for me. I've been thinking about that lately for some reason.

Many thanks!

I'm just going to moving my plate up to the top,when I get home from work. I was just worried that I was going to over heat it. I put all new parts in it this year and I didn't want to burn them up. The previous owner over fired it and destroyed the fire box. I'll keep an eye on it through out the night and see what it does.

I'm learning as I go but I'm learning fast.

A larger mass of burning coal can produce the same heat as a smaller mass but can do it burning at a lower temperature. You want the maximum amount of coal the fire box will hold.

With a smaller fire (less coal burning) the temptation is to run it too hot and that can damage things. Most likely the damage to the fire box could have been caused by letting ash accumulate in the ash pan up to the level of the grate.

I keep the pan empty but now that you mention it, the first time I opened it, it was full and still had coal in it. The house I bought was owned by an old lady. She died and her uncle let his nieces live here for a year. I don't think they had any idea how to burn it. They did a good job of killing the grates. I'll post pics of it tomorrow. Wait till you see what it looked like.
I'm happy to report that I have the plate all the way up. The dial is on #5. Damper is 1/2 closed and the stove 350° on top. The down stairs house temp is 80° and it's about 75° upstairs. Best of all my wife and daughters are not complaining that it's too cold. I'm keeping a close eye on it to see what its going to do and to learn how it reacts. It's kind of fun burning these old stoves. Definitely kills the boardroom between hunting and riding my Harley.

I have an Efel Ambassador 350. I just took the feed plate out of my stove. I noticed the edges were starting to burn up and I had a heck of a time getting the coal to feed. Took out the feeder baffle and no more problems. I do not fill it all the way up. I only fill it to the edge for the firebox plate where the bottom of the baffle would be. No more problems with outfires and fighting the ash.

franco b wrote:A larger mass of burning coal can produce the same heat as a smaller mass but can do it burning at a lower temperature. You want the maximum amount of coal the fire box will hold.

With a smaller fire (less coal burning) the temptation is to run it too hot and that can damage things. Most likely the damage to the fire box could have been caused by letting ash accumulate in the ash pan up to the level of the grate.

I can identify with what FrancoB is saying (since we have the same stove). I try to keep my hopper more on the full side. I have found in my case that the stove gets way too hot when you only have enough coal in it to keep the grate filled.

As promissed; Here is what the parts looked like when I first got the stove. Unfortunitly, in my excitement to get it lit, I didn't take "After" photos when I installed the new parts. BTW, I didn't break those parts when I pulled them out. That is how they were when I got the stove.

She's burning really good and the house is warm as hell. The stove temp hit 375F on top and I backed it down a little to 350F. That keeps the house around 82F.

Good for you! You did it.