Coalpail.com Forum

Good evening all,

Made my 1st mistake of the season today. With the business of having a 8 month old after I riddled the Surdiac this morning I must have forgotten to fill the hopper. Came home to a very live stove so I riddled it as normal, I opened the top of stove, looked into hopper and all I saw was glowing coal and dancing blues. Looked in the front glass and coal was down below hopper opening. I am glad it wasn't dead when I got home and it was easy to fill and we are back to normal.

Will definitely remember to fill hopper at each tending from now on.

Tim

Better that you "forgot" to fill the hopper Tim, rather than forgetting to close your MPD, or ash pan door.

Good evening all,

Weather has been relatively nice the past weekend so I shut down the Surdiac to clean it out. Plan was to possibly shut down for the season, but tonight's low is going to be around 33°, wife said she was chilly.

I was all game for reliting and figured I'd experiment. I loaded the stove up with nut up to the hopper and then filled the hopper with pea. Shall see how it runs with a firebed of nut.

Tim

Now there's a novel idea Tim. Can't wait to hear the results. "Theoretically" you should have a hotter fire. See if you can notice the difference. If nothing more, it should at least look better. Good luck.

Hello all,

Surdiac ran good all night. Didn't see any real difference in heat output with a firebox full of nut compared to pea. One thing I did like was it took less time to fill firebox during reliting. For short burns straight nut size maybe an option going forward.

Tim

Hello all,

Long time since I posted. Life has been crazy for family. Still burning the black rocks, but time has come to sell the Surdiac. It's a great stove and we have loved it. Family went from 2 to 5 in the last 3 years and home expanded so the Surdiac is a little small for the added square ft. Selling it for $350 OBO and includes all extra parts.

https://syracuse.craigslist.org/app/d/surdiac-got ... 71439.html

Thanks,

Tim

Anyone interested in a nice stove? Need it gone to make room for new one.

Anyone interested in the Surdiac?? I need to move it off the Sunroom and hate to see it rust away in my shed...

Tim

Well I'm glad things are going well for you. I've just finished adding my boiler in here. Going to keep the waffle stove running for now though, the wife likes the point source of warmth in the kitchen.

Confed,

Glad to hear your still burning in the Surdiac. My Surdiac taught me a lot about coal burning and it was a sad say when I removed it from the hearth and replaced it with a Harman, but I needed a bigger stove. It has kept our family warm for 3 winters and miss the looks of it in dining room. Another reason I removed it was the lack of parts availability. The heat exchanger on mine is due for a replacing in a few years and can't find a replacement that justifies the cost. I got a Harman Mark II for the same cost of a heat exchanger. Surdiac now sits on sunroom until someone makes me an offer to buy it or I scrap it due to not being able to find parts for it.

Tim

Yea, the HX is a ticking timebomb on mine as well. The current plan is to use furnace cement and fiberglass to shore up the weak spots. The wife, (actually divorced and remarried over the course of this thread, jeepers!) wants to get a full on range for the next stove in the kitchen. So I'm watching the Craigslist to see if I can score some inexpensive iron.

ElCamMan515... I came across your profile pic in another thread and did a search to see what kind of stove you had. Was I glad to find this thread! I'm a newb at using coal, so it's been a learning dash for the past couple of months.

For a variety of reasons, I am looking for a more modern coal stove and if it looks like a fireplace, all the better. Here it is January and I finally found something, plus, it's within 20 miles!

Unfortunately, it's a wood stove right now, but I found a site that sells the Efel parts to make it into a coal stove. That's a pricey endeavor, but I could do it next year. Right now, I can burn pressed wood brick, stick wood or wood pellets.

I was wondering if I could burn coal with a purchased commercial coal grate, right now? Or, would it damage the fire box base (the thing with the holes in it, pictured below)? Also, I could line the walls with fire brick. I could riddle it by slicing through the front grates and passing a blade across the top of the holey base. Next year I could install the shaker grates and liners.

Here's a pic of what she looks like and I get to go see her tomorrow afternoon. It is an Efel Kamino.

Apparently the Efel model is a wood burner that cannot be converted to a coal burner. I really want to use coal, but I could be happy with wood, too. So much to consider, before I make a purchase. For one thing, it is only $200 and 20 miles from home.

Jdode,

I wouldn't say a Surdiac or Efel stove is modern in today's world but they do have good style. If you are looking for amazing even heat coal is a no brainer. I would look for a dedicated coal stove. I have since removed my Surdiac and replaced it with a Harman Mark II. As you read the Surdiac was a good stove but I needed something with some more BTUs. It sits in my sunroom awaiting a buyer.

Good luck on your hunt and don't be afraid to ask questions or search the forum, lots of great help here.

Tim

ElCamMan515 wrote: ↑

Tue. Jan. 01, 2019 8:07 pm

Jdode,

I wouldn't say a Surdiac or Efel stove is modern in today's world but they do have good style. If you are looking for amazing even heat coal is a no brainer. I would look for a dedicated coal stove. I have since removed my Surdiac and replaced it with a Harman Mark II. As you read the Surdiac was a good stove but I needed something with some more BTUs. It sits in my sunroom awaiting a buyer.

Good luck on your hunt and don't be afraid to ask questions or search the forum, lots of great help here.

Tim

Thanks, Tim. I had to turn down the Efel as it was only rated for 36,000 BTUs. Plus, it was a dedicated wood burner. I will probably need more than that, off and on, throughout the winter. I am beginning to consider a big, brown, Warm Morning from the 1950's.