Coalpail.com Forum

good day, the flap is open, i redid the gaskets on clean out ports there good,i'm burning a little under 40 lbs but it hasn't been overly cold,last night got its coldest yet 29 degrees.stove pipe is 112 that's where i have my thermometer but i also have a laser gun thermometer that i got the 112 with. Fire is a nice color red i just stoked it about an hour and a half ago.

Burning under 40 pounds with stove wide open, and providing you did a good job of clearing ash ,both with shaker and poker, I lean toward inadequate draft.

The stove design is not easy drafting, and the efficiency of heat exchange means low stack temperature leading to lower draft. For now, double check all connections to the chimney. I need to revue your post on chimney.

OK. five inch by fifteen feet should be adequate. Triple wall is probably keeping things too cool. You might think about blocking off the outer air entrance to the triple wall by stuffing some fiberglass insulation in there, if you can get at it. That might keep the chimney a bit hotter. You could block the top outer skin too, but there is a concern with holding water there from rain. The idea is to lessen air circulation in the outer skin of the chimney.

I've had two France-Belge stoves and frankly they should have been named "finicky" it kinda defines them, then again "crack monster" could have also been an accurate name as could "Air leak"

I can't even accept blame for having mistakenly bought them, as the first was already in the house when I bought it. the second was in my brothers house and he simply refused to deal with the stove he never refused to refer to as other and the stove subsequently "appeared on my porch" one Saturday after my brother got pissed at it one time too many and bought a Harmon!

I about had it. It will burn for days then go out on me. And a bitch to start with all the smoke.

With poor draft you would be better off with a vertical stove that exhausts straight up and out. An antique Oak or a Warm Morning type of stove. Perhaps a Chubby. Higher stack temperatures will help to maintain draft.

i thought installer had put 15' of stacks its 7' so im going to get a 3' section and see if there's a difference. I'm a my wits end this time it was my fault. But still frustrating. I heated my last house with coal for 15 years so its not like its my first time at this. It is by far the hardest stove to get going but then again it could be draft. Your take

No stove will run well with poor draft. The bends in the heat exchange of the FB, and the low position, along with the heat extracted make it worse. There is also the danger of CO poisoning.

Adding height will help and if you can you might add a ring of sheet metal over the outer air ducts of the pipe, to slow the air circulation in the outer wall. Counting the single wall pipe in the room you should have at least 16 feet of chimney with the added three feet. Starting should be smokeless. With a similar double wall setup I am currently running .06 of draft with the mid size stove.

Do get a CO detector.

thank you for your info I and added 6' and closed up outer chamber. tbc
'

well the stove is working great and no issues with smoke on start up. A big THANK YOU to the ones that helped me. This stove almost became an anchor in the river. One quick question how do you stop top cavity from igniting, keep it full at all times? Many thanks again

It will only burn a short way into the hopper . No concern no matter how full or empty. That is why the hopper has a lower back plate.

You might consider mounting the hopper on top of the supports to get a deeper bed of coal. This will also need something across the front of the firepot to keep the coal in. I would suggest a piece of angle iron one eighth thick with the open side down. Heavy duty shelving angle iron. I use a piece of solid steel 3/4 by 1 inch thick that I just happened to have.

thank you

if i had to burn wood in this stove with leavinng the heat shield in place and just exposing the fire box can it handle it?

Waitin for franco b again aren't ya-- .>)

is he around He can be a pain in my butt with his finicky stoves