Grate area smaller than top of firebox

I don't know if it would help or not but I would look for a coal that burns to a fine white ash. Maybe this would help.

Well I bit the bullet and made two castable refractory panels to give the sides of the firebox a vertical wall like the back wall does. The refractory panels slide on to the original cast parts and then two ten penny nails go through the refractory and into holes drilled in the top of the cast iron. These were cast using the cast iron part as part of the mold and a few pieces of wood that are clamped and screwed together. The wood just came off of the one pictured after 24 hours. The two parts are not yet separated. I painted all the contacting parts of the mold/form with Vaseline and wait for a longer cure before tapping apart. When it gets cold again, I'll gradually expose them to increasing heat and see if they make a difference or this was merely a waste of time and money

Dont tighten it in the stove much, leave it a little loose so it can expand. It should tell on the refractory box how to cure it. ive used the stuff with success twice but not as much as others here have.

The original cast-iron parts just sit on a 2" ledge, held in place by two small tabs they sit behind. The refractory parts just sit on the surface of the cast-iron parts with the two nails only preventing it from coming off, although the coal should hold it in place. I made the holes through the refractory for the nails a bit oversize to allow a little movement. There are no other pinch points. Now I need some colder weather here in SouthEast Pa so I can make some tiny fires and gradually get any remaining moisture out of the parts before exposure to coal temperatures.

I like the nail idea. Simple and effective. On the link I sent a while back I ended out putting an angle iron on top of the firebrick, one side angled towards fire, other just sitting on top of the bricks. Nothing holding it and its been fine. I was having problems with coal and ash getting behind the brick, mostly at loading time, and the angle iron cured that. They sell holders too but i always just use what i have if I can.

warminmn wrote: ↑

Thu. Oct. 05, 2023 10:09 am

I always just use what i have if I can.

Where there is a will there is a way. Even if something doesn't work, posting it stops other from wasting their time trying the same thing.

WESOman wrote: ↑

Fri. Oct. 06, 2023 1:37 pm

Where there is a will there is a way. Even if something doesn't work, posting it stops other from wasting their time trying the same thing.

Good point. How slow does the brick cure? Rather, how much of a fire to cure them? We talking a couple sheets of newspaper at a time?

WESOman wrote: ↑

Thu. Sep. 28, 2023 8:04 am

I was looking online for info on the attributes of a perfect coal stove design. As of this moment I have not found one but saw this on a post to this forum by Titleist1 on 2/8/2014 " It will have vertical or near vertical sides."

That's correct, there is a saying "You can burn wood in a coal stove but you can't burn coal in a wood stove." I'm mentioning this because a lot of the products marketed as dual fuel back in the 2000's had a firebox design like yours and they all had trouble with burning anthracite. The only dual fuel products that worked well for coal were those manufactured by coal stoves manufacturers. No idea how well that type of design works with soft coal but perhaps that is what they were using it for.

This is EFM's firebox from their hand fired boiler.

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Fri. Oct. 06, 2023 2:50 pm

Good point. How slow does the brick cure? Rather, how much of a fire to cure them? We talking a couple sheets of newspaper at a time?

Rutland says their product does not require a heat cure but I am just making a tiny little kindling fire and trying to hold that low temp for a while and then bump it up a bit in stages to ease out any moisture trapped in the refractory before bthe new parts see hot coal temperatures. I had no issues so far with the rear wall liner plates I cast last year but they do have a thinner cross-section and less mass than the new parts. I guess I'll find out if my method works or not.

WESOman wrote: ↑

Thu. Sep. 28, 2023 8:04 am

Perhaps their smokeless coal functions differently than anthracite chunks.

From what I've read, it appears most of the world is burning bituminous coal so I have to assume many of the stoves (single fuel or multi-fuel) were designed for burning bituminous and/or wood or peat. Being an hour from the coal regions of Pa, I tend to think anthracite when I use the word "COAL". Having never burnt bituminous or peat, I have no idea how they burn and their airflow requirements. It is possible that the stove designs we may find problematic for burning anthracite, work just fine for those fuels.

A few days ago I made very small kindling fires in the WESO and ran the stove at these low heat levels during the day in order to remove moisture from the refractory and eliminate too fast a thermal shock. I then made a coal fire and it has been burning since. Even though the afternoon temperatures have been mild, the coal has continued to burn fine. I always had a problem doing that in the past. I gave up a little coal volume but I can also pile coal a layer higher than before. Thus far I am pleased with the vertical walls. I run a thin bladed knife under the front clean-out grate and across the top of the bed grate and nice powdery ashes fall into the bin. Then I tap the small coal shovel across the coal bed to help the coals settle before rocking the rotating grate a few times until I get the first small red coals falling. Hallelujah, this just may work. Because this is mainly a parlor stove application for me, I am not in need of the large coal bed that some stoves offer. I think they would sweat us out of the room. The design of this 100+ year old house is more UP than OUT so the heat coming out of the parlor should rise to the third floor but it is hard to get it flowing horizontally into the middle and rear rooms of the first floor. I am curious as to how long the fire will burn. Previously, it seemed that after a week or so the fire would slowly get harder and harder to maintain. I am hopeful that situation has improved.

Nice that it worked!

The stove is still burning after several very mild afternoons. Tomorrow they are calling for mid fifties temperatures and rain. Now I will see what 100% RH does to the draft.

Well it appears the stove will be going out tonight. I've been using the stove throughout the warmer days of the last week but keeping the coal bed small so as to not get the house too hot. It has continued to burn but this evening, along with the warmer temperatures, we got rain. The draft just seemed to die off. Perhaps a hotter fire may have boosted the draft and continued to burn but the heat is not necessary so I'll let it burn out.

WESOman wrote: ↑

Wed. Oct. 04, 2023 11:41 am

Well I bit the bullet and made two castable refractory panels to give the sides of the firebox a vertical wall like the back wall does. The refractory panels slide on to the original cast parts and then two ten penny nails go through the refractory and into holes drilled in the top of the cast iron. These were cast using the cast iron part as part of the mold and a few pieces of wood that are clamped and screwed together. The wood just came off of the one pictured after 24 hours. The two parts are not yet separated. I painted all the contacting parts of the mold/form with Vaseline and wait for a longer cure before tapping apart. When it gets cold again, I'll gradually expose them to increasing heat and see if they make a difference or this was merely a waste of time and moneyfirebox end plate.jpg

Great Job WESO! I modified my WaterFord Erin Multifuel , with Rigid ceramic Board ( cuts like styrofoam)