Tips/Tricks for a newbie!

 
btarby15
Member
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:03 am
Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 2:10 pm

Reposting this, since I realized I posted this on the wrong part of the forum...doh!

Hi! I am new to burning coal and have read several posts on here to get some tips/tricks. Any and all knowledge is welcome!

My setup: I have a Heatmor100 CB, outdoor coil boiler. My house is around 2200sq ft, stone farmhouse (no insulation). The firebox in the boiler is about 24" deep x 28" wide, I've read that I should keep the coal pile around 8" thick. The boiler has a fan that can blow undergrate or overgrate, with a removeable slide. Put the slide in, air is blown undergrate. Take the slide out, it blows overgrate. It's supposed to be able to slide half out to get a bit of both, but it doesn't like to stay in place like that. For coal, undergrate air is best, right? Once the water in the boiler gets to 185F, the fan shuts off, and banks the fire until the water cools back down to 165F.

What are some good tips and tricks for a newbie? 8" coal bed? Undergrate air supply? Do I rake the coals before adding more? If I have a decent coal bed (ie it hasn't burned down much since filling), it is bad to "top it off" with a few shovel's full, or should I just leave it?

https://heatmor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/22 ... r_Guts.pdf


 
Jlinde37
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Location: Ellicottville, Ny
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: DS Aquagem 3200
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Pea

Post by Jlinde37 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:21 pm

Well I dont have any experience with outdoor boilers but I do use handfed boiler.
Fill firebox with coal(after an established coal bed) up to the bottom of the feed door. Bed can also be ramped or humped toward the back. Coal needs very little to no secondary air(over fire air) . All the air shoukd be coming up thru the bottom of the bed. Do you have baraometric damper in the flue? Draft setting is crittical in keeping hot air inside boiler to transfer to the water.
The difference in my setup between .02"w.c and .06"wc is huge. All the heat goes out the chimney and does not heat the water hardly at all at .06" What meters your under fire combustion air? Pictures speak 1000 words

Coal beds dont really like to be distubed once ignited so dont shovel it around or rake it. Only shake down 1-2 times a day depending on your consumption and refill to bottom of the door. I only tend mine once per day. But i have a well insualted house burning only 30-40lbs per day

 
Jlinde37
Member
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat. Jan. 06, 2018 9:40 am
Location: Ellicottville, Ny
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: DS Aquagem 3200
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Pea

Post by Jlinde37 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:32 pm

Sorry i missed the part about the aquastst and fan. Mine also has a fan but it seems to blow the heat right up the chimney. Does it have some sport of flapper on the intake to the fan to stop incoming air after fan shuts off? 160-180 is normal aquastat settings. But running 165-185 is fine. As long as it dont ramp up much after fan is shut off.

 
franco b
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: V ermont Castings 2310, Franco Belge 262
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Coal Size/Type: nut and pea

Post by franco b » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:41 pm

If you do not have the shaker grate, you will have to devise a way to slide a flat poker just above the grate to clear ash.

 
btarby15
Member
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:03 am
Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:43 pm

Jlinde37 wrote:
Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:32 pm
Sorry i missed the part about the aquastst and fan. Mine also has a fan but it seems to blow the heat right up the chimney. Does it have some sport of flapper on the intake to the fan to stop incoming air after fan shuts off? 160-180 is normal aquastat settings. But running 165-185 is fine. As long as it dont ramp up much after fan is shut off.
Thanks for the replies! Yes, the fan does have a flapper that closes when the fan is not on. So far I haven't seen the water temp go higher than 185, if it reaches 195, it automatically turns my circulator pump on in the house and dumps heat into the house, to get the water temp back down.

I will have to resist tending the fire and just let it go. I put my first load in last night at 8:30pm, checked it at 6am and the pile barely burnt down. I threw a few shovel's full on top before heading to work, and it's still a decent pile, hasn't burnt down much. So far, I'm happy!

 
btarby15
Member
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:03 am
Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:46 pm

franco b wrote:
Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:41 pm
If you do not have the shaker grate, you will have to devise a way to slide a flat poker just above the grate to clear ash.
I don't have the shaker grates yet...they are an additional $500 so I wanted to see how I liked burning coal first, before spending the time and money to install the shakers. Should I rake the coals back and forth over the grates once a day to get ashes to fall through? I don't want to disturb it too much...

 
fig
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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
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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 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:54 pm

Seen a few videos on YouTube of owb’s burning anth. It was a while back. All I remember is it was fully loaded and a raging inferno of blue flame. I bet those things would hold 400 lbs of coal.


 
franco b
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Posts: 11416
Joined: Wed. Nov. 05, 2008 5:11 pm
Location: Kent CT
Hand Fed Coal Stove: V ermont Castings 2310, Franco Belge 262
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood Modern Oak 114
Coal Size/Type: nut and pea

Post by franco b » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 4:12 pm

btarby15 wrote:
Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 3:46 pm
I don't have the shaker grates yet...they are an additional $500 so I wanted to see how I liked burning coal first, before spending the time and money to install the shakers. Should I rake the coals back and forth over the grates once a day to get ashes to fall through? I don't want to disturb it too much...
No. The makers of the boiler are idiots concerning burning coal. With anthracite, and not having the shaker grate, you will have to make several slots, probably three, just slightly above grate level, along with a way to cover those slots when not in use.

Using a flat poker of perhaps 3/16 by 3/4 and three feet long you work it in and out and back and forth through the slots to clear ash and force it to drop through the slots in the grate. This is called slicing or riddling. You will also probably have to clear from above some areas along the sides or front.

If you rake the coals the fire will die, and if you don't clear ash it will also die. Stove coal should be a 9 inch deep bed at least. The idea is to have one fire last all season. One match.

 
btarby15
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Posts: 57
Joined: Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:03 am
Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 4:44 pm

franco b wrote:
Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 4:12 pm
No. The makers of the boiler are idiots concerning burning coal. With anthracite, and not having the shaker grate, you will have to make several slots, probably three, just slightly above grate level, along with a way to cover those slots when not in use.

Using a flat poker of perhaps 3/16 by 3/4 and three feet long you work it in and out and back and forth through the slots to clear ash and force it to drop through the slots in the grate. This is called slicing or riddling. You will also probably have to clear from above some areas along the sides or front.

If you rake the coals the fire will die, and if you don't clear ash it will also die. Stove coal should be a 9 inch deep bed at least. The idea is to have one fire last all season. One match.
The grates that come with it do have several slots in them, about 1/2” wide. Maybe I will try to take some rebar and make a little poker and see if that works.

 
Jlinde37
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Posts: 89
Joined: Sat. Jan. 06, 2018 9:40 am
Location: Ellicottville, Ny
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: DS Aquagem 3200
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Pea

Post by Jlinde37 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 7:45 pm

The coal dont really burn down. It just wont put off the heat when the fuel is burned up. You add fresh after you get rid of the spent coal ash

 
Jlinde37
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Posts: 89
Joined: Sat. Jan. 06, 2018 9:40 am
Location: Ellicottville, Ny
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: DS Aquagem 3200
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Pea

Post by Jlinde37 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 7:49 pm

How large is this firebox? Are you burning stove or nut?

 
btarby15
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Posts: 57
Joined: Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:03 am
Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 7:55 pm

Jlinde37 wrote:
Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 7:49 pm
How large is this firebox? Are you burning stove or nut?
Firebox is about 28” wide x 24” deep. Burning stove size coal.

 
fig
Member
Posts: 1137
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 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 7:56 pm

I’ve seen some models that have coal shaker grates as an option. Probably pretty expensive. I don’t know if your model has that option or not. Probably worth the investment if you plan on burning coal a lot.

 
btarby15
Member
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:03 am
Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 8:15 pm

fig wrote:
Wed. Jan. 20, 2021 7:56 pm
I’ve seen some models that have coal shaker grates as an option. Probably pretty expensive. I don’t know if your model has that option or not. Probably worth the investment if you plan on burning coal a lot.
Yes it is an option to add on. $500 plus some light machining to install. I was burning wood in the boiler just cause I have plenty of it, but switched to coal to save time. Two kids under the age of three so I don’t have all the time in the world. I bought two ton of coal to try and if I like it I will buy the shaker grates

 
Jlinde37
Member
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat. Jan. 06, 2018 9:40 am
Location: Ellicottville, Ny
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: DS Aquagem 3200
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Pea

Post by Jlinde37 » Thu. Jan. 21, 2021 8:13 am

Once you get coal figured out you won't ever want to burn wood again. I promise you that. Can you send us some pics of your setup?


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