I respectfully disagree. That is a recipe for an outfire. It will take you forever to rebuild the fire in that situation. Smaller amounts throughout the day prevents the temp from dropping much on a refill and makes it easier to tend. It may not be practical for some but it definitely doesn't hurt.Coniglio wrote: ↑Tue. Dec. 21, 2021 4:18 amMy stove has manual controls and I know little about other stove configs but I think the process of adding coal is about the same in all stoves.I agree 100 % with Bunkerd Caddis-Keep your coal level as deep as you can.To the top of the bricks at least.Also,do not add small amounts of coal at a time.Wait until your previous load of coal is mostly burned up and then shake till you get a bright ,red glow on the top of your ash in the ash pan and add your next batch of coal in 3 or 4 applications giving it enough air to have it catch well each time before adding more.Be sure to shake out enough ash to get a GOOD draft.You should be able to hear the air being drawn in and sparks and bits of ash and dust should fly up from the fire,Do not completely cover the existing bed each time but leave space between the pieces of coal to let air through.Give the first application air and give it 5 minutes of so to catch well,then add more.Build the pile of coal up higher in the back of the stove than in the front.Coal seems to like to burn uphill.When full give it air for a few minutes,possibly up to 15 minutes or so to get going well and then close down the draft air in increments until you get the draft set how you want it.As B.K. said there is definitely a learning curve to transition from wood to coal.You should get 12 hours at least between fillings. More or less forget all you know about burning wood and start off fresh learning about coal.---Frank
Keeping coal burning all day and night.
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- Lightning
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A good rule of thumb is to shake and load when about half the load is burned up. For example, if your stove will hold 100 pounds, a good time to shake and load is when enough has burned that you can add 50 pounds. This will give you the best user experience and best recovery time. Although there has been times when I didn't get to the stove in time and only had 15-20 pounds of live coal left after shake down. I would just mound in 80 pounds, crack the load door a hair and leave the ash door open.. it'd take about an hour to recover.
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Just wanted to give you guys an update. Going on 24 hours with this fire! I think I’m getting the hang of it. The max load line for coal is about an inch below the door on this boiler. The door is about 7 inches from the grates so as many if you suggested I filled it higher than the door but just in the middle as BK said and banked it that way. So it still ends up being the same amount of coal at about 60 lbs which is the max load. But so far it’s working. I also think I wasn’t shaking it enough before and it was getting choked out by ash. I am impressed by how consistent the boiler temp stays compared to burning wood and the really long burn times. Thanks again to everyone’s advices. I think I’m converted….ha ha.
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Thanks Lightning. That’s sounds like a good plan!Lightning wrote: ↑Tue. Dec. 21, 2021 3:28 pmA good rule of thumb is to shake and load when about half the load is burned up. For example, if your stove will hold 100 pounds, a good time to shake and load is when enough has burned that you can add 50 pounds. This will give you the best user experience and best recovery time. Although there has been times when I didn't get to the stove in time and only had 15-20 pounds of live coal left after shake down. I would just mound in 80 pounds, crack the load door a hair and leave the ash door open.. it'd take about an hour to recover.
- BunkerdCaddis
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- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Saey Hanover II working when I feel the desire, Waterford 105 out on vacation, Surdiac Gotha hiding somewhere
- Coal Size/Type: pea/nut/rice/stove-anthracite, nut/stove bit when I feel the urge
- Other Heating: oil fired hydronic
- BunkerdCaddis
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- Coal Size/Type: pea/nut/rice/stove-anthracite, nut/stove bit when I feel the urge
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Good, good, Feel the heat, yes, let the heat flow through you... Welcome to the dark side There is no return.
- Lightning
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Oh yer not kidding.. I used a remote BBQ thermometer that displayed the stove pipe temp and over the load door temp on the receiver. It also had an alarm that alerted me when the stove pipe reached 250 degrees.. at that temp I knew the fire was well established and I could close the ash door
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Ha ha, for sure!BunkerdCaddis wrote: ↑Tue. Dec. 21, 2021 6:26 pmGood, good, Feel the heat, yes, let the heat flow through you... Welcome to the dark side There is no return.
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- Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused
A good rule of thumb for a hand fed it to stop shaking it when you see the first
tiny burning coals falling through the grates.
It is also a good idea to toss small shovel full of rice coal on top of the fire at night
to slow it down a bit to make the fire last longer.
tiny burning coals falling through the grates.
It is also a good idea to toss small shovel full of rice coal on top of the fire at night
to slow it down a bit to make the fire last longer.
- Shikellamy
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- Coal Size/Type: Blaschak nut (bagged)
- Other Heating: Shivering; a forest of dead Ash
Wow such great advice posted here! I learned some new stuff from Coniglio as well. One thing I recommend is NEVER turn your back on an open door waiting for the coal to get going. My stove hold 80 pounds and when it catches and burning bright you will get the scare of your life when you turn around. Buy some temp gauges, one for the box and the other to see outgoing temp on pipe. Hey folks, keep adding your experiences here. This is a great thread!
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Probably showing my ignorance with coal but wouldn’t rice coal burn up faster?lzaharis wrote: ↑Wed. Dec. 22, 2021 11:23 amA good rule of thumb for a hand fed it to stop shaking it when you see the first
tiny burning coals falling through the grates.
It is also a good idea to toss small shovel full of rice coal on top of the fire at night
to slow it down a bit to make the fire last longer.
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- Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused
The rice coal actually slows the rate of combustion passing through the
coal bed and the fire slows down in intensity until the rice coal
begins to burn away later in the night.
coal bed and the fire slows down in intensity until the rice coal
begins to burn away later in the night.
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So we are having a really cold spell where I’m at. Last night it was 6 degrees and the coal boiler couldn’t keep the house up to temp. It was only a couple of degrees colder then set point when I woke up and the coal was still burning so not really a big deal. Right now it’s 6 degrees and been extremely windy all day and the boiler has struggled to keep the house at the set temp. Not cold in the house by any means it’s been right around 70 degrees all day but the thermostat is set at 72.
Tonight it’s supposed to be -8 with windchill as cold as -19. So the boiler is really going to struggle. Is it best to just back the boiler down and let the house get a little colder to keep it going or try to get the house warmer or a hotter fire going in there. I’ve had a hot fire going all day with the boiler staying at the temp it’s set at but just struggling to keep the temp up in the house. Is the wind causing too much drift over the chimney and sucking some of the heat out? But then again the boiler itself is being kept at the setppint by the coal fire so the fire is hot enough.
Tonight it’s supposed to be -8 with windchill as cold as -19. So the boiler is really going to struggle. Is it best to just back the boiler down and let the house get a little colder to keep it going or try to get the house warmer or a hotter fire going in there. I’ve had a hot fire going all day with the boiler staying at the temp it’s set at but just struggling to keep the temp up in the house. Is the wind causing too much drift over the chimney and sucking some of the heat out? But then again the boiler itself is being kept at the setppint by the coal fire so the fire is hot enough.
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Yeh if you want to slow nut down just pour your fines in. This Miners choice I have is full of fines. I got tired of sifting it so I just started pouring it in fines and all. Takes a while to get through a bag. Good thing we’ve had above average temps here. Not as much heat.