Brunco Hearthglow Stove, Troubles Burning Anthracite

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 11:25 am

coalfan wrote:
Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 9:51 am
j that stove needs cleaned bad and i had one for ten yrs , burned bit well and wood but the good stuff ( ant,) i think the fire box to the front , loading doors is to shallow un less he banx it to the back and or puts something up front by the doors to even out the bed and on that stove i did have problems with the bi metal t stat working good but was a well built stove for its time but it had a few concerning flaws !!!!!!!!!!hope itall works out for the OP ..
Just curious, about the operation of the stove. You say you owned one? What type of mechanism performs the ash cleaning? Does the floor have a tilting table? Is there a device for shaking out the ashes?
(TOTP! I quoted and won :lol: )


 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 12:21 pm

joeq wrote:
Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 9:43 am
Maybe it's me, but the floor of that stove looks to be firebricks, with very little area for ventilation. I can't see an anthracite fire lasting very long, before the gaps begin to fill with ash, and become very restricted. How does the shaker system work? Looks more suited to wood to me.

What looks like fire bricks are the are wide, flat fingers of the rocker grate bars - covered with ash.

Some of the new "wood" kitchen ranges use the same type of grate bars. And some sales people tell newbies they can burn coal in it, too. Turns out they are designed for and good for wood, sorta ok for bit coal, but not so good for clearing anthracite ash. They need to be raked daily to clear them well, or they eventually clog up with clinkers that don't get broken up by those wide flat grate fingers.

Paul

 
rsballer10
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Post by rsballer10 » Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 1:05 pm

joeq wrote:
Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 11:25 am
Just curious, about the operation of the stove. You say you owned one? What type of mechanism performs the ash cleaning? Does the floor have a tilting table? Is there a device for shaking out the ashes?
(TOTP! I quoted and won :lol: )
There's a handle on the side of the stove. Rotates the grates 60 degrees In each direction, makes it real easy to get coal stuck in them while shaking, screwed that up the first time.

 
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Post by rsballer10 » Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 1:10 pm

coaledsweat wrote:
Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 9:54 am
The number is irrelevant, the changes in it are a lesson in operation.
Thank you for clarifying. That makes sense.

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 3:18 pm

rsballer10 wrote:
Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 1:05 pm
There's a handle on the side of the stove. Rotates the grates 60 degrees In each direction, makes it real easy to get coal stuck in them while shaking, screwed that up the first time.
My buddy has a "dual purpose" Nashua stove, that he mostly burns wood in. But since me and my stoves, he's been trying coal. (Nut) His stove also has a "tilting table", that rocks on a central axis, and he complained about the same problem.Tilting the coal bed caused solid chunks of coal to jam the mechanism. I guess he's learned not to rock it so much. Wonder if the larger stove coal would be beneficial in preventing this from happening with this type of system?

 
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Post by rsballer10 » Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 7:09 pm

I will be buying a few bags of stove coal to find out. It's a real pan when the grates get jammed.

 
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Post by coalfan » Tue. Nov. 14, 2017 7:37 pm

mine had shaker grates ,but were on the flat side so ash build up was a problem and were not arched in the center of each grat as with some other stoves .


 
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Post by bambooboy » Wed. Nov. 15, 2017 7:22 pm

rsballer10 wrote:
Mon. Nov. 13, 2017 7:02 pm
New to the forum. I have a Brunco Hearthglow that came with the house. I called Brunk's, the distributor in Ohio, and was told that it's better with bituminous coal, but I don't know if anyone sells that here (Northern MD). The only success I had was when I used stove coal mixed with nut. The stove coal did actually over-fire but that was because I was afraid of it not lighting.

I used to work in a fire science laboratory, so I'm not a complete novice, basically I am using a multi-fuel stove that is better with soft coal/ wood and I want to know what I can do to improve it's performance with anthracite. Any ideas guys?
try ellisson trucking in freeland md,picked up some anthracite today,but on the phone this morning he asked me if i wanted hard or soft coal. don't have his # handy but if interested p. m. me

 
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Post by Jgib4 » Thu. Nov. 16, 2017 10:03 am

Good luck finding bit in md unless your in western md. I’m in Carroll and I have located 2 places around a hour away. One is 420 a ton and the other refused to sell once he found out I was going to burn it inside. From what I have read western md bit isn’t the greatest you really want pa or Kentucky. I did find a supplier of anthracite that said it’s a medium hard she called it red ash that burns better in these types of stoves if your interested. Haven’t tried it yet but I plan on buying a ton from her.

 
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Post by McGiever » Fri. Nov. 24, 2017 9:40 am

Here's a pic of grates tipped up and soldier bricks around:

I have more pics if needed.
Hearthglow Insert_7.JPG
.JPG | 263.8KB | Hearthglow Insert_7.JPG

 
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Post by franco b » Fri. Nov. 24, 2017 12:20 pm

Don't even try bit coal. Sooty and messy.

Wood needs over fire air. Check where that is coming from. Too much and the coal fire will suffer.

Don't replace smoke pipe with double or triple wall. Instead heat shield the beam. Much easier and cheaper using a few feet of sheet metal spaced an inch away from the beam. You also will keep the radiant heat from the single wall instead of losing it up the chimney.

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Fri. Nov. 24, 2017 3:37 pm

McGiever wrote:
Fri. Nov. 24, 2017 9:40 am
Here's a pic of grates tipped up and soldier bricks around:

I have more pics if needed.

Hearthglow Insert_7.JPG
That is a beautiful looking stove interior Larry. Wow. Is that yours? Looks brandy new.

 
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Post by rsballer10 » Fri. Nov. 24, 2017 4:07 pm

franco b wrote:
Fri. Nov. 24, 2017 12:20 pm
Don't even try bit coal. Sooty and messy.

Wood needs over fire air. Check where that is coming from. Too much and the coal fire will suffer.

Don't replace smoke pipe with double or triple wall. Instead heat shield the beam. Much easier and cheaper using a few feet of sheet metal spaced an inch away from the beam. You also will keep the radiant heat from the single wall instead of losing it up the chimney.
Bought new single wall, mine was losing it's integrity at the ceiling, too rusty. I resealed the doors, the existing seal appeared to be incorrect. Should I keep the door drafts completely shut with coal then? Instructions said to open them once the fire was going. I'm assuming its better to keep the knobs closed when burning coal.

 
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Post by franco b » Fri. Nov. 24, 2017 5:02 pm

rsballer10 wrote:
Fri. Nov. 24, 2017 4:07 pm
Should I keep the door drafts completely shut with coal then? Instructions said to open them once the fire was going. I'm assuming its better to keep the knobs closed when burning coal.
If you are referring to any air intakes on the upper door, a bit of air will help burn gasses, but opened too much it steals draft from coming up through the coal. When reloading an established fire more air is called for both below and above the fire. Experience with your particular stove will dictate how much. In general most will leave the ash door open to help ignite a new load, but only if you stay present at the stove, since their is danger of over firing..

 
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Post by rsballer10 » Thu. Dec. 14, 2017 12:40 pm

Update.

I have gotten it to burn better, I have moved towards loading the coal peaked more in the middle, instead of banked towards the back. Banking the coal meant that the front of the stove would not maintain, in the middle it's more even.

I'm considering adding an ash pan spinner knob, and a plate at the front of the fire box so I can load the front deeper. I think I am much closer than I used to be, thank you guys for your help.


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