Weso HSK125C

[Thatcountryboy]

Looking for help, absolute noob, given the current economic crap heap the US is in I decided i would rather be able to heat my home with wood or coal, after snooping around i decided to heat with coal..... I acquired a weso HSK 125C coal burning stove. I just installed a through the ceiling kit and 12 feet of triple wall chimney pipe, i was careful to follow all guidelines TO MY KNOWLEDGE. It seems the stove burns "ok" when using anthracite nut coal, i can get a nice red bed of coals going but im not quite getting the blue flame i would like, i have the primary and secondary draft open. flue temperatures only hang around the 180 degree mark which seems low, the inside temp is around 450 degrees. When I open the ash pan door on the bottom this really comes to life air rushes in from the bottom and straight up through the chimney, but i know your not suppose to burn with the ash pan door open, i seems the draft is fine, when first starting a fire with wood when opening the stove door all smoke NEVER EXITS the door it all goes up and out. I want it to burn good, when i close the secondary and primary draft vents it really doesnt seem to change how the coal burns to be honest. Just a few pointers would be nice, i do see some dust and a little build up of webs and sticks in the draft vent passage ways when it cools of i will attempt to clean them out to see if it makes a difference. what should the flue temps be? unfortunately i dont have to coal panel inserts for this ill have a friend weld me up 2 so i can fill this sucker through the night. Yes im currently now, trying to learn this stove even though its 85 degrees out, will this affect chimney flow, thanks guys.

[Thatcountryboy]

update, as i wrote this post the coals went out.... im lost thanks guys

[warminmn]

Anthracite burns different from wood and your stove pipe will not get as hot as with wood. You dont want much over fire air after it gets burning good. Anthracite only burns with under fire air. It goes out if it doesnt get any under fire air but it doesnt need much. Over fire air is mainly used early on in the fire to burn gasses, if used at all. Dont poke at an anthracite fire, or stir it up. Thats a quick way to lose a fire. Any leaks above the fire will cause problems, like gaskets mostly.

Im unsure how much youve read on this site, but use the search button near the upper right corner and search for the word Weso and you may learn more than you will from me. There are quite a few do's and donts and once you figure them out you'll love burning coal.

Fires going out while learning sucks but its part of learning how to burn it. Many of us can burn 6 months without losing a fire after we learn the tricks that our stoves need. Those are pretty stoves. Hopefully it gets easier quickly.

[Thatcountryboy]

Thank you for the reply, I just went through the stove and found no visible leaks, cracks. I completely disassembled the stove and cleaned it thoroughly. My chimney pipe is triple wall and is 12 freaking feet high so I'm not sure if draft is my issue, I will wait until it gets cooler to try it again. And this time be more patient with the fire process. I think I made a boo boo by opening the little top draft vent by sheer accident killing any bottom draft flow I had.....again thank you for the reply

[waytomany?s]

It's not going to burn well at 85. Cold helps the draft. Do you have a barometric damper? If draft is too high you won't see blue flames. Do some searching and ask more questions as they come up.

[Thatcountryboy]

I do not have a barometric damper where in the stove pipe section would this go? My stove pipe exits the back via a 90 degree elbow straight up about 8 feet into the ceiling.

[waytomany?s]

First section after elbow.

[LeoinRI]

I've burned wood and coal in my weso for 30+ years, and I recently moved it from my house ~25ft chimney to cabin in Maine ~13ft chimney. The stove runs ok with the shorter chimney (measured .055" draft once with temporary 30" addition) but I can't get the hotter fires that were possible at home. As suggested, keep the secondary air closed to minimum. I've burned coal without the coal adapters, but after awhile ash will accumulate on the sides reducing the burning coal bed ~40%. Adding another length of chimney pipe will help with draft. IMO a barometric damper will not be needed with the short chimney. Have you checked the tightness/replaced gaskets on the loading and ash doors?

[Thatcountryboy]

The gaskets on the door appear to be in good condition and they latch tight against the stove, I will wait until some cooler weather to get more acquainted with this stove, if need be I will add another section of chimney pipe thanks for the replies

[WESOman]

Is too much air getting in above the coals and thus stealing draft from air rising up through the coals?

[WESOman]

unfortunately i dont have to coal panel inserts for this ill have a friend weld me up 2 so i can fill this sucker through the night.

I just got my WESO hooked up again after many years of sitting. I guess I'm the A-hole who waited for coal prices to soar. For what it's worth, I have the panels for burning coal but one of the two that overlap on the back wall had warped. All the others were in fine shape. I measured the original back wall panels and designed two molds to make those parts from Rutland castable refractory cement. The cast iron parts were only about 1/4" thick, which I assume help the warping occur at the thin overlap area. I cast them 3/4" thick with 1/2" thick areas where they go behind the angled side panels. I also cast the front of the overlap about 1/2" thick. After allowing about a week to cure, I installed the two panels and did have to grind a little off the corner of one angled side panel to get it back in place. I am running some small wood fires to expose the cast cement panels to increasing levels of heat before trying coal. Time will tell if they hold up to the task but you cannot buy these panels anymore and it cost about $25 in refractory to make the set. I'm sure the angled side panels can be cast and I think I saw on this forum where somebody had done that. I don't look at the panels as a way to hold more coal, even though it is. I see them as sacrificial panels protecting the outer stove castings which are no longer available. An unskilled individual with minimal tools can make those internal panels but I doubt he can make an outer panel.

[WESOman]

The castable refractory coal box panels I made have been exposed to constant coal fires for months and seem to be holding up well. My biggest take on keeping this stove burning is letting the coals burn until about 80% of the coal is consumed before bedtime. I press down on top if the coal bed with my shovel to get the ash to collapse onto the grate. Then put a thin layer of coal on top, increase the air flow and get those new coals burning good. Then I shake the grate some and tamp the coal bed down again with the small coal shovel. I continue to do this until a see red coals drop into the ash tray. That leaves me with only a thin layer of ash on top of the grate. Sometimes I need to push a small poker rod down into the coals along the edges only, to help the ashes drop. Once the new coals are burning nicely, I put in as much coal as I can for the night. In my particular arrangement, I generally have the air inlet set on about halfway between 1 and 2. I'm retired so daytime burning is less involved. On warmer days or rainy days, I sometimes have to open the air inlet to between 2 and 3 because the draft has changed. The automatic draft control does not seem to control that. The setting on the knob is the max the unit will open automatically. Theoretically you should be able to set the unit to 3 and it will close some when that temperature is reached and then reopen to 3 if it gets too cool. I am not so sure the system works correctly and don't want to risk an overheat situation.

[WESOman]

Here she is after burning ovhttps://coalpail.com/coal-forum/download/file.php?mode=view&id=124394er three months nonstop.