All you people that burn coal, need your input

[dc dalton]

I added a second coal stove to the house this summer, in the basement running out the chimney that the oil burner used to run on (haven't burned oil in years).

We have 'survived' off the one in the living room for years but the damn floors in 'this old house' are always cold as hell, making everything feel cold so I thought this would warm the floors and help maintain a more comfortable 'feel' in the house.

Anyway, I was a tad concerned about the draft because the outlet on the coal stove is 6", the pipe up to the chimney is 7" and the actual chimney is 8" square terra cotta.

The stove burns chestnut, I bought it specifically because the one we use in the living room also burns chestnut (didn't want to screw around with two different type coal) and it's a manual fed stove (not a stoker).

I hooked it up a few weeks ago and finally needed it last week. Got a nice roaring wood fire going and as usual added coal on top. The stove drafted perfectly (then again it should with 40+ feet of chimney) and everything seemed fine. Day too everything still seems fine, added coal and once it caught shook it down ... no problems.

Come day three I once again added coal and waited for it to catch. Came back down a few hours later and the damn thing was dead, and I do mean dead ... with all the fresh coal on top. I had a decent bed of red coals before I added the new so I didn't understand.

Emptied the thing out, grabbing the good coal and cleaning out the rest. Started another wood fire and went through the whole thing. Day one: perfect, Day two: perfect, day three the damn thing is dead AGAIN with fresh coal sitting on top.

At this point I am stumped. I just cleaned it out again this afternoon and went through the whole thing again but I can't for the life of me figure out what is happening.

While I was getting it going again I checked on the draft. First with a cigarette that was 12" away and 4" higher than the open door. Sure enough the smoke was pulled down and into the stove. Then I closed the door to about 2" from fully closed and sure enough the draft pulled the door shut.

It does have a barometric damper in the output pipe but it doesn't seem to do much. I also tried taping it shut (with the hi-temp stove pipe tape but that didn't do anything so I took it back off.

Am I maybe getting too much draft?

I know every stove has it's own whims but I have burnt coal in several different stoves and never seen anything like this.

Open to any and all ideas ... cause restarting this thing every three days is making me nuts!

[phulklip]

www.nepacrossroads.com

post your question in the venting & chimney section. there are some real pros on this forum who can answer your concerns.
hope this helps

[God's Country]

I added a second coal stove to the house this summer, in the basement running out the chimney that the oil burner used to run on (haven't burned oil in years).

We have 'survived' off the one in the living room for years but the damn floors in 'this old house' are always cold as hell, making everything feel cold so I thought this would warm the floors and help maintain a more comfortable 'feel' in the house.

Anyway, I was a tad concerned about the draft because the outlet on the coal stove is 6", the pipe up to the chimney is 7" and the actual chimney is 8" square terra cotta.

The stove burns chestnut, I bought it specifically because the one we use in the living room also burns chestnut (didn't want to screw around with two different type coal) and it's a manual fed stove (not a stoker).

I hooked it up a few weeks ago and finally needed it last week. Got a nice roaring wood fire going and as usual added coal on top. The stove drafted perfectly (then again it should with 40+ feet of chimney) and everything seemed fine. Day too everything still seems fine, added coal and once it caught shook it down ... no problems.

Come day three I once again added coal and waited for it to catch. Came back down a few hours later and the damn thing was dead, and I do mean dead ... with all the fresh coal on top. I had a decent bed of red coals before I added the new so I didn't understand.

Emptied the thing out, grabbing the good coal and cleaning out the rest. Started another wood fire and went through the whole thing. Day one: perfect, Day two: perfect, day three the damn thing is dead AGAIN with fresh coal sitting on top.

At this point I am stumped. I just cleaned it out again this afternoon and went through the whole thing again but I can't for the life of me figure out what is happening.

While I was getting it going again I checked on the draft. First with a cigarette that was 12" away and 4" higher than the open door. Sure enough the smoke was pulled down and into the stove. Then I closed the door to about 2" from fully closed and sure enough the draft pulled the door shut.

It does have a barometric damper in the output pipe but it doesn't seem to do much. I also tried taping it shut (with the hi-temp stove pipe tape but that didn't do anything so I took it back off.

Am I maybe getting too much draft?

I know every stove has it's own whims but I have burnt coal in several different stoves and never seen anything like this.

Open to any and all ideas ... cause restarting this thing every three days is making me nuts!

Hmmm just wondering if you have a double flu? That is side by side out to the roof top. One for your main floor stove, and another for your basement stove.

[bogey1]

im not a coal guy but, it sounds like its being smothered by the wood ashes. the flue pipe sounds good, 8x8 is a good size, 9x13 seems to be too big, gets cold faster and you get more down drafts. barametric damper, i dont know what that is, if its the damper in the pipe above the stove, open it all the way when fire gets cold, open the vent in the front of the stove if you have one, once fire gets going, close the barametric damper half way or more, close front vent 2 thirds. with wood this works great, the more you have the front damper open, the hotter and faster the fire burns.

[MrsMtnJack]

www.nepacrossroads.com

post your question in the venting & chimney section. there are some real pros on this forum who can answer your concerns.
hope this helps

thanks for the link i emailed it to my husband!

[dc dalton]

Hmmm just wondering if you have a double flu? That is side by side out to the roof top. One for your main floor stove, and another for your basement stove.

The two chimneys are completely separate ...

im not a coal guy but, it sounds like its being smothered by the wood ashes. the flue pipe sounds good, 8x8 is a good size, 9x13 seems to be too big, gets cold faster and you get more down drafts. barametric damper, i dont know what that is, if its the damper in the pipe above the stove, open it all the way when fire gets cold, open the vent in the front of the stove if you have one, once fire gets going, close the barametric damper half way or more, close front vent 2 thirds. with wood this works great, the more you have the front damper open, the hotter and faster the fire burns.

The wood ashes are long gone by the time the stove goes out. I am also shaking the stove down to get old ashes out just as I do in the other stove

[Rick386]

DC,

Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe the proper way to shake down is to shake it first to remove all old ash and to allow more air to flow through, then add more coal on top. Allow the ash door to be open to get the coal burning and the extra air burns off the volatites.


I don't mess with hand fired stoves too much. I have a LL Hyfire II at work and at home we have an Axeman Anderson 260 plumbed in series to the oil burner. Haven't turned on the oil burner in 3+ years straight now.

What type of oil burner do you have, oil hot air or oil hot water baseboard ???

If hot air, you could draw the hot air off the stove and use the oil burner fan to distribute it into the rest of the house. If hot water/baseboard, consider putting a coal boiler next to it and plumbing it in series or parallel to the oil burner.

x2 on nepacrossroads.com Great bunch of guys there. I do post on there occasionally.




Rick


ETA Took me too long to type. See you posted before me. I should have assumed that you knew how to shake it.

BTW what brand and model is the new purchase ???

And I suggest putting the question in the hand fired stove forum.

[dc dalton]

DC,

Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe the proper way to shake down is to shake it first to remove all old ash and to allow more air to flow through, then add more coal on top. Allow the ash door to be open to get the coal burning and the extra air burns off the volatites.

The way I was taught (from an old timer in coal) was to add the new coal and open up the damper ... then wait for the 'pretty blue flames', once the top coal is caught THEN you shake out the ash.... this from a woman that had 'been in coal' for 70 years and her family had been in it for over 150 years

[God's Country]

The two chimneys are completely separate ...

Well that blows that theory.

I know it's early season, but did you try keeping her wide open just to see if the extra heat would keep a better up draft, or too much as you suspect?

[dc dalton]

Well that blows that theory.

I know it's early season, but did you try keeping her wide open just to see if the extra heat would keep a better up draft, or too much as you suspect?

I have run 'her' 'wide open' and she damn near melts the stove (major hot hot hot) .. it's getting that 'even spot' that's making me nuts