Coal Stove Control
January 15th 2012 01:01
Well hello everyone ,I didnt forget about finishing our stove project.
Its just been a long holiday, I hope everyones went okay.
Alright we are assuming you finished your tile and installed your stove, and your ready to fire that bad boy up.
First thing your going to do if you have the pot belly stove is familiarize yourself with the controls (vents). Your stove probably has a vent on the bottom which would be your ash door and another on the main door.
My vents are the spin type yours may be spin or slide vents , no matter its the same principle. When you installed the flue pipe you either used a manual damper or a barometric damper. Now understand this, installers of wood/coal stoves do not recommend the use of dampers because turning down the draft to slow your burn time or lower your temperature will build up creosote or fly ash which could possilbly start a chimney fire.
On the other hand if you have had a stove of this type before you will understand what people mean when they say you are either baking or freezing as this does have a learning curve.
Myself I originally installed a manual damper because for 20 dollars you can buy a chimney brush and clean it out a couple times a year to prevent build up.
With my stove up and running I soon began to research about to much updraft, realizing thats what my problem was because when I lit my stove and it got cooking it sounded like a freight train coming through and the temperature quickly climbed to about 700, even though I installed the manual damper, it helped I could close it a little and lower the temperature but after I thought I had it figured out the wind changed and was belching smoke out into the house.
With a manual damper installed and now a barometric damper installed above that it is easy to control, when the wind changes the barometric damper opens and closes by itself not allowing smoke to enter or the stove to overfire.
How the barometric damper works to control the fire is simple, when your stove blazes to hot from an updraft, coal fires draw air from the bottom and burn from the bottom unlike a wood fire. So when you have a barometric damper it allows the damper to draw air from the house when their is to much of an updraft instead of pulling more air through the coals which in turn will lower temperatures and cut back coal useage. You are best to play with your stove and figure out the best way to burn.
With all that being said lets light it, first open your manual damper all the way and close the main feed loading door, and on your ash door open that vent up . Start a small wood fire and let it get burning to where you have a nice bed of cherry red coals, then slowly add your coal not getting it real deep. Let your coal start for a while and after you see the temperature start to rise add more coal, when mine is going I will add coal clear up to the bottom of my main feed door . When mine is full it will hold about 2 of the old fashion looking coal hod buckets, which will burn for about 18 to 20 hours.
You have your fire lit and it is running well , you have added your coal and it is going so you top it off and let it go, from here you learn to control it.
So dont forget after it is going , if it is a old stove and not air tight you can probably shut all the doors and close tight all the vents and it will still get to hot, this is when you open up the barometric damper and start playing with it. Do not expect it to react right away when opened it takes coal a while to level out, while your playing with the barometric damper try to leave the manual damper open if possible.
Well good luck and if you have any questions get hold of me.
Oh I almost forgot "WHEN COAL FIRE IS GOING DONT OPEN MAIN DOOR TOO FAST, OPEN IT SLOWLY YOU HAVE GASES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN BURNT AND OPENING DOOR TOO FAST WILL FEED OXYGEN TO THE FUEL THEN YOU HAVE A EXPOSION OR BIG FIREBALL" of everything you have read please heed this warning. I forgot when I started playing with my stove and before I realized I opened the door to quick, about and inch , a big flame shot out at me and up the front of the stove so be careful.
Its just been a long holiday, I hope everyones went okay.
Alright we are assuming you finished your tile and installed your stove, and your ready to fire that bad boy up.
First thing your going to do if you have the pot belly stove is familiarize yourself with the controls (vents). Your stove probably has a vent on the bottom which would be your ash door and another on the main door.
My vents are the spin type yours may be spin or slide vents , no matter its the same principle. When you installed the flue pipe you either used a manual damper or a barometric damper. Now understand this, installers of wood/coal stoves do not recommend the use of dampers because turning down the draft to slow your burn time or lower your temperature will build up creosote or fly ash which could possilbly start a chimney fire.
On the other hand if you have had a stove of this type before you will understand what people mean when they say you are either baking or freezing as this does have a learning curve.
Myself I originally installed a manual damper because for 20 dollars you can buy a chimney brush and clean it out a couple times a year to prevent build up.
With my stove up and running I soon began to research about to much updraft, realizing thats what my problem was because when I lit my stove and it got cooking it sounded like a freight train coming through and the temperature quickly climbed to about 700, even though I installed the manual damper, it helped I could close it a little and lower the temperature but after I thought I had it figured out the wind changed and was belching smoke out into the house.
With a manual damper installed and now a barometric damper installed above that it is easy to control, when the wind changes the barometric damper opens and closes by itself not allowing smoke to enter or the stove to overfire.
How the barometric damper works to control the fire is simple, when your stove blazes to hot from an updraft, coal fires draw air from the bottom and burn from the bottom unlike a wood fire. So when you have a barometric damper it allows the damper to draw air from the house when their is to much of an updraft instead of pulling more air through the coals which in turn will lower temperatures and cut back coal useage. You are best to play with your stove and figure out the best way to burn.
With all that being said lets light it, first open your manual damper all the way and close the main feed loading door, and on your ash door open that vent up . Start a small wood fire and let it get burning to where you have a nice bed of cherry red coals, then slowly add your coal not getting it real deep. Let your coal start for a while and after you see the temperature start to rise add more coal, when mine is going I will add coal clear up to the bottom of my main feed door . When mine is full it will hold about 2 of the old fashion looking coal hod buckets, which will burn for about 18 to 20 hours.
You have your fire lit and it is running well , you have added your coal and it is going so you top it off and let it go, from here you learn to control it.
So dont forget after it is going , if it is a old stove and not air tight you can probably shut all the doors and close tight all the vents and it will still get to hot, this is when you open up the barometric damper and start playing with it. Do not expect it to react right away when opened it takes coal a while to level out, while your playing with the barometric damper try to leave the manual damper open if possible.
Well good luck and if you have any questions get hold of me.
Oh I almost forgot "WHEN COAL FIRE IS GOING DONT OPEN MAIN DOOR TOO FAST, OPEN IT SLOWLY YOU HAVE GASES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN BURNT AND OPENING DOOR TOO FAST WILL FEED OXYGEN TO THE FUEL THEN YOU HAVE A EXPOSION OR BIG FIREBALL" of everything you have read please heed this warning. I forgot when I started playing with my stove and before I realized I opened the door to quick, about and inch , a big flame shot out at me and up the front of the stove so be careful.
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