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[willieG]

i am not familliar with burning coal in these stoves...if you think the burn area is not big enough but yousay the fire was so hot it warped the plate you installed in the front of the stove, i am guessing you installed this plate to try and hold the heat in longer or direct the heat?

it does sound to me like maybe (i am really reaching here) the coal is a much smaller fire than the wood would be..what about raising the grate with something like fire brick to get the coal bed closer to the top of the stove where the heat would be hotter nearer the water jacket and perhaps  it would work better? (this is something that may be worth a try)

i am visualizing a small fire that may in fact be drawn to the stack before reaching the top of the fire box

have you ever burned wood in this stove and if so dit it heat well? (if not, perhaps you should get a 100 pounds of wood and chuck it in there and see how it runs on that)

have you good insulated lines below ground?


i
is your stove full of water

[unaslob]

the plate was installed to raise the overall depth of coal that can be loaded, otherwise the coal literally falls out the front door.  This has allowed me to raise the fire up quite a bit....the coal fire is less of an area then the wood, definitely.. I did burn wood for about 4 weeks.... i used between 2-3.5 foot logs... basically as big as I could lift.... the wood did hold better temp... but i went threw a bunch of it.. and there are ordinances around here for wood, not coal though.  I probably went through 2 cords of good big wood in 4 weeks.  and that was november/begining of dec.  not particularly cold...but wood worked better....

i think i have good lines underground... i dont have a temp gauge on my intake...but I am going to borrow one of those infrared temp measuring devices and measure my outtake pipe in the boiler and my intake pipe in the house and see what difference there is...that should be a relatively accurate gauge i hope. i purchased my insulated pex off of my dealer... it was what he recommended... it was basically a 4 in corrugated flex pipe with 2 pex lines wrapped in a silver insulation.......if that is the problem....what the hell do I do now... those lines are under a 14in concrete pad for 20 feet... then ashphalt for another 50 feet... if that is the issue... I wonder is somehow I could get someone to run a line into it and blow some expandable foam insulation into it????that doesnt sound impossible does it?

[willieG]

i dont think your insulated pipes are a problem (they are not equal to the new ones that are foam filled but they should not be losing so much that it cools your water too fast)

as for adjusting your fan so not so much air gets in...don't choke the intake side of your blower, block the output side  if you must

[unaslob]

blocking the output would be tough... the output is deep in the ash pan it is only a square pipe about 2-3 inches in diameter.  physically impossible to get to while running... i plan on putting a rheostat on the fan itself to adjust the fan speed...

[mikenc]

blocking the output would be tough... the output is deep in the ash pan it is only a square pipe about 2-3 inches in diameter.  physically impossible to get to while running... i plan on putting a rheostat on the fan itself to adjust the fan speed...

Might check your fan if its like mine it says not to contol with speed control. I think willi has a good idea. Try just wood in your stove and see if it heats ok.

[unaslob]

today this am I initiated one of my infinite experiments for the day...  i threw a 4-5 inch log on top of the coal... it has been in the snow for about a month and was partially burned already... my temp was 150 starting (i ran my oil concurrently with this with the oil set at 140 and the ow/cb at 170...)  when i put the log on, i turned off my oil furnace...  I came out to check it two to three hours later.. steam is coming out of the vent... fan is off... and temp was 175!!! with most of my experiments I would have expected a temp around 120 or less.    i looked at the fire and it was going great (fan must have just shut off)  i think what has happened is that the log merely extended the flame to come in more contact with the boiler ceiling...  for most of today I have been running temps between 140-170...this is an improvement.  I plan on heading out and gathering some wood to put a log or two on a day. 

[willieG]

info from the net uno

Anthracite - or 'hard coal' - Burns VERY cleanly but is difficult to ignite and keep burning

Bituminous - or 'Soft coal' Burns with a number of pollutants but starts and burns fairly easily

didn't i read you wereusing anthratcite coal? if so this may be part of your problem?..when you added wood it kept the coal raging?
i am glad you are having better luck with your 'experiments"

good luck

[j845125]

Unaslob,

You need shaker grates. Keep your coal bed 8-10 inches thick and keep the ashes out, from the bottom. That is all important. If you dig around the top it WILL go out or burn like crap for a while. I haven't put a stick of wood in mine since Thanksgiving after struggling, like you are now, all last year. Once you get coal figured out, you won't go back to wood, unless you get it for free. I tend it twice a day and it takes 3 minutes, tops, each time. Coal is cleaner, requires less work, and takes up less room.

I believe you e-mailed me last year. I'm sorry to see you've had no success. I am glad I have this stove now that it has been modified so it burns coal properly. With anthracite, from several different sources, I keep temps constantly between 180-185. It will work, the grates are the key. Don't let anyone tell you that coal is hard to burn. If it was, no one would use it.

[unaslob]

dont get me wrong.. i love coal... the problem is that I need to get some better grates that will utilize the full length of the boiler.  I have grates that only go about half way back the ones ncb sent me... and i recently found out that you can get a second set of grates from them and link them... so I am basically using only half the the boiler to make heat... when my coal runs good.... it is great... but when it is really cold.. it struggles...  i am hoping in the spring to install grates like you put in j845125... that utilize the full length of the boiler...   but for all of my complaining... i have not run my oil furnace since dec 26th.... and have spent only about 360 bucks on coal (at 160 a ton) and will not need coal for another 10 days to 2 weeks. 

[balls]

i would vote for NCB, but, getting factory support is nearly impossible.  even though i am a NCB owner, i will vote NO..

[Scott7m]

i would vote for NCB, but, getting factory support is nearly impossible.  even though i am a NCB owner, i will vote NO..

'

if you have any questions about your stove you can call me at 6063169697

I'll try to help you in any way possible.