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[vinrum]

This topic is interesting!!! So I take it that it is ok to add alittle coal to the OWB to increase burn times..I also have a Heatmor with the sand on the side. Judd, when you load your coal, do you try to keep in centered on the grate?  and from what I read, only add coal in moderations... I am looking forward to how you make out.  This is a whole new learning experience for me

Steve

[juddspaintballs]

My experiment was with 40 lb bags of coal.  I literally tossed the entire bag of coal in, centered over the grates and toward the front (right over the blower).  I think I will be buying coal in bulk now, and throwing a shovel or two in at a time.  I still have some of that 80 lbs of coal in my firebox 3 days later.  I bet there's still some in the morning. 

If I was going to burn only coal, I would build up fire brick along the sides over the sand.  I'd probably go 2 or 3 layers of brick tall so that there is a 5-8" deep trough in the firebox "floor" such that the floor is only over the grates.  This would force the coal to be centered over the shaker grates.  The firebox wouldn't need to be nearly as large for coal only. 

[vinrum]

I kinda like the idea of adding some coal maybe a bag every few days, just to make the wood last a little longer..Or just add the coal on very cold spells,, I am sure the coal wont effect the sand on the side of the grate if some gets in there.. Judd, are the Heatmors made to burn coal?? I thought I read some where that your not suppose to use coal. Or is that just a warranty glitch??

[juddspaintballs]

You are supposed to have the shaker grate option installed if you want to burn coal in the Heatmor.  No warranty issue, you just need to be able to shake the clinkers out. 


A bit more of an update on the coal situation:
Last night everything was burned up but a little bit of wood due to my forced heat shedding into the house.  I loaded up with dry split maple wood and made sure my aquastats were set to factory settings.  I woke up this morning and found 230 degree water boiling out of the Heatmor.  So, it appears I didn't have a coal issue afterall.  I did a little troubleshooting in the manual today.  It mentioned several reasons why it might be overheating the water.  I cleaned my blower and flipper as the book said to do.  There were no issues there to begin with.  The book mentioned that boiling over might occur if it was very windy outside (and it has been for 3 days now-winds over 35mph) due to a force draft.  It said to turn the temp setting aquastat to 140 to correct the problem.  We shall see how it's going when I return home in a few hours.  Makes me wonder if I could rig something to partially close the chimney off when the blower isn't running. 

Not a coal issue, apparently.  Just a wind issue. 

[Scott7m]

You are supposed to have the shaker grate option installed if you want to burn coal in the Heatmor.  No warranty issue, you just need to be able to shake the clinkers out. 


A bit more of an update on the coal situation:
Last night everything was burned up but a little bit of wood due to my forced heat shedding into the house.  I loaded up with dry split maple wood and made sure my aquastats were set to factory settings.  I woke up this morning and found 230 degree water boiling out of the Heatmor.  So, it appears I didn't have a coal issue afterall.  I did a little troubleshooting in the manual today.  It mentioned several reasons why it might be overheating the water.  I cleaned my blower and flipper as the book said to do.  There were no issues there to begin with.  The book mentioned that boiling over might occur if it was very windy outside (and it has been for 3 days now-winds over 35mph) due to a force draft.  It said to turn the temp setting aquastat to 140 to correct the problem.  We shall see how it's going when I return home in a few hours.  Makes me wonder if I could rig something to partially close the chimney off when the blower isn't running. 

Not a coal issue, apparently.  Just a wind issue.

thats not good i dont care how its doing it.  we just came off a really windy spell here where temps were in the 0 - 15 range and 30-40 mph winds and my stove never operated any differently than it does on a calm day.  if the flapper on your draft is closed it shouldnt let it suck more air

[yoderheating]

 I agree with scott7m, I would be surprised if it was just the wind. Put a board over the chimney while the fan is blowing and see if you see smoke coming out anywhere it shouldn't be. Sounds to me like there is air getting to the fire somewhere. 

[woodywoodchucker]

Would it work in a Central Boiler?It has no fan or shacker grates in it.I would like to try the coal thing

[juddspaintballs]

I can't imagine where else there could be a problem.  The unit is new, running less than a month now.  All around the base is still very well sealed with silicon, the damper flap is moving freely, there's no creosote keeping the firebox door from sealing, the flue is still sealed shut (haven't opened it yet), the ash auger tube is sealed shut (made sure the gasket was in place), the anti-rollback device seals shut when the outer door is closed.  It's been windy before with no ill effects, so I'm at a loss right now.  I'll toss a board over the chimney while it's firing to see if I see smoke elsewhere, but I highly doubt I will.  Perhaps it's time to call Heatmor...

[juddspaintballs]

Board over the chimney and the blower running doesn't push smoke through anywhere besides the chimney.   

[Scott7m]

My thoughts are this, if the stove is all sealed properly, how can air blowing over the top of the stove create or let air into the stove, I can see where if it was a natural draft that wind could make it draw harder, but if its sealed off, it dont have any place to draw air from

[juddspaintballs]

Well, the fan has to draw air from somewhere, and it's within the outer shell of the furnace.  I think it draws air through the "ridge vent" in the roof of the unit, because that's about the only place I can think air can even get into the outer jacket. 

WillieG says he's seen this before on a Heatmor.  He said that on very windy days, air was forced through the blower and cracked open the flapper that seals it off, which caused boiling over.  I'll do some more investigation tomorrow.  Right now modified aquastat limits are fixing the problem.  We're supposed to be in the high 40's this week, so I might shut down for a day and clean everything really well and see how that does.  I've got 5 more tubes of silicon, a wire brush, and a shop vac...I can go to town on the thing.   

[willieG]

here is a little food for thought fellas, i have no idea how heatmore now gets air into their stove. years ago they had a blower that "pushed" open a flapper to get in the stove. the air pressure the blower created actually forced the flapper open. is it still like this i dont know, but here is a little thing  that happened to me when i first built my boiler. i made a flapper that covered the intake of my blower that i used a solenoid to open and close. on certain days i would also get boil over, i wondered how could that happen i have no way for air to get in my stove. the next time it boiled over i was ready with one of them incense candle things and went around my door and my blower...no smoke going in the stove, then by chance i noticed a little wiff going in through the motor windings. that was enough to do it. i then made my flapper work on the output side of the blower and still used a solenoid to control it, problem solved. when it is very windy do not count out the natural draft  of a good hot chimney with the wind pulling hard to pull air in from spots you would not normally expect.

this may not be the case in the writers case but i thought i would throw it out there jsut to point out that it can be very hard to find. as we all know, boil over is caused by only one thing, air when we dont want it, or can't properly control it.....keep looking

[juddspaintballs]

the flapper is on the output side of the blower, but only gravity closed.  the blown air pushes it open.  i would imagine a natural draft could also suck it open...

[Scott7m]

Yes, that's it.  I'd be modifying that, on my stove it would actually close it tighter if wind was blowing across the chimney.

[willieG]

Yes, that's it.  I'd be modifying that, on my stove it would actually close it tighter if wind was blowing across the chimney.

mine as well...and i think that is the way it should be, but others think not