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Keeping the stove in


Dave Payne

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All going well ill have the stove finished next week, its a morso 1410.

 

Now thinking that i have no idea how to run it, i know chuck stuff in and set it alight, but really need to learn how to master it, will be hoping to get it filled up in the morning to last all day till i get home, about 5 hours, then the same at night.

 

So fuel, logs, coal, both?

Which coal?

It has things on the doors that turn, i guess to draw air in, but whats the best setting for these?

 

How often should you clean the flue?

 

Do you need to let it go out and clean the inside out at regular times?

 

 

Any tips greatly appreciated!

 

 

Thanks

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i drink dorset tea, do they work the same.

Stacks of threads on these forums about operating coal stoves. Its quite a variable operation.

I'd remain in attendance while its alight, until you get used to it. Don't leave it unattended until you have it under control. smile.png

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Stacks of threads on these forums about operating coal stoves. Its quite a variable operation.

I'd remain in attendance while its alight, until you get used to it. Don't leave it unattended until you have it under control. smile.png

 

 

Good advice, think i will have a couple of days where i am on the boat all day next week.

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In this reasonably mild weather we have the vents open a half turn. This is using coal only, and once there's a bed of coals and the stove is warmed up.

 

We used to find we had the stove far too hot. A common mistake I reckon. Just a nice layer of coals simmering nicely for a nice heat,for a nice warm welcome when you get home.

As the temperatures tumble, during the daytime and we are in residence, we would open the vents accordingly. But at night or when away from the boat it's back down to half a turn each each vent.

 

Hope that helps a little. But only you can decide. Each stove will have different characteristics.

I was tempted to advise, screw it down, that will stop it going out, but I didn't, as it's silly.

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Use the processed nugget type "smokeless" coal. Although plenty of folk seem to do it, the official advice is not to mix coal and wood as it creates acidic residue which accelerates corrosion.

 

Light the fire with newspaper and dry kindling, coal on top, vents fully open and bottom ajar. Once it's burning well, shut bottom then close vents to 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn open. The fire will easily stay in overnight without needing to have it particularly well stoked. The coal produces plenty of ash so riddle a couple of times a day, eg morning and just before bed. You'll probably need to empty the ash pan every day or every other day. If it gets full it stops the fire burning properly and can tend to overheat the grate. Have a means to store the hot ash -nothing plastic!

 

When you first light a new stove the paint will give off fumes, this is normal, just ventilate well. It will stop in a day or so.

Edited by nicknorman
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All going well ill have the stove finished next week, its a morso 1410.

 

Now thinking that i have no idea how to run it, i know chuck stuff in and set it alight, but really need to learn how to master it, will be hoping to get it filled up in the morning to last all day till i get home, about 5 hours, then the same at night.

 

So fuel, logs, coal, both?

Which coal?

It has things on the doors that turn, i guess to draw air in, but whats the best setting for these?

 

How often should you clean the flue?

 

Do you need to let it go out and clean the inside out at regular times?

 

 

Any tips greatly appreciated!

 

 

Thanks

I get mine going nicely when I get home, about 5-6pm. Then an extra heap of coal at bedtime. it's still going nicely when I get in from work the next day.

 

Get familiar with the air controls and the level of ash to allow to sit on the grate and in the pan. When I empty the pan and riddle the stove, I close the air vent accordingly. It's trial and error until you get used to it. I have a Squirrel too and keep the top vent open slightly to keep the glass clear but do all other adjustments with the bottom vent.

 

If you need to keep doors/window open because it's too hot, then adjust the air intake down. You'll probably over-do it and put the fire out without burning through all the fuel, so trial and error will teach you what is 'just enough'. Remember when you first steered a boat and tended to over compensate for errors due to the delayed response? Fires are much the same.

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Use the processed nugget type "smokeless" coal. Although plenty of folk seem to do it, the official advice is not to mix coal and wood as it creates acidic residue which accelerates corrosion.

 

Light the fire with newspaper and dry kindling, coal on top, vents fully open and bottom ajar. Once it's burning well, shut bottom then close vents to 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn open. The fire will easily stay in overnight without needing to have it particularly well stoked. The coal produces plenty of ash so riddle a couple of times a day, eg morning and just before bed. You'll probably need to empty the ash pan every day or every other day. If it gets full it stops the fire burning properly and can tend to overheat the grate. Have a means to store the hot ash -nothing plastic!

 

When you first light a new stove the paint will give off fumes, this is normal, just ventilate well. It will stop in a day or so.

 

And don't keep a full ash pan anywhere inside the boat, it will still be giving of Carbon Monoxide.

 

I posted this article about my doing just this, which the OP might find interesting

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Use the processed nugget type "smokeless" coal. Although plenty of folk seem to do it, the official advice is not to mix coal and wood as it creates acidic residue which accelerates corrosion.

Light the fire with newspaper and dry kindling, coal on top, vents fully open and bottom ajar. Once it's burning well, shut bottom then close vents to 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn open. The fire will easily stay in overnight without needing to have it particularly well stoked. The coal produces plenty of ash so riddle a couple of times a day, eg morning and just before bed. You'll probably need to empty the ash pan every day or every other day. If it gets full it stops the fire burning properly and can tend to overheat the grate. Have a means to store the hot ash -nothing plastic!

When you first light a new stove the paint will give off fumes, this is normal, just ventilate well. It will stop in a day or so.

It's not the mixing of coal and wood which is the problem, it's using coal to provide the heat to dry out unseasoned wood in the fire that's the problem, in effect your using the expensive coal to season the timber which during this process uncombusted tars and gasses condense on the flue.

 

It's perfectly possible to burn only wood if the timber is properly seasoned and the correct type is used but I used to find the flue needed cleaning a lot more than now when I am burning purely coal

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It's not the mixing of coal and wood which is the problem, it's using coal to provide the heat to dry out unseasoned wood in the fire that's the problem, in effect your using the expensive coal to season the timber which during this process uncombusted tars and gasses condense on the flue.

 

It's perfectly possible to burn only wood if the timber is properly seasoned and the correct type is used but I used to find the flue needed cleaning a lot more than now when I am burning purely coal

 

Yep, the problem with folk who buy "woodburners" is they don't realise the work, forward planning and storage needed to keep a decent stock of really dry wood.

 

If you can't burn properly dry wood it's far better to use coal/smokeless.

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When I first used a stove on our first shareboat, I found it only took a few of days of trial and error to get the best out of it and get it to stay in all night.

 

There was a different type of stove on the second share boat and again it took a few days to find out how to get the best out of it.

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Yep, the problem with folk who buy "woodburners" is they don't realise the work, forward planning and storage needed to keep a decent stock of really dry wood.

 

If you can't burn properly dry wood it's far better to use coal/smokeless.

Absolutely, after 10yrs of 100% wood burning, ive gone over to coal simply because I dont have the space to season or the time to process.

Plus a have a lovely chap who delivers coal from his boat which is a luxury I didnt us to have

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Allow a good day for it to settle down to ticking over nicely at a moderate heat. If you want to keep it that way riddle it gently and not too often.

You'll get loads of advice here but there's no substitute for just taking a while to get to know your stove and how it works with your chosen fuel. Might take a bit of trial and error at first to keep it in.

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If the ashes are put in a proper container with a tightly fitting lid it shouldn't be a problem. The ashes will go cold very quickly and self-suffocate. Just don't leave ash container on or near combustibles.

Edited by mross
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I have one of those Tippy things, which I find great (or should I say grate since we're talking about fires?)

 

The lid fits pretty tight, it lives behind the fire, which is were I found it when I bought the boat and after two winters I'm still alive.

 

Joking apart, CO is a killer and fires and their waste should be treated with care.

 

T.

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New stove, will need to be run in gently (do not want to crack it on its first lighting) so keep the vents more closed than open once the initial lighting has taken off.

 

Just a single layer of coal on top of kindling and fire lighter (we cheat and do not use paper) is all that is needed to get it going.

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Personally, I'd err on the side of caution and always put hot ashes outside. Not only that but well away from the door. I once had my CO alarm go off in the middle of the night caused by the pot of ashes on the back step outside. The ashes had become hotter and hotter under the surface and actually become orange hot deep down in the pot despite still appearing grey on top. And they'd released enough carbon monoxide to come in the back door vents and set off the alarm. Better safe than sorry.

And by the same token, don't keep the bucket of ash in the front well deck just by the door vent grilles.

Yup. This ^

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I wouldn't of thought so. Inside and behind the fire bricks there are fixing lugs that hold the blanking plate in place.

 

Feel the fixing plate from the out side. If it moves tighten the lugs, if it don't move leave it.

 

Obviously, when you first flash up the stove you'll be checking all around the stove for secureness. The blanking plate is one such item to check for leakage.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A pyramid will probably fall down anyway so just make a flat layer. In the morning if there are very few red coals left I normally put a few bits of kindling on and wait until they burst into flames and then add coal. (actually MSF, not real coal).

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