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Storing coal


Dave Payne

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Do you or T. have any probs with corosion? I keep coal in a lidded box, used as a step, lined with galvanised steel sheet.

 

I find the liner rots out in two years as if the fuel is acidic. Same life span as the galvi coal scttles. I burn Antheacite with the odd bag of Taybright or similar.

 

The thought occured that 'it was the Zink wot dunit'.

 

This has been mentioned in the past and, in my case, no I don't have a problem at all.

 

I empty the locker completely a couple of time a year just to check, but it all seems fine. I've used Supertherm for the last 2 years and find it good. Lights easily, burns well (even when wet) and doesn't leave too much ash.

 

Cheers,

T.

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Do you or T. have any probs with corosion? I keep coal in a lidded box, used as a step, lined with galvanised steel sheet.

 

I find the liner rots out in two years as if the fuel is acidic. Same life span as the galvi coal scttles. I burn Antheacite with the odd bag of Taybright or similar.

 

The thought occured that 'it was the Zink wot dunit'.

 

I think, though I'm not sure, that Anthracite is more acidic than say house coal, I suspect the bottom line is how much sulphur the fuel contains as this is, I assume, what makes the fuel acidic. One thing zinc doesn't like is acid, so this could be the reason your galvanised steel doesn't last.

 

You can also get a galvanised container to wear away if there's another metal in contact and water is present. Eg chuck a few nails in a galvanised water tank and the zinc will fall over itself to protect the exposed steel, eventually wearing away. That shouldn't happen with coal as the washing process is supposed to remove any trace of metal contamination.

 

As far as my lockers are concerned I would think they are pretty rusty, the boat is nearly 30 years old, it's too late to worry about it now..! If the boat was new I would certainly line the lockers with something,

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I store the sacks of coal outside - usually on the roof or the back deck. I'll fill the copper coal scuttle plus a heavy duty jute bag-for-life type shopping bag with coal and those are stored in the back cabin where the stove is. (That's enough for 24 hours in the coldest bit of winter or 2-3 days in autumn) and saves me having to go out and refill the little coal scuttle once or twice a day.

 

One year I decanted each open sack of coal into a big plastic lidded storage container that stayed on the bow deck - just for easy access to save me having to reach up to the roof so often. It was handy but the box split before the end of the winter so I've gone back to just leaving open coal bags outside. It makes no difference to the coal. Often when opening a new sack of coal it'll already be damp inside anyway as they're often stored outside or sold from fuel boats in the rain and the bags might have little holes in - and it still burns alright in my experience. Just fold down the open end of the bag so it doesn't collect a lot of rainwater, because that has a nasty habit of dribbling black water over your foot when you least expect it. :lol: Otherwise don't worry about it too much.

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I think, though I'm not sure, that Anthracite is more acidic than say house coal, I suspect the bottom line is how much sulphur the fuel contains as this is, I assume, what makes the fuel acidic. One thing zinc doesn't like is acid, so this could be the reason your galvanised steel doesn't last.

 

You can also get a galvanised container to wear away if there's another metal in contact and water is present. Eg chuck a few nails in a galvanised water tank and the zinc will fall over itself to protect the exposed steel, eventually wearing away. That shouldn't happen with coal as the washing process is supposed to remove any trace of metal contamination.

 

As far as my lockers are concerned I would think they are pretty rusty, the boat is nearly 30 years old, it's too late to worry about it now..! If the boat was new I would certainly line the lockers with something,

Thank's T. and Yourself. The box lining is shot and I've just bought a new galvi scuttle so I'll reline the box with painted steel and start the stopwatch.

 

I'll report back in a couple of years time.

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Drill holes through all the lumps of coal and thread them all onto strings and hang them from the ceiling with nails, like black beads. Tie knots at the bottoms of the strings that are slightly bigger than the holes in the coals, so that when you tug on a lump of coal the knot will pass through the hole and the lump of coal will come off and another will plop down its place ready for picking.

Will this also keeps spiders away, a bit like conkers?

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I believe that traditionally some coal was kept inside the boat in a suitable wooden box, possible even decorated with roses or whatever and usually doubling up as a step to get into the boat. It was called a Coal Box!!!!. We have two, the front one holds the kindling, the back one holds the coal.

 

.................Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

When the Collins' moved off of Raymond onto their modern boat they kept it in the shower as they never had one before and never saw the reason to have one then.

 

 

 

 

Obviously they washed but not used a shower :P

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We used a plastic box in the cratch for a couple of winters, we'd empty 2 x 25kg bags into it. During summer it was wasshed out and used as extra storage. Now we decant into plastic freezer bags which hold about 12 coals and keep these inside the boat - under the raised hearth plate and under the dimette. Two of these bags in the Epping can last 24hr

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My first winter onboard last year I had 20 bags of excel stacked on a pallet on portside of roof. Dampness and wet didn't affect them really although it was a little messy and I would store the in use bag on the rear deck. Come spring and then a little later I went to move the remaining 5 bags and all the plastic had perished so into IKEA blue bags it all went and was stored somewhere else.

 

This year I have put plastic storage boxes from IKEA on the pallet with a vertical run of three plastic door stops from Toolstation to prevent the container from slipping. Each takes a 25kg bag of excel and is watertight and strong enough to be lifted onto rear deck then be the version in use. I 've 5 boxes in total, 3 on the pallet and two on the rear deck (cruiser stern widebeam). Ive two others on the other side that I keep the dry pet food in.

 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/small-storage-organisers/storage-boxes-baskets/klämtare-box-with-lid-in-outdoor-dark-grey-art-70292364/

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