Tarm 404 - Question about coal baffles for burning anthracite

Greetings-

I'm new to the site but have been reading various posts regarding coal burning and coal burning furnaces. We recently moved into a house equipped with a 1981 Tarm 404 wood/coal furnace along side a newer oil burning furnace. Considering the cost of home heating oil, I was anxious to figure out how to burn coal as either a supplement to my oil furnace or an alternative. I read through the operation manual and thought I had a pretty good understanding of how to burn anthracite. I bought several bags and gave it a shot.

Unfortunately, after half a dozen attempts I was growing increasingly frustrated as I could get the fire started okay, but it would end up going out after 2-3 hours. I eventually found a post on this site that complained about similair struggles in his Tarm 500 series, which apparently is an identical model to my 400 series. Someone mentioned that in order to burn coal, a coal conversion kit was required, which consists of a 3 piece coal baffle setup. A few folks mentioned that they had purchased coal baffles from Tarm in NH for around $255. So, I called Tarm and talked to someone in the parts department who told me that the coal baffles are either $255 or $265, depending on if my furnace was a 402 or 404 model. At the time I wasn't sure which model I had, so I went home later that day and determined it was a 404. I called Tarm the next day and this time someone different picked up and told me that whoever had quoted me the price yesterday was wrong, the price is actually around $600 ($200/ea for the upright baffles and $190 for the base plate).

I'm confused because not only was I given a price of $255 during my first call, but I've read several online posts in which Tarm owners said they paid $255 for these baffles before they started burning coal. I'm wondering if these baffles are available from anywhere other than Tarm, such as maybe a Tarm dealer. I know that it's often cheaper in other industries to buy from a dealer than direct from the manufacturer. Secondly, I'm wondering if anyone has attempted fabricating the baffles themselves. I'd be willing to give it a shot if I had some specs or a detailed picture to go off of. The only thing I've been able to find is a pdf bulletin from Tarm with instructions on installing the baffles. The pdf was originally scanned and the image quality is poor.

http://www.woodboilers.com/uploads/public/Coal Baffle Instructions.pdf

I read somewhere that the webmaster a former owner of Tarm, so hopefully this is a good place to ask this question.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jeff

Thanks for the reply. I do in fact have the shaker grates installed and in good working order. I don't recall exactly how many grates there are, but I'd say probably 6 or 7. Each of the grates connect to a steel spine which can be moved, in turn moving each of the grates independently. I have a 1/2" steel rod with a 90 degree bend on the end which can be inserted into a hole in the spine. The grates rock back and forth easily with a pull/push method of the rod.

I'm pretty sure I'm all set up to burn coal, minus the baffles. From what it would appear, judging by the couple pictures I've seen it looks like the baffles basically make a wall toward the rear of the firebox, stretching left and right from each wall of the firebox and extending upwards maybe 12-14". Doesn't seem like it'd be a huge undertaking to fabricate some cast iron to sit in the position of these baffles.

I'm not trying to sound like a cheap skate, but I'm just having a hard time swallowing the $600 price tag for a few pieces of shaped steel...

Thanks again for the help.

I think I will give it a shot and try to fabricate something. The part list in the back of the operators manual breaks out the three individual parts that make up the coal conversion kit for the 402/502 and 404/504 models. The base plate that holds the upright baffles is listed as part #21.9066, with dimensions of 8x15". The two upright baffle sections are listed as part #06.0115, but instead of dimensions (D=) it has C=9-253. I'm assuming judging by your screen name that you're a sales rep for Tarm. Is there any way you could provide the dimensions for the upright baffles? Or at least tell me what C=9-253 is supposed to mean?

Lastly, I've searched high and low for more information on these baffles and the only thing I could come up with was the scanned PDF of the coal baffle instructions. Is there any way you could get a hold of a better picture than what's in the pdf? I assume the PDF was scanned a long time ago at a low quality, given that the couple pictures are so dark they look like silhouettes. I'm just looking for something with a little more detail so I can have a better understanding of what it is I'm building. If you're able to get your hands on any images I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks again for the help!

GH-

I can't thank you enough for taking the time to not only post pictures of the coal baffles, but for doing so in such detail!! Up until now I'd been working off the hand-drawn parts list found in the 500 series user manual along with a decade old coal baffle instruction low quality PDF that Tarm had scanned. That being said, my timing sucks! I spent all weekend fabricating these damn things and finished them last night! Mine don't look nearly as good as yours but they should serve their purpose at least in the short term. My steel supplier didn't have 1/2" steel so I ended up using 1/4", figuring that this could be a test run and that the 1/4" steel likely wouldn't hold up very long against the heat. I also figured I'd probably find something I should have done differently once I got them installed and a coal fire burning. The only significant difference I noticed is that the bottom corners are cut out of each of the upright baffles, allowing them to fit snugly around the lip on each of the walls inside the firebox.

I have 3 questions for you, if you don't mind. And I assume you have the baffles installed in your furnace, so if you can just give me an approximate I'd appreciate it.

(1) In the second picture from the top of the first post (2490_Coal Baffle Standoffs.jpg), how long does the supporting arm that rests against the back of the firebox extend outward? (explanatory picture below)

(2) In the last picture of the first post (DSC2451-.jpg) what is the angled piece sitting in front of the upright baffles? Was that part of what you received from Tarm? If so, what purpose does it serve and where is it installed? When I called Tarm I was told there were only 3 pieces that make up the coal baffle kit, 1 base plate and 2 identical upright baffle plates.

(3) How tall are the upright baffles? In the 500 series user manual (http://www.woodboilers.com/admin/uploads/public/500manual(1).pdf) parts list (item #50B), the upright baffles have "C=9-254" in their description. The base plate (item #50A) has a similar description "D=4x12", which represents its dimensions according to the parts people at Tarm. I'm not sure what the C= means, but considering the base plate has its dimensions listed in the parts list I can only assume it has something to do with measurements. The Tarm people didn't know what it meant either.

Thanks again for all the help and for taking the time to post the great pictures!

Jeff