Can't get my stove to heat up

[cmartin288]

Just professionally installed a Darby Coalbrrokdale Coal/WB MODEL 928258 (manfct 7/1987). stove that was given to us. Beautiful, huge stove, but we can't get it warmed up. Have no instruction manuals and need advice. It should have come with an alan-wrench style handle but lost. We use a pair of pliers. Front bottom ash drawer needs to be completely open to get any kind of fire going (the two circular air vents on the front do not help at all). There's a handle that I suspect is some kind of internal flue on bottom right - don't know what its for. We have to sit there for an hour with ash drawer wide open to get any kind of fire to get hot enough to stay lit. Stove pipe damper wide open.
Somebody help (I'm female and blonde - and my husband more clueless than I).

 

[BotetourtSteve]

Coal stove? Hop over to another forum on this site for the rock burners. Good luck! EDIT: Uh, ignore that - I see that coal is fair game on this forum too - I just never see much about it. Sorry, newbie mistake.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

give us some details about the situation , ie. flue size and type (brick chimney or prefab) height versus the peak of the roof etc. or even better provide a digital picture of the flue outside preferrably one we can see the whole house roof as well. could be a draft issue. coal stoves operate with a lot of the same principles as woodburners do and most all of the draft rules apply

 

[eernest4]

First. I'm no expert on a coal stove, but I do have 3 wood burners. I would look carefully at that handle you mentioned for a internal air damper that may be closed & snarfling your air flow through the stove.

Just to revue basic combustion princilals for you:

You have a primary combustion air inlet control that lets air into the combustion chamber.
This has to be clean, not scummed up with tar & ash & you may or may not have a air passageway from that control to the main firebox that could be clogged with ash/ tar scum.

Then there may or may not be internal passages within the firebox that need to be inspected
& cleaned . A good flashlight will help you spot problems,here.

Last the is the exit flue piping, the 6 inch or 8 inch black or stainless stove pipe & its transition into your chimney flue.

The chimney needs to be clean & suppling a good draft & the stove pipes need to be clean & supplying a good draft.


EITHER YOU DON'T HAVE COMBUSTION AIR GOING INTO THE STOVE OR YOU DONT HAVE ENOUGH DRAFT TO PULL OUT THE SMOKE FROM THE STOVE OR A COMBINATION OF THE TWO.

Ie : not quite enough air going in & not quite enough draft to pull fresh combustion air through the stove & exhaust the smoke so that fresh air can replace it.

You may have a grate inside the stove that is clooged solid with ash that the combustion air needs to pass through, like haveing a clogged air filter in your car.

If you still can't figure it out , call a local chimney sweep & ask if he will look at your stove & chimney to determine where & what the trouble is. He will charge you money , but it costs money to be uninformed.

 

[webbie]

Chimney problem!

If you cannot keep that stove going with dry wood in it (once started up well), then you need more "pull" on the chimney. That is called draft.

Can you carefully describe the chimney and installation?

Here is some info:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Coalbrookdale/

Ah, here is a manual......