Harman Stove Company III manual Operating Instructions, Starting a Coal Fire, Loading, Low Fire

CAUTION! BEFORE CLEANING CHIMNEY AND SMOKE PIPE BE SURE FIRE IS OUT AND INSIDE OF STOVE IS COOL.

Cleaning The Chimney and Smoke Pipe

Avoid chimney fires. On a regular schedule, check for creosote and soot buildup in the chimney, smoke pipe and spiral chamber. They must be kept clean. Keep a professional chimney sweep in mind if you have access to one.

Steel brushes are the safest for cleaning metal surfaces. Salt solutions and some chemicals may damage metal surfaces. Do not overfire your stove. Do not burn anything that com- busts in seconds. Excessive flue tem- peratures may result thereby igniting creosote.

To clean the chimney, obtain a stiff brush with an extendible handle and insert the brush into the chimney from the top. Continue the brushing and sweeping downward until the entire length of the chimney is cleaned.

After cleaning the chimney, the debris will be at the bottom of the chim- ney at the clean-out opening. Open the clean-out door and sweep the debris out into a metal container.

The smoke pipe from the stove to the chimney can be cleaned with a steel brush.

8.Operating Instructions

8.1Starting a Coal Fire

Take about eight sheets of news- paper, crumble into balls and place on top of grates. Next, lay fine kindling on top of the paper. This kindling must be dry and no larger than 3/4" in diameter. Layer the kindling in a criss-cross fash- ion to allow good air flow. Open the draft control fully and light the paper

loading door and allow the kindling to catch fire. After a few minutes, open the loading door an inch or two for a few seconds before opening completely. This method will allow smoke to clear away from the door opening before the loading door is completely opened.

Add small, compact pieces of hard- wood when the kindling is burning hot. Keep the draft controls fully open to establish a hot fire quickly. The ash door also may be opened during start- up to accelerate the initial burn.

When a substantial bed of red wood coals are built up, start adding coal (pea or nut is preferred to stove coal for starting) small amounts at a time. Keep the draft control open.

Continue adding small amounts of coal until there is a solid bed of burning coal. Do not add too much at one time. Allow sufficient time between each small loading (at least 5-10 minutes), so that each loading has time to ignite thoroughly before the next load is put in. When a substantial bed of burning coals has been established, fill the stove to the top of the firebrick. A deep bed of coal always will burn more satis- factorily than a shallow bed.

When most of the wood is burned and the coal is completely ignited (usu- ally 5-10 minutes or less after filling the stove), the draft control should be turned down to the proper operating level. (If the ash door has been opened, it must be closed to prevent overfiring, which can cause dangerously high temperatures.)

8.2Loading

Coal should never be added unless there is a reasonable hot fire. The coal bed should be bright and vigorous.

If the fire is burning hot and there is a deep bed of coals, full loads of coal can be added at any time. However, if there is not a deep bed of coals, it is best to add small amounts of coal at first.

Low Fire

Every effort should be made not to let a coal fire burn too long so that the fire has started to die. This will cause the reloading process to be much longer, and there is a good possibility of losing the fire.

Do not shake or stir with a low fire.

Open the draft control wide or open the ash cleanout door to get the maxi- mum draft.

Run the stove with the draft control or ash door fully open until the fire is reasonably hot.

Start adding small amounts of coal. When the new coal is thoroughly ignit- ed or there is a substantial bed of hot coals, the stove may be shaken thor- oughly. Be sure to shake down all ashes (but do not overshake).

After shaking, keep the bottom draft control open until you are sure the fire is continuing to burn hot, then turn the draft control down to the proper operating level. IF THE ASH DOOR HAS BEEN OPENED, BE SURE TO SHUT IT (SERIOUS DAMAGE CAN RESULT IF THE STOVE IS RUN FOR EXTENDED PERIODS WITH THE ASH DOOR OPEN).

Count the exact number of turns from full shut to the normal operating positions so that you can adjust the stove to the exact level of heat output and length of burn you desire.

just inside the door. Now, close the

8.3 Increasing Heat From a Figure 7

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