Little Wonder 2847 Burning Coal In Your Wondercoal Circulator, up a fire in this heater

BURNING COAL IN YOUR WONDERCOAL CIRCULATOR

Your Wondercoal is capable of burning both	properly burned. Before refueling, take the
bituminous and Anthracite coal. Anthracite is	time to break up the cone a little with a poker,
the best coal fuel because its long even burn	especially if it has caked over or formed a
time, high heat output, and cleanliness make	crust. But, be careful not to mix the coal as this
it a good choice for the home. However, keep	increases the chances of forming clinkers.
in mind it is a much more difficult fuel to use	When shaking the grate be gentle. Just a few
and requires more care and patience.	short movements - front to rear - are better
	than a lot of agitation. The objective is to
SIZE OF COAL: Most sizes of bituminous	remove a small amount of the ashes without
coal will work in your Wondercoal Heater; for	disturbing the fire. Stop when you see a glow
best results we recommend large nut coal to	in the ashes or the first red coals fall into the
small egg coal (1-3/4" diameter to 4" diameter).	ash pan. Excessive shaking wastes fuel and
When burning anthracite, use egg or broken	can expose the grate to very high tempera-
with sizes between 2-5/16" and 4-3/8". Note	tures which can cause warpage or burnout.
that it is important to the life of your stove to buy
coal which has been sized and cleaned.	For overnight operation (long duration burn
Cleaning insures removal of rocks and other	time) shake the fire and add coal, retaining
materials.	your center cone. Once	the volatiles are
	burned off close the feed door and adjust your
STOVE OPERATION: All coal fires should be	stove pipe damper. Then adjust your thermo-
started with wood which will allow the fire to get	stat to the desired heat level.
hot enough to ignited the coal. The Best
ignition fires utilize dry pine or other resinous	You will have more MAINTENANCE with
soft woods as kindling, with hard wood (oak,	bituminous than with anthracite coal as more
hickory, ash) added to increase the heat prior	soot will collect on heating surfaces and in
to adding the coal.	pipes, requiring more frequent cleaning.
BITUMINOUS: Once your kindling and wood	ANTHRACITE: Before starting the fire open
fire has produced a bed of well established	the stove pipe damper, turn the automatic
coals start adding coal in layers allowing each	thermostat to high, open the ash pit door and
to ignite before adding more. Bituminous has	feed door, place newspaper and finely split
a high volatile content and, as a result, should	kindling on the grate, light the paper, add larger
be fired with the "conical method" - with the	hard wood after the kindling is burning brightly.
highest portion of your firebed in the center of	CAUTION: Never use gasoline, lantern
the firebox. The first flames will be long and	fuel, kerosene, charcoal lighter fluid, or
generally orange or yellow and produce quite	other flammable liquids to start or freshen
a bit of smoke. As the gases burn off the	up a fire in this heater.	Place the larger
flames become shorter, change color and	pieces of wood on the fire so that are slightly
produce less smoke.	separated and form a level for the addition of
	coal. It will take 10 to 20 minutes before this
Once the fire is WELL ESTABLISHED add	wood is thoroughly ignited. Adding coal too
coal to the center of the firebox forming the	soon will cut the air supply and smother the
cone. Burning in this fashion allows heat to	fire.
drive off the volatile gases, and turbulence
created increases the burn efficiency. You will	Add a thin layer of coal (preferably smaller
have to experiment with your particular setup	chunks) to the wood fire, being careful not to
as no two chimney's and installations are	disturb it too much or cut off the draft. Then,
going to be the same. Just remember to allow	add a second heavier layer after the coal is
enough secondary air to enter and keep your	ignited and burning well. If necessary, add a
stove pipe damper open so that volatiles are	third layer to bring the coal up to the top of the

front liner (not above!). Be sure you have closed your ash door.

Before adding further fuel, be sure you leave a red spot of glowing coals in the center of the firebox to insure that you have not smothered the fire and to help ignite the gases given off by the new charge. A deep charge will give a more heat and a longer fire but it may take one to two hours before the whole bed is fully ignited.

When the fire is well established and the room is becoming warm, partially close the dampers. You will have to experiment with your particular setting of all dampers and controls as your chimney provides the draft necessary to not only exhaust the smoke, but to pull combustion air into the heater as well - and no two chimney's perform the same. Under ideal draft conditions you should be able to turn the secondary air supply on the feed door to a near closed position - but leave the ash pit damper at least partially open to prevent the fire from going out. Adjust the stove pipe damper to reduce the draft on the fire. With anthracite you will see short blue flames above the coal, except when the fire is started or a new charge is added. If, however, there is no flame then the fire needs more air from the bottom (unless it is near the end of its burn cycle and needs to be recharged).

Only when the coal is burned down to half its original depth it is time to add fresh coal. When doing so, open your stove pipe damper and turn your thermostat damper to high, which will allow the fire to burn off any accumulated gases. Open the feed door, and with a small rake, hoe or hooked poker pull the glowing coals to the front of the firebox. Try not to disturb the fire too much. Next, add a fresh charge to the back being careful not to seal off the top. Close the feed door but leave the spin damper (Fig. 9) open for a few minutes until the until the volatile gases have burned off. It is not necessary to shake down the ashes each time you refuel your Wondercoal. Experience will be your best teacher.

BANKING THE FIRE: For extended operation, such as overnight, you will need to bank the fire. To do so heap coal up along the sides and back of the firebox so that the fire gradually burns it over a longer period of time. You will also reduce the intensity of the fire without letting it go out. Follow the same procedure as for refueling. If possible, avoid shaking, as a heavier layer of ash will help reduce the intensity of the fire during this time. After loading let the fire establish itself for about 30 minutes. Then close your damper and automatic control to the point where the house does not become too cold. It is important that you begin banking early enough before retiring or leaving that you can make necessary adjustments after the fire is well established.

To revive a coal fire that is almost out, you should (1) open the ash door and stove pipe damper and close the spin damper (Fig. 9) on the door to get a good enough draft through the grate. (2) Place a thin layer of dry coals over the entire top of the fire. DO NOT POKE OR SHAKE THE FIRE AT THIS TIME! (3) After the fresh coal has become well ignited shake the grate (just a little) and you will be ready to refuel.

DO NOT burn coke, charcoal, high volatile bituminous coal, sub bituminous, lignite or cannel coal (sometimes called channel or candle coal). NEVER burn wax or chemically impregnated sawdust logs - their intended use is for fireplaces only.

A draft reading of -.05 to -.06 in w.c. is required for anthracite to burn.

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Fig. 9

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