Stanley Reginald Stove - Fire burns out quickly

BluefishJD

Hi all - firstly hope I'm posting in the right section! We have recently got a Stanley Reginald Multi Fuel Stove with Back Boiler installed - even with the initial small "Break-in" fires the heat was noticeable and once I balanced and bled the rads even better but I have a couple of things that I just don't know if I am doing right or wrong or what I am experiencing is normal!

I know it is probably going to take some time to get used to this stove (never had anything like it before) but my main question is why would it be burning out so quick as in the fire not lasting. I set a normal fire with coal but find myself going back to reload regularly compared to other users experiences I've read where they say they only tend to the fire every 4hrs or so by just throwing an extra bit of coal or logs on and this keeps it going I just find that the fire keeps burning away and if I forget about it for a couple of hours everything is burnt, fire is gone and only a few embers remain and would need to put firelighters and kindling in to restart.

Below is a description of how I set/use the stove and just wondering is there anything I am doing wrong, the coal I'm buying is more premium than cheap so quality should be ok. I was just under the impression that once I got my fire going within the stove that it would burn away for a longer time period before I had to refuel where as I am finding I need to put on more fuel just so as it wouldn't go out.

I Set the fire as usual all air vents open - as in - top circular knob to primary air flow open to 4 (Where 0 is closed 4 is fully open) and Airwash/Secondary Air flow (located bottom right) opened out fully - once fire has taken and burning nicely and good heat built up (usually after 45mins or so) I lower the top primary air to 2-3 which if I am correct controls the damper and heat out put (Although it is lowering my output heat I am hoping by doing this the fire wont burn so quick?) - Airwash is left open throughout as burning coal (with couple of dried logs) within in no time at all (I'd say within an hour) the coal has really burnt off and down to few embers and I am needing to refuel or if forgotten total restart from scratch as fire has gone right out.

I understand that if there is a big draw on the chimney it will burn the coal quicker which logically says close down the damper but then I am lowering the temperature of output so losing out as rads/water/room not heating up? Am I missing something? I have gone to other peoples houses with stoves and there is a lovely heat and the fire is just glowing away and would last with only one refueling through the evening from initial start up.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and many thanks in advance.

BluefishJD

I appreciate my initial post was very long but not being a regular on here I just thought it best to outline all I'm doing so as might get a better answer - maybe I should reduce my question to - Any users of Stanley Reginald Stove how do you find it? As a test I put on a fire (large in my terms) at lunchtime and left it as I went off to work, hoping that there still would be something there when I got back at 6 but again all burnt and fire out - damper was down (on a range of 0-4 it was 0) Am I expecting too much? for the fire to slow burn away I just find that it burns very quickly and need to refuel regularly as if left it will only go out (as in everything burns away) and this happens within an hour or so. Again any advice, help would be greatly appreciated.

BluefishJD

just to add ash and fire door are always closed and there doesn't seem to be any defects or air getting in through here once closed.

NobodyImportant

Also interested here in how exactly to use the primary/secondary. My glen barrow instructions arent great at all.

MENTAL

We have a Stanley Erin. Took a while to get used to as well. Have you a thermometer that kicks in the system when the water gets hot enough? If this is set too low the rads will be luke warm. I have it set very high and leave it until the pipes are banging (scary yes) then the back boiler kicks in. Sometimes I adjust it depending on needs. The Erin has more or less same controls, but I always leave the top circular knob to primary air flow fully closed and Airwash/Secondary Air flow (located bottom right) I only leave open for 5-10 mins after lighting fire. Close it off or the fire will just burn away. If you want a fire to remain for a few hours only use coal, load it up. Good tip to keep the glass front clean, dampen a cloth and dip in ash from stove that cleans it lovely, make sure to then fully dry glass with kitchen towel. Hope this helps.

MENTAL

Sorry Nobodyimportant, I was replying to Bluefish JD. New to this, 1st and last post..

BluefishJD

Hi @Mental and thanks very much for your response I really appreciate it and yes now realise it will take a bit of getting use to but by going what you say sounds right coincidentally I just had my plumber in today to do a flush and balancing on the system and together with what you've said and he I think it depends from stove to stove as in no exact best settings just have to do trial and error until you find right settings for your stove and chimney.

My main thing was the air wash/secondary air flow but according to the "very" helpful manual (yes @nobodyimportant stanley not very clear either!) it says to leave this open fully (for coal/peat) but Now realise this was what was burning out the fire so quick now it did keep the glass relatively clean but I can live with a bit of black as long as heat output is good and the fire lasts so I don't need to be refuelling all the time.

So as a solution on advice from plumber and yourself @Mental I am going to close up the "airwash" and let the top knob thermometer do the work as well as that the plumber fixed a new stat to the pipe as he reckoned it wasn't working correctly and already there is a difference in the stoves fire this evening with a good balance between heat output and burn rate where as before it was burning out of control which was down to two factors - 1 leaving airwash/secondary airflow open fully (can get this to half open by touch which gives a bit of both worlds so to speak) and 2 a "good" chimney as in the updraft/draw was very strong so need to compensate for that by turning up/down the top knob control depending on calm or windy night.

Again appreciate your response @Mental #Mental and hope some of this May help @nobodyimportant.

Just to say Reason for me leaving airwash fully open was because manual said so but as it was burning out my fire too quick leading to more fuel being used to keep it going and less efficiency I'm going to be closing it up more for the fires longevity and can clean the glass myself which by the way @Mental is an excellent tip (damp cloth,warm water dipped in ash) works a treat just make sure glass is cold!

Matt406

Hi BluefishJD,

I’d be interested to hear how you are getting on with your Stanley Reginald stove now? I had one installed about 6 weeks ago and I find the same thing – fire burns out quickly! I have been leaving the air wash/secondary air flow opened fully as I am burning coal (and the manual says to leave it open for coal). I have been trying to slow the burn down using the primary air flow control. From your post I guess I need to start closing the secondary air flow to slow things down.


On a separate note – what fuel do you find burns best in it (lasts longest with best heat output)? To date I’ve been experimenting burning timber with different coals – Hayes Fuels - Lignite Nuggets (smokeless) / Hayes Fuels - Premium Polish Coal / CPL Fuels – Stove Heat (smokeless) / Stafford’s – Country Blend (smokeless). I think that the nuggets & polish coal gave the best results to date. Will burning polish coal in a stove causing any problems with it – should I be sticking to smokeless fuels? Thanks.

BluefishJD

Hi Matt406 I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one and after a lot of research and asking around it comes down to messing with both air flow settings to get the right one - a happy medium so to speak - which as I have found can change day to day depending on the weather and updraft - Like you having read the manual when burning coal I was keeping the air wash/secondary air flow fully open and it kept the glass nice and clean but as you are finding it was burning out the fire quickly so now on start up I have everything open (Air Wash and back knob to 4) and once rads start to heat I close down the air wash - not fully but leaving a little gap - takes a lot of getting used to - I'm normally on the ground with a torch and edging it slowly to a closed position but by leaving it a touch open I find the glass still keeps clear and the burn rate has reduced greatly - as well as this once it's in full go flame wise I have the back knob/primary air flow turned down and once I find I need a kick of heat I put this back up to 2 1/2 or 3 for a while - not for too long mind had the knocking sounds a few times and don't want to over fire the stove!.

Like you too I have being going through different fuels for best price and long lasting and heat output and to be honest find the Polish Premium coal (Sometimes Columbian - which is cheaper option & very big size coal nuggets - only when I can't get polish) to be the best for heat output and speed of heating up the water/rads (usually within 25mins of starting fire) - I gave the smokeless nuggets a go (And again recently) - Think it was Eco Brite or Eco Flame medium sized nuggets - but it just wasn't suitable for our lifestyle (Only home from work at 6) took way too long to get ignited and even longer for the pump to kick in and start heating the rads, I also found it didn't heat the rads to the same great temperature as the Polish coal at all - I have a friend who uses nothing but the smokeless in his stove (Erin) and he finds it great but as he starts his fire at 7am every morning and can tend to it throughout the day and has a smaller house with less rads the smokeless fuel seems to work for him. There was a couple of saturdays/sundays I put on the smokeless nuggets fire (Eco Brite or Eco Flame) very early morning and by late that evening it was good enough heat but it just took too long to get the house (Semi Detached) heated up after having the fire going all day.

The plumber who installed our stove said that he would always go for the dirtiest coal so to speak so the Polish Premium seems to fit the bill and by being attentive to the settings I can get it to last long and give out good heat both to the water & rads and from the stove itself.

I don't know how your rads are but I have found that I have needed to bleed them a good couple of times since installation of the stove which is something I want to get my plumber back in to check as there does seem to be a little bubble of air lock somewhere in the system but other than that all is going ok and already see the benefits and would say I have only used the oil a couple of times (for about an hour at a time) since last October. Hope some of the above helps. - Also just to say I asked my plumber RE the air wash and fire burning very quickly and was there a health/maintenance reason for having to keep the air wash open fully - he looked into it & contacted stanley rep and although it does add to give air to beneath a coal fire (mostly at start up) as long as we don't mind the glass getting a bit black during a fire that we can close it so would prolong the fire that bit longer but one of the reasons we chose the Stanley Reginald was for it's huge glass front so we could see the fire so I always leave the bottom (AirWash) that little bit open (at times half way but if windy out closed to a couple of mm sometimes judging on the sound and flame speed you can get it right) just to get the benefit of that little bit of air washing up over the glass and keeping it clear whilst not burning out the fire quickly.
AS I said hope some of this helps and best of luck.

Blowheads

Sorry to come in very late on this one, two points, try cpl fuels called phurnacite -> it's a great coal

Re the rads bleeding, I narrowed it down to the water boiling in the rads, that could happen if you have the rads warm from the stove and maybe the oil kicks in, this can dramatically increase the temp in the rads, but this then is fed back round to the stove which could boil the water thus creating the bubbles and air...