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Hang on a minutewho was it not so long ago that was going on and on about how good it is having a proper old smelly noisy dirty coal fired boiler Looks like you are discovering why most people resort to gas firing Phil
Sounds like poor coal..... has someone been relieving themselves on it?Blowers are only for starting a fire, once they are going then the chimney should produce enough draw.Jo
How small have you broken your coal up into? Smaller bits = greater surface area = easier (quicker) burning.You would be surprised how smaller a lump you will need to be using on a boiler that size. Jo
JB have you tried to buy paraffin in a normal hardware store? Meths is always available, BBQ lighter fuel is also ok.
One other thing you mentioned the other day was that you are going to raise the bottom of the whole boiler, how will you control the much increased amount of air getting in as that will make a coal fire burn even faster?
One point I forgot to mention is make sure you sieve / riddle your fuel you do not want to stoke with dust it will get up the tubes abut there Stuart