primary air control

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smmm

Member
Aug 1, 2010
75
Ohio
Do you go by the stove temps or by the fire when you decide to cut back the air supply.

I have heard people say wait 20 minutes...when the wood has no signs of wood that has not been burnt...look at the stove temps...

Can you cut the air way back pretty early after a reload as long as the stove temps are up? I guess what I mean is, can you cut back the primary air supply as long as you have good flames? A lot of times I don't want to wait till all the wood is on fire and if I do my temps seem to be higher than they should.

After reading the post about slow burns on a non cat I've learned a lot of things. Friends kept telling me that I should be able to close the primary air on my stove completely. After I did, I could never get a clean burn and my glass would turn black fast. I soon realized that I need to leave it open at least 1/8" and that is only after I have temps way up.

Thanks
 
I mostly run the stove by watching the fire with an occasional verification from the instruments.
 
Older stove, but same principal. I do both.
Good flame on the wood, I cut back air, but watch to make sure the fire doesn't go out. If it does, air gets opened.
Might take a couple shots like that, usually when the stove and flue are cool, then gooder to go and knock the air down.
None of this takes more than a few minutes most burns, but they're all a bit different.
 
Thanks. Anyone have any ideas on how to mark the air control so that I don't have to lay on the floor and look at the opening every time I adjust i
 
smmm said:
Thanks. Anyone have any ideas on how to mark the air control so that I don't have to lay on the floor and look at the opening every time I adjust i
Click to expand...

I painted a white line on my air control at the closed mark
 
Hi Smmm would you mind posting the link to the post you read about the slow burns, I did a search but didnt' come up with it.

thanks :)
 
The stone stove is slow to react so I tend to have a raging fire when I first get going. The only way to know that I am about to melt something is by watching the probe thermometer in the flue pipe.

When into the shut down mode for long burns I go by looks of the fire. The goal is not to snuff the flame completely. Instruments won't indicate the snuffage. Not sure how people survived without glass doors.
 
smmm said:
Thanks. Anyone have any ideas on how to mark the air control so that I don't have to lay on the floor and look at the opening every time I adjust i
Click to expand...
I laughed when I read this since my air control is a butterfly valve mounted right in the loading door. My last stove however was more conventional with the opening in the back down low with a rod to control it. And since full closed was still 20% open it was really just and open or closed rod for me.
 
smmm said:
Do you go by the stove temps or by the fire when you decide to cut back the air supply. Yes . . . hehheh . . . I actually look at the flames and get a good idea of when I can cut back on the air, but look at the stove and/or flue temp to confirm that I am hot enough . . . sometimes I am good to go and sometimes I get fooled.

I have heard people say wait 20 minutes...when the wood has no signs of wood that has not been burnt...look at the stove temps...

Can you cut the air way back pretty early after a reload as long as the stove temps are up? I guess what I mean is, can you cut back the primary air supply as long as you have good flames? A lot of times I don't want to wait till all the wood is on fire and if I do my temps seem to be higher than they should. Yes . . . in fact while I typically cut back the air incrementally on my first fire, with a reload on hot coals when the temps are still decent I find that I can often close up the air relatively quickly and either go right to the halfway mark or nearly all the way closed within just a few minutes of the wood catching on fire.

After reading the post about slow burns on a non cat I've learned a lot of things. Friends kept telling me that I should be able to close the primary air on my stove completely. After I did, I could never get a clean burn and my glass would turn black fast. I soon realized that I need to leave it open at least 1/8" and that is only after I have temps way up. This really depends on the set up . . . and the wood. In my first year there was no way I could close the air all the way without it gunking up my glass. Now, with well seasoned wood and with the stove warmed up I can often close down the air all the way and have a clean burn.Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Warm N Toasty... the link old spark posted is the one I am referring to. Good reading...

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.
 
I go mostly by the fire. Sometimes I look at the stovetop thermometer and it is higher than I expect, or maybe lower, but most of the time I can guess about what the temperature is based on the fire. I am starting to be able to judge the air setting by looking at the lever, but I am not always reliable.
 
I think I am going with the white paint. Or maybe even scratch a line in the paint.
 
smmm said:
Thanks. Anyone have any ideas on how to mark the air control so that I don't have to lay on the floor and look at the opening every time I adjust i
Click to expand...
Keep a compact mirror closeby
 
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