Considering a some kind of Draft Inducer?

RDabate said:

Let's say your burn is half gone, do you guys load on top of that, or wait until you see coals?

Click to expand...

Be careful to compare burn habits of those without storage. Most of us with storage do things quite a bit differently in terms of load timing and sizing. We're in it for the fastest burn possible, no idle. Non-storage users will have slightly different methods, especially when trying to acheive an overnight burn,

stee6043 said:

Another thought - I never had any luck using the fan during cold starts. I start my boiler every day without a single coal left in the boiler. I really have to let the fire get going before hitting go to be successful. My experience is that the fan will put the fire out if its turned on too early. My experience only, however.

Click to expand...

Ever try building your fire upside down & lighting from the top? Then the fan would be moving the air the way you'd want the fire to build.

stee6043 said:

Another thought - I never had any luck using the fan during cold starts. I start my boiler every day without a single coal left in the boiler. I really have to let the fire get going before hitting go to be successful. My experience is that the fan will put the fire out if its turned on too early. My experience only, however

Click to expand...

Mine would more than likely go out with a single coal but with a few coals I have always been successful and have been able to walk away confident that I was gassing. Perhaps my low fan speed has something to do with it. Don't know but I can tell you that the boiler lighting session is short and sweet. I started this technique in the Spring of 2012 and have continued through the 2012-2013 heating season and it has worked flawlessly for me. Before that, I was lighting kindling or extremely small splits and getting a good hot fire before starting the fan and closing the damper. I, too went by stack temperature.

Smoke like hell and also caused the stainless pipe to be blackened ten inches down the side as well as depositing a lot of carbon on the stainless cap.

When I rake out the lower chamber I rake the ash into a sieve box laying over my ash pan. It separates the charcoal out so I can use the ash on my lawn and gives me a small standby supply of charcoal If I should come up short in the fire chamber.

Fred61 said:

Mine would more than likely go out with a single coal but with a few coals I have always been successful and have been able to walk away confident that I was gassing. Perhaps my low fan speed has something to do with it. Don't know but I can tell you that the boiler lighting session is short and sweet. I started this technique in the Spring of 2012 and have continued through the 2012-2013 heating season and it has worked flawlessly for me. Before that, I was lighting kindling or extremely small splits and getting a good hot fire before starting the fan and closing the damper. I, too went by stack temperature.

Smoke like hell and also caused the stainless pipe to be blackened ten inches down the side as well as depositing a lot of carbon on the stainless cap.

When I rake out the lower chamber I rake the ash into a sieve box laying over my ash pan. It separates the charcoal out so I can use the ash on my lawn and gives me a small standby supply of charcoal If I should come up short in the fire chamber.

Click to expand...

Maybe I just don't look close enough but I swear I have almost zero charcoal left in my boiler after a normal run. I could set my timer closer to the end of burn but I've always tried to let it clean itself out. Hmmm...maybe this year is the year to try some new things with my process.

I usually don't have any left either.

stee6043 said:

Maybe I just don't look close enough but I swear I have almost zero charcoal left in my boiler after a normal run. I could set my timer closer to the end of burn but I've always tried to let it clean itself out. Hmmm...maybe this year is the year to try some new things with my process.

Click to expand...

I batch burn as I assume you do. Usually start daily burn at 4m and somewhere around 7:30 or 8:00 I check tank temps and fire. Since I get little or no smoke from my unit when opening the door it isn't a problem. At that point the fire is pretty much burned down so if the storage temp is somewhere near what is needed for the next 20 hours, I shut off the master switch. My system is capable of getting the storage to 185 but I don't strive for the highest point. If it looks like I could throw on another stick or two to bring the storage a little higher, I do and return in time to shut of switch while there's still some unburned fuel.

If it goes into idle at that point, which can easily happen when nearing maximum temperatures, and I ignore it, the cycling fan will burn up the charcoal even if it's buried in the ashes so it must be shut down.

Perhaps I'm trading time from the burn to the lighting procedure but I don't think so. Not much going on at 8:00 here. If I had to put on my jacket and boots and trek out to a boiler shack in the backyard you can bet this technique would be thrown out.