Quadra fire needs feeding every three hours!

Stillson lives said:

That's why I hear the steak sizzling in my firebox! I'm learning so much here. Thanks!

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Water does not burn. By not drying the wood beforehand, you are wasting heat (and money). Try to get on at least a 2-year rotation schedule meaning during winter/early spring you stack the wood you want to burn the winter after the coming one. A 3-year rotation would be even better. Here is a pretty good setup:


http://www.instructables.com/id/No-tools-firewood-rack/

Do you have a stovetop thermometer? When you turn down the air you should see how the stovetop temp keeps rising while the flue temp starts dropping, indicating you are heating your house not the outside. Optimal temp to run the stove would be above 500 to about 700 F at peak. If reducing the air leads to the flames going out and you get a smoldering mess the wood is not dry enough. Check to see what is coming out your chimney. Visible smoke should only happen in the first 10 to 15 minutes of a burn cycle. Once you cut down the air you should only see heat vapors. Luckily winter is almost over. You can try supplementing your wood with lumber scraps, cut up pallets or compressed wood-logs like Enviro-logs or Biobricks. When was the last time your chimney was professionally cleaned?

Stillson lives said:

Wow! Thanks for the great information and that is a great setup! I am purchasing a stove top thermometer ASAP (as I seem to be heating the outdoors) I have only had the stove/chimney for about three years so it's never been professionally cleaned.

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You are totally overdue. Get a chimney sweep ASAP. I clean mine 2 to 3 times in the winter myself since I don't want to climb up the roof in the middle of winter to take a look down the flue. Burning 3 years with what sounds like green wood you really need someone to take a look at it. When you burn regularly the chimney should be cleaned or at least inspected once a year. Especially in the first years it is good to do it more often until you now your stove and your wood better.

bholler said:

you should get yourself a moisture meter so you know if there is allot of sizzling for quite a while your wood probably isn't dry enough a little sizzle is ok. I know I will get crap for this but I never dry any wood other than hickory more than a year and it always tests 20% or less on a fresh split face I know lots of guys say oak takes 3 yrs but that is not my experience. Get a moisture meter and you will know for sure They are pretty cheap for how helpful they are.

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Sure that was oak you were testing? Unless you were lucky and got wood from a dead and dried out tree, I have a hard time believing oak got below 20% moisture in PA in one year. Does your moisture meter work ok?

Stillman, I have an older one without the ACC. I only use the air control and pull it out about a third around 400 stove top temp (no flue thermometer) and pull it all the way out, pushing back in a smig, at 600 stove top. Stove top will be around 250 or so after 6-7 hours. That picture was around 600 with air pulled all the way out. Something to see. I wish the camera could do the flames justice.

stephiedoll said:

Stillman, I have an older one without the ACC. I only use the air control and pull it out about a third around 400 stove top temp (no flue thermometer) and pull it all the way out, pushing back in a smig, at 600 stove top. Stove top will be around 250 or so after 6-7 hours. That picture was around 600 with air pulled all the way out. Something to see. I wish the camera could do the flames justice.

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This is the kind of results I see too as long as the wood is properly dried.

Stillson lives said:

I've been doing it all wrong from the start! I will do as instructed and I'm excited about seeing some positive results! Thank you!

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Hopefully you see some results like this.



Notice all the fire up top in the secondary tubes, but not much flame coming off the wood. Doesn't look as impressive as a raging inferno, but there's noticeably more heat coming off the stove this way and the flue temps are lower. The wood also burns longer this way, and you shouldn't see any smoke coming out of the chimney. However, this is with the wood I posted a pic of earlier that was testing at 16-17%. If you have wet wood, it's probably not going to work well when you dial back the air.

KD0AXS said:

Hopefully you see some results like this.

Notice all the fire up top in the secondary tubes, but not much flame coming off the wood. Doesn't look as impressive as a raging inferno, but there's noticeably more heat coming off the stove this way and the flue temps are lower. The wood also burns longer this way, and you shouldn't see any smoke coming out of the chimney. However, this is with the wood I posted a pic of earlier that was testing at 16-17%. If you have wet wood, it's probably not going to work well when you dial back the air.

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Hey buddy is that an Osburn 2400? If so how do you like it?

Stillson lives said:

It looks great! I can't wait! Thanks!

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No problem. I'm still new to this so I'm still learning myself, but I've learned a lot on here. We just had our stove put in 3 weeks ago. Luckily, I was able to get my hands on some nice dry wood. Seems like most people aren't that lucky when they're starting out heating with wood, especially this winter.

Colorado Boy said:

Hey buddy is that an Osburn 2400? If so how do you like it?

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Yep, sure is. Like I said, we just got it 3 weeks ago so I'm still learning, but so far so good!

Stillson lives said:

I have a quadra fire wood stove in my basement where my salesman said it would heat my entire home (I did say salesman right?)
It does do a great job but when it gets cold here I have to feed it every 3 hours! I want to remove the air tubes, baffle boards and ceramic blanket to increase my firebox size to get more burn time. Can anyone tell me if this would work and is it a good idea? Help!

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I read through....but did not see you say what type of wood you are burning. Feeding every 2-3 hours is what I do with softwood, 3.5-4.5 hours with hard wood if I want to keep it roaring. Remember that burn times will vary with wood types and coaling counts in burn times.

For me going down to where the coals are starting to go away is 6 hours with softwoods (pine, fir, cedar etc) and 8 hours with hardwoods.

KD0AXS said:

Yep, sure is. Like I said, we just got it 3 weeks ago so I'm still learning, but so far so good!

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Cool can't wait to get mine in. Does it throw lots of heat? How are your burn times so far?

bholler said:

Yes I am sure it was oak and yes meter works it can be done for sure. I do it every year for 9 or ten years now and I only clean once a season and hardly get anything out of the stack. We now test all of our customers wood when we clean for them and allot of them are accomplishing it to. Honestly before coming to this site I have never heard of anyone drying their wood for three years. pennstate recommends 6-12 months ccs in pa and that is what we go by and the meter confirms it as well as stove performance..

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I season 3 years because my supply is 3 years, and it's easy to rotate it that way. But 6 months for oak is insufficient to burn the way that many of us want to burn. I note that you say a little sizzle is okay and that halfway on the primary air control is about normal for most installations. I want to be able to burn my wood easily at 90-100% primary air fully closed when the fire is settled in. I agree that 3 years is probably overkill, but I don't think most people are going to burn oak efficiently at 6-12 months in most climates. They're going to go through wood faster, set air higher, and produce more creosote because the fire will take longer to come up to temperature.

A little over 7 hours 3/4 load of oak chunks.

bholler said:

I went back and say I did say half way in most instances I should not have I think a quarter is more normal but if someone is pushing the stove they will need to open it up a little more. Yes they will loose more heat outside and burn more wood but the stove will also put out more heat. Much more than halfway I think is a waste.

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Unless it is a startup fire I close my air fully and get the stovetemp easily up to 700 F at peak during the early burn cycle. Temps stay above 350 F to 400 F for 6 hours before I reload using dry ash (seasoned 2 years). Each stove is different but I would suggest trying wood that has been seasoned for at least 2 years and closing the air completely or almost completely. You may be surprised how much heat the stove can throw without wasting so much up the flue.

bholler said:

you want to be able to close your air all the way

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This is how the Quad IR works, the stove throws the heat big time and if you leave the primary air half open it will run away on you. Remember every stove is different.