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pen said:
I'm a guy who who made this assumption.....

So there I was,,,, 2 days after a fire (or maybe 3,,, it's been a while),,,,, looking at the forecast and seeing the end of the season.......

I got to business and cleaned the chimney, connector pipes, shoveled the vast majority of the contents of the stove out,,,, and vacuumed what remained.

It was close to me finishing the job when I noticed our very aged cat run up the steps next to the stove at a pace that was far above any average she regularly maintained....

My first instinct of course was to blame her for something,,,, but about that same time I wafted a scent that was very wrong,,,, it was a fraction of a second later that I noticed my shop vac sent a flame out the back that I would estimate to be between 4 and 5 feet!!!!

I obviously f-ed this deal up in a bad way by sucking up a hot coal that I didn't think should exist yet and putting it into a supercharged situation with all sorts of good fuel in the vac.

To summarize,,,, lots of things suck up stuff, there is a reason why some are called "ash vacs".

Don't make the same mistake I did!
Click to expand...
Sort of a reverse flamethrower. I either dump mine into a snowbank or in a swampy area near my house.
 
I keep light-weight paper luncheon bags next to my lounge chair to place the bark, woodchips, junk mail and hearth sweepings into. I throw that into the back of the firebox before loading the firebox when it's gone cold. I also occasionally through in a few tablespoons of creosote cleaner in it so that it burns hot enough even though my chimney, which runs up the side of the house outdoors, doesn't collect enough to warrant it.
 
Slocketman said:
I will sometimes toss some of that hardwood charcoal that comes in bags for BBQ grills into the kindling mix when starting a new fire if I don't have enough kindling....

It seems to work very well, and I didn't have much luck using it for the BBQ (hard to ignite) so this way it's at least getting used.
Click to expand...

You need a charcoal chimney starter to really get that stuff going for the grill, once you do though, you'll never go back to the old stuff, at least I didnt.
 
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On point of the topic,,, I've changed, altered, and adjusted my fire starting methods for my englander 30 many times over the last 7 or so years I've had it.

More importantly,,, after this many years with the stove, and more years burning in other appliances,,,, that I'm to the point now where all the experimentation has let me look at the thermometer outside,,, the thermometer upstairs, the thermometer in the basement where the stove is, and the weather conditions,,, if any coals at all remain or not,,, to help me determine how I build the fire,, how much fuel to put on it, etc.

Point is, starting a fire well has many variables. A method that is "fail safe" in one unit,,, won't do poo in another...

With experience, I've found what it takes to overheat my house, what it takes to make me wish I didn't trust the weather man for the night's low temp, and everything in between..

My point is to emphasize what you brought out at the beginning of this thread,,, even with years of experience, things change! Keep changing with them and be willing to learn and experiment and get better, as there's almost always room to learn more about how to make this work best...... THIS, sharing of experimentation, is why I love this place and am a better burner each day I keep in mind that I have something to learn about my stove or from this place.

pen
 
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And then comes along that night when they have been saying for two days that it is gonna be in the twenties tonight and you load up a big night load. And then you walk back to the computer after it is rocking and the wind has changed to from the south and the new forecast is for a low of 50. Gonna get hot in the joint tonight...

Happens a couple of times a season.
 
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After 7 seasons I finally had a year when everything went right with the T6. Wood was seasoned just right. I got the loading down to a tee and had the best mild weather burning yet. But even with the right ingredients in the past week I did have a night that ended up warmer than expected and I had to open the window. Ces't la vie.
 
pen said:
On point of the topic,,, I've changed, altered, and adjusted my fire starting methods for my englander 30 many times over the last 7 or so years I've had it.

More importantly,,, after this many years with the stove, and more years burning in other appliances,,,, that I'm to the point now where all the experimentation has let me look at the thermometer outside,,, the thermometer upstairs, the thermometer in the basement where the stove is, and the weather conditions,,, if any coals at all remain or not,,, to help me determine how I build the fire,, how much fuel to put on it, etc.

Point is, starting a fire well has many variables. A method that is "fail safe" in one unit,,, won't do poo in another...

With experience, I've found what it takes to overheat my house, what it takes to make me wish I didn't trust the weather man for the night's low temp, and everything in between..

My point is to emphasize what you brought out at the beginning of this thread,,, even with years of experience, things change! Keep changing with them and be willing to learn and experiment and get better, as there's almost always room to learn more about how to make this work best...... THIS, sharing of experimentation, is why I love this place and am a better burner each day I keep in mind that I have something to learn about my stove or from this place.

pen
Click to expand...

Well said Pen, To do everything needed to burn wood is a never ending learning process. I continually tweak or makeover, acquiring wood, processing, stacking, wood location near the stove and running the stove. All with the thought of reducing the work, time, increase durability and reliability. Every one's situation is a bit different. Sharing of what works and what doesn't is what makes this place great. Thanks to all my brothers here that enjoy sharing there experience!
 
Old sailor's rule: never throw morning ashes against the wind.
Subset #1 : Read above then observe if there is falling snow/rain; ashes will stick to beards.
Subset #2 : Never ever do above in the nude.

N.B. On occasion this poster has not followed the above, with consequences. ;em;em
 
TIP of the Day #2
Easy kindling is scored at new home sites, cabinetry shops. Most contractors have to pay to dump wood scraps.
Ask first, then ask for framing scraps that are not PT, have no nails, prefer softwood framing ends.
If you have pets or horses, save the feed bags for scrap wood.
 
Something that seems to work well in my stove on a reload.
I scoop the coals to the center to make a "coal log" for lack of better phrasing. I place two splits on either side and one or two splits on top.
This creates some small air channels over the coals and it seems to ignite and get burning faster so I can dial the air back sooner.
The wifey pointed out that the ash in the center seems to be more burnt up and a different color than regular ash. Not as many pieces of charcoals to sift out either. [I think I took a picture...if I did, I will edit & post].
EDIT: A picture of the "coal log" right before dialing the stove back.
WP_20160127_00_20_48_Pro.jpg
 
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20160404_212319.jpg

I'll pre-stack the sticks sometimes to make sure they'll fall right when I load the stove.
 
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My tip. For kindling I will slice up a piece of pine with the chain saw and then cut the slices into long skinny pieces with a table saw.
I like the way they stack that way.
 
Our potbelly (pig) is the 2421 which is 27" deep.
I use mainly 24" splits so most of the load is N/S
stacked loose for airflow. They burn a bit and collapse
into a half burnt coal bed. That holds for a good few hours
then a few big splits or small rounds tossed on for a longer
cycle.

My only useful tip is good kindle and some dead but not yet rotted scrounge
gets up and making BTU's much sooner. I like all those mini wedges from
the splitting process, and busted up pallet pieces.
 
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