What could I possibly be doing wrong? Fires suck! Pictures and everything!

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wowser

Member
Nov 12, 2011
51
southern california
Burns only last 3 hours. 1st hour fire is good, 2nd hour, coals, 3rd hour coals mostly gone.

New Century Insert, 14' flu, SS liner, 60° outside, < 10% moisture on mix of hard and soft wood.

Here's an experiment I just did. Started fire at 5 pm and it started going out by 5:30 until I stoked it a bit and added smaller splits. In an hour it's just a big pile of coals. If I just put one or two small splits, I can get a roaring fire with secondaries but I can't load stove up and never get over 400°. Forget overnight burns.
 

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Wowser, you need to build up a decent bed of coals to maintain your fire. Think coal bed first, secondaries will follow.

Kinda like "If you build it, they will come" :)
 
So you're saying you can't get a fire going without a bed of coals first? How would you start a cold box then? The vids I've seen show loading up the firebox the way I did. So I should make a small fire, then load up the wood on top? I am wondering how I can get 5-7 hour burns like everyone else. I get great burns if I just put 1 or 2 small splits in but they go to coals in an hour.
 
When you say "Coals", are they glowing? If they are glowing, it is ready for more wood. If they are just black chunks, then the wood is not burning completely. Just wanting to make sure that your coals are glowing bright orange. If they are then it appears that maybe you are not adding enough wood to the stove.
 
It's acting like the fire is starved for air. Is it possible the vent is clogged at the bottom? THe lever for the damper is above the door, is that where the air enters the firebox or does it go to the bottom, where it could be clogged?
 
Are you sure the wood is dry and I mean really dry like a popcorn fart, cause if the wood aint dry your life will suck and the wife will leave you and the kids will throw rocks at your head. :lol:
 
Yes, they are glowing orange, with a little ash over them, but not black. The only time I get a good fire is when I put one big split diagonally over some coals. Then the secondaries kick in. But I have to keep feeding the fire this way and I read that's not the most efficient way to keep a fire.
 
Stat with a smaller fire. Think Boy Scouts, and feed that to get it going.

Baybee steps, baybee steps.

Are you using a Super Cedar, or something else?
 
Well, the meter I just bought at Lowe's (General, I think) shows 7-12% which I read was good. Anything under 20% yes?
 
How long has the wood been CSS? Let's get that part over with, so you're wife won't leave you *winks @ OS, that was funny :) *
 
okay, I think I'm doing this all wrong then. I thought I saw a vid where this woman loaded up a firebox: big pieces in back, and smaller in front, with kindling and starter on top, light match and stand back. Not so easy I guess. I am using Lighting Nuggets fire starter.

I'll try a small fire, then slowly load it up. It makes sense since the best fires I get are the smallest. I just want to get a longer burn than 2-3 hours.

So the 14' flue and the small gap at the cap (see photo) aren't a problem?
 
What does this mean? Sorry, I'm a newb.


<<How long has the wood been CSS?>
 
wowser said:
okay, I think I'm doing this all wrong then. I thought I saw a vid where this woman loaded up a firebox: big pieces in back, and smaller in front, with kindling and starter on top, light match and stand back. Not so easy I guess. I am using Lighting Nuggets fire starter.

I'll try a small fire, then slowly load it up. It makes sense since the best fires I get are the smallest. I just want to get a longer burn than 2-3 hours.

So the 14' flue and the small gap at the cap (see photo) aren't a problem?
Welcome , They Have told me that 14 feet flue is at the bare min.
 
wowser said:
What does this mean? Sorry, I'm a newb.


<<How long has the wood been CSS?>

CSS ='s cut, split, & stacked?

If your outside temps are at 60F, draft is going to be a problem up the chimney, usually. Getting a decent, smaller, hot fire, will help get the warmer air up the chimney. A good load of newspaper, mixed with the smaller fire, can also accomplish this.
 
Sorry ya'll but with those size splits, of soft wood or even hard wood, 3 hours burn ain't bad in my opinion. Wowser, when you open the door to the stove to reload does smoke puff out? Is your glass getting sooty when burning, or when fire is coaling down?
 
Thing I see is no soot on anything. Not even edges of fire brick. Maybe Wowser just hasn't found the sweet spot for HIS/HER setup yet. Not enough hours at the controls is what im sayin
 
In that video you saw Vanessa start that top down fire with small stuff and use that to build a coal bed. After that burned down to coals then she raked the coals to the front and loaded the stove for the longer burn. Larger stuff in the back and a smaller split on top of the coals in the front.

That will bet you a longer burn. But with that firebox size you are not going to have flames for six hours. Coals yes. Coals make heat too.
 
What I was thinking as well. Looks like a small armload of sticks more than anything. Not that it's bad, but it's not going to burn for long.
The firewood I use, 2 splits is equal to about what is in that pic. When I load the stove I usually fit 7-8+ splits, all depending on how big they are.

Pineburner said:
Sorry ya'll but with those size splits, of soft wood or even hard wood, 3 hours burn ain't bad in my opinion. Wowser, when you open the door to the stove to reload does smoke puff out? Is your glass getting sooty when burning, or when fire is coaling down?

The other issue as well is you are trying to make a fire when it's 60* outside. I'm surprised you get much draft at all.

I like burning when it's cold out, when it warms up to above freezing I noticie the lower draft, makes controlling the stove tougher, plus it's tough to only heat the house to a comfortable temp and not overdo it.

35-40* outside is about the warmest I go to with the stove. It's been warm the last few days, upper 20s-low 30s and I've had to run the stove with just 2-3 logs to keep the house bearable.
I came home from work last night, the guy I rent to had loaded the stove full (like I had showed him) a few hours before. It was just under 90*. With the front door open and a window open it took several hours to get it down to 75, which is still pretty hot!
 
Yes, that initial load is what I burn to get a coal bed to load a decent sized full load of splits when the stove is cold. Seems reasonable to go through that kindling fire fairly fast! Cheers!
 
You're loading the stove with a bunch of small splits, which are going to burn up faster than a load of larger splits. I sometimes load my stove with small splits like you show in the pictures to get the stove hot fast. I think it is generally about 2 hours from start to the time when I am down to charcoal and ready to reload. When I reload I use larger splits and load the stove pretty full if I want the longest burn. I cannot have flames for 6 or 8 hours. I can have a warm stove with the top at around 300 degrees 6 hours later (at most), but that is about it with a stove as small as mine.
 
NATE379 said:
The other issue as well is you are trying to make a fire when it's 60* outside. I'm surprised you get much draft at all.

+1

If it was 60F outside I'd have the windows open, not the heat on.


When it gets down to a decent cold temp try again. First fire small, hot and wick to make a coal bed, then load it to the gills for a real burn cycle. those small couple splits and kindling you had piled, well of course you only got 3 hours ;)
 
jharkin said:
NATE379 said:
The other issue as well is you are trying to make a fire when it's 60* outside. I'm surprised you get much draft at all.

+1

If it was 60F outside I'd have the windows open, not the heat on.


When it gets down to a decent cold temp try again. First fire small, hot and wick to make a coal bed, then load it to the gills for a real burn cycle. those small couple splits and kindling you had piled, well of course you only got 3 hours ;)

But, high temps and low draft shouldn't speed the burning of the load, but slow it down. Cheers!
 
jharkin said:
If it was 60F outside I'd have the windows open, not the heat on.

Not if you live in Southern California. The ridiculous assumption everybody makes here is that everybody else lives where they are with the same weather. People that deal with 90 degree summers can be freezing their ass off on a sixty degree night. All houses aren't built like they are in Alaska. Not everybody has five kids and the oven in the kitchen running four hours a day. It is different stuff for different folks.

Somebody in South Carolina trying to keep their house from being 50 degrees inside does not give one damn what ya deal with in Fairbanks when the temp may only vary ten degrees in twenty four hours. That is wood burning heaven. Try 50 at noon and 22 by morning. That is a wood burning challenge.
 
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