Another Re-Load Question!

[jadm]

Okay- I admit to total confusion. Almost like the more I read the more confused I become. Think I have grasped a concept here and then realize I haven't and I get totally thrown off.

Smoke on restart is my concern.

Just reloaded at 350* (If I let my insert get much lower it is harder to get going again so 350* seems about right for the moment.....). I raked coals to front. Separating the ash. I put larger logs in back and smaller on top of coal bed to get things going.

My paranoia centers around smoke out chimney when I do this. I get quite a bit of white smoke out of my chimney for about 10 minutes before fire catches. Once it catches it goes back to clear. Besides worrying about smoking my neighbors out, I worry about creosote build up.


I'm hoping that this is 'normal' during start up and that the ensuing fire which creates heat will burn away anything that might have been created by the smoke.

 

[Pagey]

With my Lopi Endeavor, I reload around 300F, and with the bypass damper open and the new load catching, I too get smoke for about 10-15 minutes. I don't see how one can avoid this, really. But within a few minutes, I'm back up to 400-450F, and I shut the bypass damper. As soon as I do, I can go outside and see only a heat 'shimmer' coming from the rain cap. I believe this is just standard operating procedure. At reload time, the box just isn't hot enough to kick off secondary combustion, and the bypass damper is open. In my mind, this means there would have to be SOME smoke.

 

[Hogwildz]

Anytime you reload, your going to get smoke out the chimney until the new load of fuel is ignited good & up to temp.
The only way to avoid that is load while its still over the 500 range, which I suggest not doing unless its large splits. Otherwise the temp will spike up.
With large splits at high temps during reload, you may find it lowers the temp for a lil bit, until it starts blazing , then it will cruise back up to normal temps.
Your fine as you are doing it. Everyone will experience the same thing.

 

[jadm]

.
The only way to avoid that is load while its still over the 500 range, which I suggest not doing unless its large splits. Otherwise the temp will spike up.
.

Yep-I figured that one out fairly early on. :ahhh:

Took me awhile to figure out the 300* re-start temp. Now I won't worry about the smoke since it does go away.

Thanks for the input!

 

[trailblaze]

you're buring wood....smoke is inevitable! seems like your doing fine.....

 

[Pagey]

Anytime you reload, your going to get smoke out the chimney until the new load of fuel is ignited good & up to temp.
The only way to avoid that is load while its still over the 500 range, which I suggest not doing unless its large splits. Otherwise the temp will spike up.
With large splits at high temps during reload, you may find it lowers the temp for a lil bit, until it starts blazing , then it will cruise back up to normal temps.
Your fine as you are doing it. Everyone will experience the same thing.

+1 to this. I did this very thing the other day, and my temp spiked up by an additional 150F in just a few minutes. That is not something I will be doing again. Next time I will wait until the end of the burn cycle is near. But, hey, we learn by doing, right!

 

[jadm]

Anytime you reload, your going to get smoke out the chimney until the new load of fuel is ignited good & up to temp.
The only way to avoid that is load while its still over the 500 range, which I suggest not doing unless its large splits. Otherwise the temp will spike up.
With large splits at high temps during reload, you may find it lowers the temp for a lil bit, until it starts blazing , then it will cruise back up to normal temps.
Your fine as you are doing it. Everyone will experience the same thing.

+1 to this. I did this very thing the other day, and my temp spiked up by an additional 150F in just a few minutes. That is not something I will be doing again. Next time I will wait until the end of the burn cycle is near. But, hey, we learn by doing, right![/quote

I agree that we learn by doing....my problem is that I forget a lot of what I learn. I can remember that I forget things so all is not lost....yet. ;-)

 

[LeonMSPT]

Just burning off the water load... I always leave them open to air and a vigorous fire for ten minutes or so each reload. The logs have to be burning, all around, then close the air supply down. Even dry wood, well dried and seasoned, is still 20% water by weight. That means a thirty pound chunk of wood has six pounds of water in it. That is 3 quarts of water... even boil 3 quarts of water on a stove? All away into the air? Makes a lot of steam...

On the other hand Imagine taking a 3 quart pan of water, and throwing it on the fire in your stove. How much steam and smoke would that make out the end of the chimney? Not to mention how many pieces it would make your cast iron stove into... don't recommend trying that one, just an example.