I think im doing something wrong..... ????

[TTigano]

I've noticed that I am reloading an awful lot and am not sure what I'm doing wrong.... I have been placing a "load" usually 5 or 6 splits on top of a hot bed of red coals.... (see pic) ... I usually end up with this type of coal bed after only 2 hrs of burn... I'm keeping the draft lever at about half closed or less... If I leave it any more closed, I won't have flames, if I leave it open morr than that, I have too large of flame... I could use some pro input here as I'm sure I am going to go through a TON of wood this way. I'm burning pretty oak that has been css since Jan last year. Check out the pictures to see my load and what it leaves me after a short while... Also, the stove really only gets to about 450-500 according to my rutland thermometer... I have a Hampton HI300 insert.... Thanks!

 

[oldspark]

Have you got some wood other than the Oak to try.

 

[TTigano]

Have you got some wood other than the Oak to try.

I will have to pick through the stack as its all mixed. Do you think its the wood?

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I would let those coals burn a bit longer and then stack them off to the side before I added any new splits. That should stretch out the burn cycle a bit.

 

[rdust]

That's a huge coal bed(lots of heat in there) how hot is the stove when you're loading on top of that? I'd imagine the stove gets hot pretty fast loading on that type of coal bed, could help explain the fast burn down. What type of temps do you see on the fresh load and what is the temp when it's coaled out like pictured?

 

[Wood Duck]

You could try several things. You could use larger splits - those in the pictures are sort of small. You could wait longer to reload - the coals might give good heat for a while and it seems like you have a lot of coals building up. When you load on red hot coals you get a lot of gassing of the wood very fast, leading perhaps to a too rapid burn. Another thing might be to load the splits more closely together - there is a lot of space between your splits. Closer loading would allow you to add more wood and also might reduce air flow between the splits so you'd get a slower burn. Maybe the oak isn't fully seasoned, which might force you to use extra air to maintain a hot fire, and this might make you go through wood faster than you should.

 

[Poor Doug]

I'm experiencing the same exact problem.
Large blocks of coals pile up to the point where you are limited to how much you can load.

It takes off quick once loaded and cruises at a nice temp.
I read a similar post in here and am leaning to the problem is the wood. Not dry enough.

In the mean time, I tend to scoop a bunch out when I get home from work and then load it up again.

 

[rdust]

My first season I burned oak c/s/s in March and I never had a coal build up issue even though the wood was far less than ideal. If it's got a year under it's belt I think it'll work. The general population considers that well seasoned, us a hearth.com have a bit of a sickness. :lol:

Open the air up and burn those coals down it looks like hours of good heat there. Pull the coals as far forward as you can open the air full and put a small split on them, that will help burn them down.

 

[TTigano]

That's a huge coal bed(lots of heat in there) how hot is the stove when you're loading on top of that? I'd imagine the stove gets hot pretty fast loading on that type of coal bed, could help explain the fast burn down. What type of temps do you see on the fresh load and what is the temp when it's coaled out like pictured?

The stove is around 250-275 when the coals look like that... I have the fan blowing and it just doesn't seem to throw any heat and that is the only reason i reload. I'm still learning here and when I reload, I leave the draft wide open to get the wood good and hot for about 10-15 minutes. I then draft down as much as I can to sustain a decent rolling flame. I feel as though I'm "babysitting" it way too much as I find myself playing with the draft alot! Temperatures seem to be around 500-550 during a slow rolling flame after reload and letting it "heat" back up.

 

[rdust]

The stove is around 250-275 when the coals look like that...

Try tossing a split(pine if you've got it) on it when it's like that, it should give you some good heat and help burn the coals down. The wood may not be perfect but you should be able to get by with it.

Are you seeing any secondary combustion? Also the bricks in the stove look minty fresh, that makes me think it's burning pretty hot.

 

[TTigano]

You could try several things. You could use larger splits - those in the pictures are sort of small. You could wait longer to reload - the coals might give good heat for a while and it seems like you have a lot of coals building up. When you load on red hot coals you get a lot of gassing of the wood very fast, leading perhaps to a too rapid burn. Another thing might be to load the splits more closely together - there is a lot of space between your splits. Closer loading would allow you to add more wood and also might reduce air flow between the splits so you'd get a slower burn. Maybe the oak isn't fully seasoned, which might force you to use extra air to maintain a hot fire, and this might make you go through wood faster than you should.

I agree with your recomendation of putting the splits closer together..... I also believe the wood isn't as seasoned as it could be... I will take some moisture readings in the morning. It is rather grayish and dark on the ends with splits and sounds hollow if you bang them together.. With this being the first year its kind of tough.. I have approx 5-cord stacked in single rows right now waiting on next year. I should be in better shape.

 

[TTigano]

My first season I burned oak c/s/s in March and I never had a coal build up issue even though the wood was far less than ideal. If it's got a year under it's belt I think it'll work. The general population considers that well seasoned, us a hearth.com have a bit of a sickness. :lol:

Open the air up and burn those coals down it looks like hours of good heat there. Pull the coals as far forward as you can open the air full and put a small split on them, that will help burn them down.

I'll def give this a try as I have noticed that the coal build up doesn't allow me to get a good load in.

 

[TTigano]

The stove is around 250-275 when the coals look like that...

Try tossing a split(pine if you've got it) on it when it's like that, it should give you some good heat and help burn the coals down. The wood may not be perfect but you should be able to get by with it.

Are you seeing any secondary combustion? Also the bricks in the stove look minty fresh, that makes me think it's burning pretty hot.

I don't have any dry pine right now but will next year. I believe the bricks look like that because I've only had the stove for a short time.... ;-)

 

[begreen]

Burn the coal bed down further by opening up the air and putting a single small split on top. Then, rake the coals forward, load the stove as your picture shows, but don't put the E/W splits on top. Instead fit them N/S on top of the bottom row with the cut side down to minimize air gaps between the splits. When they start burning well start closing down the air until the flames are very lazy.

 

[TTigano]

Burn the coal bed down further by opening up the air and putting a single small split on top. Then, rake the coals forward, load the stove as your picture shows, but don't put the E/W splits on top. Instead fit them N/S on top of the bottom row with the cut side down to minimize air gaps between the splits. When they start burning well start closing down the air until the flames are very lazy.

Thank you. I will give this a try. The site is awesome and I am learning alot. I had no idea burning wood could be this complicated..... lol

 

[begreen]

You're welcome. It's part science and part art. That makes it fun!

 

[KodiakII]

Bigger splits or full rounds (within reason) will give you longer burn times. Remember oak usually takes two to three years css to reach an acceptable moisture level.

 

[Hogwildz]

You don't necessarily need alot of flames the entire burn cycle.
More air = faster burn, and loading more often before coals burn down = more coal buildup.
Try different settings on the air control, lowering it each time and check the stack to see if smoke comes out or not. Flames don't always tell the story, but smoke or no smoke coming out of the stack does.
You may find you can turn the air down lower, for longer burns eliminating the need to keep feeding the stove.

 

[etiger2007]

I would also check your door gasket and window gasket for leaks; I had the same problem to a T and I found Vermont Casting did a horrible job installing both gaskets. I had to readjust the window gasket and totally replace the door gasket and this is my first full year burning witht this insert I did this yesterday. The stove acted totally different now that the door is completely sealed up I had consistant temps of 450 degrees and that is a first time the needle on the temp gage wasnt all over the place.

 

[HotCoals]

Cris-crossing your load like that will will make it burn up faster.
Keep it packed as tight as you can and try it.
Other then that I agree with all the other post..some good advice.
You do run your blower right?

 

[maxed_out]

just my observation that I too get a lot of coals like you do when I burn wood that has a higher mc. some of my 2-3 year css dry oak does this. I get a ton of coals from the 1 year old stuff which we never try to burn anymore. If we want a tasty steak, we can make nice load of coals, shovel to ashcan and out onto the weber charcoal grill. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm great steaks!

 

[oldspark]

I can get a lot of coals with dry wood if I am loading the stove a lot, if you are at your upper limits with the stove and its real cold out you are gonna get a lot of coals.

 

[oldspark]

Cris-crossing your load like that will will make it burn up faster.
Keep it packed as tight as you can and try it.
Other then that I agree with all the other post..some good advice.
You do run your blower right?

In order to get a good hot fire I criss cross mine a lot of the time, if I pack it tight it does not work as well, like BG said its art not science.

 

[TTigano]

I would also check your door gasket and window gasket for leaks; I had the same problem to a T and I found Vermont Casting did a horrible job installing both gaskets. I had to readjust the window gasket and totally replace the door gasket and this is my first full year burning witht this insert I did this yesterday. The stove acted totally different now that the door is completely sealed up I had consistant temps of 450 degrees and that is a first time the needle on the temp gage wasnt all over the place.

I did adjust the door using the dollar trick and made surr it was sealed but I did have a problem with it before.

 

[Wood Duck]

I'm experiencing the same exact problem.
Large blocks of coals pile up to the point where you are limited to how much you can load.

It takes off quick once loaded and cruises at a nice temp.
I read a similar post in here and am leaning to the problem is the wood. Not dry enough.

In the mean time, I tend to scoop a bunch out when I get home from work and then load it up again.

Make sure if you have a 'doghouse' air inlet below the door that it stays clear of ash. When mine gets clogged, which happens easily and is hard to see because of the position of the inlet, I get a lot more coals acumulating in the stove. The doghouse air comes in to the stove at coal level and burns a nice trench through the coals during each burn.

I can't run my stove at full output all the time without accumulating more coals than I want. I think my wood is fine, it is just the nature of wood fires that peak output occurs only part of the time. Wood is a two-part fuel - first you burn gases then you burn charcoal, and the two burn differently.