making f3cb work perfect?????

[argus66]

hello i have jotul f3cb and it works great it heats my 900 sq ft home perfect, better then perfect other nite was 19 degrees out and i had to open window. anyway the way ive been working this stove is at nite before i go to bed i load it up get temp up to about 600 degrees and then damper it all the way down so it burns hot and long all nite is this right? when i wake up 8 hrs later, stove is stiil hot and plenty of hot coals. i put in little newspaper and some wood and whoosh burning again, i do the same procedure before i go to work and let it burn all day and get it going when i get home from work. is it ok to damper all the way down? thanks

 

[begreen]

If you are getting 8 hr burns in this stove, you have to tell us what you are doing. That's pretty amazing. What type of wood are you burning?

 

[tutu_sue]

Do tell How tall is your chimney btw?

 

[Jags]

That has really got to be one of the longest burn times I have heard of from this stove. Check your stack, if it is looking clean, then you, my friend, have figured out the "X" factor.

I do encourage you to inspect your stack. This is a very long burn for that stove and I would hate to see you fill your stack with gunk. Safety first.

 

[myzamboni]

I've got 8 hour burns in my F3CB. The key is to not empty the ash drawer and have a layer in the bottom on the stove. Load it up with wood that packs tight on a good bed of coals. I went from midnight to 8am with pine rounds/almond splits and was able to get the stove going by adding kindling.

My chimney is 15' and this was with an overnight temp in the 30s.

 

[argus66]

ya henry rollins is exactly right its all about the ash and coals like i said it get it real hot then pack it as tightly as i can damper all the way down.., my inside pipe is about 6ft and 8 ft up on top of the roof outside. i cleaned the pipe one end to the other nov 1st. so i guess im doing things right. im burning all kinds of wood but a lot of maple some oak and ash, but most of my wood is from scrounging so im burning any and all types of wood. in the morning i rake the ash foward just a little and underneath is a whole bed of hot coals i put in a little paper and kindling and some mid sized logs usually small birch logs and open damper all the way up and woosh. repeat when i get home from work. key is leaving good amount of ash on bottom of stove....... 8 hrs

 

[begreen]

Being a lazy sob, I always deferred on ash emptying. But only once or twice did we ever have coals after 8 hrs. on this stove, no matter what wood or how it was packed. But then again, we never had oak to burn.

 

[tutu_sue]

I'm thinking the short stacks factor in there, too. Min. in the manual is 14 feet.

Oak rules!

 

[argus66]

just did it last night had poplar and ash and 1 peice of maple in stove. got up this am to smaLL bed of coals. i found it also helps if have been burning all day that way there is a ton of ash.

 

[beagler]

Why does the large pile of ashes help keep the stove burning? I empty my ash pan every couple of days. Maybe I will delay this now.... I can see how the hot coals help the heat pumping, but not the ashes.

 

[begreen]

Lots of ash helps insulate the coalbed.

 

[beagler]

I recently have gotten 6 to 7 hour burn cycles from my F3CB. I've followed the advice on this thread: keep the coal bed thick and hot, burn seasoned hard wood, and enjoy. Last night I loaded two white oak splints on top of a thick coal bed of walnut, oak, and elm. I turned the primary air all the way down, and coals were present 6 hours later.

 

[argus66]

i found also if u get it really hot like 600 before u damper and pack it real good with hard woods 8 hr burn is easy.