Been running my Oslo for two months now. This morning I got up to restart and had smoke escape from the side door. After playing around with it a bit I could tell it wasn't drafting well. Got out the ladder, got up on the roof, fought through the snow, and checked the chimney cap. The mesh was plugged. I cleaned it out which solved the draft problem.
For the first month I ran poorly seasoned oak and well seasoned aspen. I had to keep the air supply mostly open with the oak to keep the fire hot enough. I ran hot fires with the Aspen and had to closely monitor the air supply to keep from over-firing. After one month, I inspected the cap and inside the chimney. There was no noticeable build up at that time. For the second month I burned mainly pinon and aspen, both seasoned. Recently I got a load of shaggy juniper which seems dry enough. It's very easy to start a fire unlike the oak. I've been running the stove with the air supply partially closed down with the juniper. The stove temps range between 450 and 550 and I get really good secondaries. Better than any of the other wood I've tried.
Couple of questions.
1) Could the shaggy bark on the juniper cause the plugged cap?
2) If you run a hot fire will it help keep the cap clean and if so how hot?
3) Any thoughts on removing the mesh?
Any other suggestions are appreciated. I'd like to minimize my number of winter trips on the roof.
Thanks, Jeff
For the first month I ran poorly seasoned oak and well seasoned aspen. I had to keep the air supply mostly open with the oak to keep the fire hot enough. I ran hot fires with the Aspen and had to closely monitor the air supply to keep from over-firing. After one month, I inspected the cap and inside the chimney. There was no noticeable build up at that time. For the second month I burned mainly pinon and aspen, both seasoned. Recently I got a load of shaggy juniper which seems dry enough. It's very easy to start a fire unlike the oak. I've been running the stove with the air supply partially closed down with the juniper. The stove temps range between 450 and 550 and I get really good secondaries. Better than any of the other wood I've tried.
Couple of questions.
1) Could the shaggy bark on the juniper cause the plugged cap?
2) If you run a hot fire will it help keep the cap clean and if so how hot?
3) Any thoughts on removing the mesh?
Any other suggestions are appreciated. I'd like to minimize my number of winter trips on the roof.
Thanks, Jeff