Something changed

[clr8ter]

So I've been burning for a month, no prob, until a week ago. All of a sudden, it's really hard to get the stove up to temp. I use the same methods, same wood, ect. Wood seems to catch ok, and stove has what looks like a good fire in it, but it seems to hover around 2-300 forever. I know, everyone's going to say "wet wood", but I have already burned 1/3 of a cord of this stuff with no prob. Also, this stove drafts really well, and now it's colder than before.

As a side note, I cut up an ash tree that's been down for years. It was suspended above the ground mostly, and the bark had largely fallen off. I cut it up and split it, and it seemed really dry, it rings when you whack it on something, plus I have read that ash has one of the lowest MC of a lot of woods, and so dries quick. Well, it doesn't burn for crap! I was surprised.......

 

[begreen]

Check the wood for moisture by resplitting and measuring the face of the fresh split. You can get variances is a stack of wood, especially if some was on the ground or wetter when stacked. Try some wood from another part of the stack to see if it burns better. Also, check your cap to see if the screen is starting to clog.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ash is indeed low moisture but it still needs seasoning time to give a good fire. A good example is our own burning as we burn mostly ash. We usually have our wood in the stack (after splitting) for from 5-7 years. Lately we've been burning some ash that was cut during the winder of 2008-2009 and split in April of 2009. That ash was either dead or very close to being dead. Yes, we can burn it but we certainly notice the difference in how long it takes to get it started burning.

We've also cut some ash that had been down for many years. One example is a top that I never got around to cutting. I had cut the butt and then we had a big snow before I cut the rest. I just left it for a few years. When I finally got around to cutting that top, it definitely was not ready to burn.

While we indeed have burned ash that was freshly cut because one winter we had to buy wood and that is all we could get. We did not freeze, but it was a struggle. We also cleaned our chimney many, many times that winter.

Better to make sure the wood is in the stack 2-3 years before burning.

 

[clr8ter]

Yeah, the cap was installed 2 months ago. The ash in question came from one tree, (6-8" dia.), down for probably 10 years, bark falling off, up off the ground, and split at least 1/3 of the way thru. That's what made me think it was ready to burn. All of the other wood was split & stacked at the same time, and it's all come from the same pile so far......

 

[begreen]

It's probably ok, but at least check the cap. We have seen them plug up in as little as 2 weeks with folks burning poor wood.

 

[savageactor7]

I agree with the fellow that advises you to make some smaller splits and give it another try.

A 200°-300° burn here is might be OK at night when you're in dreamland but when your up and about the house it not hot enough...I admit we're understoved here.

Anyway it surely must be a lot colder in NH that's why I understand your lament on being stuck at 2-300°...with the perfect wood you should find yourself dialing it back to maintain the Goldilocks zone.

 

[firefighterjake]

Wood pixies . . . blame it on the wood pixies.

 

[fire_man]

The same sort of thing happened to me, I was burning fine for the first 3/4 stack of wood but as I got closer to the bottom I noticed more sizzlers and had trouble getting it to even light on a hot bed of coals. Turns out I am pretty sure the tarp from another nearby stack was draining it's rain water between the two stacks and for whatever reason the lower part of the stack was more affected. I don't know what else to blame it on - especially since I was able to measure 16% moisture content on the OUTIDE surfaces of the lower stacked pieces, but the upper pieces in the stack hardly registered anything on the meter. It's been about a week since it rained but we have had a wet fall. All the wood has been c/s/s for 2.5 years. For me this means I have to be more careful with my tarps.

 

[clr8ter]

Begreen, do you mean the vertical screen meant to keep animals out? It's stainless mesh with at least 3/8" diamond shaped holes in it. I will check it, though. I did not see a horizontal piece of mesh in the cap covering the flue. I looked at it before he installed it.

It also occurs to me that maybe we have not been consistent. I was using paper kindling, and several small splits, enough to get to the top of the stove before I lit it when I started, maybe now I'm not using enough splits.....Also, I have a hard time getting the wife to leave the side door cracked long enough to let it really get going. I like to see it hit 300 + before I lock the door down.

Thanks for all the responses. I did order a moisture meter today, well see how all this wood compares.....

 

[cmonSTART]

Interesting. Are all the pipe joints and such tight still? A suddenly leaky joint in warmer temperatures like we've had lately can really throw a wrench into things.