what am i doing wrong?

[iceman]

today i put in 2 splits north south 2 east west roaring fire turn down the air gets to about 625-650 problem is i have chunks of hot coals about 3-4 inches deep when i move them around underneath they are black ..not burning its been well over 8 hrs and everytime i burn i get this i feel like it it wasted heat and then it makes me lose space when reloading how do i get these to burn down... i am tired of opening my air to make them burn because now its going up the chimmney how do i get just enough coals to start another fire?

 

[begreen]

I always open her up a bit for the last hour. It burns down the coals and extends the heating for a bit.

 

[struggle]

Rake the coals forward and like mentioned full air to burn them up.

 

[Gunner]

today i put in 2 splits north south 2 east west roaring fire turn down the air gets to about 625-650 problem is i have chunks of hot coals about 3-4 inches deep when i move them around underneath they are black ..not burning its been well over 8 hrs and everytime i burn i get this i feel like it it wasted heat and then it makes me lose space when reloading how do i get these to burn down... i am tired of opening my air to make them burn because now its going up the chimmney how do i get just enough coals to start another fire?

The black unburnt coal will happen if you have to much ash

 

[iceman]

today i put in 2 splits north south 2 east west roaring fire turn down the air gets to about 625-650 problem is i have chunks of hot coals about 3-4 inches deep when i move them around underneath they are black ..not burning its been well over 8 hrs and everytime i burn i get this i feel like it it wasted heat and then it makes me lose space when reloading how do i get these to burn down... i am tired of opening my air to make them burn because now its going up the chimmney how do i get just enough coals to start another fire?

The black unburnt coal will happen if you have to much ash

i completely cleaned the thing out this morning thats why i am so frustrated ... i thought that would do it too

 

[jpl1nh]

I think too, the tendancy to reload a little too soon allows coals to build up more.

 

[Hogwildz]

The wood is not fully seasoned.

 

[jpl1nh]

The wood is not fully seasoned.

Try a bit of pepper, some basil and oregano, and a dash of cayanne!

 

[stoveguy2esw]

The wood is not fully seasoned.

Try a bit of pepper, some basil and oregano, and a dash of cayanne!

OMFG!! trying to breathe with a snout full of crown isnt easy!! now thats funny.

baclk on point, raking the coals forward will allow them to become fuel for the next fire , thay willl burn on down , they are only wasted if they are removed.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Best we've found so far is when most of the wood has burned but before it is just coals, we open the draft 1/2 way. When it is almost all coals we then open the draft full. During the daytime burning we also do not put in as much wood and we usually get the coals down to a more manageable level before stoking up for the night. Of course we also keep raking the coals towards the front and also a couple times just open the firebox door and rake through the coals which tends to get them burning faster.

 

[iceman]

what do you guys use for a rake?

 

[argus66]

some fire tool sets come with a rake its just a peice of iron with a little metal plate at the bottom a shovel will work as well i found.

 

[Hogwildz]

I use the ash shovel as well.

 

[stacked]

today i put in 2 splits north south 2 east west roaring fire turn down the air gets to about 625-650 problem is i have chunks of hot coals about 3-4 inches deep when i move them around underneath they are black ..not burning its been well over 8 hrs and everytime i burn i get this i feel like it it wasted heat and then it makes me lose space when reloading how do i get these to burn down... i am tired of opening my air to make them burn because now its going up the chimmney how do i get just enough coals to start another fire?

OK I feel like an idiot replying b/c I'm not the man of the house or anything - DH is prolly gonna laugh at me for this when he starts reading but anyway here I go offering advice that might not even be useful to you...

So he's taught me, at least on the stove we have in the back of the house to rake the coals forward to the front of the stove before I put another load of wood in. It seems to work really well for me. Sometimes, I find really thick black coals built up and I just use the shovel the rake them all to the front of the stove & then I load the wood in the the back of the stove, if that makes sense. Those coals usually just catch the new wood on fire w/little to no effort & then they all burn down really well & I repeat the process each time I load the stove. We rarely have to empty anything but ashes from the stove using this method & we don't let them burn down completely before loading new wood.

I'm not sure if it makes a difference on what type of stove you have or not.

 

[karl]

Iceman I have the same insert and the same problem. I hope the answer is to have dryer wood. Although, my wood certainly doesn't sizzle or smoke. How tall is your chimney? Mine is 16 feet. Which is one foot longer than the minimum installation requirements. I thought about adding another 3 feet or so to see if a stronger draft during the coal stage would burn then down quicker.

It is crazy. I regularly go 10 hours without touching the stove and it's still half full of coals.

 

[Gunner]

Last couple of days it's been nice and cold here, running a few back to back full loads has yielded a HUGE coal bed. Turned the air wide open, coals to the front and 1 huge pine split E/W. Repeated 4 times and took the better part of the day to burn down. Stove stayed above 600 deg and kept the place warm despite being -15C outside. I like big coal beds...if you think they are a problem start burning more softwood.

 

[iceman]

Iceman I have the same insert and the same problem. I hope the answer is to have dryer wood. Although, my wood certainly doesn't sizzle or smoke. How tall is your chimney? Mine is 16 feet. Which is one foot longer than the minimum installation requirements. I thought about adding another 3 feet or so to see if a stronger draft during the coal stage would burn then down quicker.

It is crazy. I regularly go 10 hours without touching the stove and it's still half full of coals.

you know i think mine is the same height maybe shorter

 

[Elderthewelder]

what do you guys use for a rake?

I fabbed this up today, works good to move the coals around, just a simple piece of 2"x2" L- angle with some notch's cut in it, and a solid round stock handle welded on it

 

[stoncold]

I just got this one in the mail today...ordered it Saturday!

http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/21...-Tools/Wrought-Iron-Old-Fashion-Ash-Rake.html

reasonably priced and fair shipping.