2013 VC Burning Thread

[Charles1981]

(broken link removed to http://www.epa.gov/burnwise/bestburn.html)

It isn't maybe, shouldn't, or think twice. It is NEVER. If you think that particulate matter isn't going to get into your house in small amounts you are wrong. If you think that particulate matter isn't going to affect your neighbors you are also wrong.

Everything about burning treated wood in a stove or even open fire is wrong and dangerous. Not just to you, your family, your neighbors, but also the environment.

 

[Charles1981]

More from the EPA

Disposal of CCA-treated wood

• CCA-treated wood can be disposed of with regular municipal trash (i.e., municipal solid waste, not yard waste).
• Never burn CCA-treated wood or use it as compost or mulch.
• State or local laws may be stricter than federal requirements. Residential consumers should contact appropriate state and local agencies for further guidance on the disposal of CCA-treated wood. For more information, please contact the (broken link removed to http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/wyl/stateprograms.htm) for your state.

 

[Charles1981]

And again from the EPA listing case reports and medical documentation of the consequences.

Article
Seasonal arsenic exposure from burning chromium-copper-arsenate-treated wood.
H A Peters, W A Croft, E A Woolson, B A Darcey, M A Olson

JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association
Source: PubMed
ABSTRACT All eight members of a rural Wisconsin family experienced recurring neurological and medical illness over three years, especially during the winter months. Arsenic, in concentrations of 12 to 87 ppm, was noted in the hair of the mother and father, and analysis of hair and fingernails of all family members demonstrated pathological levels of arsenic. For four years the five-room home had been heated with a small wood stove in which outdoor or marine plywood and wood remnants had been preferentially burned. Stove ashes that contained more than 1,000 ppm of arsenic contaminated the living area, and the ratio of copper, chromium, and arsenic pentoxide in this ash matched the ratio used in the chromium-copper-arsenate-treated wood.


The EPA and I would say almost all members here really want to convince you to not burn this wood. There are many other threads regarding burning CCA wood on this forum as well. It isn't just here in this thread.

 

[jharkin]

 

[grobinson2]

Good morning Guys,
My closest neighbor is a little over a mile away... Thank you for your concern but non really address the only question I asked about which was will it hurt the stove it's self. I had read over the provided literature and understand that it is not a good idea to burn the wood so now it is just for informational purposes as to weather it would damage the stove or not.

Thanks again,
Glenn

 

[elmoleaf]

Good morning Guys,
My closest neighbor is a little over a mile away... Thank you for your concern but non really address the only question I asked about which was will it hurt the stove it's self. I had read over the provided literature and understand that it is not a good idea to burn the wood so now it is just for informational purposes as to weather it would damage the stove or not.

Thanks again,
Glenn

When such burning produces arsenic that is poisonous to occupants of the house, neighbors, the environment and animals that come in contact with the ash, it is irrelevant whether said burning will damage the stove.
Please rethink your understanding of the category of things in life that are "not a good idea."

 

[grobinson2]

Elmoleaf,
Who in the heck are you to tell me what I may or may not want to know about a product or design or practice????!! This is a forum about questions and information. If I want to burn my house to the ground and want to know how to do it most efficiently then so be it. If I want to construct a 24 kt gold fence around my stove so that Baby Jesus wont burn his little fingers and I ask for suggestions on how to do it, then so be it. If I want know what effects said product or fuel will have on my Vermont Castings stove then so be it. Get the picture. You are more then welcome to abstain from answering my post. You are even more then welcome to provide information like the guys above did on why it may not be a good idea but stop flaming my post. Many wood burners do it because it may be the most economic way for them to provide heat for there family's, but just as many others might do it because we just like to see things burn and don't want to have to be dependent on someone else to provide our fuel for heat. If the EPA had it's way you would not burn a damn thing and every time you took a crap you would have to pay them a fee for the methane gas you just produced. So please rethink your idea of what a constructive post may or may not be!

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Stay away from the rubber tires.....

 

[grobinson2]

Stay away from the rubber tires.....

HAHAHHAA! I just cant get them to fit in the stove. One of the guys down the road got a tire saw and burns them in this home made out door boiler. When he told me about it I was like what a moron but he has it rigged up so that it burns them so hot you don't see any smoke at all. He recycles the metal bands and it sure beats what everyone else does with there tires around here which is dump them in the river.

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[jharkin]

Alright guys! Lets chill, I dont want the mods to have to close my thread.

Grobinson, I think you know the consensus opinion, now its up to you to decide what you want to do. I will stay out of it now.

 

[Charles1981]

Yea this really has nothing to do with VC stoves. You can make a new thread about it as it really is a general topic. But it will be more of the same. No-one is going say much other than don't do it. Ever.

 

[elmoleaf]

Glenn,
Sorry, I thought it was constructive to provide information to readers of the forum that burning CCA wood releases arsenic, a poison.
Best of luck to you.
Yes, the topic has nothing to do with the original thread. Sorry guys.

 

[grobinson2]

Guys,
The "discussion" about whether CCA is good for you or the environment has nothing to do with this thread that is correct however my original question as to whether or not it would damage the Vermont Castings Defiant 1975 2-in-1 wood stove is a legitimate question. Would that wood along with it's chemical makeup or additives damage the castings, bolts, ceramics ect? Same question goes for the use of cannal coal (sometimes called fireplace coal) if used in the same stove? Does the fuel burn too hot or give off a harmful chemical that would damage the appliance?

Thanks again,
Glenn

 

[R2.0]

The question of burning CCA treated wood might be "on topic" for the thread. And like the gentleman I too dislike others telling me what to do with my property - it goes against some of the country's founding principles. But I also believe in other principles, like Freedom of Expression. And that means that, not only is there ZERO obligation to answer the gentleman's's question, people have EVERY right to tell the gentleman what they think of his plan. Getting indignant because others are telling you what you can and can't do, and then getting irritated because others are not doing what YOU want them to do? Umm, yeah.

Edited because I'm a fool. But probably not the biggest one in this thread.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

You might want to read the OP....

 

[R2.0]

You might want to read the OP....

Fixed. Cause I'm an idjit.

 

[Charles1981]

So I have a question. Reading old threads about VC's and the everburn system it sounds like it is pretty common when you close the bypass damper to hear almost like a jet engine roar. I definitely hear this frequently. Sometimes I will lift the top loading plate just to make sure I hear a nice roar. It does sound like a forge being fed air. Do you all hear the same roar? If I close the bypass at like 300-400 it won't be as load but usually the wood isn't quite caught totally (but if i check back in 20-30 minutes after temp climbs to 550-600 it is really roaring if i barely open the top loader). If I close the bypass at 500-600 and the wood is really caught its an immediate rumble.

Just wondering what everyone else's experience with the jet rumble is and making sure I'm not crazy. I assume it is an affect of the the down draft system pulling air under the coal bed into the 2nd chamber?

 

[grobinson2]

When I am burning all these really dry CCA posts then I hear it... . J/K... No if I am burning really dry wood and it is windy outside (thus pulling a really strong draft) I will get that sound you are talking about. With a normal draft and medium to wet wood I do not get it. I have to be careful when I do hear that sound my cat probe can read 1600+ and will have to open the bypass for a min or two while closing my pipe damper and then close bypass.

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[grobinson2]

Also wanted to check with you guys to see if there was a way I could have my condor cat probe digital reader keep the temp on the screen for more then 90 second or so? Or is there another reader out there that would work with this probe?

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[R2.0]

While I'm not familiar with the Condar unit, i have a Type K thermocouple and a cheap reader on my unit insert. And if the Condar unit is anything like mine,/it will go through a 9v battery in about 2 days if I'm trying to maintain a constant reading.

 

[jharkin]

Are you using the battery or hte optional AC adapter. I have the adapter and mine stays on longer... maybe 5 min at a time??

 

[grobinson2]

Oh sorry guys I should have included that... I am using the AC adapter. It stays on for about 3 minutes. I am looking for something that would stay on for 10min or forever...

 

[hydes2004]

Also wanted to check with you guys to see if there was a way I could have my condor cat probe digital reader keep the temp on the screen for more then 90 second or so? Or is there another reader out there that would work with this probe?

Thanks,
Glenn

I just purchased this unit today, and plan on modifying it for constant display time. i was going to open the unit up and reverse engineer it. My guess is that it is using a 5-5-5 timer or a micro on the PCB board. I will check back with you guys when I Figure this out.

Kenny

 

[hydes2004]

I'm going to install my cat probe when it gets here on Saturday. This is a picture of the rear of the stove with the refractory removed. The piece that is sticking out, is that the secondary air probe? Directly above that is a small round almost plug looking. Is this the price I remove to install the condor probe?

 

[31 bertram]

hydes...I'm not in authority to advise but I just got my condor probe and installed it yesterday. My 2550 had a plug located about 2/3 the bottom center of back of stove which looked like a screw head with no slot to put a screw driver (hope this is making sense). When I pried on it I was surprised as it fell off with not much pressure at all. I used a 1/4" drill bit and drilled (by hand) thru the plug hole. Since I was changing the cat also I had the cat chamber opened and saw the drill bit come thru. The probe tip sits below the cat in my stove so I saw this when I noticed the frame where the cat sits while the cat was removed. All this took less than an hour and was the first time I ever got the throat hood in place the first 4 tries...WOOOHOOOO. If you've ever done this you know what I'm talking about. Hope this helps. I gotta do a search on probe numbers I need to be looking at now, probably this thread.