Ashford 25 Insert Questions

[basilseal]

Made sure of that today and got the fire going a bit but with two logs and the door closed the thermometer only got about half way to the red. I know that the manual says to just use two logs and some kindling - do you feel that's enough for yours or should I be putting more wood in? Another person said the wood might be too moist (It was wood used last winter - my first winter here - and I had it outside under cover all spring/summer/fall - but maybe still not seasoned enough?). If the wood is too moist is that going to prevent it from getting hot enough?

Also - I've lived in warm weather my whole life. We moved to the mountains of NC last winter. I may just be too dumb to light a good fire! Will try again tomorrow after reading the comments .

I suspect, as others have noted here, that the wood is too wet. I usually use kindling and then two logs as the base, and it works.

 

[BirdsatHiloMuni]

Proper decision.

Keep in mind.
You should bring a random selection of your splits indoors and let them come up to room temp. Overnight perhaps depending on outdoor temps.
Bring a room temp split back outdoors and re-split it.
Immediately apply your probe style moisture tester firmly to the freshly exposed inner surface of the split. Record reading.
Repeat on the rest of your test batch of splits.

Report what you find.

Testing any other surface will mean zero accuracy.

Many folks will simply jam their new tester against the existing outer surface (or end) of a split.
Useless reading as those surface areas have been exposed and will read unrealistically dry.

Thank you! I definitely would have done the jam new tester against existing outer surface . I'll do this and let you know. Thanks again!

 

[BKVP]

*I use a BK stove, but I am not familiar with the Ashford insert*
You may have taken some life out of your combustor, I doubt that you have wrecked it. A picture of the combustor without the guard may help diagnose that.
I would wait until the gauge is near the "active" zone before engaging the bypass. Within a few minutes of closing the bypass you should see the bypass glowing. In the next 15 minutes you should be able to start dialing the fire down and turning up the fan.
This is how my Sirocco freestanding works (minus fan) but maybe I shouldn't advise too much since I have not operated an Ashford insert.
And *bump*...

Bypass glowing? Never!

BKVP

 

[BKVP]

You can also go get some manufactured logs or bricks. You can mix them with your wood and bring down the overall moisture content of the entire load. Lots of different manufactured fuels, so use caution in amount use. I am certain there are plenty of posts on this site relating to bricks and logs. Also, if you have access to pallets, or friends with pallets, use a saw and cut all the slats (no nails) and they are typically dray, thing and burn hot.

BKVP

 

[Highbeam]

I would add that two logs is not enough, especially if they're not dry. My fire this morning was with 8-4" splits of maple on top of a log cabin stack of 6-1" splits of kindling. Start it all at once with a gas soldering torch. You need a good bit of fuel/fire/heat to get the cat hot enough to start it's self sustaining activity.