Coal Build Up, but Limited Ash

[Automaton25]

Hello Everyone,

I had a Hearthstone Castleton installed mid Spring this year, but wasn't able to use it too much. the few times I did it was great and I had no problems, including burning for a couple straight days at almost wide open. I always got plenty of ash and new had too many coals left over. However, this recent cold snap in Colorado has left a different pile of leftovers. I now get tons of coal (I have to empty it out at least twice a day otherwise I have no room for additional logs. There is very little ash in the box. The fire died down a lot last night, but the coals didn't turn to ash despite hours of burning and little to no wood being added.

There is no outside air kit so it is taking in warm air, the catalytic converter is utilized during burn, and the temperature gauge on the side indicates right about middle to top third of the active range. Fuel is a combination of Aspen, Ash, and Cottonwood. Some Walnut, hickory, and maple scraps as well. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[kennyp2339]

Any thoughts?

9 times out of 10 its wet wood, please buy a moisture meter, take a room temp piece of wood, re split it and test the fresh face split.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I 2nd the wet wood, you need a moisture meter. No way should you be able to run a stove wide open for hours and have a build up of coles

 

[OldDog]

Having the same issue burning during this historic cold snap. Burning waste oak from the oak barrel mill in town. ESW Madison Tube Stove with OAK. Wood ranges 18-27 percent. Getting piles of lovely red coals. Just closed the door very lightly to let in some warm room air to where the coals light up a bit. It's slow, but the stove creeps back to 400ºf. After enough of the coals burn to ash start loading moar wude. Not ideal, but functional.

 

[kennyp2339]

ESW Madison Tube Stove

Obviously the wood is wet, but have you tried taking your air adjustment, pushing it all the way in then rotating the rod to the left (turn counter clockwise) to engage the boost air?

 

[moresnow]

Normal issue in really cold stretches when pushing a stove hard with multiple reloads intended to keep the home temps up where they are desired. It comes up every year. Wet wood can be attributed to some cases but many times its a result of simply pushing the stove hard with more frequent loading.
@Automaton25 when you are considering reloading next try pulling your excessive coal pile up front and dropping a small single split or perhaps two of your driest softwood on top. Let the stove burn these sacrificial splits down with full air. A round of this or sometimes two will normally reduce your coaling issue greatly so you will have room to load a proper amount. If this fails you likely have wet fuel as mentioned. Worth a shot. Good luck. Coal management season!

 

[OldDog]

Obviously the wood is wet, but have you tried taking your air adjustment, pushing it all the way in then rotating the rod to the left (turn counter clockwise) to engage the boost air?

Not sure about turning the damper to "boost air". When you pull the damper it closes. When pulled out and turned to the left it opens fully and then shuts when the stove hits temperature. My auto damper closes right about 500ºf.

 

[BigDaddyJ]

I burn an Englander NC30 and have the same issue during really cold spells. During short periods of cold weather, no problem. It seems like I can heat the house with zero issues. When it gets really cold and I'm pushing the stove and having to reload more often to keep up with outside cold, I get coaling issues. I just shut down for a few hours and keep stirring the coals toward the front with air intake open and door cracked. Luckily, my firebox is quite large and I only have to do this every three to four days.

 

[Automaton25]

So I definitely had some wet wood. It also seems to be that the stove is being pushed periodically a little hard. I have similar issues with very dry wood, but as mentioned in previous posts, the coals will burn down if you let them go. I have almost complete ash in the morning unless there are still hot coals.

I still have smoke issues, though modifying the cap seems to have remedied the issue of a downdraft blowing out the fire. I still get quite a bit of smoke that comes out when I open the door, even if there is not much of a fire actively burning. Once it starts coming out it just keeps coming and never corrects itself back up the flue unless the door is closed.