Coal Buildup

[greenacresman3398]

I've got a HI300 burning almond and I seem to have a coal buildup problem ( or maybe not) I'm not sure if the almond wood I am using is to dense but it goes to large red hot coals and doesn't seem to put out heat as much as when it got a flame and using the seconday burn. I can put in a load at night and still have 1-2" of red hot coals in the bottom by morning. Is something wrong or should I mix up with softer wood?
Also, I've been trying to figure out how to measure the temps to make sure I'm not overfiring this thing but where is a good spot to measure heat? Does anyone have temps readings for the top plate to compare to? I can't get a prob on the flue itself, its tucked int here pretty good....

Thanks

 

[myzamboni]

throw a couple splits of softwood on top to help the coals burndown.

 

[LLigetfa]

Coaling is usually the symptom of not enough seasoning and/or not enough air.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum greenacresman.

1" to 2" of hot coals in the morning is good. That way you can get a new fire going quickly. The hot coals in the bottom do not become a problem until they are so deep you really have to cut down a lot on the amount of wood you can get it. But and inch or two of coals is great and you'll get more heat from the stove with this.

The coal problem gets worse as you burn more. Usually we will begin to open the draft some when the wood has burned down pretty well but is not yet all coals. Once it is all coals or almost there then we'll open the draft full. This way we can control how big of a bed of coals we want (that 1" - 2" bed). If you have a big bed of coals sometimes you can also lay some kindling on top of the coals or some very small splits and open the draft full.

If that does not take care of the problem, then I do suggest your wood may not be fully seasoned. You'll have to pay very close attention to the stove and especially the chimney if your wood is not dry. I've never used a moisture meter but if you do get one, even if your wood is split, do split it again so you can get a fresh reading from the inside of the split.

Good luck.

 

[Jags]

^^^^^Wise men speaking the truth.

And yes, mixing in a different species of wood may help maintain a burn and even help eat up some of the coals because of the different burn characteristics from species to species.