Conflicting signs of seasoned wood - what to believe...

[chutes]

Some of my splits are giving me a little more hiss than I'm accustomed to, and I've seen some condensation boiling out in the first few minutes after tossing them in, but, I've got nothing but clean glass each morning and when I look from the outside I see nothing but radiant waves of heat. Not a lick of smoke. Which sign to believe? Everything about this wood says it is seasoned, except for the water that is boiling out in the first mintue or two after loading it into the stove.

Thoughts?

 

[LLigetfa]

The hissing and foaming doesn't lie. The wood is less than ideal.

 

[Corey]

Yep. Once the moisture is gone, the rest of the log can burn hot and give you clean glass, but you've still lost heat by boiling all the water away to begin with.

 

[chutes]

Thank you both.

Understand the loss of heat and why I might still have clean glass, but does the complete lack of smoke from my stack suggest that I'm probably not creating a dangerous creosote problem for myself? The condensation that I notice is never coming from the middle of the split, but rather on one side of the perimeter. This wood has been stacked in my yard since 9/08, although left uncovered the whole summer which was rather rainy around here.

 

[LLigetfa]

Ja, it sounds like a bit of surface moisture boiling off. If it was wet to the core, it would take longer to boil off. Even if there is no visible smoke, there can still be a bit of creosote depositing, probably not what would be considered dangerous. A good hot fire once a day helps.

 

[rphurley]

Thank you both.

Understand the loss of heat and why I might still have clean glass, but does the complete lack of smoke from my stack suggest that I'm probably not creating a dangerous creosote problem for myself? The condensation that I notice is never coming from the middle of the split, but rather on one side of the perimeter. This wood has been stacked in my yard since 9/08, although left uncovered the whole summer which was rather rainy around here.

If the wood is Oak or Hickory, it might not be quite ready yet. It will burn, but not optimally. I"ll leave it to the more experienced here to comment on the creosote that you might be creating. Rich

 

[gyrfalcon]

Thank you both.

Understand the loss of heat and why I might still have clean glass, but does the complete lack of smoke from my stack suggest that I'm probably not creating a dangerous creosote problem for myself? The condensation that I notice is never coming from the middle of the split, but rather on one side of the perimeter. This wood has been stacked in my yard since 9/08, although left uncovered the whole summer which was rather rainy around here.

How much creosote you get depends a whole lot on your total set-up-- not just your wood but your stove and interior flue and external chimney. My first year, when I was burning a lot of not well-seasoned wood at fairly low temps while I was learning how the stove worked, I was really worried about creosote build-up, but the next fall my sweep only got a couple cups out of the entire stack.

If I were you, I'd have the chimney swept, or do it it yourself, after you've been burning a month or so and see what's up there. You may not have anything to worry about.

 

[chutes]

If I were you, I'd have the chimney swept, or do it it yourself, after you've been burning a month or so and see what's up there. You may not have anything to worry about.

I was planning on having it swept this burning season too, but I did just have it swept in September and my chimney sweep gave me good marks. Had only a couple cups of dust and said that it was obvious that I burned my fire real hot last year. I suspect I'll find that everything is fine. Like another poster said, a real hot fire each day helps and I feel that I'm definitely doing that.

By the way, someone had asked about the wood and it is hardwood, mostly maple and red oak. And even though it has only been sitting in my yard for 13-14 months, I was told by my wood guy - who I've been doing business with for years for my outside pit - that it had been split 12 months prior to my purchase. That should mean that this wood is 2 years old. Can't believe it is not seasoned by now. I'm kind of leaning toward the idea that it is surface moisture since it was uncovered all through a very rainy summer. I've now covered it.

The other thing too is that it is not every split. Just the occassional split - from the same stack - here and there seems to have some moisture to burn. Other hardwood splits get tossed in there and ignite in seconds and burn without any signs of moisture...

 

[meathead]

Your wood supply is bad. Drop it off at my house and I will dispose of it properly, free of charge. Please stack it neatly next to my other stacks.



Burn away, sounds like surface moisture from all the rain we got. If you are really concerned, get a moisture meter and re split some chunks and check the centers. Check your chimney once a month or so (with a mirror from the bottom if there is snow on the roof) if the little bit of hissing continues, and other than that just keep on keepin on.

 

[chutes]

Your wood supply is bad. Drop it off at my house and I will dispose of it properly, free of charge. Please stack it neatly next to my other stacks.

HA!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It is highly possible that the red oak may not be fully seasoned. I've seen red oak take over 3 years to get rid of all the moisture. The maple should be good to go though. If it were me, I'd save that red oak until the coldest part of the winter before burning it and stay with the maple until then.

Good luck.

 

[gyrfalcon]

By the way, someone had asked about the wood and it is hardwood, mostly maple and red oak. And even though it has only been sitting in my yard for 13-14 months, I was told by my wood guy - who I've been doing business with for years for my outside pit - that it had been split 12 months prior to my purchase. That should mean that this wood is 2 years old. Can't believe it is not seasoned by now. I'm kind of leaning toward the idea that it is surface moisture since it was uncovered all through a very rainy summer. I've now covered it.

How long it takes to season depends heavily on how big the splits are, how loosely you stacked them, and how exposed the stacks are to sun and wind. I have a small stove and therefore small splits and I'm able to stack them in full day-long sun in a nearly constant breeze. 13 or 14 months for me is more than enough to get rock maple down to under 20 percent moisture. Also, I guess you have to assume the wood guy is telling you the truth, but do you know where this split wood was those 12 months he had it before you bought it? I once got a load of wood like that, but it turned out when I asked that the splits had been dumped in a big pile for a year, not stacked, so the stuff that had been on the outside of the pile was in great shape, the stuff in the interior (ie most of it) not so much.

If the wood doesn't feel damp, I don't think your problem can be surface moisture. Unless the wood has literally been lying in a pool of water for months, the moisture really will be only in the surface layer and it will dry out in a few dry days outside or inside.

Since you say it's only some of the splits that hiss, I'm also wondering if maybe those are the red oak, which does take longer than maple to season.

You might want to pick up an inexpensive basic moisture meter (ebay usually has them), split down a couple splits and see what the interior moisture reading is just out of curiosity and to see for sure whether you're dealing with wet wood or not fully seasoned.

 

[Danno77]

My experience (i've never owned a moisture meter, to take this with a grain of salt) is that hissing is ok, but if it's popping, then the moisture is deeper than just the surface. I'll let someone who knows more than I do dispute that.

 

[gyrfalcon]

My experience (i've never owned a moisture meter, to take this with a grain of salt) is that hissing is ok, but if it's popping, then the moisture is deeper than just the surface. I'll let someone who knows more than I do dispute that.

As I was thinking about this, it occurred to me that hissing must, I think, indicate boiling moisture forcing itself out from the interior of the wood-- and therefore only can come from not fully seasoned wood. Wood that's damp on the outside just steams away, I think, since it is on the surface, although I don't know that for sure because I've never put a really damp piece of wood in the stove.

Not sure I've ever heard "popping" from unseasoned wood, but some kinds of wood tend to pop and spit no matter how dry it is. Sumac, for instance, pops like crazy. The folks who sugar around here use a lot of sumac, so I tried it in the stove, but it popped and spit sparks so wildly it simply wasn't safe to open the stove door until it was totally consumed, so I only use it in "shoulder" season when I just want to take a bit of chill off and can let the fire die out completely.

 

[firefighterjake]

My opinion . . . your wood isn't fully seasoned . . . but don't despair . . . if your smoke is "clear", your glass is clean, your stove is still giving you good secondary action and BTUs and you keep checking and cleaning your chimney I would say the wood may not be the absolute best, but it certainly is usable.

I don't think this is all surface moisture . . . I've been burning some wood and once in a while I get a round or a split that will hiss and spit up some moisture out of the end for 10 minutes or so . . . I suppose it's possible it's just surface moisture, but I doubt it . . . the wood is dry to the touch when I put it in the fire and the moisture is bubbling out the end.

I don't worry about it too much though since this has been the exception rather than the rule to the wood I've been using, the fire is running hot, the glass is clean, smoke is clear and I check and clean monthly anyways.

Re: Popping indicating moisture deeper in the surface . . . I agree with g-falcon . . . I think many times it depends on the wood species vs. moisture . . . you can take a bone dry piece of white cedar and it will pop and snap to beat the band.

 

[ControlFreak]

If you have hissing and anything bubbling out of the endgrain, then your wood isn't seasoned completely.

But you always go with what you have. If you're getting good heat and secondary combustion, you're in pretty good shape. In the future, see if there's anything you can do to improve the drying of your wood, like getting it a bit earlier so it has longer to dry.

 

[LLigetfa]

It is possible to have some excess moisture trapped under the bark and for the rest of the split to be fine. I always stack bark side up so there is less chance of water pooling under the bark.

 

[billb3]

I've had to burn well-seasoned wood that got soaked from a drenching 3 day New England No'reaster.
Bubbling cooler fires but clear smoke.

I would stack some of that wet wood on the basement floor and there would be a small puddle under the splits, especially if stood them on end.
Was worse at the bottom of the stack days later with frozen splits.

Another reason why I keep some kind of roof on my stacks.