flame or not?

[Archminer]

ok. this my first epa stove. a ussc 1001b. im used to the old buck stoves, warm mornings, wunderluxes, and wood/coal stoves that i guess are considered old fashioned now. those are what i grew up on and was taught how to fire.

bank'er up at night, shut the air down, and let the coals smolder. thats always how we did it. esppecially at night. i have been reading a bout these epa stoves though and supposedly they are are to have rolling flames from the reburners all the time after they are hot. well if i keep the air open enough for that it burns though a load of wood in a couple hours. but if i shut the air down. half or a lil more depending on the wood, i can get 5 to 8 hours of good heat from it. stovetop temp stays around 275-350. but not much flaming. just hot coals and maybe a lil blue flame.

am i doing this wrong? am i burning to old school for this stove? what is the proper way to burn to get max heat and burn time?

also, the manual doesnt say where the best place for the thermometer is. any ideas?

thanks. Sam

 

[weatherguy]

First thing everyone's going to want to know is how seasoned is your wood? These new stoves must have dry wood to burn properly.

 

[Holiday]

That's right, how is your wood? Once the flames are going I turn my air almost all the way off, like 90%, stove peaks at around 650 then gradually tapers down over the next 3 or 4 hours to 350. It's a small stove though.

 

[BrowningBAR]

but if i shut the air down. half or a lil more depending on the wood, i can get 5 to 8 hours of good heat from it. stovetop temp stays around 275-350. but not much flaming. just hot coals and maybe a lil blue flame.

Your wood is wet.

With the stove that you own you should have rolling flame and a stove temp of 600-700 with the air completely, or nearly, closed.

 

[Archminer]

8 month split curley maple, standing dead locust cut about a month ago, and tried some hardwood that has been seasoning in our wood bin for the last 5 years. thats the last time we had a wood burner. even treid burning a couple loads of pallet wood. they have all burned about the same

 

[Archminer]

btw. no matter what wood. exept some oak i tried. once the stove is hot, there is no smoke out the chimney. just heat waves.

 

[BrowningBAR]

How are you measuring the stove top temps?

Are you shutting the air off in stages or all at once?

 

[Archminer]

How are you measuring the stove top temps?
Are you shutting the air off in stages or all at once?

a magnetic stove themometer. not sure where to put it though.

ive tried both.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Your stove top temp is really low. It should be between 500-700. Since you are claiming not to see any smoke, something is wrong with your temp measurements.

Working an EPA non-cat stove:
1. Get fire roaring.
2. watch for stove top temps to climb and wood begin to char.
3. After a few minutes (depending upon the quality of wood, draft, etc) begin cutting the air back in stages.
4. Air should be at about 75% open.
5. Hold for a few minutes
6. Cut back to 50%
7. Hold for a few minutes
8. Cut back to 25%
9. Hold for a few minutes
10. Cut to about 12% (or half the distance from where you were at to the closed point)
11. Hold for a few minutes
12. Close all the way (or not depending upon the quality of wood, draft, etc)

Stove top temps should be sitting at 600-700 when you have finished with rolling flame moving about the firebox.

 

[Archminer]

Your stove top temp is really low. It should be between 500-700. Since you are claiming not to see any smoke, something is wrong with your temp measurements.

Working an EPA non-cat stove:
1. Get fire roaring.
2. watch for stove top temps to climb and wood begin to char.
3. After a few minutes (depending upon the quality of wood, draft, etc) begin cutting the air back in stages.
4. Air should be at about 75% open.
5. Hold for a few minutes
6. Cut back to 50%
7. Hold for a few minutes
8. Cut back to 25%
9. Hold for a few minutes
10. Cut to about 12% (or half the distance from where you were at to the closed point)
11. Hold for a few minutes
12. Close all the way (or not depending upon the quality of wood, draft, etc)

Stove top temps should be sitting at 600-700 when you have finished with rolling flame moving about the firebox.

where would you suggest i try the thermometer? its a step top stove. right now its in front of the stove pipe on the lower step.

 

[aansorge]

The rolling flames only last two hours. Then you get in the coaling stage where the wood glows but not a lot if any secondary action.

 

[Ashful]

where would you suggest i try the thermometer? its a step top stove. right now its in front of the stove pipe on the lower step.

I Googled for a manual, hoping it would show proper stovetop thermometer placement, but did not find the info. Usually, you want to find the hottest spot on top of the stove. The exact number becomes less important, than your ability to reference some number to a proper burn, once you get to know the stove. However, you don't want it too far removed from the firebox, as there will be too much lag time in thermometer readings to make it useful.

Most aim for top center of the stove, for best reading. However, if you have a convective double layer top, then you obviously won't be seeing the real stove top temp with your thermometer on top of a baffle. Then you may have to scoot it forward, to get it down on the actual firebox top.

Then there's this problem: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/crappy-magnetic-thermometers.115472/

 

[Sprinter]

Usually, you want to find the hottest spot on top of the stove. The exact number becomes less important, than your ability to reference some number to a proper burn, once you get to know the stove. However, you don't want it too far removed from the firebox, as there will be too much lag time in thermometer readings to make it useful.

+1

You may also consider getting an infrared thermometer as well, so you can quickly check temps all over the top and elsewhere. For example, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Non-Contact-IR-Infrared-Digital-Temperature-Temp-Thermometer-Laser-Point-Gun-/200919206455
They're a very accurate device. I use mine for all kinds of things.

Browning's outline is a good one. You'll get to know your stove soon and tweak the process to what works best for you.