Front, secondary tube action ??

[HDRock]

When I first get er crankin , starting or reloading , I get a lot of secondary action on the front tube (3 tubes in my Lopi ) once I dial it down, not much from the front tube but the back 2 roll along good, Is this normal ??
I have some ideas but, If so Why ??
fire box is 18" square , I load N/S , splits are 16 to 17"

 

[Oregon aloha]

I'm new to EPA stoves. Started burning ours this week. I will have to watch for that. I think mine rolls more in the front, but I see it all over. It's very nice to watch the stove in action.

 

[etiger2007]

Interesting, mine seem to be fairly spred out between the three tubes in the Osburn.

 

[BobUrban]

can be effected by wood type, dryness, load size, air intake, etc... As long as it is working it is working. I am guessing with larger loads and/or drier wood you will have all three cranking for a while. Some loads work a little different than others and moisture content has a lot to do with it.

I will say: "What a difference a year makes!" I was asking last season why my 2yr ash left so much coaling at the tail end of a burn cycle. Dennis told me to hold on - it will get even better next year. He was not lying!! With three yr ash in the 15-18% range it burns hotter and leaves just powder in the AM.

 

[bryan]

Are you raking your coals forward when you reload? In that case the hottest place in the stove will be near that from tube. The wood in the front will also heat up faster releasing its gases first. Another possibility is that the wood in the back is releasing its gasses but its not hot enough back after a reload so as the vapors move forward they combust in the hotter forward section.

 

[oldspark]

can be effected by wood type, dryness, load size, air intake, etc... As long as it is working it is working. I am guessing with larger loads and/or drier wood you will have all three cranking for a while. Some loads work a little different than others and moisture content has a lot to do with it.

I will say: "What a difference a year makes!" I was asking last season why my 2yr ash left so much coaling at the tail end of a burn cycle. Dennis told me to hold on - it will get even better next year. He was not lying!! With three yr ash in the 15-18% range it burns hotter and leaves just powder in the AM.

Thats interesting, I have wood thats 4 or 5 years old and it seems to have the same amount of ash that my 2 year old wood has. Need to do some testing I guess, never noticed any more heat from the older wood either, once it gets to a certain % it wont dry any more and that varies with your weather conditions and the wood species.
I will add that most of my wood is in the 15 to 18% range.

 

[Augie]

So this is the way mine works as well, Here is a pic of how mine looks for about the whole secondary time. We have the same stove so you should have a similar looking fire going. If you would like you can come over for a beer and check it out, or the other way around.

Sorry about moving the camera in the middle!lol skip 18-45 seconds..haha

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

BTW, this is a load of cotton wood the other night. I use cotton wood, willow or pine to get the stove up to temp, I do this so I dont I feel like I am wasting the Good wood on a cold stove getting it to 350-400. Small splits to get a cold stove up to operating temp then loading with a full load really improves the control of the stove and lengthens the burn times significantly. Cold stove with a full load of Maple, 6-8hrs, warm stove with maple 8-10hrs

 

[HDRock]

So this is the way mine works as well, Here is a pic of how mine looks for about the whole secondary time. We have the same stove so you should have a similar looking fire going. If you would like you can come over for a beer and check it out, or the other way around.

Sorry about moving the camera in the middle!lol skip 18-45 seconds..haha

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

BTW, this is a load of cotton wood the other night. I use cotton wood, willow or pine to get the stove up to temp, I do this so I dont I feel like I am wasting the Good wood on a cold stove getting it to 350-400. Small splits to get a cold stove up to operating temp then loading with a full load really improves the control of the stove and lengthens the burn times significantly. Cold stove with a full load of Maple, 6-8hrs, warm stove with maple 8-10hrs

Thanks Augie, I have been burning small loads pine ,maple, poplar.
I just did a reload N/S at 300 stove top temp, raked coals forward , crammed it full with oak n ash, in this situation the front tube, and second one, has been rolling right along, for an hour now, the back tube not much action, so I guess it depends on how hot it is it the area of the stove, I'm still learning this stove , at least I know it's not screwed up, Oh ya , I am loving this stove more n more all the time

 

[weatherguy]

can be effected by wood type, dryness, load size, air intake, etc... As long as it is working it is working. I am guessing with larger loads and/or drier wood you will have all three cranking for a while. Some loads work a little different than others and moisture content has a lot to do with it.

I will say: "What a difference a year makes!" I was asking last season why my 2yr ash left so much coaling at the tail end of a burn cycle. Dennis told me to hold on - it will get even better next year. He was not lying!! With three yr ash in the 15-18% range it burns hotter and leaves just powder in the AM.

That's interesting that it took that long for ash to get dry, I have a cord of ash split in March that's already 18% and is burning great. I thought drying quick was ash's selling point.

 

[BobUrban]

Oh it was dry - burned well all last year(some of it actually the year before as well) but after 3 years CSS and getting a free MM so I had to play with it - all my ash is between 12 and 16% - not sure how accurate the MM is but that is on fresh splits taken randomly throughout the stack as I move wood into the basement this fall. I was good - now it is better.

 

[oldspark]

Oh it was dry - burned well all last year(some of it actually the year before as well) but after 3 years CSS and getting a free MM so I had to play with it - all my ash is between 12 and 16% - not sure how accurate the MM is but that is on fresh splits taken randomly throughout the stack as I move wood into the basement this fall. I was good - now it is better.

But how long did it take to get there, wood dries to a point and then dries no more so waiting for a specific time frame makes no sense. What did you gain by the extra time, I have asked this question before (other person) and they had no answer.

 

[BobUrban]

Like I said - no clue because I got a MM this past year and never even took it out of the box until this fall when I was moving wood and had a little time so though I may as well take a look. My assumption is that the wood was at or near 20% within the first yr but the extra time allowed it to get better. I agree, there is a point of equalization with relative humidity and moisture loss so I was not waiting, perse, I just have so much wood that waiting until yr 3 is just part of the process. It was last season that I has a conversation with Dennis "Backwoods Savage" about Michigan ash creating more coaling and, well, Ash - than I had expected. His comment was that I would be pleasantly surprised next year(2013/14) and, as always, Dennis is correct.

 

[oldspark]

Well if it takes you three years to get ash dry oak should take you six.

 

[etiger2007]

Dead ash still measures 30% or better with the moisture meter after being cut and split. I have taken several ash trees from my property and thats what they measure some dead standing and some dead fallen.

 

[oldspark]

Dead ash still measures 30% or better with the moisture meter after being cut and split. I have taken several ash trees from my property and thats what they measure some dead standing and some dead fallen.

It can but not all of it does, many varibles and so has been reported here many many times, wood does not dry well in log form but we are talking about wood that has been CSS for 3 years.

 

[HDRock]

Dead ash still measures 30% or better with the moisture meter after being cut and split. I have taken several ash trees from my property and thats what they measure some dead standing and some dead fallen.

I have cut split 17" Dia dead standing ash ready to burn at 17% MC, the 10 n 12 dead ash around here are all ! ready to burn, the dead 25-30% ash stacked in spring is now dry to18%,.
Maybe mine were dead longer IDK, many varibles