i can't think what else it could be.
i like the crabbe pellets. they give me better heat than the mwp softies.
whereas the mwp were leaving the burnpot clear and mucking up the rest of the passages in the stove, with the crabbe (when burning on high for extended periods) i was getting a lot of ash staying in the fire pot (top feeder quad pot) and the coals would ride up to the last row of holes and the flame would get tall. but the rest of the stove stayed much cleaner. this with the feed gate closed all the way.
it seems the fly ash from the crabbe is just a bit heavier.
so i was resigned to stirring a few times a night.
well yesterday i cleaned the stove same way as always, but i also emptied the ash drawer.
it may have been the first time i cleaned and emptied the drawer at the same time since i started burning the crabbe 100% of the time.
now its 36 hours later and the fire has stayed low and snappy and the fire pot is clear clear clear.
it's not like the ashes were above the rim of the drawer and touching the pot, but it's the only thing i did differently.
i'll take the result, but i'm baffled.
the air inlet is under the pan and so it seems that there is better flow when the pan is empty.
just wondering if any other owners of quads or heatilators or similar set up stoves have noticed this effect.
i'm thinking maybe turbulence or vortices develop in the cavity of the empty drawer under the firepot and somehow feed air to the pot more efficiently.
i like the crabbe pellets. they give me better heat than the mwp softies.
whereas the mwp were leaving the burnpot clear and mucking up the rest of the passages in the stove, with the crabbe (when burning on high for extended periods) i was getting a lot of ash staying in the fire pot (top feeder quad pot) and the coals would ride up to the last row of holes and the flame would get tall. but the rest of the stove stayed much cleaner. this with the feed gate closed all the way.
it seems the fly ash from the crabbe is just a bit heavier.
so i was resigned to stirring a few times a night.
well yesterday i cleaned the stove same way as always, but i also emptied the ash drawer.
it may have been the first time i cleaned and emptied the drawer at the same time since i started burning the crabbe 100% of the time.
now its 36 hours later and the fire has stayed low and snappy and the fire pot is clear clear clear.
it's not like the ashes were above the rim of the drawer and touching the pot, but it's the only thing i did differently.
i'll take the result, but i'm baffled.
the air inlet is under the pan and so it seems that there is better flow when the pan is empty.
just wondering if any other owners of quads or heatilators or similar set up stoves have noticed this effect.
i'm thinking maybe turbulence or vortices develop in the cavity of the empty drawer under the firepot and somehow feed air to the pot more efficiently.
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