Having a hard time igniting large splits

[MTSusa]

Hey y'all, new to the forum but I have been absorbing the wealth of information here over the past couple of months since installing my Jotul Castine and preparing for this heating season.

This is my first experience with an EPA stove and, despite the learning curve, things are going well and I'm becoming acclimated to the burning cycle.

What I'm struggling with a bit is loading large splits--quarter rounds of hardwood (don't know the species), approximately 8-9" radius (from a 16-18" round). The previous owners left the wood piled in the garage and, after splitting several and checking the moisture of the center, the wood is a little below 15%. Last night I let the stove burn down to a few coals (stovetop temp was low, a little above 150), raked the coals to the front, and laid down a tiny split on this to get the fire going (ignited immediately). After that split caught pretty well, I began loading the stove with 2 large splits and 1 small. The fire went out and the logs smoked something fierce. Some flames would occasionally shoot around the wood and the bottom of the front log eventually ignited, but it was only a small flame. It took almost an hour to get sustainable flames and stovetop temp struggled to get above 350. flames never really engulfed the wood.

A half hour or so later and after me playing with the splits/trying to get some more airflow between them, flames caught and the stove quickly shot up to about 500. Then I was able to turn the air down and let the secondaries took over...things were smooth after that.

My question is how large of a coal bed is necessary when loading large splits? Does the stove already have to be up to a decent temperature? And for the Castine/any stove with a doghouse, should I slightly elevate these on smaller splits to increase airflow?

Thanks for your help!

 

[begreen]

An E/W loader like the Castine can have trouble getting air under the large splits. Here is the technique that worked for me:
Rake coals forward toward the front center of the stove. Then take two ~2" short splits (about 12-14" long) and place them N/S about 4" apart centered on the middle of the stove. Then place your normal load of wood on top of those two splits. Branch material works great as a source of those short sleepers, but so does a 2x4 scrap split in half. Loading this way will allow air from the boost manifold to get under the bed of wood. This will greatly improve quick lighting.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Welcome MTSusa,
I do something similar to begreen. I'll lay down a couple short sticks or splits that are an inch and a half or so in diameter in the N/S configuration mentioned, however, I like to space mine a bit further apart (about a foot) so that the primary air coming out of the doghouse can reach more surface area of the larger splits laying E/W on top of them. Depending on how much room you have in the stove and how large the splits are you would space them so you have an inch or so between them. This allows the hot air coming from the doghouse to flow up between the splits to ignite them. You can enhance this effect by placing some small pieces of kindling in between the large splits to get some quick flames going.

 

[Woody Stover]

If you have a fair amount of coals, you can pull them up across the front and scrape a couple holes in the line so that air will get under the split. May not work quite as well as the method above, though.

 

[MTSusa]

Kind thanks to all your replies. A time or two ago I recall building two NS "logs" out of the coals, but the splits were smaller. I'll definitely give this a shot tonight. It was 37 today but I let the stove burn out this morning or else I'd have cooked the house. 1350 sq ft open ranch but I added blown in cellulose to the walls and brought the attic to R60...really holds the heat in.

What do you think about the reload temps for large splits? Should I be loading them soon after the fire dies down and the coals are still relatively large/stove near 300 degrees, or is it just bad practice trying to relight a warm stove without first burning down some small splits to establish a hotter, larger coal bed? I guess part of my rationale is that without much heat and only a handful of embers, the split may take extraordinarily long to ignite due to its mass.

 

[begreen]

If the splits are large and hardwood I would reload around 250 - 300F stove top with a moderately sized coal bed.

 

[MTSusa]

Thanks begreen.

Unfortunately my available seasoned wood is pretty low (just realized yesterday) so I'm waiting til it's deeper into the winter to ration and reap the benefits of the wood this season.

I'll definitely be mindful of all your advice!

 

[begreen]

Damp wood is a real bear to deal with. Start resplitting the wood and bring it indoors by the tubful and let it dry out for a week or so. That will accelerate drying a lot and may get you by.