liquid paraffin

[mikew]

I added some liquid paraffin to a log of gum last night and it seemed to burn cleaner then the oak I had in the stove, very little smoke and it burned nice, is there any problem with adding a little liquid paraffin on the logs the get them burn without smoking, some people say don't burn gum its like pine but I have about a cord of it, also will the paraffin cause a lot of ceasote?

 

[ctlovell]

I think that everyone is pretty much against any waxes, oils, or chemicals in a wood stove. For safety reasons such as over firing and loss of control.

 

[jpl1nh]

Mike, what kind of stove are you using? I tnd to agree with ctlovell about not using products like that except perhaps as a fire starter.

 

[begreen]

Most stove manuals specifically and explicitly state not to use petroleum products in their stoves.

 

[mikew]

I am renting a house that has a fireplace and a heat pump, the heat pump barely puts out heat and the downstairs where the fireplace is doesn't get above 60 degrees, I traded a wagner painter for a pretty nice stove, the glass is cracked on the inside of one door but not on the outside, I slid it into the opening and covered the outside with the metal surround that came with the stove, a freind of mine said no pipe was needed because it fits almost right up to the flue. I then made a trade for a huge pile of wood that a guy had behind his garage( he says for year), it looks pretty dry nad most of it is cracking on the ends, I know a lot of it is oak because of the grain but the rest is gum because of the little pine cone looking things on the other trees and on the ground from his property, I might only be living here for a year, just rying to cut down on the heating bill, I got all 3 cords for 100.00 worth of trade, it has to be split, some people say don't burn gum, some say you can, the paraffin soaked logs burned nice without too much of a crazy flame, I thought the logs at the store were made with paraffin so I tried it. The chimney was clean before I put in the stove, the lady never used it and I have been burning for a month now with a creasote cleaning log thrown in last week, I will probably pull the stove out next week just to check the flue and make sure things are ok. I have read that you need a pipe up to the second tile but others have said you can just insert the stove and as lond long as it draws you are ok, another fried of burnt for years that way. not sure what kind of stove it is I send some pics. Thanks for any advice

 

[mikew]

I think that everyone is pretty much against any waxes, oils, or chemicals in a wood stove. For safety reasons such as over firing and loss of control.

can you tell me what you mean by over firing?

 

[mikew]

heres the stove

 

[mikew]

here the wood pile, split it should be about 3 cords, theres a lot of big logs buried behind the pile

 

[mikew]

heres the stove

does anybody recognize this stove, I can't find any info on it? I can't find a name plate

also theres a H pattern piece of steel that sits above the grate in the inside of the stove, I figure it must be for air, I usually leave it to the right and it seems to work fine when I adjust the bottom air ring on the side of the blower

 

[fraxinus]

About two months ago, not more than 15 miles from here, two young men added kerosene to a wood stove to get the fire going. One was killed, the other seriously burned. The risk of explosive combustion when you add a flammable liquid to a stove - even when you think the fire is completely out - is extremely high. Don't do it. You are risking not only your life and property, but also calling into question the whole concept of wood heat.

 

[jpl1nh]

The number one thing to be concerned about using your wood stove is safety. Looking at your stove, its likely you may have a number of places where air can leak into your stove making it difficult for you to control the temperature of your fire. If the fire is given too much air it can overfire, meaning the stove will reach temps of 800-900 degrees or more which can damage your stove, cause greater risk of chimney fires or even set your home on fire, all sorts of nasty stuff. Your chimney hook up while it may "worK' also is in peril of letting flue gasses back into your home causing carbon monoxide poisoning or other hazzards. In short, your efforts to save a few dollars may be putting you at substantial risk for far greater harm of one form or another. It is vital your chimney is safe and you should have a qualified chimney sweep inspect before you use your stove any further. At the very least, it is almost certain that some of the gaskets on your stove need replacing, and the crack in the glass on your door may be an air problem as well. Looking further into the concern you have about gum as a fuel, assuming you are using blackgum, its not a bad wood to burn and sap etc should not be an issue.

 

[ansehnlich1]

heres the stove

My professional opinion is that you have a dangerous setup if you just slide that stove in there and fire it up, period. If you're a gambling man, and are looking for a crapshoot with your life, go for it.

And, my guess is you got about a cord and a half of wood there against that shed.

 

[begreen]

Just shoving in the stove without any stub or full liner is called a slammer. Any decent stove installer stopped doing this kind of installation years if not decades ago. It isn't safe.

The wood on that pile, may or may not burn very well. It's been sitting on the ground, unsplit. The wood should be stacked, off the ground and the larger than say 8" rounds split so that they can dry out in the middle. Putting an accelerant on the poor wood in a stove is stuff for a jackass movie.

Burning the wood if wet, in a slammer installation, with a barely controllable stove has all the ingredients to be a quick route to disaster.

 

[mikew]

hey thanks for all the advice, I think the guy who told me it was ok must have had a slammer installed

I think I will pull the stove and sell it while there is still winter left.

would it be ok to burn in the regular fireplace, I know they say you just waste heat but its 59 to 60 degrees down stairs and I figure the regular fireplace should heat the room up some, as long as the flue is clean with no cracks shouldn't it be safe to burn, also does anybody have any experience with those fireplace blower tubes, as far as the wood pile goes the oak that I got out and split seems to burn pretty good with little smoke, its the gum I add a little parrafin too

thanks again for the help

 

[mikew]

another question

when I moved in the lady left a propane log burner insert, just the logs and grills no steel box, just a grate with fake logs and a gas line with regulator, I was wondering if propane burning on one of these things is safer and better to burn in an open fireplace, I could have a propane tank installed or run it off the smaller tanks, not sure of the cost but just checking

 

[marky_mark896]

They are probably vented logs, and that means you'd have to leave the damper wide open, or die of carbon monoxide poisoning. I wouldn't use something that I didn't have checked out by an expert to make sure they were functioning safely. My vote is shut the damper and turn up the furnace.

 

[begreen]

hey thanks for all the advice, I think the guy who told me it was ok must have had a slammer installed

I think I will pull the stove and sell it while there is still winter left.

would it be ok to burn in the regular fireplace, I know they say you just waste heat but its 59 to 60 degrees down stairs and I figure the regular fireplace should heat the room up some, as long as the flue is clean with no cracks shouldn't it be safe to burn, also does anybody have any experience with those fireplace blower tubes, as far as the wood pile goes the oak that I got out and split seems to burn pretty good with little smoke, its the gum I add a little parrafin too

thanks again for the help

If the sweep said the chimney was in good order for burning, it should be ok to use. Though as you noted, not much heat and a lot of wood to be consumed. Where in NJ? Have you been watching craigslist for stoves coming up there? We have a lot posted daily in our area. Most aren't worth considering, just smoke dragons, but a few a week are gems.

 

[mikew]

They are probably vented logs, and that means you'd have to leave the damper wide open, or die of carbon monoxide poisoning. I wouldn't use something that I didn't have checked out by an expert to make sure they were functioning safely. My vote is shut the damper and turn up the furnace.

its aheat pump doesn't get hot downstairs or I would have never thought to use the fireplace except fpr once in awhile

 

[mikew]

heres another question

I went to the local fireplace store and the guy told me I would have to run full double wall 8" stainless all the way up to the top of the chimney(pretty sure he said double wall) and then to the stove, I read that code was to have a cover over the flue damper and run the pipe up to the second tile, the guy said that even if the tiles had no cracks they would crack in a couple months and then there would be trouble if the wood on the other side caught fire

If the tiles are good and I run a collar and a pipe from the stove to the second tile do you think the tiles futher up would crack from 2-3 months of burning since they have never been used?

does the pipe have to be double wall pipe from the stove to the second tile or can it be single wall, also can it be flex pipe?

 

[mikew]

hey thanks for all the advice, I think the guy who told me it was ok must have had a slammer installed

I think I will pull the stove and sell it while there is still winter left.

would it be ok to burn in the regular fireplace, I know they say you just waste heat but its 59 to 60 degrees down stairs and I figure the regular fireplace should heat the room up some, as long as the flue is clean with no cracks shouldn't it be safe to burn, also does anybody have any experience with those fireplace blower tubes, as far as the wood pile goes the oak that I got out and split seems to burn pretty good with little smoke, its the gum I add a little parrafin too

thanks again for the help

If the sweep said the chimney was in good order for burning, it should be ok to use. Though as you noted, not much heat and a lot of wood to be consumed. Where in NJ? Have you been watching craigslist for stoves coming up there? We have a lot posted daily in our area. Most aren't worth considering, just smoke dragons, but a few a week are gems.

I got this one from the craigslist and with piping it would ok but I might put it back up on there and do something else, maybe run a line and put electric baseboard down there unless theres some other electric hard wired system I can use, electric baseboard is expensive, I'm an electricain so the install is free

 

[mikew]

heres another question

I went to the local fireplace store and the guy told me I would have to run full double wall 8" stainless all the way up to the top of the chimney(pretty sure he said double wall) and then to the stove, I read that code was to have a cover over the flue damper and run the pipe up to the second tile, the guy said that even if the tiles had no cracks they would crack in a couple months and then there would be trouble if the wood on the other side caught fire

If the tiles are good and I run a collar and a pipe from the stove to the second tile do you think the tiles futher up would crack from 2-3 months of burning since they have never been used?

does the pipe have to be double wall pipe from the stove to the second tile or can it be single wall, also can it be flex pipe?

anybody?????

 

[begreen]

The size of the pipe depends on the stove and to some extent the height of the chimney. You definitely shouldn't need double-wall. But if an exterior chimney or damaged tiles in the current flue it should be insulated. FWIW, most modern stoves use 6".

 

[woodgeek]

Long time lurker chiming in...

I'm burning that stove's twin brother! I'd be really interested if anyone here could ID it.

I inherited this stove when I bought my house in 2005, it was in excellent condition--glass in tact,
gaskets seal well--but it was a slammer install. After a few test fires and a little research, I
decided to upgrade the install with a direct connect (8" boot, 5' of 8" ovalized SS flex to the first
8x12" tile and block-off plate). DIY, this cost me a few hundred $$, which is all I would like to
invest as a newbie just burning a little on WE and evenings.

As for the stove:
1. It's a coal burner--you described the shaker grate--and you're close to anthracite country.
2. It seems that most folks are ok safety-wise with burning wood in a coal burner. When it was
sold, it might have been billed as dual wood/coal, who knows--haven't ID'ed it yet.
3. Specs: about 2 cu ft firebox, wide, deep, and short. No firebricks. Shaker grate and a little
underneath air. 8" flue collar on top. Pretty heavy gauge plate steel, double-wall insert stove.
Blower. Steel baffle plate. Airtight (fire collapses fast when vent closed). No secondary. Door
activated air-bypass to reduce smoke spillage.

So, mikew, you face the same choice I had, in order of cost--use the slammer (easy NO), upgrade
to direct connect, SS liner, SS insulated liner, smoke teleporter to stratosphere, etc. Or you could
sell the lovable POS. In the end, I'm satisfied by my 8" direct connect choice (the cheapest code
option). With my 8x12 tiles, an 8" liner would have been impossible/very expensive ovalized, and
a 6" would not have been code. If/when I did upgrade to a real stove, I'd have to rip out the 8" liner
anyway. Moreover, since this old stove was not designed for a liner, a liner might overdraft it.

You can see that the 8" flue collar makes it a bit of a white-elephant.

Performance-wise, this thing burns clean (clear stack) when its hot, and cranks out a lot of heat
when you close the air down to the lowest clean setting. Air wide open, there is very little heat.
Heats my 2200 sqft house single-handedly down to about freezing. I have been trying to estimate
the stove's efficiency by tracking what weight of wood I need to burn to keep my oil boiler quiet.
I got 33% from the slammer version, and 50% for the direct connect and block-off. I figure
the air leak around the surround was stealing my heat.

FWIW, if I had an exterior chimney, I probably wouldn't have tried all this.

Finding hearth.com, I got a touch of the liner envy, and regretted my lowly direct connect. And then
I read that ELK was running two direct connects and now I sleep well at night (um, with the stove
all burned down).

 

[begreen]

Welcome woodgeek. Thanks for the excellent review and summary of your stove and installation.

 

[mikew]

Long time lurker chiming in...

I'm burning that stove's twin brother! I'd be really interested if anyone here could ID it.

I inherited this stove when I bought my house in 2005, it was in excellent condition--glass in tact,
gaskets seal well--but it was a slammer install. After a few test fires and a little research, I
decided to upgrade the install with a direct connect (8" boot, 5' of 8" ovalized SS flex to the first
8x12" tile and block-off plate). DIY, this cost me a few hundred $$, which is all I would like to
invest as a newbie just burning a little on WE and evenings.

As for the stove:
1. It's a coal burner--you described the shaker grate--and you're close to anthracite country.
2. It seems that most folks are ok safety-wise with burning wood in a coal burner. When it was
sold, it might have been billed as dual wood/coal, who knows--haven't ID'ed it yet.
3. Specs: about 2 cu ft firebox, wide, deep, and short. No firebricks. Shaker grate and a little
underneath air. 8" flue collar on top. Pretty heavy gauge plate steel, double-wall insert stove.
Blower. Steel baffle plate. Airtight (fire collapses fast when vent closed). No secondary. Door
activated air-bypass to reduce smoke spillage.

So, mikew, you face the same choice I had, in order of cost--use the slammer (easy NO), upgrade
to direct connect, SS liner, SS insulated liner, smoke teleporter to stratosphere, etc. Or you could
sell the lovable POS. In the end, I'm satisfied by my 8" direct connect choice (the cheapest code
option). With my 8x12 tiles, an 8" liner would have been impossible/very expensive ovalized, and
a 6" would not have been code. If/when I did upgrade to a real stove, I'd have to rip out the 8" liner
anyway. Moreover, since this old stove was not designed for a liner, a liner might overdraft it.

You can see that the 8" flue collar makes it a bit of a white-elephant.

Performance-wise, this thing burns clean (clear stack) when its hot, and cranks out a lot of heat
when you close the air down to the lowest clean setting. Air wide open, there is very little heat.
Heats my 2200 sqft house single-handedly down to about freezing. I have been trying to estimate
the stove's efficiency by tracking what weight of wood I need to burn to keep my oil boiler quiet.
I got 33% from the slammer version, and 50% for the direct connect and block-off. I figure
the air leak around the surround was stealing my heat.

FWIW, if I had an exterior chimney, I probably wouldn't have tried all this.

Finding hearth.com, I got a touch of the liner envy, and regretted my lowly direct connect. And then
I read that ELK was running two direct connects and now I sleep well at night (um, with the stove
all burned down).

Thanks for the info, you are describing the stove just right, it burns just like you say no smoke out the chimney at all and got nice and hot but after doing a lot of resaerch I'm leary of the short 8" run up to the second tile, I have heard that the teracota tiles will crack above and can cause problems if you get a fire in the chimney and it goes thru the cracks and touches any wood on the framing. the stove guy wants to sell me 8" flex stainless called forever flex its warranted for live but its 850.00 for the pipe so I'm going to look for another way, if it was my house I might go that way but like you say a lot of new stoves are 6", I saw one yesterday, I think it was a regency, it was throwing heat like crazy and the fan was on low, he says their 1600.00 + 650.00 for the 6" pipe, again not my house so not an option. I did have my heat pump up to 73 last night and it brought the downstairs up to 65. A friend of mine said today I could run galvanized pipe that would last a couple months and at least burn the creasote, don't know if it will, might look for some pipe on the craigslists, anybody know if I can get away with regular stove pipe thru the chimney for 4 months?

Thanks again for the advice