New cape cod insert installed today

[prezes13]

When I am reloading(stove still throws heat and have nice bed of coals) I open my primaries full(bottom knob all the way in) open my bypass (top knob all the way out) rake coal towards the front load the stove. Now depends on the stove temperature I let it all catch all on fire with the primaries fully open or I start shutting them down right away but not completely. I do it in stages until I have nice secondaries going and I am sure I am not chocking stove too much.

 

[JASFARMER]

I am starting to think maybe I was shutting bypass down too early and running on high might not be the most efficient. In this pics I really tried to get it engulfed before I did anything. All pics were 5-10 minutes apart after a reload.

 

[begreen]

Looks pretty normal to me.

 

[Grisu]

The later pictures look fine; nice secondaries. However, I would wait with closing the door until the wood is well engulfed in flames. Having a good, nice fire going may also allow to turn the air down sooner.

 

[JASFARMER]

Looks pretty normal to me.

It seems like it's doing better on this load. I let it going really good before closing anything down. I am seeing those wicked cool secondary flames . Also I am not burning on high. Probably half way open. Maybe closing air down the secondaries are working better?

 

[JASFARMER]

The later pictures look fine; nice secondaries. However, I would wait with closing the door until the wood is well engulfed in flames. Having a good, nice fire going may also allow to turn the air down sooner.

What do you mean by "closing the door". Air or bypass or main door because the main door was closed the whole time

 

[Grisu]

If the stove is hot enough and you have good draft, yes, closing the air will give you plenty secondaries and more heat.

 

[Grisu]

What do you mean by "closing the door". Air or bypass or main door because the main door was closed the whole time

The "main" door. Leave it open until the wood has caught fire and you have good flames.

 

[JASFARMER]

The "main" door. Leave it open until the wood has caught fire and you have good flames.

Ok. I was told you shouldn't have to have it open to get a fire going but the installer said it wasn't a problem

 

[Grisu]

You don't need to burn through half of your wood with the door open. Just wait a minute or two to get the wood engulfed in flames. When you take a look at your 3rd pic, maybe a bit after that I close the door usually.

 

[prezes13]

With all do respect to all people who know more than I do. Cape cod seems to be a very easy breather. I almost never use the open door trick. With good wood and decent bed of coals you shouldn't have to have the bypass or the door open. Anytime you open the door open the bypass. Keep your primaries open it should do the trick.

 

[prezes13]

Last pic looks good. The previous once if it was on a reload I would like to see a bit more flames out of the wood. You should have the primaries open a bit more.

 

[JASFARMER]

Last pic looks good. The previous once if it was on a reload I would like to see a bit more flames out of the wood. You should have the primaries open a bit more.

When I reload I have them all the way open. Got a lot better burns and more heat yesterday with all the help from the gurus on here . I am wondering though if it still isn't burning real good because it seems to me that I have a lot of "charcoal" instead of ash. It's like the coals don't burn all the way. Is this normal or should I have more ash ?
Thanks again for all the help

 

[prezes13]

Coals are product of either wet wood or primaries closed too much. Don't get me wrong you will always have some, but if it's exesive one of the two is responsible for it. For a long slow burn I like to add some Eco Bricks I found out it keeps the coals production down.

 

[begreen]

A couple years ago I had a huge coaling problem when burning some 2 yr old maple. The problem was that in spite of being stacked and covered, the location of the stack was poor. It was shaded most of the day and not oriented so that prevailing winds could blow through it. The result was that the top cover actually held in moisture. Had I stacked the wood in another location it would have been more work to cart it there, but the wood would have dried correctly. That load also was the first ever to clog the chimney cap screen. Moral of the story is that now all wood I burn gets put in the well ventilated shed in early spring so that it at least has a full 6 months of shed time before burning, regardless of how dry I think it is.