New Liberty

[boisblancboy]

Well I finally got my stove and its all installed. Sorry no pictures yet, but I will get some soon. Anyway I have a few questions now that I have it and have had a few fires in it.

1. After a few break in fires I decided to let her burn hard to get the rest of the paint fumes gone. I got a good fire burning, with the door closed and the by pass damper closed and the air control pushed all the way in to let her burn hard. Well once I let her burn hard for awhile I shut the air down to her and I noticed that the air pipes for secondary burning were red hot, is that ok? Did I let it burn hard for too long?

2. Also, I have about 19ft of chimney from the top of the stove to top of the pipe. When she is burning hard I am pretty sure I can hear it pulling air around the chimney at the stop of the stop at that joint. Is this a big deal?

3. Another random question. I have tons and tons of dead and down most which cedar on my property, but some other random wood. I want to do some cleaning up so I thought I might cut that stuff to length and burn it in the stove, I mean why waste it is my thinking. Is there any issues burning soft wood, or possibly rotten?

Thanks guys for the help!

 

[Pagey]

When I have a nice, rolling secondary in my Endeavor with a full load, it is not uncommon to see the tubes, especially the middle one, turn cherry red. And as long as your softwood is seasoned to the proper moisture content, you can burn all you want. Though you here old wives' tales about softwood, that's all that some of our forum members here have to burn, and they're doing just fine! I burn a cord or two of pine every year during shoulder season, and it's some of the cleanest burning stuff I have. I have some pine what was cut/split/stacked six months ago, and it's reading 18-20% moisture content on a fresh split.

Welcome to the Lopi family.

 

[boisblancboy]

Since I have had a few more burns in the liberty I have noticed that the drafting sound is coming from the air control. I can hear it either when the air control is all the way open or closed.

So far I do like the stove, but I wish the firebox was a little taller. Its been a little difficult to get a whole lot of wood stacked nicely in there. Especially when she is hot and I cant take my time to stack it in there.

Two questions:

1. Whats the best way to clean the ashes out but leave some coals so that I dont have to start a new fire with each cleaning?

2. What is a good stove top thermometer to get?

 

[Joey]

Condor thermometers are really good and available online. You can also pick up a Rutland,,,,usually at any home improvement store,,,just make sure you get one, or two. Definately not good to not know what temps your stove is operating.

 

[thewoodlands]

Since I have had a few more burns in the liberty I have noticed that the drafting sound is coming from the air control. I can hear it either when the air control is all the way open or closed.

So far I do like the stove, but I wish the firebox was a little taller. Its been a little difficult to get a whole lot of wood stacked nicely in there. Especially when she is hot and I cant take my time to stack it in there.

Two questions:

1. Whats the best way to clean the ashes out but leave some coals so that I dont have to start a new fire with each cleaning?

2. What is a good stove top thermometer to get?

I take the wedge off some of my splits before I bring them in, it allows you to get more wood in. I use the wedge part (2 on the bottom) that I split off to start my fires along with some kindling. Attached is a picture with the wedge part of the wood removed.

Zap

 

[kenny chaos]

Congratulations on the new Liberty.
I thought I wanted big chunks for good all night burns.
This year I've started using much smaller splits.
I find I can get much more in and I get an even
longer burn.
Yes, soft wood is good.
I tried different kinds of ashpans and have settled
on a two quart, cast aluminum pot I keep by the stove
for cooking in.
Usually about once a week I stick the pot in the stove either
in the morning or late afternoon when the fire is mostly coals.
I just take the shovel and scoop down to the bottom to get the ashes.
I rock the shovel a little to knock the coals off the top and into the pot
where all the dust goes up the chimley.


P.S.- For good long burns, fill the box. I use mostly 16" so I stack it tight to one side
and place a couple more, north/south, along the edge.

 

[Apiator]

bbb,

I installed an Avalon Olympic insert back in September....LOVE IT!! Of course it is my 1st wood stove. Anyway....Avalon and Lopi are both built by Travis Industries..fraternal twins if you will. Once my fire gets going well and I close down the air intake, those secondary burn tubes get pretty hot...sometimes glowing. My stove top thermometer I got (Condar Inferno from Amazon.com) reads around the 500 degree range.

I think the Liberty and Olympic are both 3.1 cu ft. I do have to make sure the wood is not too triangularly cut in order to maximize space availability. I'm currently burning red oak that is not as seasoned as I'd like, but still seems to burn in the 400-600 optimal burn range as indicated on the Inferno thermometer. Last night I put about 3/4 of a load in around 7:00pm. I thought it would be completely out by morning. At about 6:30 this morning I noticed the stove was still quite warm so I stirred the ashes/coals, tossed in a few pieces of kindling and put some oak splits on top. Within 30 minutes, I had a nice fire with secondary burn going...around 450 degrees.

Because of the advice from the "pros" on this forum, I got some leather welding gloves and am able to move around the logs pretty easily...provided I don't hold them too long. I haven't tried to clean out the ashes while leaving in bigger coals. I think that having a slight bed of ashes actually insulates the coals somewhat allowing them to retain some heat. Of course...I could be wrong. The folks who frequent this forum seem to know their stuff. Listen to them. Heck, I fly airplanes for a living and should not be offering any wood stove advice etc... ;-)

Anyway....I think you'll enjoy the stove. I love mine so far!! High was 48 yesterday, and it stayed about 77 inside all day with the blower on the lowest setting. Was 72 this morning when I woke up.

Apiator

 

[firefighterjake]

A few random thoughts to some of the questions.

Good thermometer: I've had good luck so far with the Condar brand of thermometers. I have a magnetic stove top thermometer and a probe style thermometer for my double wall stove pipe. I can't vouch for the probe thermometer accuracy, but the stove top thermometer has been right on the money when I've checked the temp with my IR heat thermometer.

Cedar: I love cedar. No issues in burning seasoned cedar . . . heck no issues burning any seasoned wood. Here in Maine I do find the white cedar that we have burns quick and pops and snaps a lot which means it's not the best to burn for long burns. Good for the shoulder season . . . and you need to be careful when the firebox door is open due to the aforementioned snapping and popping. While I do burn the occasinonal odd-shaped cedar split, most of the time I use the cedar as kindling since it is a fantastic way to get a fire going.

Coals: I have an ash pan, but to save as many of the hot coals (or dead coals for that matter) I simply use my hearth shovel or poker to move them out of the way and then if I have to clean out the firebox due to excess ash let the ash drop into my ash pan . . . or you could simply scoop up the ash. You may get a few errant coals here or there in the ash, but generally just pushing them out of the way will keep most of them in your firebox vs. in your ash pan.

 

[rdust]

Two questions:

1. Whats the best way to clean the ashes out but leave some coals so that I dont have to start a new fire with each cleaning?

2. What is a good stove top thermometer to get?

I find that in the morning after a night burn most of the coals are at the back of the stove,(I load N/S) I shovel a couple scoops of ash out of the front if needed then rack the coals to the front to lay the new splits on.

I have a Rutland magnet thermometer on the top and also have an IR temp gun that I'll use to check the top with. My IR temp gun responds a lot faster then the thermometer.

 

[kenny chaos]

I recieved a PM requesting a photo
of wood stacked in my Liberty.
This was taken about 15 minutes ago.
Note the triangular burn pattern.

 

[Pagey]

Since I have had a few more burns in the liberty I have noticed that the drafting sound is coming from the air control. I can hear it either when the air control is all the way open or closed.

So far I do like the stove, but I wish the firebox was a little taller. Its been a little difficult to get a whole lot of wood stacked nicely in there. Especially when she is hot and I cant take my time to stack it in there.

Two questions:

1. Whats the best way to clean the ashes out but leave some coals so that I dont have to start a new fire with each cleaning?

2. What is a good stove top thermometer to get?

1. Just scoop a little of the ash from the front near the door. Then rake the coals from the back to the front, and you should have fire again in no time with small splits and/or good kindling.

2. You can pick up a Condar from Amazon pretty cheap, or just hit up a Tractor Supply or Ace Hardware (or the equivalent box store) for a Rutland. Keep in mind that the temperature ranges on those thermometers are for single wall stove pipe. So when it says "over fire," it's not talking about your stove's over fire temp, necessarily.

3. Pick up a pair of leather welding gloves at said box store as well. Definitely makes loading and positioning your splits far more forearm friendly!

4. When I first close my bypass damper and the secondaries kick in strong, I can hear a little whistle from my stove as it pulls in combustion air. Once I have the air control adjusted to its final position for the duration of the burn, this whistle goes away.

 

[boisblancboy]

Do you guys pay much attention to the ranges(Creosote, Best Zone, and Too Hot) or just the temp that the stove top thermometers are reading?

 

[firefighterjake]

Do you guys pay much attention to the ranges(Creosote, Best Zone, and Too Hot) or just the temp that the stove top thermometers are reading?

Depends . . . I mostly pay attention to the temps with the stove top thermometer . . . and the temp and range on the stove pipe thermometer.

 

[thewoodlands]

Well I finally got my stove and its all installed. Sorry no pictures yet, but I will get some soon. Anyway I have a few questions now that I have it and have had a few fires in it.

1. After a few break in fires I decided to let her burn hard to get the rest of the paint fumes gone. I got a good fire burning, with the door closed and the by pass damper closed and the air control pushed all the way in to let her burn hard. Well once I let her burn hard for awhile I shut the air down to her and I noticed that the air pipes for secondary burning were red hot, is that ok? Did I let it burn hard for too long?

2. Also, I have about 19ft of chimney from the top of the stove to top of the pipe. When she is burning hard I am pretty sure I can hear it pulling air around the chimney at the stop of the stop at that joint. Is this a big deal?

3. Another random question. I have tons and tons of dead and down most which cedar on my property, but some other random wood. I want to do some cleaning up so I thought I might cut that stuff to length and burn it in the stove, I mean why waste it is my thinking. Is there any issues burning soft wood, or possibly rotten?

Thanks guys for the help!

With this cold weather I love the way the Liberty draws, better than a 6 year old with an Etch A Sketch. If I leave the door cracked just a hair when starting a new load it pulls the door back and forth.

Zap

Zap

 

[fespo]

Well after about three years now, I can make this baby burn hot. First like everyone says DRY WOOD, OF ANY KIND!

Now I fill it to the gills, when it is cold like we have now. Im down to 3 refills a day at 5:00am went I get ready for work, 2:30 pm went I get home and anywhere from 7-9pm. I let the ashes fill up to the top lip. I move all the coals to right, then push all the ashes to the left and scoop up with the ashtrap. Then respread the ashes and pull the coals to the front. For me the key is to have your wood cut to 21"-23" long, that works the best for me. I hope this helps fespo

 

[Pagey]

Do you guys pay much attention to the ranges(Creosote, Best Zone, and Too Hot) or just the temp that the stove top thermometers are reading?

Those ranges are for the flue gases as read from a single wall stove pipe, not for the stove top itself.