New Wood burner added to the pile! Lots of questions to come!

[Phoenix Hatchling]

Just received my new Quadrafire 2700i yesterday and am finishing up the last of the 4 recommended break-in fires. Looks to be the perfect finishing touch of being nearly oil free. Any first minute tips would be appreciated, as I have only been burning pellets as of the last two months. Several question to ask of you all, but first I want to finish their rec small fires to break in the welds and allow some expansion and contraction.

Great to be here, and I can definitely see this wood burning stuff becoming an obsession. Snowing here in SW Connecticut, but warm and toasty.

 

[Ashful]

Congratulations! welcome to the clubhouse. Start small, gradually build bigger fires as you get to know the stove. Don't go big until you've figured out what to do when a load goes wrong. If your manual is like mine, there are some finer points in the text, which you will not get until you've had some trouble, and then re-read it. Aside from that... Have fun!

 

[Jags]

Don't load the stove in the middle of the night, naked. Consider this fair warning.

(and welcome to the forum).

 

[Ashful]

Don't load the stove in the middle of the night, naked. Consider this fair warning.

There's gotta be a good story behind that.

 

[etiger2007]

Welcome to the forum, look forward to hearing your questions and how that stove is working out for you.

 

[dafattkidd]

Welcome to the forum. Congrats on a beautiful unit. Some standard new wood burner tips:

*get ahead on your wood supply. If burning 24/7 you can plan to burn 3-4 cords/ year.
*these units need dry wood supply(under 20% moisture). Generally that means wood that has been cut split and stacked for at least a year.
*most problems first year burner have are associated with less then seasoned wood.
*burn that sucker hot.To burn clean you gotta burn hot.

Good luck, and may that stove be a blessing to you for years to come.

 

[Jags]

Get a pair of good welding gloves if you don't already have some.

 

[firefighterjake]

Don't load the stove in the middle of the night, naked. Consider this fair warning.

(and welcome to the forum).

Half naked is OK though . . . I did that last night . . . I was wearing a T-shirt at the time . . . and welding gloves. I looked mighty sexy.

 

[Jags]

Half naked is OK though . . . I did that last night . . . I was wearing a T-shirt at the time . . . and welding gloves. I looked mighty sexy.

MY EYES, MY EYES......

 

[dafattkidd]

Half naked is OK though . . . I did that last night . . . I was wearing a T-shirt at the time . . . and welding gloves. I looked mighty sexy.

That is the wrong half to be naked.

 

[dafattkidd]

Pheonix,

Check out this thread. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/tips-for-small-fire-boxes.57987/#post-57987

I used to have an insert with a similar firebox size and this thread was very helpful to me. Also be sure to wear something to cover your jewels when loading the stove.

 

[PLAYS WITH FIRE]

Sometimes when I reload my jewels are hanging out and man, it gets hot!

I have a heavy gold necklace that I got a while back that really conducts the heat. So if I am loading, it will heat up real fast and burn my neck, not blister me but I feel it!

 

[etiger2007]

Always keep some ashes on hand in a metal bucket, you can use these to throw on the fire should your fire go nuclear on you. It wont stop a chimney fire but it will smother out a fire should it have you filling your underwear.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

Always keep some ashes on hand in a metal bucket, you can use these to throw on the fire should your fire go nuclear on you. It wont stop a chimney fire but it will smother out a fire should it have you filling your underwear.

That's a good point.... What do you do and how do you know if a fire is out of hand? I have a stove thermometer (Rutland 701), but being an insert there is no stove top to speak of. My first 4 fires (made small with white birch) the thermo read 350-400. This was placed right next to the door on the face of the stove. Do I need to adjust for it not being "stovetop" and add degrees, or should this be fairly accurate??
Also, now on my first true fire, I am having a hard time getting it hot for some reason. The installers told me never to use fire starters and only fat wood, but I had already purchased a box of Logik-e fire starters. Is it really not cool because of the wax content? They are small and look fairly innocuous, but something about damaging the fire brick?

Toes will be my first of many questions! Thanks for the warm welcome folks!!

 

[etiger2007]

That's a good point.... What do you do and how do you know if a fire is out of hand? I have a stove thermometer (Rutland 701), but being an insert there is no stove top to speak of. My first 4 fires (made small with white birch) the thermo read 350-400. This was placed right next to the door on the face of the stove. Do I need to adjust for it not being "stovetop" and add degrees, or should this be fairly accurate??
Also, now on my first true fire, I am having a hard time getting it hot for some reason. The installers told me never to use fire starters and only fat wood, but I had already purchased a box of Logik-e fire starters. Is it really not cool because of the wax content? They are small and look fairly innocuous, but something about damaging the fire brick?

Toes will be my first of many questions! Thanks for the warm welcome folks!!

You know your too hot when your stove top on the outside starts to glow a dull red. I had this happen to me before and it was my own fault, I tried to push the stove to new levels and I was an idiot for doing so (by leaving the air wide open for too long). I got my stove to cool down by placing a box fan off to the side of the stove and ran it on high, then pushed the air control in all the way to reduce the primary air as much as I could then 20 minutes later she calmed down. If you dont have room for a magnet on the top of your stove could you still take the temp with an inferred laser thermometer? Just point and shoot. I would have a way to measure the stoves temp especially being new to the stove if I were you. Does your owners manual say what they consider an overfire?

The keys to running these stoves is seasoned wood and learning how to reduce your air intake. I take it you dont have a moisture meter and cant measure a fresh split to see what the inner heart wood reads. How long has you wood supply been split and stacked and what kind of wood are you burning?

Please post a pic of your set up.

 

[raybonz]

Congrats and welcome to the forum Phoenix! As we say here pics or it never happened

Ray

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Congratulations on your new stove and welcome to the forum.

Don't believe everything the installers tell you and that starts with the fire starters. We have a member of hearth.com who sells Super Cedars. You can contact him (Thomas) and he'll send you some free samples. They are round like a hockey puck but we break them into 4 pieces so get 4 fire starters out of 1. They work great. As for fatwood, I do not like it and some stove makers don't either and warn against their use! Nothing wrong with the super cedars though.

The most important thing you can do is pay really good attention to your fuel. This is not like burning pellets because wood needs time to dry. If you've purchased wood they've no doubt told you it was "seasoned" and ready to burn. This is the second thing to not believe. It is an extremely rare thing to find any wood seller that has truly seasoned wood. No matter what it is, wood needs time to dry and that drying does not start until the wood has been split and stacked out in the wind. (Wood sellers usually split just before delivery.) Some wood can be dry enough to burn good after a year of drying but some, like oak, needs 3 years to dry! It pays to know what you are burning.

You need to start building yourself an inventory of wood. It may take some time but it is highly recommended to get a 3 year wood supply on hand. This alone will solve 99% of a wood burner's problems and you will also find you burn less wood to heat your home!

Read the manual that should have come with the stove. Read it again. Set aside some time to really get to know the stove and weekends are a great time to do this.

Also, you are having problems getting the stove hot. I would guess it is a wood problem but if you could describe what you have it might help.

Good luck.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

I've been burning some bagged white birch from the initial start up, but I am now learning how to burn eco bricks. From what I have heard they burn hot and long, but again the installers said no more than one in there at a time. Contradicts what some eco burners here say. I have found they are difficult to get burning and they come now where near as hot as the birch did with an even smaller fire. I felt brave and put TWO in there and it barely reached the burn zone. See the image below for the thermo with a bed of coals and two eco logs, air on mid point. I really don't have any split wood yet, although I have quite a few trees which I have ear marked for death.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Welcome!

I'll add that when someone mentioned cord usage previously, they are speaking of "full" (or true) cords (cord= 4'x4'x8'). Where I live it is EXTREMELY rare to find anyone selling wood this way. Most here sell "face" cords, which is roughly 1/3 of a cord (typically 4' tall, 8' long and 18" deep). A face cord is not a recognized method of measurement as far as places like Weights and Measures is concerned, but it is a very common term. Just an FYI, since the diffence in the amount of wood in both is pretty significant and can cause confusion when talking about things like usage.

 

[raybonz]

Looks great Phoenix! Be careful with the ECOlogs as they can burn hot and many stove companies warn against them and may void your warranty. You need to focus on next year and beyond with your wood supply ASAP. Any wood you cut, split and stack in the wind now might be ready for next burning season unless it is oak which needs 2+ years to dry out. Ash, cherry and maple (there are other woods that dry in a year as well) would be good for next winter if you get now but you need to stack it off the ground and top covered only.

Ray

 

[eclecticcottage]

I've been burning some bagged white birch from the initial start up, but I am now learning how to burn eco bricks. From what I have heard they burn hot and long, but again the installers said no more than one in there at a time. Contradicts what some eco burners here say. I have found they are difficult to get burning and they come now where near as hot as the birch did with an even smaller fire. I felt brave and put TWO in there and it barely reached the burn zone. See the image below for the thermo with a bed of coals and two eco logs, air on mid point. I really don't have any split wood yet, although I have quite a few trees which I have ear marked for death. View attachment 86646 View attachment 86648

Are you buring eco bricks or another brand?

We've tried Ecobricks and another brand...I think it was Wood Brick Fuel. The two were NOT similar in burning. The ecobricks came from tractor supply in 8 brick packs, Wood brick fuel was a 12? pack from a local place. Ecobricks: They DO burn hot. I don't think they burn as long as good hardwood. I've put well more than two in my stove. I prefer to mix them with splits for the best burn times. A split on each side with 3-4 bricks between and maybe another split or two on top-I got 12 hour burns from that. The trick with them is, read the package. Do as they say. Don't allow a lot of air space, but do allow for them to expand a little. Wood brick fuel: Smelled like pine. Fell apart quickly once lit, burned poorly when we cut back the air. IMO, junk. Wouldnt' buy them again.

In the pic, your ecologs/bricks are too far apart, you're giving them too much air space. With two you're probably ok, but if you add too many like that you're going to be seeing what nuclear means in a stove. I give them maybe 1/4" between them, usually right next to each other with space on the sides, front and back for expansion (they "grow" a bit as the burn). The idea is to get them together so they basically become one big brick as they burn, maxing your burn time and lessinging the "run away" possiblities.

 

[raybonz]

Are you buring eco bricks or another brand?

We've tried Ecobricks and another brand...I think it was Wood Brick Fuel. The two were NOT similar in burning. The ecobricks came from tractor supply in 8 brick packs, Wood brick fuel was a 12? pack from a local place. Ecobricks: They DO burn hot. I don't think they burn as long as good hardwood. I've put well more than two in my stove. I prefer to mix them with splits for the best burn times. A split on each side with 3-4 bricks between and maybe another split or two on top-I got 12 hour burns from that. The trick with them is, read the package. Do as they say. Don't allow a lot of air space, but do allow for them to expand a little. Wood brick fuel: Smelled like pine. Fell apart quickly once lit, burned poorly when we cut back the air. IMO, junk. Wouldnt' buy them again.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/firepl...eZip=02330&ddkey=http:LocationBasedPricingCmd

Now you get 6 for the same price as 8 last year!

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

Looks great Phoenix! Be careful with the ECOlogs as they can burn hot and many stove companies warn against them and may void your warranty. You need to focus on next year and beyond with your wood supply ASAP. Any wood you cut, split and stack in the wind now might be ready for next burning season unless it is oak which needs 2+ years to dry out. Ash, cherry and maple (there are other woods that dry in a year as well) would be good for next winter if you get now but you need to stack it off the ground and top covered only.

Ray

The Eco Bricks still don't come near the birch in heat. Of course not loading the stove either and am just stickin my toes in the water 1 at a time

 

[Oldhippie]

Just received my new Quadrafire 2700i yesterday and am finishing up the last of the 4 recommended break-in fires. Looks to be the perfect finishing touch of being nearly oil free. Any first minute tips would be appreciated, as I have only been burning pellets as of the last two months. Several question to ask of you all, but first I want to finish their rec small fires to break in the welds and allow some expansion and contraction.

Great to be here, and I can definitely see this wood burning stuff becoming an obsession. Snowing here in SW Connecticut, but warm and toasty.

Welcome!

> Looks to be the perfect finishing touch of being nearly oil free. ...I can definitely see this wood burning stuff becoming an obsession

You need to keep coming here. It's like any 12 step program, you're never cured.

 

[eclecticcottage]

http://www.tractorsupply.com/fireplace-accessories/redstone-trade-ecobrick-pack-of-6-1001261?zoneMarketInfo=2-16&reqUrl=/fireplace-accessories/redstone-trade-ecobrick-pack-of-6-1001261&langId=-1&storeId=10551&storeCity=city, state&catalogId=10001&storeZip=02330&ddkey=http:LocationBasedPricingCmd

Now you get 6 for the same price as 8 last year!

It's @ 4 pounds less though

We checked it out when we were there, the 6 brick packs are like 21lb and the 8 brick packs are 24 or 25lb.