Newbie Help, Break In

[jlinz]

Hello,

I'm a newbie, and I'm hoping someone can help me. I had a Drolet 1800i and ss liner installed and have been doing a few break in fires and am wondering about creosote, since a few attempts were not very successful. As far as wood goes, I've been drying some for a few months but know that I can't use that until next winter. In the meantime I tried my break in fires with some kiln dried birch that I bought from Meijer. First fire was very small and definitely in the creosote temps, maybe 200-250. The glass was smoky afterwards. Second fire, I raised it a bit and got to maybe 300-350, still a bit smoky on the glass. Third fire was good, maybe 450-500. no smoke on glass, no smoke on chimney, everything burned well, and I think the new smell burned away. This morning, thought everything was good to go, but smoked myself out of the room trying to make a fire. Can't tell if I put splits on too early (probably) before having a good roaring kindling fire. Anyway, lots of smoke, smoldering, etc. I freaked out and removed the logs that were not lighting and smoldering and put them outside in a pail (didn't want to just spew smoke out the chimney. This was the same Meijer wood I'd been using, so maybe user error was the problem and not wet wood? Anyway, to finally get to my question. These attempts that were smoky and not particularly hot probably resulted in creosote. Should I get the liner cleaned immediately before making more fires, or does it take a lot more than just a few dirty/ smoky fires to cause a problem? If I try again and make a good hot fire, can I clean up the liner? Anyway, thanks for all the help. Definitely a learning curve for the new guy!

 

[Tar12]

You have to understand that in most if not all cases kiln dried does not mean seasoned wood! All kiln dried means is that the wood was subjected to a temperature just high enough to kill insects...thats it...nothing more or less and this falls far short of reducing the moisture content to the preferred 20% or less...

 

[jetsam]

Your wood is wet. You can still use the stove, but you'll want to inspect and sweep your flue often. All the tools you need to do this probably cost less than paying someone to come do it once.

Once you get through the break in fires, burning hot fires will help with the wet wood. Get as much softwood as you can split and covered now so you have something to burn for next year. Keep away from hardwoods to start- they won't be ready for next year. If you buy wood, you still need to buy it a couple years in advance (unless it is a compressed wood product like Biobricks or NEILs).

I suppose you *can* clean the liner by burning, but this is called a "chimney fire" and most people try to avoid those. A couple little breakin fires won't have caused dangerous accumulation, but do inspect and sweep often. I tell people to do it every couple weeks if you're doing it yourself. This is probably more often than neccessary, but it gets you a good picture of how fast your current wood and burning habits are gunking up your flue. This will quickly teach you how often you actually need to sweep.

 

[webby3650]

First of all, there’s no ‘break in fires’ needed with a steel stove. Some manufacturers outline a curing of the paint, but it’s not 3 steps.
Lately I’ve found that most bundled wood isn’t seasoned at all, I’m betting that’s the problem. There’s no way you’ve got enough buildup in a few burns to need a sweep.

 

[jlinz]

Thanks everyone! Just learning from this site, so helpful l. I imagine my wood may not have been adequate. Is it be possible to do a few burns here and there until next season with the
Biobricks things they sell at Rural King without damage? I don’t need heat for the season just a few fires on really cold days.

 

[Ludlow]

I lit my stove off the first time and immediately took it up to 685 ish degrees. Paint smoke nearly blanked out the room.
On a cold start, and definitely with wet wood, leave the door cracked ever slightly until well under way. Do not walk away from the stove until you decide to latch the door!

 

[blacktail]

A few small break in fires won't gunk up your chimney. Maybe try some compressed wood logs if you don't have dry wood.

 

[mpaul]

I lit my stove off the first time and immediately took it up to 685 ish degrees. Paint smoke nearly blanked out the room.
On a cold start, and definitely with wet wood, leave the door cracked ever slightly until well under way. Do not walk away from the stove until you decide to latch the door!

I often wondered what the point was of the traditional break in fire.

 

[webby3650]

I often wondered what the point was of the traditional break in fire.

They are intended to slowly drive the moisture out of the iron and the cement joints on a stove, also necessary for soapstone stoves. Steel stoves don’t have an cement or joints, so fire it up!

 

[hickoryhoarder]

I saw some little bundles of kiln dried firewood in Menards a few weeks ago. Used those recently out of curiosity. They looked truly dry. And were. The first store-bought wood I ever found that was ready to go.

My stove (2010) came with no instructions for "break-in" fires. We burn hot, always. No smoke outside being the main reason, but also for a cleaner stovepipe.