Okay... what are these?

[dwillistein]

Think pottery.

 

[Battenkiller]

Nice find, BG!

Wow... look at all the silica in pine bark! I always thought that bark was a lot higher in ash, now I can see that my suspicions were well founded.

Still ain't peeling my logs, though. Lots easier to just scoop out the ashes. :coolsmile:

 

[oldspark]

So why do some of us get them and some not, I used to work with a guy who had them all the time and with three different setups and 6 or 8 types of wood I never have had any.

 

[Battenkiller]

So why do some of us get them and some not, I used to work with a guy who had them all the time and with three different setups and 6 or 8 types of wood I never have had any.

Have you been putting your wood in the swimming pool to dry it?

 

[Battenkiller]

CaCO2 (wood ash) + very high temps = CaO

CaO + SiO2 (sand) + more very high temps = glass


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass


Caveman chemistry... gotta love it. %-P

 

[Jags]

I always thought that bark was a lot higher in ash, now I can see that my suspicions were well founded.

Yep, I have found the same to be true. Now its factual. I won't peel the bark off of my splits, but I don't haul in loose bark either.

 

[oldspark]

So why do some of us get them and some not, I used to work with a guy who had them all the time and with three different setups and 6 or 8 types of wood I never have had any.

Have you been putting your wood in the swimming pool to dry it?

I am a little slower on the uptake than you but I guess the wetter the wood the more chance you will form these. :smirk:

 

[babzog]

Very interesting. I would have never thought. Grew up burning wood. Never saw one in my years. Kind of neat but can see where they'd be a pain in the rump.

I find 'em all the time.

Was wondering if I was doing anything wrong by having generated these things. Maybe not, other than perhaps not having ideally seasoned wood and maybe burning a bit hot?

 

[babzog]

I find it hard to believe that water has any role in forming clinkers. Clinkers form in the ash, and long before the wood becomes ash the water should have been evaporated. Of course I have never seen those things in my stove so I'm speculating.

My thought was, the burning driving the water out of the log which would then mix with the ash to form these.

 

[Jags]

Could I be doing anything wrong by virtue of creating these things?

Not really. It proves that you are burning plenty hot. :lol:

Some wood will just do it more than others. Some areas are more prone to silica than others.

Heck - I get them, and I never do anything wrong. :coolsmile:

 

[Battenkiller]

So why do some of us get them and some not, I used to work with a guy who had them all the time and with three different setups and 6 or 8 types of wood I never have had any.

Have you been putting your wood in the swimming pool to dry it?

I am a little slower on the uptake than you but I guess the wetter the wood the more chance you will form these. :smirk:

Cleaner wood.

Sorry to be so obscure. There was a recent thread where someone mentioned that an old timer told them that wood dried faster if you wet it. Seemed to me you'd wash all the sand out doing that as well. Reaching, I know, but I'm still on my second cuppa, nursing a doozie hangover from too much celebratin' last night.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Yup. Did it this weekend. Burning side-slabs means that I put in a lot of bark, and get it to about 1300C (2381F was the high temp this firing). I don't get clinkers in the remaining ash in the firebox, but I melt the hell out of it on the pots it hits. The volatile K, Na, etc also attack the silica in the clay, forming sodium silicate, as well as a mess of other stuff.

I just burn it though- if I thought about it too much it might take the magic out of it for me (I'm a chemist in my day job). Apple ash is highly prized for pottery firing and glaze making.

 

[begreen]

The pellet pigs get these all the time with some brand pellets. When we were burning pellets I remember getting some bags from Home Depot that clinkered like crazy. In the fines you could almost see the grit and bark. We never bought any more after that experience. Lately we have been burning a lot of our chit wood pile. It has poplar (with thick bark) and some doug fir with up to 1.5" bark. The stove was cleaned and I see lots of clinkers out of just 5 fires.

 

[WES999]

You should save them, they may prove to be valuable.
There is this new government program....Cash for clinkers ;-P

 

[Battenkiller]

You should save them, they may prove to be valuable.
There is this new government program....Cash for clinkers ;-P

:lol:

ROFL!

 

[begreen]

LOL. WES if you were closer by I'd be chucking a few at you right now.

 

[babzog]

You should save them, they may prove to be valuable.
There is this new government program....Cash for clinkers ;-P

LOL Nicely done!

 

[Ken45]

I don't think the issue is bark related because I have a serious problem with clinkers this year and I've been burning dead standing red oak that has no bark!

It almost seems that I am getting more clinkers than ash! I'm getting less than a bucketful of ash per week out of the stove.

But my problem is that the clinkers are bonding to the firebrick on the bottom of the stove and building up.

Ken