Outgas issues on reload

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Welderman85

Feeling the Heat
Nov 1, 2017
350
Chesaning MI
Hello all I normal only burn on nights after work so I hardly ever reload a fire. But I had today so I started a fire and all was well until I went to reload. I left the coals go almost gone. Then reloaded with dry ash. Once it relights its fine for a few minutes the started to outgas and go crazy. It did it on both reloads today. My stove is small with only one secondary tube by the door so that maybe why it was hard to control
 
How small do you split your wood? Very small splits (say less than 3" diameter") can outgas faster on a hot coal bed since there is more surface area in the load. Other than that, it could be just super dry wood.
 
Also, how quickly is the air being turned down? How tall is the flue liner on the stove?
 
This is one of the downsides of a non-cat stove IMHO. On re-load, you really need to learn what your stove is going to do. After awhile you will get good at simply watching the flames and knowing when and how much to turn down your stove depending on the wood you load in there. At first it will seem very finicky but with practice, it should become more predictable.

Cat stoves tend to have more air control available and are easier to reload.
 
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I'm not understanding whats going on? Aren't you using the same wood for the reload? Reloads are made easier when you do it with a bed of coals. It requires correct air control to get it going and then cruising.
You let the coals burn out it becomes a cold start. Ever stove / chimney is a bit different. Experiment with different wood stacks.