Quicker way to get my fire going.

[Michael6268]

Now that I am only running my coal stoker at night I have been having to re-light it every night. I have always used gel starter a hand full of wood pellets. A week ago I ran out of gel starter and decided to use some cigarette lighter fluid on the pellets to start them. Just put enough to wet the top of the pellets and lit it up. What a improvement over gel starter! They start right up and I dont have to worry about the fire going out when the coal starts feeding. Just thought maybe some of the pellet guys without auto ignites, would like to try this. Just be careful as it does ingnite faster than the gel. Its a lot cheaper than a bottle of that gel stuff too!

 

[Michael6268]

Yeah, but it doesnt come in that convienent little plastic squirt bottle!

 

[Shane]

I have a guy who uses lighter fluid to light his pellet stove. I hate cleaning that thing it leaves this extremely fine black soot on every thing nasty stuff, plus it really stinks. Fumes etc. etc. but to each his own.

 

[zogboy]

I use pellets and fire them with my propane torch.
It takes about 15 sec to get the pellets burning and they in turn set off the coal.
No worry of flash or uncontroled burns.
I have used the torch alone to lite the coal but that takes much longer.

 

[BrotherBart]

Just be careful with those squirt cans and bottles folks. I don't have any statistics but hundreds of times a year people are burned from head to foot by trying to kick start a smoldering burn in a barbeque or stove by squirting more fuel on the coals/kindling. When the fluid hits the hot coals it bursts into flame and travels right back up the stream into the container and explodes covering the squirter in burning fluid.

I had it happen with Rutland Creosote Remover. It got down too low in the bottle for the dispenser to pick it up. I took the top off and slung the rest from the bottle on the fire and ZOOM fire filled the bottle. Luckily, by reflex, I just tossed it in the stove.

 

[BrotherBart]

Doesn't kerosene have a rather high flashpoint?? Quite slow to vaporize, if I remember correctly.

Flashpoint of kero is 110 degrees fahrenheit. Much higher than gasoline, much lower than the temp of your average burning ember in a stove.

 

[wg_bent]

Doesn't kerosene have a rather high flashpoint?? Quite slow to vaporize, if I remember correctly.

Flashpoint of kero is 110 degrees fahrenheit. Much higher than gasoline, much lower than the temp of your average burning ember in a stove.

110 Fahrenheit? I sure hope we don't sell Kero in Arizona. It gets to 110 f a lot there. Did you mean centigrade?

 

[berlin]

flashpoint is not ignition temperiture. gasoline has a flash point of -40F so i guess they better not sell that anywhere :roll: Flashpoint is the temp at which a fuel begans to vaporize and can be ignited such as with a match.

 

[BrotherBart]

Doesn't kerosene have a rather high flashpoint?? Quite slow to vaporize, if I remember correctly.

Flashpoint of kero is 110 degrees fahrenheit. Much higher than gasoline, much lower than the temp of your average burning ember in a stove.

110 Fahrenheit? I sure hope we don't sell Kero in Arizona. It gets to 110 f a lot there. Did you mean centigrade?

Flashpoint is the temp where it gives off vapors that can be ignited. Gasoline does it starting at -41 degrees farenheit. Under -41 you can't light gasoline. If you were, like, alive at that temp to even try it.

That is why when you touch a match to the wick on a kero stove just the point where the match touches lights instead of the whole wick bursting into flame. The rest of the wick lights as the original flame heats the kero over 110.

 

[Mike Wilson]

Do what I do in my Jotul... just use a quart of gasoline. Starts the sucker up every time! :bug: :bug: :bug:

 

[Mo Heat]

Do what I do in my Jotul... just use a quart of gasoline. Starts the sucker up every time! :bug: :bug: :bug:

Don't try this at home kids. Mike is a trained professional who enjoys burning down houses. ;-)

 

[Shane]

I have a funny story about that. A couple years back we decided to hook up a wood stove for a burn unit. My friend was working for us, I told him to load the unit and when he was ready to light it let me know & I'd take a picture. About 15-20 min. later he called me in. I crouched about 10' from the stove ready to take the picture. He cracked the door about 6" then opened the damper, no sooner than I smelled gas he lit his lighter small explosion blew the door open and singed all his eyebrows off. I never told him to use gas, he just assumed it would light faster that way.

 

[Mike Wilson]

oh ye of little faith...