Secondary Tweaking on Oslo

[potter]

Ok- so I'm getting a nice "northern lights" sort of dancing flames at the top of the firebox- but not much "jets" from the tubes as has been described here. I get occasional 'jets' in rear most tube but no where else. A little OCD- but does this sound optimal?

 

[ansehnlich1]

Potter it's tough to tell how your doin' there with the Oslo. Some depends on your draft and some depends on how hot you're burnin it, what kind of wood, how's the wood seasoned, etc. I got mine hooked into an outside masonry chimney with a 7x7 inch inside diameter rectangular clay flue, about 22 feet high I guess. My wood is good and dry, seasoned well over a year, most of it closer to 2 years, you know, wood just split, piled up, and sittin' there for quite a while.

If I pack my stove leaving plenty of airspace around the splits, she'll run up to 650 degrees f. on the stovetop thermometer pretty quick, and at that point there's all kinds of nuclear flamin' goin' on in the firebox

I then ease it down to half air, then down to a quarter, or below, sometimes almost all the way closed off, depending on above mentioned factors.

Seldom see "jets" comin' out the burn tubes, I mean, not like a propane torch turned up on high! But it's secondarying, no doubt, all sort and manner of flame jumpin about up there, flame shootin out of holes from time to time, sometimes, constant, sometimes out the front tube, sometimes out the back tubes, sometimes out all of 'em tubes....

It just all depends...

I don't go so much by what's happenin with the dang tubes, what I watch is the temps on the stovetop, and whether theres smoke comin' out the chimney...

I like to be burnin' and nobody knows it ;-)

 

[jeff in pa]

Mine is similar. No jets but all sorts of "northern lights" effects. Runs hot and clean! I'm usually burning in the 450-550 range.

Sounds to me like you have it right. The wood makes a big difference. I burn some gum (miserable to split) which make awesome blue flames for secondaries. Like any other wood burning dry wood is the key!

JD in PA

 

[potter]

Wood is dry hardwood- mostly maple. Stove is doing great, house is toasty in the middle of a winter storm here. I also tend to keep it 400-50 range with occasional run ups to 550-600 in hopes of keeping creasote down. That's really my main concern as it's my first year, and don't want to be too cool or smokey. Watching the chimney for smoke seems like th best learning stradegy.

 

[firefighterjake]

No jets here . . . just those wicked cool looking "Northern Lights" . . . or is it "Ghost Flames" . . . well whatever we're calling them I think you've got Secondary Combustion . . . as An1 said . . . stove top temps, flue temps and no smoke coming from the chimney while Hell Fire is burning away in your stove will pretty much tell you that your stove and you are doing what you want to do.

 

[80s Burnout]

For what its worth, I definately see the "jets" shooting out of the back pipe from time to time, but not always..

 

[begreen]

If you want to see more 'jets', after putting on a fresh load of wood and letting it catch fire, don't close the air control as much. If you are closing it 85%, try maybe 65%. The wood will outgas more quickly, the jets should be stronger and the stove top will probably get 50-100 deg. hotter.

 

[jbrown56]

Potter,

No jetting here either, just nice hot secondaries. Something strange happened this morning. Loaded up the stove and after about fifteen minutes went to close the damper. There where nice secondary flames and plenty of heat coming through the glass and a stove top temp of 200F. Have never had secondary burn at this temp. Any thoughts? Potter, I don't mean to steal your thread.

Jim

 

[JeffRey30747]

That sounds exactly like what I see on my Oslo ... and I think I have been doing things right. The hotter the fire, the lower the secondary flames seem to go.
Just after I got my stove last year, we had family over for the holidays. Most of them had never seen a glass front EPA stove in operation. Glass doors on a fireplace maybe but nothing like this. I got several comments like "is it supposed to do that?" and "is everything OK with that stove?".

Jbrown56, this is mostly a guess on my part but I would say that you were coming up to temp and that internal temps were greater than what your stovetop temp would have indicated. Cast iron can take a little time to change its temp.