Smoke from chimney WITH hot fire??

[Jotel me this]

Im trying my best to follow all the guidance from hearth.com yet am having a difficult time getting my stove to work properly.

My Jotl F55 is currently running @ 650 degree F on top of the stove.
Fire is burning nice and hot with nice flames.
But outside... smoke!?
i thought youre not supposed to see smoke because thats an indication of a poor burn/creosote??

The wood is at ~20% moisture filled tight. there may be one piece in there at 30%.

is this normal?

 

[Rickb]

Turn the air down...... You have no reburn if your air is open.

 

[Jotel me this]

Turn the air down...... You have no reburn if your air is open.

trying that now.. will report back. thanks!...

so i should see 'slight' flame?

BEH! so many variables. i dont get how you guys do this.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

trying that now.. will report back. thanks!...

so i should see 'slight' flame?

BEH! so many variables. i dont get how you guys do this.

We've all been there. Be patient.

 

[Jotel me this]

We've all been there. Be patient.

in the store, the sales guy makes it sound like youre going to have a cozy, wine and cheese snack by the fire during a chily snowstorm.

in reality, im running all around trying to figure out why the flames arent lazy, yet the temp reads 500, and at the same time lower the air vent with my left foot AND trying to read the thermometer with my one eye that DOESNT have ash in it

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

in the store, the sales guy makes it sound like youre going to have a cozy, wine and cheese snack by the fire during a chily snowstorm.

in reality, im running all around trying to figure out why the flames arent lazy, yet the temp reads 500, and at the same time lower the air vent with my left foot AND trying to read the thermometer with my one eye that DOESNT have ash in it

Keep reading posts on this site. Use the search field to look up posts on a specific topic. You will get the hang of it. It will take some time.

 

[Rickb]

Just remember the temp will rise as you close the air down and you start to get reburn, be carefull you dont overfire the stove.

 

[Jotel me this]

Just remember the temp will rise as you close the air down and you start to get reburn, be carefull you dont overfire the stove.

wont the air cool as you cut back air?

oh boy.. more variables to figure out haha

 

[Jotel me this]

Turn the air down...... You have no reburn if your air is open.

after doing what you suggested, the smoke has turned from black to a whitish color..
is this good?

 

[Rickb]

No.... Less air from the primary creates a vacuum in the stove and pulls more air from the secondaries causing more secondary burn... You will see it as you get flames above the wood more then on the wood.

 

[Rickb]

after doing what you suggested, the smoke has turned from black to a whitish color..
is this good?

View attachment 231458

Yes wispy white that dissipates quickly is mostly just moisture. Again watch your temps tho.

 

[Allagash350]

in the store, the sales guy makes it sound like youre going to have a cozy, wine and cheese snack by the fire during a chily snowstorm.

in reality, im running all around trying to figure out why the flames arent lazy, yet the temp reads 500, and at the same time lower the air vent with my left foot AND trying to read the thermometer with my one eye that DOESNT have ash in it

This post cracked me up because that is exactly how I sold my wife on it.

Keep reading and don't be afraid to ask questions. You're running the stove pretty hot with the air open. Turn it down in increments and it will burn off most or all smoke. That is probably moisture from your 30% log.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yeah much of that "smoke" looks to be steam to me...which you are going to have to some degree no matter what (at the beginning of a load) but I bet your wood is wetter than 20%. Did you re-split a room temp piece and then test the fresh split face about in the middle? Testing on the outside means almost nothing...

 

[Adabiviak]

BEH! so many variables. i dont get how you guys do this.

I, for one, did a fair amount of research ahead of time with the vendor (grilled him up one side and down the other about how the stove works), locals (advice quality varies... lots of urban legends here), and this website (excellent resource) before lighting my first one... still took some practice to get the knack.

 

[firefighterjake]

As Allagash mentioned . . . once you have the stove up to temp (to be honest I use the flue temp more often) start dialing back the air. As I mentioned in a previous thread . . . doing so will result in a longer burn, cleaner burn and a more efficient burn. It's the opposite of what you would do with a Smoke Dragon. Leaving the air control open all the way will result in lots of flame . . . but will burn through the wood quickly, not burn efficiently and will not be a clean burn.

Depending on the wood quality and draft you may or may not be able to "completely" close the air . . . many folks say they have to leave their air open a bit so it doesn't choke the fire. If you cut back the air too much (or too soon for that matter) the fire will die down and you will get a bunch of smoke from the chimney.

As mentioned . . . sometimes what one thinks is smoke may actually be steam.

And once you get things figured out in terms of operation, quality wood, etc. you will be chilling out in front of a roaring stove and not freaking out! It just takes time and experience.

 

[Pertzbro]

I did what you did at first. I have an insert so most temp readings for me are totally useless. I do occasionally check outside for smoke.

Just load it up, run it like the manual says. High for 10-30mintues. Using the picture of your firebox, i would have cut back way sooner... Run high for 10-30 minutes on a full reload.. once fully engulfed in flames cut air back by half. Wait 30minutes or so then cut air back to 1/4 and then let it run like that until flames are no longer coming off the wood. I then run air on high for an hour or so while it's just coals. Sometimes during cold spells you may to need to cut air back all the way as draft is strong enough to keep it lit on 100% cutoff of primary air.

Long story short - you're trying to get the firebox hot enough for secondary combustion. You're looking for the fire to be coming off the secondary tubes or baffle and less directly off the wood. At times this may mean very little fire and occasional fire burst when the gases build up and secondaries light off.

 

[begreen]

It's a judgement call without a flue thermometer. On our stove with nice dry wood I go from start to air closed 75% in about 15-20 minutes, total. This is with doug fir. If I wait longer the flue temps get very high. Variables like the wood species, wood dryness, wood thickness, draft strength and operator awareness are all going to affect timing. A flue thermometer can help take out some of the guesswork.

 

[yooper08]

Check out the link in my signature, that should give you some guidance. May have to adjust a bit for your own stove but it's a start.

 

[xman23]

Relax, First issue new guys have is getting a stove up to temp. You have that, great. Running the stove will become second nature. You get to know what the outside and inside temp is and load just the right amount of wood. A glance at the fire, and adjust the air. Also note it's not very cold out. So for many installs it can be hard to burn. Much easier in the dead of winter.

I assume your wood is a bit wet, hence a lot of white steam. When I wake mine up on a cold morning there is plenty of white stuff coming out of the chimney. I need to get everything up to temp. To get the secondary burn tubes lit up. Get a hot stove after 2 or 3 reloads slow down the primary air a lot You see a whole different flame. Eventually you'll see a northern light type flame at the top of the fire box. It's just the exhaust gasses being reburned. It's just to make a cleaner burn.

So on a cold snowy winter night I get bottle of red and some nice smoked gorgonzola and watch the the fireball in the stove.

 

[Jotel me this]

So on a cold snowy winter night I get bottle of red and some nice smoked gorgonzola and watch the the fireball in the stove.

NOW YOURE TALKING!