Smoke rivers

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

Hi everyone. I'm in year two of burning and trying to improve my burning technique. Last year I was all about keeping the fire hot and not seeing smoke in the chimney. I think I was running it hotter and longer with the primary air wide open than I needed to and I've been trying to experiment with shutting the air more aggressively and engage the secondaries. I'm still starting from cold with a top down fire.

What I find though is that when the stove temp is where I want it (mid 500s to 600s) and I'm getting secondaries I'll see little rivers of smoke (or steam?) where the primary air has a harder time reaching. I'll see it rolling along the floor forward and getting pulled towards the front. It then starts burning when it hits the front tunnel where what primary air there is ignites it. You can see it on the left in the video.

Do you think I should be keeping the primary open a little more even though every other part of the fire looks good?

 

[velvetfoot]

I'd shut down the air more, but that's just me.

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

I'd shut down the air more, but that's just me.

Thanks. I'll just keep experimenting with it. The top down method seems to give conflicting signals. The top says turn it down and the bottom says turn it up. Maybe that's the point...[emoji848]

 

[Jags]

Check the chimney output. No smoke - good to go.

 

[velvetfoot]

That's a pretty good fire he's got going in that video.

 

[Jags]

That's a pretty good fire he's got going in that video.

Indeed. My response was with his concern of seeing rivers of smoke in the firebox. As long as they are getting burned up (no smoke out the stack) - there is nothing to be concerned with.

 

[velvetfoot]

All the wood in the video looked like it was charred and burning really well, hence my suggestion to turn down the air. All stoves are different, I guess, and wood used could have different moisture properties.

 

[Jags]

Yep - I would guess by the video that he was well into operational temps and the stove was doing its job of burning up the smoke and by default - ready (or even past ready) to tame the beast down.

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

Yep - I would guess by the video that he was well into operational temps and the stove was doing its job of burning up the smoke and by default - ready (or even past ready) to tame the beast down.

Yes - was definitely at operating temps and was choked down almost all the way. If I opened it I'd have the raging inferno back in about 10 seconds.

As a newbie last year I judged my fire by:

- nothing come out of the chimney (including steam) and
- all the wood either actively flaming or glowing

I've been more willing to accept what I think is steam from the chimney (white like dryer exhaust and dissipates a few feet from the chimney). I guess I'll have to learn to get comfortable with how it looks inside. I didn't have a thermometer last year. 550 degrees on the top of the insert should get most of the bad stuff burnt up I hope.

 

[begreen]

In the video the fire does seem biased toward the right. Hard to say why, it might be the wood on the left bottom is a little bit more damp? If repeatable with a different load do the dollar bill test on the door gasket to verify it's sealing well around the door frame.

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

In the video the fire does seem biased toward the right. Hard to say why, it might be the wood on the left bottom is a little bit more damp? If repeatable with a different load do the dollar bill test on the door gasket to verify it's sealing well around the door frame.

The bias to the right is fairly common. The $ bill test is a bit of a pain with the Boston's door. The cast iron extends too far from the gasket on the sides so you ended up pinching your fingers trying to close the door while holding the bill. For now I just use a scrap of computer paper. Maybe I'll investigate a currency that has a longer bill. [emoji848]


It passes it most places - doesn't move at all when tugging. In some places on the bottom it comes out with some resistance. Kind of like playing tug of war with a 5 year old.

The smoke thing is occasional. It's from wood purchased this year that I resplit and measured at 20 percent. Reddish wood I think cherry... Maybe a stinker gets through every now and then. Always read around here that a smokey fire needs more air but I just didn't know if this counts as smokey.

Thanks everyone.

 

[begreen]

I wouldn't count that as smokey and doubt that anything would be visible coming out of the stack outdoors.