unburned wood/coals

[mjeny]

My fireview is a month old. After an 8-hour burn, I still have unburned wood/large coals in the firebox. I open it up, stir the coals and break up the unburned wood, then re-engage the cat and let the coals burn down for a while before adding new wood.
When I fill it at night, I wait until it is up to temp. (250 on stovetop thermometer) then engage the cat and set damper at a bit less than 1. Stovetop reads about 450.
In the morning the stove is cooler (250) but there is a lot of unburned material.
What can I do to get a more complete burn?

 

[myzamboni]

don't close tha damper so much?

 

[fire_man]

My fireview is a month old. After an 8-hour burn, I still have unburned wood/large coals in the firebox. I open it up, stir the coals and break up the unburned wood, then re-engage the cat and let the coals burn down for a while before adding new wood.
When I fill it at night, I wait until it is up to temp. (250 on stovetop thermometer) then engage the cat and set damper at a bit less than 1. Stovetop reads about 450.
In the morning the stove is cooler (250) but there is a lot of unburned material.
What can I do to get a more complete burn?

I have a fireview, too and had the same problem last year. I found that this stove is a little fussy compared with my very old VC Resolute in that the Fireview demands really well seasoned wood to burn properly. With the Resolute I could burn a log with leaves still on it and it would burn down to tiny ashes, but not with the Fireview. In fact I have started covering my wood piles with plywood that overhangs the stacks and then I tarp the plywood. This keeps wind driven rain out. I seasoned this year's supply for 2 years and the results are remarkable. The reloads lightup really fast and the coals burn down to ashes in 8-10 hrs.

It's possible your draft is poor especially this time of year with warmer outside temperatures. What is your flu setup like (# of 90 degree bends, any long horizontal sections and what is your total vertical height?) it sounds like you are following the correct procedure (waiting for stovetop to hit 250 before engaging cat, your damper slightly less than 1 is actually pretty far open compared with my typical setting of .5, so if anything your coals should burn down even better. I would vote on the wood not being seasoned completely. This is a great stove, but it took me a while to figure it out.

 

[mjeny]

My flue is straight up, 22 feet. Draft is excellent. My wood is 1 1/2 year old on pallets in a garage with the 8'wide door open all the time - not even rain can get blown in on it. As for the suggestion that I open the draft more, I am reluctant to do that very much because I don't want to overheat the cat and I want to keep the fire for 8 hours. Maybe there's a trade off there. I will now go open the draft to at least 1, and see what happens.

 

[fire_man]

Well, that rules out a flu problem (assuming you have a 6 inch liner for all 22 feet). I didn't mean for you to open up the draft much more than 1 - I think 1 or a little higher is the most you should have to go. The only other thing I can think of is if your splits are not split small enough or if you are burning all oak. I have 2 year old oak that still sizzles a little. The splits should be 2 to 5 inches wide or so. Other than that call Woodstock - they give great advice. I'd like to hear what they say.