What am I doing wrong on reload?

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NSDave

NSDave

Member
Dec 29, 2011
114
Halifax NS Canada
So I reloaded , stove temp around 250. varied size wood. 4 n/s and 2 e/w on top. Not a full load

They started burning, and I started shutting down air a touch around 300 stove top. and again around 425 ; shortly after this around 525, I still had 1/4 air open. and temps kept going, great secondaries. around 675 st and probe just over 800 I closed the air all together. Seems like the stove is cruising around 700 now.
Of course this will eat up my wood really fast. The stove will cruise like this for an hour or so and gradually cool.

Did I shut down air too fast? I did try to shut it down quicker than normal ( to keep this from happening )

thanks for any suggestions
 
Did you use the rake the coals forward technique so that the new load is not sitting directly on top of a hot bed of coals? I find that this slows down wood consumption and keeps stove temps more consistent.
 
How long of a time does "this will eat up my wood really fast" equal?

The 1200 only a 1.85 cu ft stove. Why not load the stove full for a longer burn time? The more space you have around your splits the faster they will burn. A tightly packed stove will burn longer.
 
small load & small splits most of the time = hotter, shorter burns. You could probably close down quicker. I've been playing with this on the 30 lately and think I have finally started to figure it out. Or at least how to keep the stove temps from peaking so early in the burn. Your situation sounds similar.

Sounds like the burn was already into the outgassing stage. The longer you can prolong that stage the better. Plus it seems for me N/S loads will "take off" easier if not watched carefully. Play around and start shutting it down sooner and more. It can't hurt.
 
I think it is the way you stacked the wood the way it sound you had a lot of gaps for air to get in. But i am also wondering if you raked the coals forward?
 
Yep racked the coals forward.

Next reload I will do all e/w

as far as how long it burned, It was reloaded about a half hour before I posted and is now in coals and stove top at 411 deg
 
1. Put more wood in the stove.
2. Pack it in tighter.
3. Enjoy longer burns.
 
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thanks everyone;

BB I'm trying to work it up to a full stove. experimenting with split size and direction. Its been extra cold ; might that cause more draft?

swedish chef: It's pretty much coals .
 
As BB said, stuff more wood in it.lol. It is a relatively small sized stove.

The bigger the temperature difference from inside to outside, the stronger the draft (normally).

Andrew
 
i am no expert, but one thing i learned was that i was waiting too long to turn down the air. now i just go by the way the fire looks and not soo much the stove top temp. when i reload i let the door cracked just a little until the new wood has flames on it. (no more than a minute or so) then i shut the door and the air is already turned down to about half. i then turn it down some more until the fire seems to get lazy and then i open it up just a smidge. i then reevaluate it in about 10 minutes and try to turn down the air again. i have noticed that my wood lasts a lot longer that way. i was burning up the wood just to get back up to temp before and thinking i needed a blazing fire.
 
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Ok, racked coals forward and put in 3 decent sized splits e/w not burning so good. But we'll see :)
 
NSDave said:
Ok, racked coals forward and put in 3 decent sized splits e/w not burning so good. But we'll see :)
Click to expand...
Maybe I wasn't clear: Wood splits like to have friends. Give them more friends! Pack it tight and let the splits party with a bunch of friends.
 
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Ok so about an hour ago I racked the coals forward, put in one big split e/w in the back put in 5 good sized splits after that; Packed them as tight as I could.
Yes I probably could have gotten another piece or two in there.
Started cutting the air back around 300 ( stove was at 260 on reload ) and fully closed at 450. Stove top now is 703f ; hope this will settle down soon. 15 minutes ago stove top was 569. The fire is burning but its fairly lazy flames.
 
NSDave said:
750 now. I bet I see 800s
Click to expand...
Is this a stove top thermometer or an IR gun?

Right now my stove top thermometer says 900. The IR gun puts it between 690-715. The stove top thermometer is way off in my case.
 
BB; its an IR gun. I have 2 but the other won't go above 521 f but at lower temps one seems to be close enough to the other.

So you're saying that 700+ stove top on a "big" load is what to expect? The reason I wasn't putting alot in was for heat control, but I see that that is for heat output not stove top?
 
I should add I guess that I am measuring around the center of the stove top. Gun has a 12:1 ratio but I'm right next to the stove.

Oh and 722 now
 
NSDave said:
BB; its an IR gun. I have 2 but the other won't go above 521 f but at lower temps one seems to be close enough to the other.

So you're saying that 700+ stove top on a "big" load is what to expect? The reason I wasn't putting alot in was for heat control, but I see that that is for heat output not stove top?
Click to expand...
You were also looking to get longer burns. You are running a non-cat steel stove. If you want heat control, you either put in less wood and have short burn times or you get a cat stove.

A non-cat steel stove with good draft and fuel will hit 650-750 (sometimes higher) and then gradually come down over time.
 
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Packing the stove with large splits can also reduce the peak stove top temps.
 
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OK, that make perfect sense. Now its clear what to expect.
Sometimes when I read a post I forget to see what kind of stove the poster has. and it may be a tip for a cat stove. I was expecting that I should to be able to moderate the peak temp better; I will try a few bigger splits next. Lots of wood in there now so it'll be a while :)
 
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