Wood burning too fast in my insert.

[tinman100863]

When I load up with as much as possible ,I'm only getting a 3 hour burn time ?from the start of the light to no more heat given at the coaling stage. This is my third season burning with my Osburn 1800 insert. The Firebox size is 1.78 All of my hard wood(oak,locust, mulberry ) is seasoned for sure using my moisture meter with freshly split wood. I have ranges of 12%-20%. , I have loaded ns, ew loading and very little difference. I have taken notice that there is a difference when the air control is fully open compared to fully closed. Do you think this what I should expect ? If you have any recommendations I'm willing to listen.
Ty

 

[TedyOH]

I find this to be impossible, 3 hours from fire to ash, especially with the hardwoods you listed, balsa wood maybe, but not oak locust.....unless your splits are toothpicks.

 

[bholler]

You need to run us through your burning procedure and your setup completely for us to give you much help.

 

[begreen]

Size of splits and chimney height too please.

 

[tinman100863]

Size of splits and chimney height too please.

My chimney height is about 15' with a 6"SS Liner. My splits varies in size but on a average like 4" across ,about 3" wide & 15"-16" long.

 

[begreen]

That should be ok. Do you let the coal bed burn down first before reloading?

 

[tinman100863]

You need to run us through your burning procedure and your setup completely for us to give you much help.

It's a Osburn insert 1800 , has a 6" SS liner,
From cold start I criss cross with scrap 1x3 pine(8) pieces total using a small piece of log starter. After I have a good coal bed I rake them evenly across , then I add like 6 splits (4" wide 3"thick x16" long , the door I leave a 1/4 open with air control fully open , after it takes off , I close the door fully , 10 minutes later I start to close down the air 1/4 each way , until my air is just a crack open. 3 hours later it's coal , 3-1/2 later that's about it with giving heat.

 

[bholler]

It's a Osburn insert 1800 , has a 6" SS liner,

How tall is your chimney?

 

[begreen]

15 ft.

 

[bholler]

Oh i missed that at 15' it should not be over drafting.

 

[begreen]

It's a Osburn insert 1800 , has a 6" SS liner,
From cold start I criss cross with scrap 1x3 pine(8) pieces total using a small piece of log starter. After I have a good coal bed I rake them evenly across , then I add like 6 splits (4" wide 3"thick x16" long , the door I leave a 1/4 open with air control fully open , after it takes off , I close the door fully , 10 minutes later I start to close down the air 1/4 each way , until my air is just a crack open. 3 hours later it's coal , 3-1/2 later that's about it with giving heat.

Six 4" splits is about half a load for our stove. Maybe try packing it a bit tighter. See if you can get maybe 8-9 splits in by packing it so that the wedges fill the valleys between splits. Use smaller splits to fill voids.

 

[saskwoodburner]

Use bigger pieces of wood, and shut down the air much sooner.

 

[tinman100863]

Six 4" splits is about half a load for our stove. Maybe try packing it a bit tighter. See if you can get maybe 8-9 splits in by packing it so that the wedges fill the valleys between splits. Use smaller splits to fill voids.

It seems to me that you think the problem is with the split size?or quantity ? What size splits do you use ?

 

[tinman100863]

Use bigger pieces of wood, and shut down the air much sooner.

In what time frame should I be closing off the air ?

 

[begreen]

Turn it down as soon as possible without smoldering the fire. Turn it down until the flame starts getting lazy, but not out.

It seems to me that you think the problem is with the split size?or quantity ? What size splits do you use ?

Our stove has a big firebox. Most of our splits are in the 6-8" range with some 4-6" splits mixed in. For you stove I would just try to pack them in a bit tighter so that you can get one or two more splits in.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

In what time frame should I be closing off the air ?

I have a SBI cousin to your stove, and my burn times have been pretty short. I recently discovered an previous version of the user manual, and it called for 6 inch diameter pieces. My splits were all pretty small before, from 2-4 inches, I read here that pieces larger than your wrist should be split.

I tried some 5 inch unsplit pieces earlier today (don't have any dry 6 inch pieces unsplit) based on the manual. The larger pieces started right up, and my burn time was much better, fewer coals, less ash, same heat for significantly more time. Too late for most of my stacks, but going forward, I'm doing less splitting. Worth a try?

 

[tinman100863]

T

I have a SBI cousin to your stove, and my burn times have been pretty short. I recently discovered an previous version of the user manual, and it called for 6 inch diameter pieces. My splits were all pretty small before, from 2-4 inches, I read here that pieces larger than your wrist should be split.

I tried some 5 inch unsplit pieces earlier today (don't have any dry 6 inch pieces unsplit) based on the manual. The larger pieces started right up, and my burn time was much better, fewer coals, less ash, same heat for significantly more time. Too late for most of my stacks, but going forward, I'm doing less splitting. Worth a try?

ty for your reply. That was going to be my next move. The bottom line is that we are limited to wood quantity when it's a 1.8 firebox !! Even though the manual list a 4-6 burn time , which I would love to see even in perfect conditions !! . I would like to get the company's rep over to my house and show me how to get a 4-6 burn time. lol

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

T

ty for your reply. That was going to be my next move. The bottom line is that we are limited to wood quantity when it's a 1.8 firebox !! Even though the manual list a 4-6 burn time , which I would love to see even in perfect conditions !! . I would like to get the company's rep over to my house and show me how to get a 4-6 burn time. lol

I hear ya! My firebox is 2.4, and I wish I had room for more. In a couple of years I might have some 6 inch diameter seasoned oak, and will mix that with smaller splits to fill the box to try to achieve the advertised burn time, but I don't think it'll happen.

 

[saskwoodburner]

In what time frame should I be closing off the air ?

Hard to say, as each stove set up and wood is a different beast. I always start the stove and leave it cracked very slight. As soon as I can close the door I do, and as soon as I can turn down the air, I do. The stove won't have any of these dramatic 500 f in 15 minutes, but your heat will go more towards heating the box rather than flushing it out the chimney.

If I can use a bacon analogy. Think of when you cook bacon. You don't wait until it looks perfect in the pan, otherwise you over cook it. Same with the air control. Shut the air down before the fire is raging (yet still holding/lazy) and keep walking down, You'll notice more heat stay in the stove, and I would guess a longer burn time.

My stove has a dinky 1 cubic foot firebox, so raging my wood off the hop is silly. Just try shutting down the air a bit earlier and examine the fire.

 

[rdust]

What are the stove temps after 3 hours?