New Drolet Savannah II installed and been running since the beginning of January. Everything was good for the first month +. Last week I noticed a significant change in draft. Was getting a bit of smoke back drafting when opening the door and I'd have to really baby a fresh start or even a new load. I suspected the chimney cap screen was clogged. Yesterday I got up on the roof and it was pretty dirty. Cleaned it off and I don't seem to be having the smoking anymore and it pulling good when rolling. What I've noticed though is I've still got an issue with a new load after a load burns down. I can throw a single piece of 15-20% oak or maple on the coals. Small split. 3" approx. Close the door and it will ignite but slowly and not fully. Crack the door and it takes off. Get that piece flaming good, close the door and it putters down to staying lit but not taking off and this is with damper wide open. If I baby it(cracking door, closing door) i can eventually get the log or new load to go good. Seems something is missing or something changed when reloading though. It just won't take off unless I baby it. Obstruction in chimney or stove? First month all good. Month and half in and it's definitely not burning like it was. I thought the vents were in the front but after looking under stove vent is towards the back. Does it channel from back to front? Directions say to rake coals to front of stove....im frustrated. Wasn't expecting issues after 1.5 months on a new stove.
Drolet Savannah II burn issues after 1.5 months use.
- Thread starter Hoppy678
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EbS-P
Minister of Fire
How are you checking moisture. Room temperature on a fresh split face I hope?
This one a year I get down near the bottom of my stack a find the wood down there two wet to burn.
This one a year I get down near the bottom of my stack a find the wood down there two wet to burn.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
This ^^^
If you just grab a split and stab it, that test means nothing. Testing on the ends is not accurate either.
Split it open, test the middle of the freshly exposed faces, preferably parallel with the grain, and after the wood is roughly room temp (certainly not frozen!)
Your issues sound like wet wood...that and loading 1 piece at a time doesn't work well...3 should be your minimum (if loading on hot coals)
Keep in mind, even if you have wood that is 20% MC, (barely good enough) loading 40 lbs of 20% wood means you just loaded about 8lbs of water, or about a gallon. Does dumping a gallon of water in your stove sound like a good practice?
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I went and grabbed a meter from Ace Hardware this morning. As said above I'm getting down to the bottom of the pile for what I have "seasoned". And yes, it's reading above 20% in most pieces I checked. Found a few below 20% and put those aside. I keep about two days worth inside next to the stove. I split small. What most would call one piece, i make into 2 or 3. The chimney cap screen was plugged up, and i fixed that. I also got the manuals back out and followed the light and after loads to a T. Used the good dry wood and 2×4 i had in the basement for dang near 5 years. Dry as a bone. Drolet recommends in most cases leaving the door ajar for anywhere from 1:00 to 5:00 minutes before closing the door. Letting it go longer helped it go from there. We just got a crappy storm of snow followed by rain. It's sloppy and my south facing roof won't be clean for a bit. Once it's safe again I'm going to clean the chimney. Currently it's burning. Put a few loads through it today and seems ok. A pipe cleaning surely wouldn't hurt. It's my first year with the wood stove. I'm setting myself up with wood and have plans of a storage shed for that. Currently I have i have a walk out basement with dry wood storage of about 1/2 cord right outside the door. Stove is 6' away from door or less. Works nice. The wood in that is what I've been using for the last month and a half. Been in there a solid year+. Good ventilation but very little sun as it's on south side of house. New storage will be back further to get the sun and then I can move it closer when it's ready to go. Not sure the General meter i picked up today is of the highest quality but it seems to read ok. It has a low and high setting. Reads up to 35%. Most of what I tested was just over. 22-25%. Some was under. 20%-15%. Guess I'll have to weed out the wet stuff and let it sit longer. Shoukd be able to get it down just being next to stove.
Just to clarify, before you test the wood you are grabbing an ax, resplitting a piece, then immediately testing the inside of the fresh split? If not your wood is way higher MC. If you are resplitting, 22-25 will be difficult to burn cleanly.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
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