Drying test results are in...

[Poindexter]

Good to know. But forgive me for asking, but who is "Chris"?

Chris -i forget his last name- posts here as BKVP and is a vice president at Blaze King. Marketing i think, maybe customer service, maybe tech support. I think a lot of customer side functions at BK are under his umbrella, and he goes to LOTS of meetings with the EPA. Good guy.

 

[BKVP]

Poindexter.

Method 28R for testing with crib fuel is 18-23%. Of course this is done with dimensional lumber (cribs). Several manufacturers and consumers have observed that burning wood is the 10%-14% range can result in increased heat output, but also in increased emissions (smoke) and at time delayed ignitions. This is of course because the stoves are designed and tuned to burn cribs and the specified m.c.

The cordwood method that is near completion, addresses several items and hopes to provide more real world test results.

Thank you for the compliment. My title, Vice President, is of the company. (BKVP) I have one boss (besides my wife) and he is the President.

 

[MrWhoopee]

To add a little to the humidity vs temperature observations, I used to do a lot of winter camping. Temps were regularly in the single digits and sometimes well below zero. It was not uncommon to hang our wet gear out overnight to find it dry in the morning. This would not happen if the same gear was kept in the igloo (or tent ), despite the higher temperatures inside. Humidity from the warm bodies would keep everything wet inside. Sublimation takes over when evaporation stops.

 

[Poindexter]

@Hasufel , how long did the oven take, at what kinda temp?

I am running what I thought was going to be a quick study here to figure out if my hand held two prong meter reads wet basis or dry basis.

I have a split, 571 grams starting weight, that was at 12-13% indicated when I started. I have been cooking and cooking and cooking that thing at 225-250 dF in my out door grill and can't seem to get it under 525 grams.

If my meter is remotely accurate the split should dry to 505 g if my meter reads dry, and 498 g if my meter reads wet basis.

 

[Hasufel]

@Hasufel , how long did the oven take, at what kinda temp?

I am running what I thought was going to be a quick study here to figure out if my hand held two prong meter reads wet basis or dry basis.

I have a split, 571 grams starting weight, that was at 12-13% indicated when I started. I have been cooking and cooking and cooking that thing at 225-250 dF in my out door grill and can't seem to get it under 525 grams.

If my meter is remotely accurate the split should dry to 505 g if my meter reads dry, and 498 g if my meter reads wet basis.

I ran it all day long, so 12+ hours, at 215 or 220dF in an electric oven (I forget which now, but right above the boiling point). At the end of the day the larger pieces were still just a bit heavier proportionally than the small ones so I microwaved them for short periods until I got a stable weight. If you try that just be careful not to overdo it, because the wood will start to give off a burnt popcorn smell if you heat it up too much.

One thought on the problem you described--was the moisture level uniform in the test split when you checked it with the meter? If you have a split that's already been drying, the center measurement is going to be higher than the edge, which means you can't calculate the absolute moisture content from a single MM reading.