D8Chumley
Minister of Fire
Personally I get nervous when my stack temp goes over 500, especially if I'm loading for overnight but that's just me. That runaway fire in the old stove still haunts me
Learning the importance of stacking
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D8Chumley
Minister of Fire
On a side note I was talking with a friend of mine last night that has an outdoor boiler. He is a bit lazy which leads me to the story. He had some select cutting done on his property in the summer of 2012, a lot of red oak he told me. He had them leave all the tops etc so he could burn them. He said he can't get the red oak to burn for crap, so I asked him how long its been seasoned. He looked at me funny and said he just goes out and cuts some then tries to burn it, figured its been sitting for a year and a half it should be good. I suggested to him it needs to be split and stacked, or at least cut and stacked off the ground for 2-3 years before he should/could burn it. He then told me that someone else just told him the same thing 
So thanks to the knowledge I have gained here I was able to give him an informed opinion that will help him. Time will tell if he heeds my advice
So thanks to the knowledge I have gained here I was able to give him an informed opinion that will help him. Time will tell if he heeds my advice
jatoxico
Minister of Fire
That brick must have hurt.
The flames were very clear and were blue, purple and white. Hot enough that I burned my arm just from getting too close with the door open.
I separated 2 bricks with the poker just to see how much they were glowing, and yes, they were glowing solid. The angle iron behind the front air tube MELTED and needs to be replaced. I have seen the top of the stove glow when the fire is burning hard and the blower is turned off. I am unable to stay in front of the stove when the blower is on and the fire is burning full tilt. The blower has doubled the amount of heat we get from this little stove. It is a draft blower from an outdoor wood boiler and it moves some air. It is quite loud too, but it keeps the house warm. The thermometer pegs at about 850° on most burns and gradually drops to about 400-450 for the majority of the burn. Then it slowly drops to about 225 before reloading. Everyone who comes over comments on how warm or hot it is in here and then sees the wood stove as they walk through the kitchen. Most of them walk straight over to it and stand in front until the heat forces them away. The second thing they notice is the thermometer on the wall in the living room that tells indoor and outdoor temp and ask if it is right because it is usually reading about 82° inside.
I have wanted to put a barrel stove in here, but the in-laws would probably melt it or get burned real bad. It would probably roast us out anyway. I will leave the barrel stove in the shop.
That's awesome, sounds like you really know what your doing. What kind of burn times do you get?
Isaac Carlson
Minister of Fire
We get about 4 hours of good heat between loads. This stove is about the size of a microwave. I have removed the bottom firebricks so I can squeak a little more wood in. I do leave ashes covering the floor of the firebox. The side and rear bricks have been rearranged to provide better preheating of the secondary air. The firebox is 16 inches wide, 10 inches deep, and almost 10 inches tall. I could fit the entire lopi into our kitchen queen firebox and still have room for plenty of kindling. The lopi will get the job done until the KQ gets put in.
On a side note I was talking with a friend of mine last night that has an outdoor boiler. He is a bit lazy which leads me to the story. He had some select cutting done on his property in the summer of 2012, a lot of red oak he told me. He had them leave all the tops etc so he could burn them. He said he can't get the red oak to burn for crap, so I asked him how long its been seasoned. He looked at me funny and said he just goes out and cuts some then tries to burn it, figured its been sitting for a year and a half it should be good. I suggested to him it needs to be split and stacked, or at least cut and stacked off the ground for 2-3 years before he should/could burn it. He then told me that someone else just told him the same thing
Outdoor Boiler guys don't care about seasoning. As long as it burns, they really couldn't care less about chimney fires. It just cleans them out.
I'm burning 4 year old (stacked for four years) red oak and it certainly doesn't burn up fast. Long heat output and beautiful coal bed after 8 hours (I usually need to work at burning them down faster when it's cold to get a new load in the stove more quickly). An earlier post mentioned that even dry oak takes more work to get going in the stove - I find this true as well - needs to really catch well and primary air needs to be turned down more gradually. I simply can't imagine burning green or nearly green oak wood in my stove and getting even marginal results. Cheers!
D8Chumley
Minister of Fire
I understand and agree but my point was he couldn't get it to burn. I'd think he should at least cut/stack it so it gets some drying as opposed to laying in the woods. Just my .02
Something with this story does not seam right. It does not add up. Go get a moisture meter and check the wood. I don't think the wood is the biggest issue. I don't know what the max temperature is for your stove but 850* is way too high for safety. There is no possible way you are getting the stove that hot with unseasoned wood and running the stove the correct way.
My comment was to the glowing firebricks. Ain't no way. I have had a stove up to over 1,400 degrees. Twice. And not one glowing firebrick in sight. After it was pulled out and relegated to smoker firebox duty I had this fire in it. No idea of the temp but no glowing firebricks.
![[Hearth.com] Learning the importance of stacking](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/125/125757-6ddc0b477d1c700a51e53d6b78df4420.jpg?hash=b4ZVRSj9c5 "[Hearth.com] Learning the importance of stacking")
jatoxico
Minister of Fire
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Isaac Carlson
Minister of Fire
The fire shooting out of that stack is the smoke burning. Your chimney is hotter than the box.
I can take a picture of the glowing bricks next time I have a good hot fire. It was 30° here today, so the fire was pretty much out all day.
As to the comment above about the blue flames, yes, it happens. The fire has to be wicked hot and the air has to be just right. Like I said above, I have opened gaps in the firebrick to get more heat to the primary air runners. half of my flames are blue.
jatoxico
Minister of Fire
Issac Carlson
Didn't you say recently that you were having trouble with the answer?
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/lopi-answer-help.120897/
Then a week later you posted this...
This done, according to your other posts in a house built in the "early 1860's" using a stove with "16 in x 10 in x 10 in " firebox with a "<10 ft " chimney with no liner fed with with wet oak?
Tough sell dude.
Didn't you say recently that you were having trouble with the answer?
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/lopi-answer-help.120897/
Then a week later you posted this...
This done, according to your other posts in a house built in the "early 1860's" using a stove with "16 in x 10 in x 10 in " firebox with a "<10 ft " chimney with no liner fed with with wet oak?
Tough sell dude.
maple1
Minister of Fire
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