low heat

[gazelle]

Hello folks

I was wondering if I could get some advice from people with way more experience

Problem: Having a hard time getting the stove top over 400

Setup: Vermont Castings NC Defiant, horizontal vent, to a 8 in one piece liner. Liner is 22 ft tall in a brick and mortar chimney that is 13x13. Only the top half of the liner is wrapped in insulation since I had a narrow spot that would not allow me to get the pipe and insulation past it.

I want to start by saying that I have searched the forum archives. I have spent probably 5 hours reading through different threads. I know that many sites get annoyed at newbies for asking the same questions that have been asked a 100 times before. I may be doing my searches incorrectly but i have not found a thread similar to my question, just the opposite.



So I start to make a fire and I get it going and then add a few logs and keep the damper open and the oxygen control wide open. I have been letting the fire run this way anywhere from 30 min to an hour before i close down the damper. Looking at my instruction book for the stove it says that I should closing the damper when the stove top reaches around 350 degrees. I am having a heck of a time getting the stove to that temp.

Could my problem be wood? I am using wood that is 3 years old, the guy that sold it to me does a lot of fire wood so I am sure it has not been covered so there is going to be some moisture from weather but would a little moisture make it hard to reach temperature?

It appears that there is just not enough oxygen to get it going good. I was reading in one thread that a good draft is not achieved unless the outside temp is below 40. We have been around 45 at night could this be part of the problem?

I did find last night that I could get the stove top up to about 450 by knocking the oxygen control back to half way. this kind of confuses me since i would think more O2 would mean hotter fire.


This weekend is going to be much cooler so I would like to get the stove up to the 600 degree range so that it is producing the most heat possible. The directions say I can hit 700 without a problem but most of the time I am having a hard time getting above 350.



Any suggestions? I am sure i am doing something wrong. I also wonder if my logs could be too large and that I might be better splitting them in half but that is just an uneducated poke in the dark.


Thanks for any help!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'd bet that it is a wood moisture issue. Most firewood salespeople will not keep wood on hand for 3 years. That's a lot of inventory to keep on hand. An easy way to find out is to buy a bag of logs from the local supermarket/convenience store. Splitting the larger logs down to smaller can't hurt either. Do you get any sizzle from the logs when you burn them?

Matt

 

[gazelle]

I do not get a sizzle but I can tell they are slightly damp in hand. they are no way near as dry as the bundles at stores. I have it covered now, what are the chances it will dry this season?

Yes he did have a lot of wood on hand. He timbered his property and kept all the trees that were too crooked to sell for lumber to use for a firewood business.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Did he leave them in tree length until he was ready to sell them? They really won't dry that way. They really must be at least bucked. Bucked, split, and stacked (not in a big pile) will leave the wood on the bottom dry also.

If you split your pieces small, stack them in the sun and wind, then mix the pieces in with dry wood like pallets you can probably burn it without too much of a problem. The big thing to watch is the chimney for creosote issues.

It wouldn't be a bad time to get some wood set aside for next year. If it's stacked and drying now it will be perfect come November next year.

 

[gazelle]

Not sure if they were split right away or not, but they have been split for a while since the the split portion of the wood is a gray color and not the bright witeish-yellow color.

I have wood drying for next year. The first load that we got this year (dump truck load) was delivered in the dark. the guy said it was seasoned. the next day in the light I could tell that it was not seasoned. Called him up to complain and he said he cut it last spring, but it was not split until the day he delivered it. I knew it was wet by the looks not to mention the weight.

I plan on cutting my own wood, but since I just installed the stove I was not prepared for this year

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I'd bet that it is a wood moisture issue. Most firewood salespeople will not keep wood on hand for 3 years. That's a lot of inventory to keep on hand. An easy way to find out is to buy a bag of logs from the local supermarket/convenience store. Splitting the larger logs down to smaller can't hurt either. Do you get any sizzle from the logs when you burn them?

Matt

+ 10.....go down to the store and pick up a bundle of the shrink wrapped stuff....take a few of the splits, and resplit. Start with some dry kindling, and then place the store bought splits later...if the temp goes to 400 plus, then you have a good supply of wood for next year
Good luck.

 

[Jags]

There is logic to explain your temp increase as you closed down the primary air. It goes something like this: With the primary air at wide open throttle you are allowing a LARGE volume of air to enter the firebox and sweep much of the generated heat up the chimney with it. As you tune it down, you don't have the rush of air taking the heat with it - that equals more heat in the box - box temp goes up.

 

[Valhalla]

I burned a Defiant 20+ years before my Encore NC.
I reccomend a bed of coals and over 450 F before
you go to Everburn. Then the fuel load will
burn from the bottom, as gravity feeds it. Instead
of igniting the entire fuel mass. Make sure the fuel is
at room temp before loading, not cold or frozen.

Seasoned fuel is a must. Swap a few loads with a
friend or neighbor to prove how much better it is.