Need help to figure out what we need to do.

[stoveliker]

3 years in a shed should be fine

 

[vatmark]

Big bummer!

Not having secondaries and having wood that was in a shed since 2021 with a flue that should be reasonable, and with sufficient air supply (OAK not obstructed and not crazy long), is puzzling.

So another thought I had: are you sure the piping of air to your secondary tubes is free from obstructions? (mfg debris, spider nest etc.)
The holes may be free, but is the full pathway in the stove free? I don't know how long the stove sat after it came from the factory for insects to get in, or that there may be some manufacturing debris in there.

I don't know the best way to check that, but it's worth a thought.

I do not think the secondary tubes are blocked. I do vacuum them when I do a stove clean out. I’m going to try packing more in the stove next time and see how that goes. Also gonna check the moisture of the wood again. New pins for my moisture meter are suppose to arrive Friday.

 

[EbS-P]

I have both a stove top thermometer and IR gun. I use both. I use the stove top thermometer for a quick glance and then use the IR gun when the stove gets hotter.

I didnt always use bio bricks. I started using 2 at start up along with oak splits because I was having problems getting things started.

It is very possible I am not loading it enough for secondaries. I’m gonna check wood moisture again once the new pins come for my meter. You would think after 3 years it should be dry. I will try loading the stove as full as I can get it next time I have a fire. It is going to get in the low 50’s the next few days so no fire.

I will look through that thread about removing the OAK. When I realized we had an OAK I thought it was a good thing. Apparently it may not be. We are going to try the least expensive and least destructive things first and then move on to destructive and expensive. LOL

Load it full. I like a top down fire. My kindling is always touching the baffle.

 

[vatmark]

Load it full. I like a top down fire. My kindling is always touching the baffle.

Yup. Gonna load it up next time.

How long does it take you to get secondaries from a cold stove? When you start the fire does it take off?

 

[bigealta]

Yes Try top down. That's what the f500 wants.
You can load even more wood than shown here. This amount shown would be the minimum.

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[EbS-P]

Yup. Gonna load it up next time.

How long does it take you to get secondaries from a cold stove? When you start the fire does it take off?

Top down fires don’t take very long. They probably are not true secondary combustion flames but they you see how the air interacts with the flames. A good load of kindling and I can have the stove top up to 400 in 15 minutes with real secondary combustion.

Once you go top down you never go back.

 

[vatmark]

Yes Try top down. That's what the f500 wants.
You can load even more wood than shown here. This amount shown would be the minimum.

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Thank you so much for that video. I do top down starts but it appears I need to make smaller kindling and load it up. I have bigger kindling and only use a few pieces along with super cedar pieces. Guess I know what I will be doing today.

One thing I do notice in that video is it appears the flames are being pulled forward and sort of wrapping around the front. I assume that is the draft that is pulling the flames? I do not see that happening when I have a fire.

I always put 2 thin pieces of pallet wood under the bottom logs to allow some air to get under there. Next time I will also add strips between the first and second row of wood and also put kindling between first and second row of wood.

 

[vatmark]

Top down fires don’t take very long. They probably are not true secondary combustion flames but they you see how the air interacts with the flames. A good load of kindling and I can have the stove top up to 400 in 15 minutes with real secondary combustion.

Once you go top down you never go back.

I do top down starts. From watching that video bigealta posted I think I have to change up my set up. I do not use nearly enough kindling and the pieces are much bigger than what the video shows.

Gosh stove top temp of 400 in 15 minutes? I think even after 45 minutes my stove top is not 400.

What are you using for kindling? Just twigs or are you making kindling from logs? I have the Kindling Cracker so today I will take some of my big kindling and try to make it smaller. Any twigs laying around will be wet. Can you use lumber as long as its not pressure treated? We have a lot of small pieces of scrap lumber sitting in the garage. I wonder if that would work or is it better not to use that?

 

[NickW]

One thing at a time. You don't want to be struggling to control a raging inferno. Consider trying the slow shut down process I previously described along with the top down fire. Flue needs to be hot enough to pull through the OAK. From a cold start it takes over an hour to get to cruising air fully closed for me in the Northwoods.

 

[NickW]

Scrap lumber is fine (not treated) but not plywood or OSB or anything painted or stained. 2x4's make great skids for under a load to promote air flow.

 

[bigealta]

I only used those sticks in the video because i had them and figured everyone could get sticks.
You can absolutely use many other sizes and pieces of wood for top down fires.
This is just an easy, pretty fool proof set up.

You can definitely also use larger but less "sleeper" or spacer pieces between the 1st and 2nd row.

You can also use bigger splits in the rows with the biggest always on the bottom.

It just takes more practice to use the bigger splits and lesser amounts of kindling/spacers.

 

[bigealta]

Here is another version that works very well.

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[EbS-P]

I do top down starts. From watching that video bigealta posted I think I have to change up my set up. I do not use nearly enough kindling and the pieces are much bigger than what the video shows.

Gosh stove top temp of 400 in 15 minutes? I think even after 45 minutes my stove top is not 400.

What are you using for kindling? Just twigs or are you making kindling from logs? I have the Kindling Cracker so today I will take some of my big kindling and try to make it smaller. Any twigs laying around will be wet. Can you use lumber as long as its not pressure treated? We have a lot of small pieces of scrap lumber sitting in the garage. I wonder if that would work or is it better not to use that?

Pine split with a hatchet. No longer than 12” (it’s too hard to split quickly) I split it 3/4”-1” then a some bigger. I I never lay it all in E/W. Short pieces N/S. Longer at an angle. Usually 3 layers. And a short small 3/8” 1/2” square piece or two of fat wood placed so I can light the end of it.

I can do 15 minutes but it takes a lot of kindling and then the next reload is in an hour. Don’t usually start it this quick but if it’s cold and I want heat now I can. I go through - 4 gallon bucket of kindling every other day. I live in town to I use a lot of kindling to kickstart the secondary burn to keep my smoke to a bare minimum.

 

[bigealta]

And 1 more top down version with bigger round & splits, but some of these are pine so that makes a difference.

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[vatmark]

So we decided to remove the exhaust vent and just put some metal screening over the OAK hole. It is just temporary for now. If that doesn't seem to make a difference then we are going to remove the OAK.

I made some smaller kindling yesterday.

I have the stove set up ready to go. 2 thin strips of pallet wood on bottom to allow a little air under the logs. 2 large splits, kindling between the 2, 2 pallet strips and then 2 smaller splits with more kindling and 1 super cedar split into 4 pieces. Hopefully this can help get the stove top temp up quicker.

Cold weather will be here all next week.

 

[bigealta]

that looks pretty good if your splits are seasoned well.
If they are a bit questionable you could put a few more pieces of kindling between the bottom and top row.

Let that rip and see how it goes.

 

[vatmark]

that looks pretty good if your splits are seasoned well.
If they are a bit questionable you could put a few more pieces of kindling between the bottom and top row.

Let that rip and see how it goes.

Hopefully after 3 years the splits are dry. I ordered new pins for my moisture meter from amazon which were suppose to show up Friday and they never arrived. Had to reorder and they are suppose to show up tomorrow. Once I have them I am going to check the wood just to rule that out.

I did put kindling between bottom and top row.

 

[bigealta]

I did put kindling between bottom and top row.

Ok, i just saw the 2 pieces.

 

[vatmark]

Update: Between removing the exhaust vent for the OAK and setting up the initial fire like in bigealta's video(thanks for that video bigealta) things are going better. Start up has gone much better. From a cold stove I was able to get the stove top temp up to 350 degrees in about 25-30 minutes. No lazy flames. Got some secondaries.

Thanks for everyones help. I never would have thought that the OAK could be an issue. Now on to figuring out what we will do about wind gust issues.