Opening the stove's door produces odd sound coming from the pipe ...

[A M]

AM... Just want to add that I feel your nervousness about drilling a hole in your flue pipe to get the therm in place. Becuase of my stove set up (rear exit that goes straight into a stone wall and up inside a chimney) I have no accessible flue pipe on which to place a therm. Whilst it may not be ideal to only have a therm on the stove top, it is certainly not breaking the law and for myself, I find that keeping an eye on the stove top temp range serves me just fine.

Just thought it might be one less thing for you to worry about till you have someone around you can trust to drill that hole for you, should decide to have two therms

FionaD from Scotland ... thank you for your reply. Yes, you hit the nail on the hammer. I personally am afraid to drill a hole by myself into the double-wall and just won't do it; especially since I do not have the type of flue thermometer with the metal stick that will go into the hole. My "ancient" friend who believes high-efficiency stoves should be treated exactly like an outside open fire-pit (no, I'm not kidding here), states that he is afraid smoke will get out into my house once that drilled hole is made and refused to drill the hole for me, so I am likely just going to purchase a stove top thermometer, as you are doing.

I really appreciate what you shared from your very own experience and felt less worry when I read your kind post. Thank you for understanding.

 

[begreen]

A slow to start fire is often a sign of poorly seasoned wood. Cleaning the flue at least once per every cord burned is going to be critical. You can use your flue thermometer on the stove top without problem. Just ignore the scales and read the temperature.

Get next season's wood bought and stacked and top-covered no later than Feb or March. Try to buy the driest wood you can at this time of year. Stack it so that the prevailing winds can blow through the stack and in an area where it will get good sunshine. Ash will season much faster than oak.

 

[A M]

Simply put and posted above - Your manual is talking about stove pipe heat and you are taking your readings from the stove itself.

EPA tube stoves are designed to heat the box and not the pipe by burning wood gas(smoke) before it leaves the stove. Beyond the initial blast of heat going up the pipe during start-up you get the stove itself cruising with a temp on top above 500 - often 600-750 - and cut the air back as far as you stove allows. This eats up most of the heat BEFORE it goes out the flue. Hence, the dual thermometers. Stove in cruise mode at 600+ = pipe in the safe range prescribed in your manual. Stove running in the safe range for PIPE gas in cruise mode is sending cold gas and the majority of creo creating junk into a cool pipe that by simple physics is getting cooler the farther from the stove it reaches. The last 3' or so are cold enough to condense this gas and create the problems you are having.

This is why it is unsafe to use any of the wang dangle heat trapping exchanger dealios in the stove pipe on EPA stoves. The heat that makes it that far up is necessary to keep gasses going out and not condensing. Anyone that has tried these inventions, either purchased or home brew have discovered they are creosote making machines more than heat creators.

For single wall stove pipe it is safe and effective to use a magnetic therm to gather accurate enough information to verify this but with a Dbl wall pipe you need to drill through the two walls and use a probe therm or you are getting zero valuable info for obvious reasons. Drilling the small hole is no big deal, very safe and many do it. If you wish to forgo this for any reason then the best practice is to use a stove top therm and IN CRUISING MODE get the stove running above 500. Preferably 6-700.

Simple solution, run it hotter.

BU ... had to laugh at your "wang dangle heat trapping exchanger dealios" in the stove pipe, comment. I do like what you said and the simple solution, but, read what I've written to E. and Fiona. It is not always that simple ... to increase the temperature of the box with the wood one may have on hand.

 

[A M]

A slow to start fire is often a sign of poorly seasoned wood. Cleaning the flue at least once per every cord burned is going to be critical. You can use your flue thermometer on the stove top without problem. Just ignore the scales and read the temperature.

Get next season's wood bought and stacked and top-covered no later than Feb or March. Try to buy the driest wood you can at this time of year. Stack it so that the prevailing winds can blow through the stack and in an area where it will get good sunshine. Ash will season much faster than oak.

You're usually always spot-on with what you share ... yes, the wood needs more sun and air in order to properly dry. Not being in a garage that gets some air but very little sun. Thanks for your comments, begreen.

 

[begreen]

If you can put a fan blowing on the wood in the garage that will help accelerate drying. If it is a long stack maybe use an oscillating fan.

 

[A M]

If you can put a fan blowing on the wood in the garage that will help accelerate drying. If it is a long stack maybe use an oscillating fan.

As far as actual "time" goes ... would it only take a full day with a fan blowing directly on the wood ... to lower the percentage of moisture, say, by "5" points, or would it take literally days to achieve this kind of a drop?

 

[Grisu]

For example, I think the trouble is that I'm finding DIFFERENT percentages of moisture in say, just one piece of wood. It can have 17% on one side, 23% four inches away and then 11% at the very top. And, that is just one side of the split.

Moisture readings on the outside will be all over the place as you have seen. When we talk about 20% moisture content we mean internal moisture. To measure that make sure the splits are at about room temp. Then split them in half and press the pins in the center of the fresh surface. That reading is the relevant one.

You can try splitting your current wood smaller that will help in the drying. Reducing them by 5% even with fan in a dry location will take time. A few days will get rid off some surface moisture but won't get your wood down to 20% internal. Still, with less surface moisture the splits will ignite faster and the stove may come up to temp quicker.

Look into lumber scraps, pallets or compressed wood logs as a supplement to your wood. Especially the latter is more expensive than cord wood but better than having a chimney fire. A ton of e. g. Envi-blocks mixed in with your other wood will get you through this winter.

 

[CaptSpiff]

How in the world am I suppose to get 500 or 600 eventual stove top heat when this WOOD seems to take a mighty long time to get it up to this thermometer's "300 to 400" range?

Not sure if this was mentioned above, but could you cut your wood into smaller pieces?
Skinny cut kindling should get heat quicker, and follow that with thin cut pieces.
Save the big pieces for the overnight.

 

[A M]

Moisture readings on the outside will be all over the place as you have seen. When we talk about 20% moisture content we mean internal moisture. To measure that make sure the splits are at about room temp. Then split them in half and press the pins in the center of the fresh surface. That reading is the relevant one.

You can try splitting your current wood smaller that will help in the drying. Reducing them by 5% even with fan in a dry location will take time. A few days will get rid off some surface moisture but won't get your wood down to 20% internal. Still, with less surface moisture the splits will ignite faster and the stove may come up to temp quicker.

Look into lumber scraps, pallets or compressed wood logs as a supplement to your wood. Especially the latter is more expensive than cord wood but better than having a chimney fire. A ton of e. g. Envi-blocks mixed in with your other wood will get you through this winter.

Honestly, I feel like going to Lowe's and buying a brand new hatchet (for cutting wood splits smaller), and then reading with the MM. Right now, I took out some of the remainder of the Oak rick and have the splits inside of a wheel barrel facing the sun. It is sunny today, as it was yesterday. Cold, but sunny. I started doing this yesterday in the afternoon. The newer wood I've just obtained this week. I took it from my car and placed it on the front wood porch, which gets the sun, for the entire purpose of helping this wood to dry out.

While my outside temperatures may not sound like it's very cold where I live (compared to others experiencing severely cold weather right now in different states), inside the house is cold even during the day and I do have a fire going during the day and then fully enjoy it when it gets dark outside and colder, ... this is when I really want the wood to burn in it.

Grisu, ... your knowledge is awesome and I thank you for all you've sent my way!

 

[A M]

Not sure if this was mentioned above, but could you cut your wood into smaller pieces?
Skinny cut kindling should get heat quicker, and follow that with thin cut pieces.
Save the big pieces for the overnight.

Yes, I think it is a good idea and I am intending to go get a good hatchet for the additional splitting. I never have gotten an overnight burn with my stove but it is probably because I do not fill it full. I usually put in - at the most - 4 pieces of wood. Since I get up one or two times per night, I always check the stove and will add another log or two, until the morning when - if it burned well - I can add a log to get it going again.

Thanks, CaptSpiff!

 

[FionaD]

Another wee thought, A.M... Some good advice often given here to folks (like me who are dancing a jig between stove learning curves and wood MC issues, whilst wondering which the heck is which sometimes is to bite the bullet and buy a couple of bags of kiln dried wood from a garage (oops, sorry, I'm being British... That's a 'gas station', as you say in the US) or buy a bag or three of reconstituted wood bricks of some kind. In other words try some wood that is guaranteed to have a really low MC and then you can at least take one issue out of the equation long enough for your thoughts to stop spinning with too many issues and questions to hold..

Also, as Begreen has said, no need to use a different therm on your stove top.. The one I use on mine IS also a stove pipe one, as I couldn't get hold of a dedicated stove top one, it reads the temp just fine.. Just make sure your placed it on your stove top where the user manual recommends.

All the best... You'll get there!

 

[A M]

Another wee thought, A.M... Some good advice often given here to folks (like me who are dancing a jig between stove learning curves and wood MC issues, whilst wondering which the heck is which sometimes is to bite the bullet and buy a couple of bags of kiln dried wood from a garage (oops, sorry, I'm being British... That's a 'gas station', as you say in the US) or buy a bag or three of reconstituted wood bricks of some kind. In other words try some wood that is guaranteed to have a really low MC and then you can at least take one issue out of the equation long enough for your thoughts to stop spinning with too many issues and questions to hold..

Also, as Begreen has said, no need to use a different therm on your stove top.. The one I use on mine IS also a stove pipe one, as I couldn't get hold of a dedicated stove top one, it reads the temp just fine.. Just make sure your placed it on your stove top where the user manual recommends.

All the best... You'll get there!

Thank you, Fiona ... I will give more than a "wee" bit of consideration to what you have suggested. Yes, I caught what begreen said and won't be getting a newer stove top thermometer; guess no real need. It is such a welcoming relief to know that ANY question one might have can be asked here on this forum. Just think it is such a great place to find out something quick. I am amazed by what some of the folks know from solid experience.

In fact, here's another question I have regarding picking up this past week's "wood" which I purchased (super cheap) from a nice man in another town. I had picked them from a large pile and they'd been there about six months, I think he said. Now, some of the pieces were sitting on the ground and some were stacked on top of each other in their random woody fashion. Well, by the time I got home, I was super tired and just left them in their respective boxes inside of my car in the garage, with the windows up.

When I went to remove the boxes of wood the next morning, the rear window and the rear side windows were all "fogged up;" ... is the answer that there was simply too much "condensation" produced overnight by the freezing cold in the garage (it is always stone cold in there except in the summertime!), from the partially moistened condition of these split wood pieces?

The back of the car was significantly filled with wood; some were loose but most were in the various boxes. Note that the front and two side front windows were not affected and were completely clear. There was only wood on the passenger seat, not the driver's seat.

 

[bobdog2o02]

Thank you, Fiona ... I will give more than a "wee" bit of consideration to what you have suggested. Yes, I caught what begreen said and won't be getting a newer stove top thermometer; guess no real need. It is such a welcoming relief to know that ANY question one might have can be asked here on this forum. Just think it is such a great place to find out something quick. I am amazed by what some of the folks know from solid experience.

In fact, here's another question I have regarding picking up this past week's "wood" which I purchased (super cheap) from a nice man in another town. I had picked them from a large pile and they'd been there about six months, I think he said. Now, some of the pieces were sitting on the ground and some were stacked on top of each other in their random woody fashion. Well, by the time I got home, I was super tired and just left them in their respective boxes inside of my car in the garage, with the windows up.

When I went to remove the boxes of wood the next morning, the rear window and the rear side windows were all "fogged up;" ... is the answer that there was simply too much "condensation" produced overnight by the freezing cold in the garage (it is always stone cold in there except in the summertime!), from the partially moistened condition of these split wood pieces?

The back of the car was significantly filled with wood; some were loose but most were in the various boxes. Note that the front and two side front windows were not affected and were completely clear. There was only wood on the passenger seat, not the driver's seat.

That is some really wet.

 

[FionaD]

Doesn't sound good to me either.. Funnily enough, I just happen to have picked up a couple of bags of wood four days ago and they have been in the trunk of my car since then. There is no condensation at all inside the car tho... I MCd the wood and it's all around 16% on the face of a fresh split. Feels dry as a bone and so does the inside of the car.

Take an MC reading of wood before you buy.. I've learned that the hard way. Maybe still do so, if it's over 20% you could not take it out the car at all..... Just take it back.

 

[A M]

Doesn't sound good to me either.. Funnily enough, I just happen to have picked up a couple of bags of wood four days ago and they have been in the trunk of my car since then. There is no condensation at all inside the car tho... I MCd the wood and it's all around 16% on the face of a fresh split. Feels dry as a bone and so does the inside of the car.

Take an MC reading of wood before you buy.. I've learned that the hard way. Maybe still do so, if it's over 20% you could not take it out the car at all..... Just take it back.

The only other explanation I can think of is that before I went back home from laboring to pick up this wood, I stopped to buy 2 cases of bottled spring water. The packages are wrapped in plastic ... could these have helped cause the back/side vehicle's glass to gain condensation on the windows or am I reaching here? Haa, haa. I don't know. I was just trying to figure it out a bit. This afternoon I completely emptied the car of the wood. I am going back next week sometime to pick up the remaining wood and once again will fill the boxes into my car. This time, though, I will take them out the same day, place them inside the house, close to but not too close to the wood stove. This will help dry out the wood a bit, too.

I will just ride it out and use whatever piece of split wood from this batch that I can. If it is over 20%, it will not get used at this time, but it will eventually. I'm really glad that I got this MM and waited far too long in deciding on one. Another wood seller (on the phone) whom I called before I bought this bunch, told me almost rudely when I asked if he minded if I used my MM on his wood before I decided to buy, that it was a long drive to come see his wood and MM do not work accurately, anyway. Why don't I buy wood in the city where I live and not waste my gas? So, due to his border rudeness, I did not bother to check out his wood. Who in the world wants to buy from a wood seller who is opposed to MMs and the potential customer using it on his wood and is nearly downright rude about it over the phone? No one that I know of would even wish to!

 

[Everhard]

A M, lots of great help has been posted - I'll add a couple things for you.

1: For better or worse I believe I'm using the same thermometer on the stove top ie the SBI one that's designed for single wall vent pipe, the magnetic kind. I see no reason why it wouldn't do the job given it's supposed to read the surface temp of what it's stuck to. (Other's if I'm missing something please chime in!!) As was said by someone ignore the temp ranges on it just shoot for 500-700f.

2: Fill that firebox! Fill it to within an inch of the top. This will do a number of things for you - If you're only partly filling it the stove actually is harder to get hot, I've found this from experience as well, compound that with wet wood and it will be more difficult still. Secondly a full firebox is going to give you useable heat and leave you with a bed of coals so big that the next morning you'll be able to reload it (after raking the coals) with medium to large splits only, no kindling needed. Case in point I got home a short while ago and after leaving the stove for almost 14hrs I reloaded it and the smallest chunk was maybe 3inch diameter. It flamed up in a matter of minutes.

3: As mentioned earlier chop up splits so that they are smaller - they will dry quicker in the firebox and burn easier. Also if you are loading E/W then switch to N/S loading, the stove will burn a lot easier that way.

4: Don't worry about the moisture content at this point, the wood you have is what you have if I was you I'd just consider it to be not very dry and unless you can find a better source you're stuck with using that for this winter. Instead just to belabor the point chop it up smaller, it will burn and if it's wet the key is going to be burning it hot anyway. Stack some near (but not too near!) your stove if possible - that will help dry them out as well.

My wood is decent but it's not 2 year+ old seasoned stuff so by no means the ideal wood. But saying that ya it's reasonably dry for the most part so while I do get some chunks that are wet (I can hear them sizzle when I put them in.) the odd one is no big deal, and I like to run my stove hot when I first reload it anyway and that helps deal with any chunks that might have extra moisture in them.

Does your door stay clean? If it's getting blackened then that's another sign you're burning wet wood and not hot enough. I've cleaned the glass twice since I installed this stove last fall. It should stay clean if you're burning properly.

E

 

[kwikrp]

It happens to me also, I think that when I open the door on a hot stove to reload the burst of air creates a faster temp rise and it is affecting the metal. Maybe it's causing metal to expand quickly.

 

[BrotherBart]

When you open the door a rush of cold air makes the pipe cool rapidly and contract, causing the sound. Put a pipe thermo on it and you can see it.

 

[A M]

A M, lots of great help has been posted - I'll add a couple things for you.

1: For better or worse I believe I'm using the same thermometer on the stove top ie the SBI one that's designed for single wall vent pipe, the magnetic kind. I see no reason why it wouldn't do the job given it's supposed to read the surface temp of what it's stuck to. (Other's if I'm missing something please chime in!!) As was said by someone ignore the temp ranges on it just shoot for 500-700f.

2: Fill that firebox! Fill it to within an inch of the top. This will do a number of things for you - If you're only partly filling it the stove actually is harder to get hot, I've found this from experience as well, compound that with wet wood and it will be more difficult still. Secondly a full firebox is going to give you useable heat and leave you with a bed of coals so big that the next morning you'll be able to reload it (after raking the coals) with medium to large splits only, no kindling needed. Case in point I got home a short while ago and after leaving the stove for almost 14hrs I reloaded it and the smallest chunk was maybe 3inch diameter. It flamed up in a matter of minutes.

3: As mentioned earlier chop up splits so that they are smaller - they will dry quicker in the firebox and burn easier. Also if you are loading E/W then switch to N/S loading, the stove will burn a lot easier that way.

4: Don't worry about the moisture content at this point, the wood you have is what you have if I was you I'd just consider it to be not very dry and unless you can find a better source you're stuck with using that for this winter. Instead just to belabor the point chop it up smaller, it will burn and if it's wet the key is going to be burning it hot anyway. Stack some near (but not too near!) your stove if possible - that will help dry them out as well.

My wood is decent but it's not 2 year+ old seasoned stuff so by no means the ideal wood. But saying that ya it's reasonably dry for the most part so while I do get some chunks that are wet (I can hear them sizzle when I put them in.) the odd one is no big deal, and I like to run my stove hot when I first reload it anyway and that helps deal with any chunks that might have extra moisture in them.

Does your door stay clean? If it's getting blackened then that's another sign you're burning wet wood and not hot enough. I've cleaned the glass twice since I installed this stove last fall. It should stay clean if you're burning properly.

E

E., such helpful details. As a matter of fact, I find I am dampening a clean piece or two of paper towels and dabbing some "ash" in the box in order to clean the stove's glass each morning ... if I expect to SEE the wood burning through the glass and how it is burning, etc., so yes, I do know that if you must clean it often, it generally is a tell-tale sign that your wood is not so great and that you are not burning it properly.

If I add more wood and begin to fill the box, will this make the stove's temp get higher?

I can't believe that you left the stove for "almost 14 hours" and the smallest chunk of red hot coal was three inches wide? After 14 hours?

Anyway, your wood is far superior than mine, it seems. I didn't go to Lowe's today as I said I would to get the new hatchet, but I will. All of the wood out of the car is now either up on the front porch or inside the house. The stove has been 350 for the past 2 hours. Right now it is down to 325. Believe it or not, since cleaning the glass early this morning, it is already gotten that reddish, darker tone to it. I've put in another log and maybe I'll just put in another one if I can make it fit.

Thanks, again.

 

[FionaD]

Believe it or not, since cleaning the glass early this morning, it is already gotten that reddish, darker tone to it. I've put in another log and maybe I'll just put in another one if I can make it fit.

Thanks, again.

OK, so here's another thing to bear in mind, A.M.... Don't get into the habit of adding one or two splits at a time, just when you want to. Best practice is to run the stove in cycles. So, assuming the stove's already lit and has a good bed of coals, a cycle begins when you :

• Open the air fully
• Load her up
• Burn with a good amount of air until the wood is flaming and visible surfaces are charred.
• Start to turn down the air gradually any time from now.... secondaries should be showing themselves..
• Keep turning air down gradually over the next few minutes , till the secondaries are dancing and you are cruising your stove top at the temp you want (it will most likely be be somewhere between the 500-650 range) y
• Your air may be turned right down by now... Some folk can do that, some can't, depending on outside conditions, wood and stove set up
• Then leave it alone until the coals are so low they're not giving out sufficient heat for comfort. How many hours it takes till now will depend on many things such as the size of your stove, the type of wood you're burning, etc etc.
• Then a new cycle begins open the air fully and load up, etc

I suspect that your 'ancient friend' will not like this burn-cycling at all!

If you throw in the odd split now and then you aren't operationg the stove at its most efficient. The log will smoulder, produce more creosote and have the opposite effect you want - it will probably bring down the temp of your stove a little, because every time you open the door, you reduce the temp of your stove, so try to only do so when you load up at the start of a new cycle.

Hope this helps as well.. And that you're not getting information overload! You sound a bit like me though... as though you really want to get it right and love all the support from this great forum! I have learned to much here and its with some trepidation that I occasionally dare to try to help others in small ways. I know that stove veterans will chime in to correct anything I've said that's wrong.

 

[BobUrban]

This is an interesting thread with tons of practical information. I am so ready to read your post that says, "IT'S WORKING"

That post will come. I think the last two posts are really onto something. This is not an outside fire pit - you need to fill and forget to some degree. If, in fact, you are just adding a split or two in an attempt to keep some flame going you are not giving it enough fuel to run. Fill it NS like mentioned above. leave a small gap front to back in front of the primary air inlet. Leave the air wide open and likely the door cracked until it is BURNING. close door and watch therm and fire until you are getting a steady inferno going. Back off the air incrementally until it holds. This may take a few tries so be prepared to reverse some steps until its rolling really good. Even wet wood gets dry and burns hot, hot - eventually. Just takes more babysitting. Do the babysitting until you get it going.

1.*Full flame - door shut - air wide open(flame dies)
*Crack door again and get to full flame -repeat until shutting door has little effect

2. *Door shut - fire raging - begin to shut primary air(if flame dies at any point open air 100% again)
*Repeat until you get air shut off or near that and a steady, consistent inferno
*if it dies out a bit be ready to repeat steps 1 or 2
**At this point you will be hearing a steady "tink tink" as the steal expands and the stove wakes up. This is completely normal and a little nerve racking at first. You should start to feel like, "what the He!! did I do??" and wonder if this thing is going to take off?

3. *After you have reached the point where the air is off or almost off, fire is cooking full bore and stove is talking to you - you will see the temp rise to the 600+ range(Possibly 700) then settle into cruise control. Be patient as it may take a series of 1 and 2 repeats to get there but it will happen.

4. Plan this effort with time to be around and never to far from the stove so you can periodically monitor what is going on. This will provide peace of mind and help with the learning curve exponentially.

5. Depending on stove size - about 6-10hrs later you can open the door, rake remaining coals forward and repeat the process. This is what we mean by "burning in cycles" and this is how the appliance was designed to be used, albeit not the process your friend is likely suggesting. Adding 2-3 bio bricks of some sort will expedite the process but it can be accomplished without them or even primo dry wood. It will just take a lot longer w/o and require more repeats of steps 1-2.

**********************
Bellow will help a lot:

Better yet, and this was suggested above: buy a 6 pack or whatever of bio bricks. Lowes, HD, Tractor supply, etc..

DO NOT put all 6 in at once! Try two - three at the bottom and fill the rest of the box with your suspect splits. follow the steps above and be prepared to be amazed! The stove and wood you have are capable of great things - it just takes more babysitting and maintenance to get there.

 

[A M]

OK, so here's another thing to bear in mind, A.M.... Don't get into the habit of adding one or two splits at a time, just when you want to. Best practice is to run the stove in cycles. So, assuming the stove's already lit and has a good bed of coals, a cycle begins when you :

• Open the air fully
• Load her up
• Burn with a good amount of air until the wood is flaming and visible surfaces are charred.
• Start to turn down the air gradually any time from now.... secondaries should be showing themselves..
• Keep turning air down gradually over the next few minutes , till the secondaries are dancing and you are cruising your stove top at the temp you want (it will most likely be be somewhere between the 500-650 range) y
• Your air may be turned right down by now... Some folk can do that, some can't, depending on outside conditions, wood and stove set up
• Then leave it alone until the coals are so low they're not giving out sufficient heat for comfort. How many hours it takes till now will depend on many things such as the size of your stove, the type of wood you're burning, etc etc.
• Then a new cycle begins open the air fully and load up, etc

I suspect that your 'ancient friend' will not like this burn-cycling at all!

If you throw in the odd split now and then you aren't operationg the stove at its most efficient. The log will smoulder, produce more creosote and have the opposite effect you want - it will probably bring down the temp of your stove a little, because every time you open the door, you reduce the temp of your stove, so try to only do so when you load up at the start of a new cycle.

Hope this helps as well.. And that you're not getting information overload! You sound a bit like me though... as though you really want to get it right and love all the support from this great forum! I have learned to much here and its with some trepidation that I occasionally dare to try to help others in small ways. I know that stove veterans will chime in to correct anything I've said that's wrong.

Dear Fi AND Bob:

OK, you two (who posted the very latest to me), I have some news to report and I think I have made progress.

At 8:30AM this morning, I got the stove temps up to "500," ... this has not happened in some time. And, it took a while, not a ten-minute venture, either. Alright, I went to church and returned at 10AM. The temps were down to "375."

I did not, however get the temps back up to 500 again until about NOON.

I'm wondering if my basic problem(?) is that I am not putting in enough wood once it gets hot? I don't know. I usually put in one or two and see how they burn and then when they start getting ash-gray looking, I will gently push them to the right or left side of the box to make room for another large split or two medium sized splits.

I am getting better at understanding that I need to get my wood stove mentality out of the burning range of the 300 to 400 and try and think MINIMUM 400, up to 600!
I have examined my self and am embarrassed to say that perhaps maybe I am a little afraid of the box getting so hot and seeing the fire get or at least look like it is wild and uncontrolled. Does that sound kind of ridiculous or what? I would not share that with my "ancient" friend as it would give him a fine laugh for the day regarding our different views of modern wood stoves and old-time fireplaces or 1970s wood stoves. You know what I mean.

Anyway, getting back to the 500 degree mark on the stove top thermometer ... I just want to say here, though, that I noticed that it does NOT stay at this temperature for a long time. Not even half an hour. Sooooo, I don't know if the reason is because of the less than optimal wood I've got in there. It is mixed wood. Just to be clear. SOME of it is 20 percent or below; some I did not use the MM on and a few pieces were over 30 percent and these, I put aside and did not bother to put in to the stove.

Thank you both for your words of wisdom. I do want to know WHY the stove does not stay long in the high temp stage? Or, to put in another way, how long should the stove stay in the 500 to 600 temp range? One hour? Two hours? More than that?

Am I suppose to keep trying to get the temps up higher and higher when they fall below 400, say?

This part I find a little confusing.

I didn't realize, btw, that everytime I throw in another log that this will lower the temps? I thought a few seconds of more air would rekindle the box contents?

 

[Grisu]

I have examined my self and am embarrassed to say that perhaps maybe I am a little afraid of the box getting so hot and seeing the fire get or at least look like it is wild and uncontrolled. Does that sound kind of ridiculous or what?

Not at all. Having a raging fire in the middle of your home is nothing to sneeze at. Take it slowly, watch how the stove responds to the air control, monitor the temps, and do try loading fuller only on days when you are at home. Anything under 800 F is fine and even then it is still pretty far from glowing when the real danger starts.

I'm wondering if my basic problem(?) is that I am not putting in enough wood once it gets hot? I don't know. I usually put in one or two and see how they burn and then when they start getting ash-gray looking, I will gently push them to the right or left side of the box to make room for another large split or two medium sized splits.
Anyway, getting back to the 500 degree mark on the stove top thermometer ... I just want to say here, though, that I noticed that it does NOT stay at this temperature for a long time. Not even half an hour.Thank you both for your words of wisdom. I do want to know WHY the stove does not stay long in the high temp stage? Or, to put in another way, how long should the stove stay in the 500 to 600 temp range? One hour? Two hours? More than that?

With that 2 splits of wood and maybe some older ones the stove quickly runs out of fuel. You will need to load quite a bit more to keep it above 500 F for a prolonged period. Here is what I do:

With still a good amount of coals usually in the back of the stove and stove temp about 300 F, I rake all the coals forward. I drop 2 to 3 splits E-W behind the coals, then fill the firebox almost to the baffle with more splits N-S. (E-W is also ok if that is the preferred orientation of your stove. Maybe try only half full the first time.) With the door slightly ajar I let the wood catch fire, then close the door. For a few minutes I let the moisture boil off with the air fully open, then I start closing the air in stages over the next 5 to 10 minutes. When I close I check whether the flames start getting slow-moving (lazy). I wait a few minutes until the fire has become more vigorous again, then I close the air more until the flames slow down again and so on. Pretty quickly I can see strong secondary flames coming from the baffle. Usually I have the air fully closed after 10 to 15 minutes but that can be different with your bigger stove. The stove thermometer will be lagging the behind the internal firebox temps. Thus, use the appearance of the fire as your guide. As long as you get flames in the top and those keep going after you adjusted the air you are fine. The stovetop thermometer should peak maybe at about 600 F several minutes after the air control is in its final position (between fully closed and 1/4 open probably).

With a full load of hardwood my stove will stay above 350 F for at least 6 to 7 hours before I bother with a reload. I have come back 12 hours later (e. g. in the morning) and found the stove still somewhat warm and enough coals for an easy restart. There is no need to keep it above 500 F once you have only coals left as little smoke is produced then. If you want to burn the coals down faster, you can open the air up a bit again after the fire is essentially out.

 

[BradleyW]

I think your wood is not nearly as dry as you think, or something is wrong with the stove. Did you split those pieces before you tested them? I have marginal wood but have no problem getting my stove top up to 600 degrees. I do need to leave my air open a little more than I'd like in order to keep my temps up. Smaller splits can help with your temps also. But it shouldn't take a few hours for your stove to get hot.

 

[BobUrban]

AM - go back to my most recent post and look at the plan. You need to LOAD it up - fill the entire space with wood within a couple inches of the top. How many splits this takes will depend on size of box and size of splits. 2-3 splits is like adding a gallon of gas to an empty car before heading out on a road trip. Car runs fine but you are stopping for more fuel before leaving town.

Every time you open the stove to add a split or two you are cooling off the system. Adding compromised fuel is taking more heat away by making the stove dry it out before producing heat. You need to load it and get a full load dry and burning before you will see what your stove is capable of in regards to heat production and long burn cycles. The stove has all that space inside for fuel - it was designed to be filled and run in cycles. Even with 15% oak you will never achieve the results you desire or your stove is capable of if you only put a couple splits in at a time and continually add one or two to keep flames going.

Go get some bio brick fuel and mix a couple in with your current wood and fill it up. Baby sit until it is running great and enjoy the heat. DO NOT open the door until it returns to 250-300 and repeat.