As requested by HDRocker, I took some pics of starting a fire in the gasser. This is my daily process now that the weather is below freezing during the day and in the low 20s at night.
I first run the turbulator handle up and down a few times to clean out the heat exchanger, being mindful of the last time I opened the cleanouts on the sides and vacuumed them out.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81959-25a0f86823f1657468989cc7601ad994.jpg)
Rake charcoal over the nozzle and place some kindling over that, with an airspace below so the OSB (gulp) can light easily.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81962-b62a22c143703c8894f37d5237d1f819.jpg)
Fill it up with splits, being sure there is a good half-round flat side down directly over the nozzle.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81964-b390e1ad04130a715358c5fe56ef253f.jpg)
Press "Start" to turn fan on and torch the kindling with the bypass CLOSED and locked at this point. Torch for about 20-30 seconds letting the fan pull the flame right into the kindling and charcoal pile.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81965-320fc0c4d781178e16e9b35e1dc1a305.jpg)
Close the door against the CLOSED and locked down bypass latch, the door is not closed all the way, it's still open about an inch. Wait till you hear the rumble of secondary combustion. This should take about 3min. Look at spider boiler mascot keeping an eye on the boiler operator......
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81972-236f51a26647e91435398ab8e51276a3.jpg)
After the rumble is established I open the bypass and watch the flue temp rise quickly to the 350 reigion, this takes about 2min at most. Once this happens, I close up the top door which also closes the bypass and I can hear the rumble of the secondary flame distinctly with everything closed up.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81973-b122970bca94312ef3d35382fbadda0c.jpg)
The stack temp at full gasification about 20min into the burn.
From torch to 250+ stack is usually about 25-30min. This whole process takes no longer than 10min. Tonight when I lit the boiler (water start temp of 104F) to pump launch at 160F was 16min. I burn one load as you saw in the second pic a day, when it's colder or I have a large demand for hot water and wish to re-load I wait for only coals (about 3 hours) rake them all over the nozzle and set my splits on that, this puts out heat almost instantly and really puts out the btu's.
Hope this was helpful for you Rocker, other comments or suggestions are welcome, and expected. I'm by no means a seasoned gasser operator, in fact this is only my 60th or so fire in one, but it's down to a pretty good science I think.
TS
I first run the turbulator handle up and down a few times to clean out the heat exchanger, being mindful of the last time I opened the cleanouts on the sides and vacuumed them out.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81959-25a0f86823f1657468989cc7601ad994.jpg)
Rake charcoal over the nozzle and place some kindling over that, with an airspace below so the OSB (gulp) can light easily.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81962-b62a22c143703c8894f37d5237d1f819.jpg)
Fill it up with splits, being sure there is a good half-round flat side down directly over the nozzle.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81964-b390e1ad04130a715358c5fe56ef253f.jpg)
Press "Start" to turn fan on and torch the kindling with the bypass CLOSED and locked at this point. Torch for about 20-30 seconds letting the fan pull the flame right into the kindling and charcoal pile.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81965-320fc0c4d781178e16e9b35e1dc1a305.jpg)
Close the door against the CLOSED and locked down bypass latch, the door is not closed all the way, it's still open about an inch. Wait till you hear the rumble of secondary combustion. This should take about 3min. Look at spider boiler mascot keeping an eye on the boiler operator......
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81972-236f51a26647e91435398ab8e51276a3.jpg)
After the rumble is established I open the bypass and watch the flue temp rise quickly to the 350 reigion, this takes about 2min at most. Once this happens, I close up the top door which also closes the bypass and I can hear the rumble of the secondary flame distinctly with everything closed up.
![Pics of starting a fire Pics of starting a fire](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/81/81973-b122970bca94312ef3d35382fbadda0c.jpg)
The stack temp at full gasification about 20min into the burn.
From torch to 250+ stack is usually about 25-30min. This whole process takes no longer than 10min. Tonight when I lit the boiler (water start temp of 104F) to pump launch at 160F was 16min. I burn one load as you saw in the second pic a day, when it's colder or I have a large demand for hot water and wish to re-load I wait for only coals (about 3 hours) rake them all over the nozzle and set my splits on that, this puts out heat almost instantly and really puts out the btu's.
Hope this was helpful for you Rocker, other comments or suggestions are welcome, and expected. I'm by no means a seasoned gasser operator, in fact this is only my 60th or so fire in one, but it's down to a pretty good science I think.
TS