Ready for first large burn and have questions

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Thank you I will check out the woodshed forum.

So I have it going ok now I think. Here are two videos with the rod fully pushed in now. The one that has more flames was around 5 to 10 min after the rod was pushed in and the other a little later. And pretty much how it is right now. Is that what I should be aiming for or open it more? The temp with a temp gun is ranging around 350-400 in the corners of the front above the door corners.
Thank you again.








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I just re read the manual and it said to have the rod pulled at least 1/2” from fully closed when fan is on so I pulled it out now around that much.

Are there different ways I should be running it during the day vs bedtime?


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Once you figure out your wood species and separate the ash and maple from the oak another thing you can do since its only 1 year seasoned is put the next load of wood around the stove before loading. Even with my seasoned wood it just lights off better and its quicker to get it cruising.
 
Thank you I will check out the woodshed forum.

So I have it going ok now I think. Here are two videos with the rod fully pushed in now. The one that has more flames was around 5 to 10 min after the rod was pushed in and the other a little later. And pretty much how it is right now. Is that what I should be aiming for or open it more? The temp with a temp gun is ranging around 350-400 in the corners of the front above the door corners.
Thank you again.








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The first video is good when starting up for a few minutes but you want something closer to the second video for when it settles in. The secondary flames there are great. Often you may get nothing but secondaries. This is ok, but it’s often a tipping point before smoldering if the secondaries go out.

Try to maintain just a little primary flame off the wood like you have in the left. This can act like a torch to keep the secondaries lit and going strong a lot longer.


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The first video is good when starting up for a few minutes but you want something closer to the second video for when it settles in. The secondary flames there are great. Often you may get nothing but secondaries. This is ok, but it’s often a tipping point before smoldering if the secondaries go out.

Try to maintain just a little primary flame off the wood like you have in the left. This can act like a torch to keep the secondaries lit and going strong a lot longer.


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Great thank you. I will try to aim for that. I also need to be better at my timing. I started that fire around 9:30 pm and was last fire and woke to a nearly cold insert with a small bit of coals.


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Once you figure out your wood species and separate the ash and maple from the oak another thing you can do since its only 1 year seasoned is put the next load of wood around the stove before loading. Even with my seasoned wood it just lights off better and its quicker to get it cruising.

Thanks I will try that. Going to buy a tiny indoor rack. I don’t want a ton of wood in house due to pests but a load or two worth I will do.


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You're doing fine. It takes a month or so to learn the stove behavior with different wood and changing draft due to outside temp variation. Running the blower does cool down the insert a bit. Draft will be stronger when it is very cold outside. Take the manual's guidance as general advice. If it is 10 degrees outside and you are pushing the stove for heat, you may open up the air a little bit, but if the fire is burning strong then it may not be necessary.
 
You're doing fine. It takes a month or so to learn the stove behavior with different wood and changing draft due to outside temp variation. Running the blower does cool down the insert a bit. Draft will be stronger when it is very cold outside. Take the manual's guidance as general advice. If it is 10 degrees outside and you are pushing the stove for heat, you may open up the air a little bit, but if the fire is burning strong then it may not be necessary.

Thank you. I again appreciate your help. I’m getting there. Today we burned through our wood faster than I thought it should have but I wasn’t here. I was walking my wife over the phone on reloading on top of coals. I had her keep sending me photos to make sure looked ok.


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separate the ash and maple from the oak
If you look at the end of a split, Oak will have visible "medullary rays," light-colored lines radiating from the center. They may not be this distinct but they will usually be visible if you look closely. When you have IDed an Oak split, take note of the sapwood, which is another clue to what type of wood you are looking at.
Oak rays.jpg
 
If you look at the end of a split, Oak will have visible "medullary rays," light-colored lines radiating from the center. They may not be this distinct but they will usually be visible if you look closely. When you have IDed an Oak split, take note of the sapwood, which is another clue to what type of wood you are looking at.
View attachment 251597

Thanks!


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