Why Did it Take Me a Year to Figure this Out?

[Eric Johnson]

Does the lighting method have something to do with the quality of the kindling? Since I do quite of bit of woodworking, my kindling is lots of small, very dry pine pieces, many only 1/8-1/2" thick, plus edging of rough sawn pine boards done by the sawmill. All cut 18" long. They light almost as well as paper.

I'm using pinecones and dried bark. However, in this warmer weather, I've noticed that draft is less, thus the need for a more robust startup to get things going. It's easier in the dead of winter, but I think I'll still use the torch. It's so much easier.

 

[2.beans]

next time your at the store buy a quart of charcoal lighter fluid. one good squirt . one match close the door and walk away.

 

[WoodNotOil]

I would avoid the use of lighter fluid. As this site puts it: (broken link removed to http://www.pima.gov/deq/New/newsrelease/bbq052506.htm)

"Charcoal lighter fluid is made from toxic petroleum distillates, which produce volatile organic compounds that are an ingredient in ground-level ozone air pollution."

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

MAPP is the way to go. Get a big torch (not the little ones they sell at the hardware store), and you can skip the paper and kindling. A few pieces of cardboard, and your regular wood. The torch will get the cardboard burning so quick and hot that it takes the place of the kindling.

Those electric charcoal grill lighters have also been used with good result by other folks I know.

Worst fire-starting method I've witnessed: on a jobsite (new construction), the general contractor had supplied a woodstove and connected it to the chimney. One of the plumbers (who shall remain nameless, since I still do work along-side him on occasion) decided that paper was for suckers, and poured about a pint of PVC glue and a pint of primer (acetone) onto the wood and kindling, then tossed in a match and closed the door. Needless to say, as soon as the vaporized acetone caught, there was an explosion which popped the door open, and then burning bits of glue-encapsulated wood chips went flying several feet outwards onto the floor. Fortunately, nothing flammable was in their path. The whole basement reeked of burnt glue for the next day.

Joe

 

[Huskurdu]

Worst fire-starting method I've witnessed: on a jobsite (new construction), the general contractor had supplied a woodstove and connected it to the chimney. One of the plumbers (who shall remain nameless, since I still do work along-side him on occasion) decided that paper was for suckers, and poured about a pint of PVC glue and a pint of primer (acetone) onto the wood and kindling, then tossed in a match and closed the door. Needless to say, as soon as the vaporized acetone caught, there was an explosion which popped the door open, and then burning bits of glue-encapsulated wood chips went flying several feet outwards onto the floor. Fortunately, nothing flammable was in their path. The whole basement reeked of burnt glue for the next day.

Joe

Insert Beavis and Butthead laugh here....yea, yea, yea.....Fire!

 

[EL DRIFTO]

meeeee toooooo

about two weeks in, my lighter ran out...
two tanks left over from plumbing jobs, i'll see how long each lasts

anyway, a relavant reason to post about propane torches:
as a NOOB, the other warm day, i started with an ice cold stack.
the house was cold inside, although it was warmer outside.
SO for two minutes, the smoke blasted out of the door, as the fire started
i had every door in the house open, no breeze
i started to think that the stack could of been the coldest @ that point in the day & was causing down drafting.
after the kindling smoked the house, the draft worked as usual
this only happened on that one warm day, when the house was too cold

i got it in my head that if i blasted the side of the stove pipe for 10-20 seconds with the propane torch,
maybe it would start the draft going up, before i light the fire.

what do you guys think ??

 

[sgschwend]

Just remember propane is heavier than air, so it will sink to the bottom of the torch if not lit.

In a way if you can keep the torch outside of the stove you probably have a safer setup, that would suggest using a weed burner, but one might get a little frisky with such a big torch.

 

[Tony H]

I usually just use crumpled newspaper (we get one paper a week), small pieces of 1" hardwood cutoffs (bought a triaxle load of it, what a pain in the butt), then open the flue, open the bottom combustion chamber and light the paper and within 10 minutes I have a roaring fire ready to be switched over to down draft again. Do the Eko's and Tarms have this ability to open the bypass flue and secondary combustion chamber?

The EKO does and I use it to create a draft and light or relight a fire all the time. Sure works nice and it's able to go right to gasification burn when I shut the bypass and door and turn on the controller

 

[Tony H]

I have always used the propane torch , it was still out in the swhed from finishing the piping and just seemed like the way to go of course I had already been using a torch to start the charcoal grill .

 

[M1sterM]

It would help, but it's not really necessary. Just release all the hot gases from the torch inside the firebox, and it will naturally want to go up the stack. If anything, just point it toward the flue opening from inside the box, and as it rises the heat will transfer to the stack, warming it up.

 

[91220da]

Not recomending this for boilers or wood stoves, but outdoor campfires and bon fires start great with 1 old road flare. I am an avid boater and the flares have a dated expiration. They have to be kept up to date per Coast Gaurd regulations. Rather than throw the outdated ones away I save them for firestarters. Even wet firewood will start under a 2000 degree flare torch.

 

[EL DRIFTO]

just for clairity:

i'm specifically taking the propane torch to the outside of the single wall flue for a few seconds.

like i was out of town, or out of wood for a few days & it's 70F when i got home.
but it's been in the 50s for days & everything inside the house is colder than outside, for a few hours.

although it's rarely necc, i'm convinced a colder than outside air chimney down drafts.

i did watch smoke shoot out of the door, as though i had an exaust fan on, as i tried to start the cold stove...

i had time to check all the ex fans, open every door & still watch it SHOOT out for a minute...

& heating the side of the single wall causes heat inside the pipe which should stop or reverse the momentary, convection powered, cold, down draft, RARELY encountered.

 

[hayrack]

It works good to light your bee smoker in the wind also.

 

[MrEd]

I feel guilty when I do it because it feels like cheating to use a propane torch to light a wood fire.

I've got news for you...unless you are banging rocks together, or rubbing sticks really fast, you are already cheating...its just a matter of how much

 

[Gooserider]

It works good to light your bee smoker in the wind also.

Agreed... I tried all sorts of stuff for getting my smoker going, and I've found the best by far is to use the torch...

Gooserider

 

[barnartist]

Yellow bottle, quick trigger torch. Iv'e used it for years-same bottle and some of my install sweatting. I can sleep guilt free just fine.

 

[shoeboxlen]

another trick to get a fire going in a eko pretty fast. I use the torch trick all the time some newspaper and kindling. but my trick is close the top chamber door after you get things lit and open the lower chanmber door and leave the flue open she will be cookin in a couple minutes! give it a try it works I swear.

 

[flyingcow]

Well, I'll try the torch method sometime(once you go torch, you never go back?) . but i've had good luck just putting 8 or 10 sticks of kindlin' in and rolling up 2 sheets of news paper and light. Go gather wood and it's ready to go. The Innova is set up different on the draft side. Seems to light easy, sometimes I'll open up the secondary and let it roar while I'm getting wood.

 

[heaterman]

I am going to use my weed dragon and a small 20 #lb tank to start the fire [b]and pre heat the lower chamber.[/b]


Rob

I like that