The Wood Re-Light. Hello Mr. Fireman

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UncleDoDat
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Post by UncleDoDat » Fri. May. 22, 2015 12:57 am

Hey guys, gotta say I thought we were through all the cold weather. In any event I choose to re-light Mr. Hearld today. Just to knock the chill off the house. I opted to use wood. No special reason I just figured I'd try it since I've burned coal all winter. Economically coal would have been the better choice. I paid 15 bucks for two bags of wood from ACME which is just about gone in just a couple of hours. For 16.50 I could have/should have gotten three bags of coal from my local Amish dealer. (Even though all he has is pea coal this time of year.) Well I'll just tell you that I am way better at burning coal than burning wood.

O.K. So I think my problem is that it is hard to stack wood in Mr. Herald.

So anyways, Here what happened. It all started out fine. I got my hands on a few compressed wood logs from the Good Will, so I lined them across the register plate. Got a shot of kerosene, dripped it on them and lit them up. Like I said. Everything was fine. Until.......... I decided to place my recently purchased wood logs in Mr. Herald up right/standing strait up. I mean there was really no way to stack them lying down, short of cutting the wood in half. Cold and rainy here in Delaware to day. Not an option. Any hoot, I stood up as many split logs as I could fit into Mr. Herald and he took off like a bat out of hell. I mean 700 degree temps, thick black smoke from the chimney. I mean this was so bad that the whole neighborhood smelled like it was burning down. One lady driving down the street stopped to ask were we all right while she was on the phone with the fire company. We told her we were burning wood in our wood stove, but it was too late. The call was already in to the fire Co. And if you ever been to Dover De. you'd know that we have the old timie fire alarm that just whines very loud, and very annoyingly. I knew they were coming for me. So, about 10min goes by and I'm Thinking, O.K. maybe they got the false alarm message. But then I hear the fire truck approaching sirens ablazing. :oops2: They get there and I'm standing on the front step holding up what's left of the the fire wood in the bag telling them it's just a false alarm. But they all descended from their fire trucks and started up the steps. I was particularly honed in on the fireman with the tools of mass destruction. He just looked like he was in the mood to tear something, anything apart. The one firemen says that he understands and then asked could they just check it out anyway. I was kind of apprehensive because once again I am honed on the demolition fireman. Before I could answer the wife says, "sure come on in and check it out." So they walk pass me. The first one with a heat gun of some type and the demolition specialist followed close behind. (I just know he wanted to tear into my walls.) So the lead fireman with the heat gun pointed it at the wall and I must say that is a cool toy to have. No heat signature what so ever from behind the wall. He then says, "your good", and that was that. They left. No harm, no fowl.

So, what have I learned? Not sure at the moment. Hoping some of you guys could give me my scalding which will be nowhere as bad as wifey's. She says just stick with the coal from here on out. Amongst some other things. The children say I have embarrassed them. All but my 10yr old son who just thinks its was the coolest thing ever to experience. (I do worry about him :wacko: ) For the most part I have re-learned that I don't like burning wood. Even at this very hour I am going through the last of the second bag that I brought at 4pm this evening. It's not going to last the night, but then again who's going to be up to feed Mr. Herald wood.

What an eventful day. :blowup:

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. May. 22, 2015 6:17 am

Glad it wasn't more serious. I'm thinkin compressed crap & kero are not a good mix???

 
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SWPaDon
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Post by SWPaDon » Fri. May. 22, 2015 6:24 am

All of that, and we get no pictures, no video, not even recorded sounds. :wtf:

With all joking aside, I'm sorry you had such a bad experiece. I think it may have been the kerosene that caused the black smoke.

 
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michaelanthony
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Post by michaelanthony » Fri. May. 22, 2015 6:58 am

It could have been worse you could have asked for a Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle...and shot your eye out!

...coal rules!


 
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blrman07
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Post by blrman07 » Fri. May. 22, 2015 7:29 am

Nice story. The only time I ever had the fire department come to my house they did the full monty. Pulled out hoses, started the pumps, sprayed the water....now that would have been cool if my kitchen hadn't been on fire and it was someone elses house....but then again :oops:

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. May. 22, 2015 7:33 am

Sounds like quite a show!

I am glad nothing got damaged...except maybe your pride. 8-)

 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Fri. May. 22, 2015 8:25 am

Ya got so good with coal it was too boring, huh? :D

I'm with the, "might a been too much kero on processed wood" group. Plus if it was so much black smoke, sounds like you didn't have enough secondary air, so I'm guessing that like starting coal, you had the primary air open quite a bit ? If so, next time you burn wood try feeding it air from above with the secondary, not from below with the primary.

With some designs of coal stoves, when just burning very dry wood, you can shut the primary damper completely, or only open a sliver, and just use the secondary dampers to feed it. Then it does a slower, better controlled burn.

My little pot belly stove was that way, as is my kitchen range . These antiques are not true "air tight" stoves like modern stoves with gasketed doors. Even if they pass the dollar bill test, they still leak some small amount of air around the ash door with the primaries fully closed.

And a bit of opening of the check damper can also help to keep a dry wood fire from becoming a runaway fire.

Paul

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Fri. May. 22, 2015 8:37 am

Use coal the next time,Keep it Sensibly Simple. :)


 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Fri. May. 22, 2015 8:45 am

UncleDoDat wrote:HI was kind of apprehensive because once again I am honed on the demolition fireman. Before I could answer the wife says, "sure come on in and check it out." So they walk pass me. The first one with a heat gun of some type and the demolition specialist followed close behind. (I just know he wanted to tear into my walls.)
We had a fire at our house, it was a big one to the point the house was demoed. Not sure what did more damage. The fire, smoke, water or the fireman. :P They were just doing their job and I thank them especially considering they were volunteer.

 
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Pancho
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Post by Pancho » Mon. May. 25, 2015 8:36 am

UncleDoDat wrote:

So, what have I learned? Not sure at the moment. Hoping some of you guys could give me my scalding which will be nowhere as bad as wifey's. She says just stick with the coal from here on out. Amongst some other things. The children say I have embarrassed them. All but my 10yr old son who just thinks its was the coolest thing ever to experience. (I do worry about him :wacko: ) For the most part I have re-learned that I don't like burning wood. Even at this very hour I am going through the last of the second bag that I brought at 4pm this evening. It's not going to last the night, but then again who's going to be up to feed Mr. Herald wood.

What an eventful day. :blowup:
Nothing wrong IMO with burning some wood in your stove but you aren't starting a coal fire.....paper/cardboard, small kindling, small spits then a couple bigger pieces.....BAM...ya gotcherself a fire without the fireman knocking on your roof. :)

Being a round pot, I've just been burning well seasoned 'cookies'....real short pieces (6" - 12"). Once the fire is established, you can put them in there whichever way you want.

Aint no way in hell I would want to heat through a season with wood but it works great for these days were you get into the 60's during the day and 30's and 40's at night.

Make no mistake....COAL IS THE ANSWER (can I get an amen)....but there are times where a lil wood fire can fill a void.

 
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Vangellis
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Post by Vangellis » Mon. May. 25, 2015 7:23 pm

Pancho wrote:
UncleDoDat wrote:

Aint no way in hell I would want to heat through a season with wood but it works great for these days were you get into the 60's during the day and 30's and 40's at night.

Make no mistake....COAL IS THE ANSWER (can I get an amen)....but there are times where a lil wood fire can fill a void.
I agree with you there Pancho. Towards the end of the season I like burning wood for the flexibility. Plus the stuff just falls down in the yard at times. :) It's there and it's free. But the one bitter day that I was bringing some up from the bottom of my yard, I told my wife that I could never do this all winter again.
It takes about three of these trips to fill the rack in the basement for about a weeks supply. You'll notice at the end of the video my empty wood racks. This was from a few years ago when I was still burning all wood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3IFeO40w8

Kevin

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