I'm Trying Out Some Wood

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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. May. 23, 2017 9:07 pm

Yep, you read that right. Mr. Coal snob is burning some wood. Well, let me explain. So, I cleaned out the furnace of coal ash till next fall. I gutted everything out and actually washed it out with the garden hose. I did the same thing with the stove pipe. Broke it down into three sections, hauled it outside and washed it out. It had a full inch of fly ash accumulation for most of it's length. Once everything was squeaky clean I put it all back together again. I lit a wood fire last night to dry it all out and take the chill off the house. Since there has been rave reviews about the creosote coating to preserve the metals, I'm curious to see how it works out. In the meantime, I can run a few wood fires instead of the electric fireplace on cool nights. My neighbor down the road supplied me with some good seasoned firewood in exchange for a case of beer. :D

I still don't like wood because of the mess and unsteady burn but, I think it will handy occasionally for cool nights between coal seasons.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Tue. May. 23, 2017 9:55 pm

Remember you are trying to build up some creosote. Slow, smokey burn, not a clean burn. Under fire air alone will do that. Green wood smoldering on the last burn wont hurt either. All just my opinion, but so far so good with my stainless chimney.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. May. 24, 2017 8:15 am

warminmn wrote:Remember you are trying to build up some creosote. Slow, smokey burn, not a clean burn. Under fire air alone will do that. Green wood smoldering on the last burn wont hurt either. All just my opinion, but so far so good with my stainless chimney.
Thanks for the advice :) Two evenings ago I put in a few logs and choked it down, it smoldered all night long, it even continued to stay lit well into the morning.

I don't plan to leave the pipe attached and in the basement all summer. It's just a really bad environment down there without the furnace lit. Once we get a couple weeks into June I'll dismantle it and store it in the attic. Then in September I can put it back on and run an occasional wood fire till I'm ready to lite coal for the winter.

Normally, I would coat the interior of the furnace with oil or fluid film and just not use it at all in the spring and fall.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. May. 24, 2017 8:44 am

Some interesting observations with the wood burning compared to coal. Bare with me, I'm a novice with burning wood in any form of a container. At start up, it burned really hot and didn't want to be controlled. The furnace and pipe shot up over 500 degrees almost immediately with 140+ in the warm air supply, a pretty rare occurrence with coal because of its control-ability. It was clearly evident that when I did starve it for oxygen, a huge amount of heat producing gases were leaving the furnace unburned.

Once control is gained, there is a huge difference in heat output it seems between 20 pounds of wood burning and 100 pounds of coal burning, even while the over the load door and pipe temps are similar between the two fuels. It seems that with coal a majority of the heat produced is radiated from the base of the furnace where the fuel bed is sitting, with wood it just wasn't there.

 
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Post by warminmn » Wed. May. 24, 2017 9:07 am

Exactly, and thats why coal is better and more efficient, unless your using a modern wood stove Ive been told, as Ive never used one of them. Overfire air and 2 year cured wood adds a lot of efficiency with wood.

I was burning some locust this year, one of the best woods, and it was cured. When I ran it with overfire air only it often shot my stoves temp up to an almost stove red condition (fine with me) with all the gases burning. Incredible sound, the roaring, like music in my ears, :lol: It just kind of shows the difference between overfire air and underfire air, and having cured wood or uncured. I didnt get the same experience with the later. Needless to say the locust I cut last year is not getting burned until 2 years curing. I'll burn other crap this next winter instead.

Most of what I just said is somewhat common knowledge with wood burners, but a lot here dont know it. And its just my opinion of course, so is open to argument :lol: .


 
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Post by Lightning » Wed. May. 24, 2017 11:10 am

It's got a pretty good coating from just one burn already. It appears it needs a cold surface to condense on. You can notice the draft diverter in the back that really has no way of cooling while the fire is lit, seems to still be clean.

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Post by Sunny Boy » Wed. May. 24, 2017 12:28 pm

Yeah, you really have to cut back the secondary air and let it run sooty to get the coating. I wasn't burning seasoned wood either - just saplings and small trees that I cut up about two months ago.

And if you have a stove that's really good at extracting heat it does a better job of condensing out the creosote,.... as long as you don't let the wood burn too hot.

Just experimenting, I found that if I used even slight secondary damper opening, that plus the minor air leaks around the range top plates is enough to make it burn too clean.

Had to close the secondary and just use a little opening of the primary and mpd to get the wood to burn slow enough that it would leave a coating. That way I could keep the stack temp gauge needle just below the minimum for wood fires. Burned enough through the day to fill the ash pan and it left a good coating all under the top plates where I could see easily.

Haven't check, or cleaned the stack yet. It's on it's 12th season of 9 month long runs. Last year I noticed that it is getting a bit thin from past rust scaling, so I may replace it for next season.

Meanwhile having to add wood at least every hour is a good way to renew my appreciation for coal. ;)

Paul

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Post by Pancho » Thu. May. 25, 2017 7:21 am

Sunny Boy wrote: Meanwhile having to add wood at least every hour is a good way to renew my appreciation for coal. ;)

Paul
Yeah, if you are a wood convert, you still have the DNA that says YOU MUST GO FUSS WITH THE FIRE...Do SOMETHING!!!. Doing so triggers something in the noggin that says all is right with the world. If you don't do this ritual, you'll need a fidget spinner.

The HARDEST thing about burning coal...for me at least....is not fussing with it (and the lack of a fragrant puff of wood smoke).

I can see where, if you are a born n' bred coal burner, the wood ritual is a pain in the arse....because it is. But if you cut your teefers on wood, it's a biological trait that is hard to get rid of.

Having said all that, the No 8 has been shut down for a week, only had one wood fire, I have lots of coal left and things are alright. 8-)

 
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Post by top top » Wed. Jun. 28, 2017 1:37 pm

Pancho wrote:[q

The HARDEST thing about burning coal...for me at least....is not fussing with it (and the lack of a fragrant puff of wood smoke).
8-)
I agree with that. Just finished my 4th season with coal, and finally can resist the "tinker with it gene". I think I used a lot less coal and didn't need the window 'stats as much.

If you don't have close neighbors downwind, you can put a cup of motor oil in a soup can, place it in the ash pan, roll up a paper towel for a wick, and light it. Or use oil soaked rags. The oily smoke will coat every nook and cranny inside the stove and pipe.

 
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Post by Photog200 » Sat. Jul. 15, 2017 3:24 pm

Happened to log on today and ran across this thread. I cleaned chimneys yesterday and have started a wood fire in the antique range today. With this humidity, I like to start a fire now and then to dry the stove out. Besides, needed hot water to finally clean up out here! Lol

Another reason I wanted to post was I ran across an old publication for antique stoves. They recommend opening the check damper completely when burning wood. It says it will inhibit creosote build up. So, if you want to build up some creosote, keep the check dampers closed. BTW, all wood burning sites I have been on, including EPA says the optimal moisture content of wood should be between 18-20%. Too little moisture and it will give you more smoke. You can use that info to also control creosote.
Hope this helps, good to see everyone still posting even in the summer!
Randy


 
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Post by Pancho » Tue. Jul. 18, 2017 8:54 am

Photog200 wrote:
Another reason I wanted to post was I ran across an old publication for antique stoves.
They recommend opening the check damper completely when burning wood. It says it will inhibit creosote build up
. So, if you want to build up some creosote, keep the check dampers closed. BTW, all wood burning sites I have been on, including EPA says the optimal moisture content of wood should be between 18-20%. Too little moisture and it will give you more smoke. You can use that info to also control creosote.
Hope this helps, good to see everyone still posting even in the summer!
Randy
:what:
.....not sure I understand that thinking. The more heat you keep in the stack/chimney to the point of exit the less creosote buildup you should have. Opening the check damper seems that you would be cooling the exhaust sooner, thus slowing it down....making the creosote to deposit on the chimney wall.

 
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Post by Photog200 » Wed. Jul. 19, 2017 9:28 am

Pancho wrote:
:what:
.....not sure I understand that thinking. The more heat you keep in the stack/chimney to the point of exit the less creosote buildup you should have. Opening the check damper seems that you would be cooling the exhaust sooner, thus slowing it down....making the creosote to deposit on the chimney wall.

At first it did not make sense to me either but the more I thought about it the more it did make sense. With the check damper open, it allows room air into the chimney (possibly helping to burn off gasses?). If I can find the old publication again, I will post it. I am sure they can explain it better than I can with my memory.

Randy

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Jul. 19, 2017 3:50 pm

The Riteburn stoves were that way - they had some air holes in the flue housing to support secondary combustion.

 
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Post by Photog200 » Fri. Jul. 21, 2017 11:54 am

Here is the publication I was referring to in my previous posts.

Randy

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