First Fire

Finally got the Kodiak installed yesterday. Took a bit of customizing but it's in. Got the first fire going now hopefully it will catch. Not been going good so far but will keep trying.
Looks like it will work, what do you guys think.

Looks Great!..Good luck with it!

Hotrodzz68,that Cougar in your signature pic looks exactly like the one I did for one of my sons many moons ago. Looks nice.

Thanks.... 8 years in the making. that was back when I had no wife ,no kids, patience and hair.
And I'm loosing whats left of both of those trying to get this fire going

hotrodzz68 wrote: And I'm loosing whats left of both of those trying to get this fire going

Hi hotrodzz68, Make sure you have a hot wood fire covering all the grate area keep this going for 30 to 45 min before adding coal 1"-2" over all the grates. All the air has to come from under the grate.

Check your New Messages...

RS

Can I throw some more wood on the coal to wake it up and get it started again.

hotrodzz68 wrote: loosing whats left of both of those trying to get this fire going

I promise you, you will get it. The learning curve is a little frustrating in the begining but, with all the help there is on this forum it will get easier. Just ask away and your questions will be anwsered. I speak from experiance.

You can build another wood fire on top of the coal. I wouldn't expect the wood fire to light the coal under it, but once you get the wood fire going hot, use some hardwood like oak if you have any, then sprinkle a layer of coal on top of the HOT wood fire. When the coal on top starts burning, sprinkle on annother layer of coal. Keep adding coal a layer at a time. When the coal you have added is all burning good, I think it will catch the dead layer of coal at the bottom.

If you havn't already done so, read the lighting a coal fire at the top of the Hand Fired Coal Stoves list.

Make shure you have a good draft going too. You can leave the ash door open a little while establishing the coal fire too. Make sure the hopper door, glass door and any above fire vents (if any) are closed. You can also put a sheet of aluminum foil over the barometric damper opening while lighting the coal to improve draft.

Stay with it and keep us posted. A lot of people struggle with their stoves and fires at first.

I'm using nut coal, is that too large or should I smash it up a bit, how do I know the coal is lit, I have some totally glowing red but it didn't seem to build on it. my first try I had the stove at 450 and a great draft going all red coals then it just cooled right
off,was that the time to add more layers? I don't think it was ready to fill the hopper though.

John

Hotrodzz68, Everybody does things a little differently, you learn to do things that work best for you. Having said that, this is how I get my fire going. First I load in some coal about 2 or 3 inches deep. Then I push the coal out of a section in the middle down to the grates, then wad up some newspaper and pile kindling on top, light it off and close the load door, keep the ash door open. Watch the paper and kindling roar with all that air coming up from below the fire. The coal you put in first allows you to build a smaller kindling fire as the coal is slowing down the air in the rest of the fire box, also the coal will catch fire eventually. Leave the kindling burn till its going really good ( you don't have to wait for it to burn down to embers).
Once the kindling is going good load a little coal on top of the kindling, once that gets going load coal to top of fire brick. Close the load door and open load door vents just a little for top air ( thats to burn off Volatiles ). Leave the ash door open till the coal gets going good then close and set the air vent. Don't leave the stove with the ash door open I promise you at sometime you will walkway and forget you left it open which will result in an overfire. You don't want that.

Hope this helps
Jeff

Sounds like you didn't add coal soon enough. It takes a few times to get the hang of it. I don't wait till the coal is glowing red before adding more. If its starting to get a little red and has blue flames above it I sprinkle a little more on top (through the front door). I keep doing that until its almost up to the bottom of the hopper. Then I let it go for a half hour until its nice and red before I start dumping in from the top. Usually then I never let the level drop below the bottom of the hopper. But like everyone says, every body does it a little differently.

Thanks guys,you're right , I didn't add the coal soon enough, I now have about a 5" layer added through the front door , let it recover and add a little more. I'll wait til I have it to the bottom of the hopper then fill from the top,any advice when doing that?. It's looking good right now I think I'm on may way.

Thanks John

way ta go guy, it only gets easier from here.

Everything is progressing well enough, however I am a bit nervous about adding the bag, a few concerns:
surface temp is at 450, the fire looks good,the ash door is close and the barro set
my smoke alarms are going off on the 1st and 2nd floors,and it stinks a bit, no CO readings though.
I did season it outside but maybe not hot enough?
I have two small kids at home sleeping on the second floor
no one will be home tomorrow, (even though the will have a snow day)
I have faith in the stove and my work...but
I haven had it inspected yet
I guess I'm looking for an expert opinion.
Thanks John