Fine Tuning the Burn...??

Post by **Lightning** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 9:00 pm

You wanna fine tune that burn?? You need a permanently installed manometer to start with, a couple stove thermometers and possibly a barometric damper.. Does your stove have adjustable secondary air controls, Mr Crow?

ShawninNY · Post by **ShawninNY** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 9:06 pm

SWPaDon wrote:I'm also one of those crazy fellas that rips the pipe off the furnace while it's burning and dumps the soot into a bucket that I have handy. Total length of my flue pipe is about 24 inches. Including the elbow and adapters to go from 6 inch stove to 9 inch flue.

At least your safety conscious !

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 9:16 pm

Ya got a bunch of possiblies there, I've been running my stove for six seasons with nothing but an MPD, 3 co detectors & yrs of common sense--I'm not advising anyone to do it my way anymore then I expect to read that a bunch of the available add-ons are the WAY to fine tune your stove--CH has a hand fired & seemingly a great deal of common sense--he stated that since working on his slide vent, things are going well----PS, I don't think a burn can get any more fine tuned then I have mine. Just an old farmers thoughts on basic hand fired stoves.

Lightning wrote:You wanna fine tune that burn?? You need a permanently installed manometer to start with, a couple stove thermometers and possibly a barometric damper.. Does your stove have adjustable secondary air controls, Mr Crow?

Crow Horse · Post by **Crow Horse** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 9:22 pm

Lightning wrote:You wanna fine tune that burn?? You need a permanently installed manometer to start with, a couple stove thermometers and possibly a barometric damper.. Does your stove have adjustable secondary air controls, Mr Crow?

No secondary air controls. Only vents are on the ash door........

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 9:24 pm

ShawninNY wrote:
SWPaDon wrote:I'm also one of those crazy fellas that rips the pipe off the furnace while it's burning and dumps the soot into a bucket that I have handy. Total length of my flue pipe is about 24 inches. Including the elbow and adapters to go from 6 inch stove to 9 inch flue.
At least your safety conscious !

Of course. Don't wanna burn my fingers, so I wear gloves.

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 9:27 pm

Sounds like you are learning your stove well, CH. Don't do the things I do, I've been doing this for years and the pipe cleanout takes me less than 5 seconds. I still don't advocate that anyone else do what I do.
These guys in here really know their stuff, and they will steer you right.

ShawninNY · Post by **ShawninNY** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 9:41 pm

Lee, I have not installed my Mano yet, so I'm not burning as efficiently as poss. My question is would having over fire air have the same effect as a baro ? My baro is set with the weight over .06 my stove calls for .06 so in running stronger but less than I was running with a closed pipe!

Crow Horse · Post by **Crow Horse** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 10:06 pm

Warm & a controlled burn (so far)......

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 10:07 pm

Looks great.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 10:08 pm

Now that looks REAL nice CH

Nice job on the plate

Post by **Lightning** » Sat. Feb. 22, 2014 3:49 am

ShawninNY wrote:Lee, I have not installed my Mano yet, so I'm not burning as efficiently as poss. My question is would having over fire air have the same effect as a baro ? My baro is set with the weight over .06 my stove calls for .06 so in running stronger but less than I was running with a closed pipe!

No.. A barometric damper keeps draft pressure steady. Secondary air (over the fire air) helps burn off gases at the top of the coal bed during ignition of a fresh load but then can be cut back to just a sliver. The two things can influence each other, but they don't have the same effect. Setting the weight on the baro is a starting point but it may not be accurate. You need the mano for better setting of the baro. I think -.06 is a bit strong. I know many stoves say its needed but anywhere between -.03 and -.04 I've found is the golden zone..

Crow Horse wrote:Warm & a controlled burn (so far)......

Looks like you got that under control my friend.. Nice work!!

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Sat. Feb. 22, 2014 7:06 am

Your plate modification looks great and the deeper coal bed will give you extended burn times! Keep working to seal the air leaks so air mainly enters from below (and at the rate you choose) and you will be there.

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Sat. Feb. 22, 2014 7:19 am

And remember, no stirring those burning coals.

Crow Horse · Post by **Crow Horse** » Sat. Feb. 22, 2014 8:42 am

Update - The learning journey continues. With the vent issue resolved, this morning I came down to a nice bed of coals, shook down and added fresh coal. Sweet! One more issue to address is the shaker handle is badly worn where it mates to the stove. Easy fix, just need to find the correct size pipe at work.
Changing over to coal is like getting a new dog (or woman). Learning all the idiosyncrasies takes a wee bit of time and mistakes will be made from time to time but in the end, the two become one...... (and you're warm).......

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Sat. Feb. 22, 2014 8:54 am

Nice work on the plate and tightening up the vent! Coal is a different beast than wood thats for sure, but I think the benefits far outweigh the learning curve effort. Do you have any plans to fabricate the missing hopper for the stove?

Whats the travel time up your driveway these days?

Back down to less than 2 hours I hope!

Fine Tuning the Burn...??

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