Getting Ready to Give it a go AGAIN!

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Sat. Nov. 12, 2022 6:58 pm

Low over fire air. Eh, not necessarily low. Do you have over fire air?

Sorry, what do you mean by that? I have no idea if I have over fire air or not. The stove is working great now, nice steady soft blue flames dancing across the coals, just like I remember.

Tonight's low temp is supposed be around 38. I'm wondering what number would be best for my thermostat on the stove. It's currently at 3 and it's about 55 degrees outside. Hopefully FrancoB will see this and answer my question....

freetown fred wrote: ↑

Sat. Nov. 12, 2022 7:07 pm

M, ya lookin for heat with a lil bit of blue ladies or roarin with outlandish blue ladies????

Well, at this point, I guess I only need litttle blue ladies. It's about 55 outside but it will be going down to 38 for the low. How do I get the outlandish ones to show up? I get those whenever I open the main door, but they disappear as soon as I close it and I'm back to the "wispy ones"....

crack the ash door

freetown fred wrote: ↑

Sat. Nov. 12, 2022 7:15 pm

crack the ash door

But that's just a temporary thing, right? My understanding is that you should be burning with the ash door shut, yes? If you mean just to get things going, that makes good sense. But like I said, I've got nice wispy blames now, not intense but soft and steady. Actually, after I mentioned the issue with the lower glow, I went back and shook the grates because I had burned a charcoal and wood fire to get things going, and I was thinking that all that ash from those probably needed to be shaken down. A minute after that, things started glowing brighter again.

The blue ladies or at least the larger ones are due to fresh gases burning off and cool over fire air from the door being open. The air will have to travel through the coal bed and will carry less o2 etc.

Use your flashlight to examine the air flap opening. Remember there is a smaller flap within the large flap.

The stove has a shallow bed and gets adequate air through it without separate secondary air. You want lazy blue flame. Fill hopper after every shake. Use slicing poker for more thorough shake down. Be sure to close slots.

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Sun. Nov. 13, 2022 8:19 am

So? How did it go overnight? Warm this morning?

Thanks for asking.

I got up at 4:00 AM and the living room was still 76 degrees. Checked the stove and then just went back to bed until 6:30. Got up again and the living room was 73. I shook down and checked the stove again. Temps have been holding at 72 since then. I'm not sure why there was a decrease in the room temp except that it got colder outside between 4 and 6 AM? But I am getting a generally good burn, and yes we were plenty warm last night.

hi all, started mine today. one bag of matchlite let it get going good added a few scoops of coal let that get going, about 20 minutes and top off hopper. all an all about 90 mins. fastest time ever for me. good luck

dsc60 wrote: ↑

Sun. Nov. 13, 2022 4:23 pm

hi all, started mine today. one bag of matchlite let it get going good added a few scoops of coal let that get going, about 20 minutes and top off hopper. all an all about 90 mins. fastest time ever for me. good luck

Sounds like you had a successful start-up! Congrats. This time around it took me about the same time as you mentioned. I did a combo of matchlight and some hardwood pieces and that did the trick. The charcoal took to it pretty fast.

Best wishes for a good burning season!

Glad to hear you're up and running! Get a little practice in before the real cold hits!

ASea wrote: ↑

Sun. Nov. 13, 2022 8:30 pm

Glad to hear you're up and running! Get a little practice in before the real cold hits!

Yes, this is a good run. Our temps are forecasted to be in the 20's at nighttime this week, so it will most definitely be a good test for me to see how the stove runs. I'm getting back in the groove.