Secondary air

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tcalo
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Post by tcalo » Sun. Nov. 14, 2021 8:35 am

This may be a rookie question, but after nearly 10 years of burning coal I never put too much thought into it. What is the secondary air intake actually for? I assumed it was for burning wood but this doesn’t make much sense in a suspended pot stove. So my thought is it helps burn off gases when reloading fresh coal. I run mine 100% open all the time. I figured it would help with some fresh air over the bed. Am I completely off on this subject?

 
KLook
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Post by KLook » Sun. Nov. 14, 2021 8:42 am

Going by memory, most run it early in the burn to burn off gasses being generated and prevent poofbacks? Then they close it mostly to finish the burn......Also maybe open it before opening the door the burn off any gasses to prevent a poof......

 
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tcalo
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Post by tcalo » Sun. Nov. 14, 2021 8:48 am

KLook wrote:
Sun. Nov. 14, 2021 8:42 am
Going by memory, most run it early in the burn to burn off gasses being generated and prevent poofbacks? Then they close it mostly to finish the burn......Also maybe open it before opening the door the burn off any gasses to prevent a poof......
That’s what I was thinking, thanks!!

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Sun. Nov. 14, 2021 9:57 am

Its helpful in mild weather too, to help chimney draft and to run stove cooler.

Not all stoves have it (Hitzer 30-95, 50-93 as examples) and they work fine too.


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Nov. 14, 2021 11:22 am

Yep, run it open for about an hour or so after loading fresh so the baked out hydrocarbons can burn, then close it to about 10%.

During warm weather burns you can leave it open full-time along with the MPD to help the draft move along.

 
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tcalo
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Post by tcalo » Thu. Nov. 18, 2021 10:58 am

I’ve been closing it after burning off the gases. I noticed that the stove runs slightly warmer with it closed. Interesting

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Thu. Nov. 18, 2021 3:14 pm

tcalo wrote:
Thu. Nov. 18, 2021 10:58 am
I’ve been closing it after burning off the gases. I noticed that the stove runs slightly warmer with it closed. Interesting
Right.. that's because your using the available oxygen more efficiently. Remember, that combustion air is 80% nitrogen that goes up the chimney as nitrogen (unchanged). So if you have air coming in over the fire that's not contributing to combustion, it just gets heated and goes up the chimney.

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