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Author Topic: Smoke during burn cycle?  (Read 2511 times)

Flyfishjt

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Smoke during burn cycle?
« on: November 18, 2013, 07:22:43 PM »

Sorry I posted this under site suggestions the first time so I will ask again. Ok I know this is a loaded question cause I know the nature of the beast but I'm just wondering before I post my views of my new earth woodsman I've been burning about a month. I know how most other brands burn and they seem to all smoke at the beginning of burn cycle but then somewhat clear up the hotter the fire gets no matter the wood used (green or dry) but even if I burn well seasoned wood she smokes like an ole locamotive under full power and it bugs me cause I know that's wasted btus buging my neighbors a half mile away. I was under the impression that having a forced draft on front of door she wood burn hot enough and faster to maybe not smoke during mid burn cycle. I've tryed cutting air back by covering intake and also tryed moving fire position inside and doesn't seem to matter. I'm almost wondering if it's not getting enough volume?
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MattyNH

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2013, 07:44:19 PM »

Well for me..When I fill my boiler up..It smokes the very most on the 1st and might on the 2nd cycle depending on how long the first cycle lasted..By the way I have forced draft..What kind of wood are you burning?…For some reason I find white pine which is in my area, along with wet, green wood will smoke a lot as well.. If it bugs you a lot like you said..Try raising your stack up..It makes a world of difference with the smoke issue..Covering up the intake won't do much..I guess my next question is…How often does your boiler run? Like is it idle a lot?..It may be smoking a lot to the creosote build up?..Fire burning it off?..I know when my boiler gets dirty esp. during the  late spring months..It can smoke with not much wood in it..
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willieG

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2013, 08:08:33 PM »

stand (queitly) beside your fan as it is blowing air into the stove, when the fire is roaring all it can listen close and see if you here it puffing or speeding up and slowing down. this is a sign of very quick back drafting where the stove is trying to pull air in and then acutall trying to exaust air out. if you hear this then open teh furnace door a tad and everything calms down....your fire is not getting enough air! this can happen if you have too much overly dry wood in there or if you have too many small pieces of wood with many edges exposed to burn. remember wood does not  burn, it must change to gas first...heat changes it to gas then if the heat is good, the air is just right..poof you get fire. with too many small pieces in there, they are turning to gas faster than the air for combustion is being fed to it, so the gas goes out the chimney as smoke... we can alikley attest to opening the door too quickly and a rush of air is supplied and poof..singed eyebrows
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Flyfishjt

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2013, 08:17:04 PM »

Ahhh good point! It has has been idling a lot in between burns due to warmer weather maybe I should've waited longer. Mostly I've been burning ash and oak in it. Somebody also mesg me about blower not pushing enough air volume so I did the math and it may or may not have something to do with it. I have aprox. 94 cubic ft in firebox and blower on front of door is only rated to push 65 cubic ft of air. So I'm thinking about calling manufacture tomorrow and just asking. They have been very helpful so far. I have also tried adjusting my temp from 5* to 10* just to see if maybe a longer burn cycle would help clear things up with no success. Maybe I'm over thinking this like always but to me it's wasted btus which = wasted labor. Lol 
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Flyfishjt

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2013, 08:21:49 PM »

Willie g your exactly right on that one. Not only can you hear it with this stove you can feel the door bumping/breathing. Kinda funky and yes as soon as I open door it clears right up. That's why I'm led to believe its more of a volume issue then anything. Or maybe I should try just adding bigger pcs of wood rather than an arm load of smaller pcs. Or do u think I should just try and shoot for more air
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willieG

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2013, 08:23:36 PM »

with your stove in the fullest burn possable, if it is still smoking, open the door a 1/2 inch and then see if the stack clears up. your blower sounds too small to me but if they  supplied it with the stove they are supposed to know what it would need.  if you have a good bed of coals try loading fewer but bigger chunks of wood, or  load less wood more often and see if it makes a difference,
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willieG

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2013, 08:28:35 PM »

my old home made stove i have learned to put wood in that i can lift..i mean..i try and split the least amount of wood as i can. my door is 24 inches square and i try and load in the biggest pieces i can (once i have a good bed of coals) i have very little smoke  and  i think as i have learned to do this my wood consumption has gone down a wee bit as well my home made stove i use a 146 cfm blower.im not sure what other stoves use. i guess it would depend on the size of the fire box and the btu rating of the stove
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Flyfishjt

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2013, 08:32:33 PM »

Yes it defiantly clears upon opening door. The only problem with feeding it more often is that unlike a lot of america I have to go to work :'( so I can't really and don't want to really babysit this thing all day if you know what I meen
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Flyfishjt

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #8 on: November 18, 2013, 08:36:06 PM »

I guess that'll be my next trial is bigger pcs. Not to mention that is why I choose earth is for their big 25" door cause I didn't want to split anything. Lol
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willieG

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Re: Smoke during burn cycle?
« Reply #9 on: November 18, 2013, 08:39:15 PM »

i load twice daily as well...like i said try  leaving your wood larger..instead of 100 pounds of wood in ten chunks, try 100 pounds of wood in 5 chunks...there will be less surface area for the "wood to gas" transformation  and smoke during  burn cycle should diminish to only stop and start time of teh burn cycle (i think :-\)
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