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[Kyle]

Hey guys, new here and new to OWB's.  I just got my ML30 online 2 nights ago, and have had the fire go out twice since!  Just looking for some advice from the pros, what has worked for you and what hasn't.  I have no doubt that this stove is going to be awesome, I just need to figure out how to run it!

Specifics - 2800sqft house, (no hot water yet), 175' from stove to house, wood was cut late spring/early summer and is not as dry as I would like, OWB set point 188F, 5deg F differential, I'm in Ontario Canada and its fluctuating between 17deg F and 42 deg F throughout the day and night right now.

I can get the firing roaring and she burns good, the problem seems to be when I stoke it up before bed and when I leave in the morning.  When the fan shuts down because it has reached set point, it never seems to spark back up that great when it reaches the differential.  I attempt a 'criss-cross loading pattern to allow air under each piece.  Should I be giving more air (at the fan), less air, burn colder, burn hotter???  What about the manual damper on the door - should it be cracked so the coals don't smolder out when the fan shuts off? 

Any input is appreciated! 

Kyle     

[wood heat]

Hi Kyle

Set your temp at 180 degrees on the high end and set your differental at 160 degrees. I also live in ontario, this is what I have mine set at and I do not have anymore problems. It gets a longer run time, hope this helps.

[Kyle]

I already tried that!  That is actually when it went out the first time.  I figured that when it cut out at 180, it must have taken a while to cool off to 160 and when it tried to fire back up no go.  That's when I thought to try shorter burn but more often (small differential), and it seems a bit better but still not ideal.  My wood is not ideal (moisture content), but i know guys that burn a lot worse.  It had the summer and fall to dry. 

Have you played with the manual damper on your door at all?  How much is the cover on your fan open?  Thanks for your reply.

[wood heat]

Turn up your pump speed and open up the fan and let it run. I was getting a lot of cresote leaking around the door. I called rory at p@m and this is what he suggested. How much wood are you putting in the stove. I only put in enough to get me through 12 hrs. My stove runs well this way and I am not getting as much cresote build up. I have wood in my garage that has been dried for 2 years that I was using that but rory suggested not so seasoned wood as it might be to dry and heating up the water to fast for this time of year. I am now using the wood that is stacked outside and it is working better. All of my wood is maple , beach, hemlock, cherry and a bit of soft wood. Hope this helps.

[Trint]

How long are you going between burns, is there a bit of smoke coming out of the stack between burns?  The air box should let a little air through with out the fan running I believe.  I have mine set off at 185 on at 170, fan wide open and it refires fine even when you can't see a spark anywhere.  How small is you wood split?  The only times I have had mine go out is overnight when I put a large piece in that wasen't quite dry and it didn't burn evenly.

[Kyle]

Trint,

With my current set-points (off at 188, on at 183) its only about 15-20min at night when its colder, and I'm not sure during the day when I'm at work?  I was trying to keep the down time short to prevent the ambers from cooling off too much to re-ignite.  I opened my fan right up last night before bed and it seemed to work better.

There is a ton of smoke that comes from the chimney between burns.  If there is any air getting in (between burns), i would say very, very little.  This stove seems like its sealed up very well.

I tried splitting some of my wood this morning before i left so i will see what happened today once i get home.  None of my wood that i plan to burn is split.  They are all pieces approximately 32-38 inches in length, and anywhere from 8-14 inches round.  Both times that the stove went out on me I had 2 10 inch logs in there, and all the other stuff (smaller) burnt.  I don't really know how much to load it up with yet because like i said its brand new to me and i really haven't had a full 24hr burn yet.

Really appreciate your suggestions guys.  Thanks!   

[Trint]

[quotte]

I tried splitting some of my wood this morning before i left so i will see what happened today once i get home.  None of my wood that i plan to burn is split.  They are all pieces approximately 32-38 inches in length, and anywhere from 8-14 inches round.  Both times that the stove went out on me I had 2 10 inch logs in there, and all the other stuff (smaller) burnt.  I don't really know how much to load it up with yet because like i said its brand new to me and i really haven't had a full 24hr burn yet.

Really appreciate your suggestions guys.  Thanks!
[/quote]

I would try to get some 4 in logs or so mixed in, I have found that when you try to burn 2 large diameter logs at once they bridge up and don't get down to the grates to reignite.  If you have charred material right on the grate the air ignites them much better.  If I remember right the ml30 is designed to burn 4-6" logs, you can get by with larger but mix some smaller stuff in with it.

[rick w]

 i have an ml 36 and i put in atleast 4 good sized pieces in 12 hours run the fan damper wide open the damper on the fan only controls the amount of air when the fan is on turn up your thermostat and let the boiler rip you must get a good bed of coals on the grates. if it gets to hot in the house open a window but you need a bed of coals.dont mess with the damper on the door that could give you an uncontroled burn.set your start up temp at 170 and your shutdown temp at 180 with 5 differental and see how it works.i burn dry wood wet wood it dosent matter mix it up dry and moist. good luck rick

[Kyle]

Rick,

You are absolutely right!  When I got home yesterday I still had some wood left in the stove (11hrs since fill up) and I had a significantly larger amount of coals then I have had since I first fired the unit.  Last night I only threw in a couple of pieces just in case it went out on me again over night.  This morning, no wood left, but I had many 'glowing coals'.  I threw in a couple smaller pieces and when I got back to the stove from the wood pile with a couple of larger pieces, the smaller ones were already in full flame!  I will continue to fine tune my set-up over the next while to achieve optimal burn and efficiency, but for now I am very happy.  Thanks aging for all your help on this guys. 

Next question!!!  Whats better for domestic HW - plate heat ex-changer or sidearm and why?     

[rick w]

hi kyle i have two 50 gallon hotwater heaters one in my polebarn and one for the house and i installed the side arm tube heaters on both. i have yet to run out of hot water i didnt put on the scald protector so warn your guests .my water comes out about 160 t0 180. i have never tryed the plate exchangers. i went with the sidearm because i skew that i would have atleast 50 gallons of hot water.keep those coals going leave your settings alone.i put in 8 pieces lastnight at 7 p.m. and went out this morning at 7a.m. and had 2 pieces left the temp in spooner wisc was down to 18 lastnight. the wife turned on the fan in the bedroom around 3 a.m. i think you made a wise choice P.M. is the way to go.just get to know your machine.fill once in the a.m. and once in the p.m. and leave it alone.i also build my fire close to the door so the heat travels the whole firebox before the smoke makes an exit.each time you fill with wood scrape the sides where the fire burns so you dont get a ash build up or creasote. i scoop my ash pan once every 3 days. just my 2 cents. good luck and happy burning. rick

[Trint]

I have been told that a plate recovers faster that being said I use a sidearm and have never had a problem.  Like rick said 50 is a large reserve and when it is at 170 and you use hot water at 130-140 you can use well over 50 gal before you run out of hot water.  I couldn't justify paying $300+ for a plate so I built my own sidearm for around $60 I think. 

[rick w]

hi trint i found sidearm heaters for 159.00 all stainless steel with spiral fins inside rick

[Kyle]

Thanks guys - i am going to call today for prices.  i was told (informally) that i could pick up a side arm for $80 from a local guy made real well with the heavy copper inside etc. I was going to make my own as well but for that price i might as well buy!

I had issues on the weekend again with the fire.  i cut a chunk of 3/4" cold rolled steel and layed it in place of one of the openings in the bottom to allow more of the ash/coals to remain in the burn pot.  This seems to have helped out a lot.  Once its coled and the fire is burning more often and for longer periods of time i plan on removing this.