Stove not hot enough?

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I'm surprised no one has suggested that you recheck the dryness of your wood. My first year with an insert was very disappointing, all because of my wood not being dry enough. Got a moisture meter? Like IR thermometers, they're cheap now. Got a woodburning neighbor who's fanatic about burning dry wood? (Everyone here fits that description and you will too, very soon.) Get him to spot you an armful of really good dry stuff and see what happens. You may be pleasantly surprised.

I've been watching a few moisture meters on eBay just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I think this is a good enough reason to get one.
 
I would be willing to bet that it is a slammer install considering the age of the insert. That would mean that it is probably venting into a basic chimney with a clay liner.


Once you have determined that the chimney is clean try a bunch of small stuff and see if that gets the temp up. Nothing over 3". Also don't let you ash/coal get too deep. make sure that they don't block the air feed inside the stove, rectangle box bottom center just in front of the glass (at least that is how it is on the 1196).

Chimney was inspected prior to purchase, 6" stainless liner already there. I have a sweep coming out this week to give it a good cleaning. As far as air intake I did not see anything as you described but it does have the air wash tube inside above the door. Would this be the only intake?
 
I've been watching a few moisture meters on eBay just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I think this is a good enough reason to get one.

If you have a Harbor Freight locally, they can be had for maybe 10 bucks. I wouldn't mess with fleabay for a moisture meter. Harbor freight has the same meter that Stihl and other manufacturers carry.
 
Here are 2 pics. The one showing the flame is roughly the amount of splits I keep in there. At that point the flames are just starting to hit the flue.
 
Here are 2 pics. The one showing the flame is roughly the amount of splits I keep in there. At that point the flames are just starting to hit the flue.

What is the condition of the door seals?
 
What is the condition of the door seals?

Since I have no knowledge of what the door seal should look like I'm going to judge based on the lack of maintenance on the house and say it is probably original.
 
I've been watching a few moisture meters on eBay just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I think this is a good enough reason to get one.
Why waste your money on this gadget? Who's got time to take a reading on each piece of wood before it's burned.
Just look at the ends of the wood pieces. If its got several cracks on each end, then it's ready to burn.
 
Why waste your money on this gadget? Who's got time to take a reading on each piece of wood before it's burned.
Just look at the ends of the wood pieces. If its got several cracks on each end, then it's ready to burn.

Wrong.
There may be other ways to evaluate the dryness of wood, but this is not one of them.
 
If you have played with wood as long as I have, you know when the wood is properly dried and ready to burn.

Did that come out sounding all wrong ? :eek:
 
From what I understand, a MM gives a composite on overall moisture content. That is, presuming all splits were processed and stacked at around the same time. If you have mixed wood, check a few of each throughout the stacks with the MM to get a good composite.

The lower the MC, the less creosote and the better the burn. You want to get all the BTUs from your wood that you can. :)

Cracks at the ends, or checking indicate drying of the ends, not necessarily the centers. I have some maple splits checking at the ends already; they were just split and stacked in December.

In the same pile is a black gum I dropped back in August. Left it set in rounds until last month when it was all split and stacked. Those splits are light and feel like they're ready to burn already. The MM says no way... they're at 36% inside.
 
Get your stove back in order. Install the reburn air tube, and make sure all of the baffle bricks are in it. Do a dollar bill test on the door seal.
Cut a least a dozen to fit N/S.
Get a fire going in your stove and then load it full of wood and watch it burn.

I agree with everyone about your wood not being ideal but you should be able to crank out heat with less than ideal wood. I know some of my wood isn't great but I can still get it up to 800 if I want.
 
it was about 15% average and I've only come across 3 or 4 logs that I've brought back out from 1 full cord of wood.

Do you re-split every piece to get the internal moisture reading or do you take a reading from the outside?
 
Funny you should mention reburn tubes as I just got a message from the previous owner letting me know he left a box containing the reburn tubes down the basement for me.

He removed the secondary's???(Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!) Oh man now I understand the problem. I would not burn anything else in it until I got a copy of the IPL to that stove put the friggin secondary's back in then inspect the rest of it for anything else that previous owner decided to gut.....good grief.
 
Don't know why everybody is uptight with having a moisture meter.
Does it cure the wood for you or something?
So what if a chunk of wood has a perfect moisture content or a higher moisture content.
What you going to do, check each piece, sort them out according, restack, and date each stack to be checked again with a moisture meter?
Big deal, just burn it, if the ends have crack lines, burns good, and crackles some in the stove then it's perfect.
If it sizzles and bubbles at the end or smokes, then it's not dry enough.
So you make adjustment for the next season; maybe prepare your firewood sooner, maybe split smaller pieces, maybe not stacking the rows too close together, maybe have a different storage area, maybe prepare for a couple of years or more ahead.
It's not like a piece of moist wood is going to kill anything.
I can see being anal about a tool that does something to the wood.
Or something like a tach that actually help you get the saw running perfect.
But being anal and telling people to spend money on a meter that does absolutely nothing to the wood and for the wood.
A lighter is more useful than a moisture meter.
 
Do you re-split every piece to get the internal moisture reading or do you take a reading from the outside?

You have to resplit the piece of wood to get the reading, Outside my be 15 and te middle could be 30.
 
Don't know why everybody is uptight with having a moisture meter.
Does it cure the wood for you or something?
So what if a chunk of wood has a perfect moisture content or a higher moisture content.
What you going to do, check each piece, sort them out according, restack, and date each stack to be checked again with a moisture meter?
Big deal, just burn it, if the ends have crack lines, burns good, and crackles some in the stove then it's perfect.
If it sizzles and bubbles at the end or smokes, then it's not dry enough.
So you make adjustment for the next season; maybe prepare your firewood sooner, maybe split smaller pieces, maybe not stacking the rows too close together, maybe have a different storage area, maybe prepare for a couple of years or more ahead.
It's not like a piece of moist wood is going to kill anything.
I can see being anal about a tool that does something to the wood.
Or something like a tach that actually help you get the saw running perfect.
But being anal and telling people to spend money on a meter that does absolutely nothing to the wood and for the wood.
A lighter is more useful than a moisture meter.

I can understand your opinion but I think the meter is great to have. If you are burning wet wood your just wasting the wood and your chimney is going to creo up. If you dont have anything else to burn then do what you have to. I think something as easy as checking the wood will tell you what pile to burn first. All your wood might be 1 year old but sme might be seasoned and some wet. Stuff that i thought was still wet end up being dry. So for 10 to 50 bucks I think it is a good tool if you burn wood and cant have 3 years of wood on property. Oh another plus if you purchase wood you can check it to see if your getting the shaft or not.
 
Please excuse my newbieness on this but the tube that sits in the fire box above the door going left to right with a bunch of holes in it, is that an air wash for the glass, source of air intake, or reburn tube? There is one installed but the seller did leave me a brand new one.
 
Don't know why everybody is uptight with having a moisture meter.
Does it cure the wood for you or something?
So what if a chunk of wood has a perfect moisture content or a higher moisture content.
What you going to do, check each piece, sort them out according, restack, and date each stack to be checked again with a moisture meter?
Big deal, just burn it, if the ends have crack lines, burns good, and crackles some in the stove then it's perfect.
If it sizzles and bubbles at the end or smokes, then it's not dry enough.
So you make adjustment for the next season; maybe prepare your firewood sooner, maybe split smaller pieces, maybe not stacking the rows too close together, maybe have a different storage area, maybe prepare for a couple of years or more ahead.
It's not like a piece of moist wood is going to kill anything.
I can see being anal about a tool that does something to the wood.
Or something like a tach that actually help you get the saw running perfect.
But being anal and telling people to spend money on a meter that does absolutely nothing to the wood and for the wood.
A lighter is more useful than a moisture meter.

Easy there, big fella. I'm not selling moisture meters and I'm sure many get along fine without them, but remember that the OP is a new woodburner just starting out with a new stove. I'm certain that many people in that position (like me four years ago) are not fully aware of the need for well-dried wood. A MM (could be a borrowed one, just for this one occasion) could provide crucial information. My other suggestion (get some wood that you KNOW is dry and burn that) would accomplish the same thing. As the recent posts show, however, there seem to be many factors at play here. I was just trying to help determine if this one factor (%mc) could be part of the problem.
 
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I think the door glass is all the evidence I need to draw the conclusion that the fire is not hot enough and the wood is not dry enough. Under proper conditions the glass will stay clean and clear while burning.
 
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