Trouble with new stove

[Bill G]

Not sure about accuracy but the cheap meters put you in the ballpark. For me it's a good selling point when I can show the customer 15% firewood.

What brand/model meter are you using?

 

[farmer steve]

What brand/model meter are you using?

Mine is a General tool Bill. My buddy had a different brand and paid a lot more for his. We did a comparison checking different types of wood with varying degrees of dryness levels and they were within 1% of each other.

 

[dboyd351]

persimmon rarely gets very large but occasionally you get a nice one
Cut this one a couple of days ago

 

[F8Green]

The problem is there is no way to accurately test for moisture in firewood.

Source?

 

[Bill G]

Source?

Moisture meters are designed to give a moisture reading in lumber. The majority of which is 4/4 so the depth they are checking at is rarely greater than .0625. The better quality units can give a accurate reading in thicker piece up to 12/4. They are not capable of giving accurate readings in firewood unless it is kindling. If you do not believe me that is fine. Go grab a good solid chunk. Take a moisture test, Now split it and take another test. Are the readings the same? I bet not.... Simple fact is moisture meters do not have the ability to give accurate readings deep into firewood.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Thats why the correct way to measure moisture in firewood is on a fresh split. In fact, youll see this mentioned everywhere on this forum as well as other forums that discuss firewood.

There are moisture meters designed for all sorts of materials, not just wood.

 

[pdqdl]

That should be the end of that argument, eh?

 

[Bill G]

I would love to see a moisture meter that can accurately read the moister level 6 inches deep....heck 4 inches deep

 

[SS396driver]

When I check moisture I do a fresh split and then take the reading . Is it 100% accurate :nope: but it close enough for me
Guess this type would be better for firewood but I’m sure it’s pricey
Edit cheapest one is about 700 bucks

 

[CaseyForrest]

I would love to see a moisture meter that can accurately read the moister level 6 inches deep....heck 4 inches deep

You're attacking a straw man. Not a single person here has advocated using a moisture meter on the outside of a seasoned piece of wood. yet you insist on winning your own argument by laying a foundation no one has suggested. Are you technically correct, yes. But you're arguing against yourself.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I mean, when stove manufacturers start suggesting moisture levels to the tenth, then you can come and stand on your soap box. 15-25% is a wide enough range that even the cheapest meter, on a fresh split, will be accurate enough to hit that target.

 

[Bill G]

When I check moisture I do a fresh split and then take the reading . Is it 100% accurate :nope: but it close enough for me
Guess this type would be better for firewood but I’m sure it’s pricey View attachment 1048663
Edit cheapest one is about 700 bucks

Definitely a bit pricy

 

[Bill G]

Bill, do you recall how irritated you were when I asked you to stop being an argumentative ass? This would be another occasion for you acknowledge that someone else might be right.

Split the wood, use a good meter, test. Solution. QED. No doubt about the results.

It is called discussion and sharing of ideas. Not everyone has to agree and march in lockstep.

 

[barebunns]

I bought a new EPA stove an Empire archway 1700 insert about a month ago and am having a hard time getting it to heat very well.

It’s installed in fireplace with 20ft SS liner. It doesn’t seem to be an issue with draft. I am able to get fires going no problem and don’t have any smoke in the house.

I’m burning seasoned hedge wood and seem to be getting good hot fires but oddly the stove doesn’t seem to get hot. Most of the time it operates around 350 -400.

I spoke to the retail guy and he thinks I’m not getting good secondary combustion. How can you tell if you are getting a secondary? He said the tubes should glow and look a gas burner which they do not.

Ive tried playing with the damper - Loading onto a coal bed I’ll leave the door cracked until I have a good fire. I’ll shut it up and try closing the damper some, halfway, all the way, but I don’t ever get any different results.

I’m actually able to heat better by building up the fire then leaving the door open.

Any advice on how I can operate this thing better would be much appreciated. Bit frustrated so far trying to get this working considering what I have into it.

Thanks

you should m,ake roing fire from kndling and fillup the stove with large pcs of wood leave the air on high in till the fire gets real hot thasn turn down the air

 

[stihlaficionado]

I have an Empire St Claire.

Empire Comfort Systems bought a controlling stake in Stove Builder International(SBI) several years ago, so the Empire is
built by SBI.

SBI stoves are free breathers . The 2020 EPA stoves are especially free breathing.

Outside of wet wood, it's important in the Empire to not block the air inlet tube that sits about 1 inch from the firebrick in front(not sure if the Archways have this feature).
So burning too close to the glass may actually block this air inlet. Doing so will restrict air flow.

I wood not "leave the door open" in a burning cycle, ever. You stand the chance of overfiring the unit & damaging the air tubes and warping the steel. And of course, burning your house down.

 

[ericm979]

Mine is a different SBI made stove but has the same air outlet only it's made into the center of the andiron. I have to ensure that there's a path for air to flow from it under the lower layer of splits. When there's a good load of ash and coals I can do that by using a poker to make a trough but when the stove is clean I need to put a small piece of kindling under the splits in order to make a path for the air jet.

You should not need to keep the door open for long, and only when starting from cold. If you do then your wood's probably too wet.

 

[CaseyForrest]

The Jotul Rockland is the same way, its main air supply is an air wash over the glass but there is a single "jet" centrally located at the front bottom of the firebox. Block it and getting a new load going is futile. I always rake coals to the front making sure to not block the opening.

 

[Howard Justice]

They are lacking in information then. Locust is the best firewood you will find and yes it burns hot but no where near as hot as hedge. Locust also makes great fence posts. It is much straighter that Hedge and splits about as easy as opening a book. Had the site not been hacked years ago you could see a video of me splitting 23 pieces of locust in 1minute 23 seconds. I attempted 27 pieces but 4 fell over

Agreed

They are lacking in information then. Locust is the best firewood you will find and yes it burns hot but no where near as hot as hedge. Locust also makes great fence posts. It is much straighter that Hedge and splits about as easy as opening a book. Had the site not been hacked years ago you could see a video of me splitting 23 pieces of locust in 1minute 23 seconds. I attempted 27 pieces but 4 fell over

Agreed. Burning some right now … cold day for ATL!! FIRST time to burn this wood! We cleared blowdown 3 weeks ago in GRIFFIN GA after tornado. Originally thot was an unusual hickory. Sent Pics to tree guy… Natl park ranger friend in GSMNP … he suggested was black locust. Prolly the heaviest wood I’ve ever handled. And at my age I’ve handled about everything in the SE.

 

[Bill G]

I know it can get cold in Atlanta. I remember many years ago when the Atlanta race was the last one on the Cup Series in November. There was a year when it was snowed out. It was not long after that when they moved Homestead to be the final race.

 

[esshup]

Moisture meters are designed to give a moisture reading in lumber. The majority of which is 4/4 so the depth they are checking at is rarely greater than .0625. The better quality units can give a accurate reading in thicker piece up to 12/4. They are not capable of giving accurate readings in firewood unless it is kindling. If you do not believe me that is fine. Go grab a good solid chunk. Take a moisture test, Now split it and take another test. Are the readings the same? I bet not.... Simple fact is moisture meters do not have the ability to give accurate readings deep into firewood.

The way I measure the moisture is to take the 16" length, cut it to 8" then immediately measure the moisture content where it was cut. Reading the surface when it's been drying for 4-6 months doesn't give you the measurement in the center. So what if I sacrifice a piece now and then? The short piece burns just fine too, I just don't want a whole bunch of them.