Anyone interested in a 20 lbs of fuel long burn challenge?

Combuster 9:30. Way earlier than normal. You can see the drop then the sudden spike as it lights off.

Draft was 1/4 open

The main unit to record and display.
eBay

I used different and made different k type thermocouples to withstand the heat. I had help with the setup from another member BDF.

 

Did that ebay link work for you guys?

 

Did anyone have a guess on how long 20lb might last?

 

Going by the graph, there was not enough fuel there to 'feed the stove' and get it stable. No flat in the curve seems to indicate it used all the fuel to get just over 1,000 F and the just radiated heat.

Not to stick my nose in someone else's idea for data- gathering but I think it might be more useful for everyone to bring the stove up to a steady temp. with a bed of coals, then weigh however much wood it takes to fill the stove, then note how long that amount of wood puts out what surface temperatures. Even that is not a great test because a larger stove will produce more heat for the same surface temperature (more area at the same temp. means more heat) so as a 'test' it would really only be valid for similar sized stoves I think.

Not trying to step on anyone's ideas, just throwing out a thought or two....

Brian

 

Your got it BDF, 3 pieces of wood ain't enough to do much heating in this beast. A full load in this thing must weigh alot. I'd have to pack it then unpack it to weigh it all.

 

There is an easier way: put a load of firewood (in a box or whatever is handy) onto a regular bathroom scale, note the weight, and load the stove from the pile. When the stove is full, note the weight remaining and you will know how much the stove took without having to frolic with weighing each piece or each part of a load. I used to use a 5 gallon pail; fill it with splits, throw it on the scale then load the stove. Worst case is less than three pails to fill and I.S. but a bigger cardboard box would work even better / easier.

Brian

 

All the credit for finding it goes to BDF. Beats a magnet or a normal flue temp gauge hands down.

 

I have my 4 splits of Black Locust (29lbs) ready to go, just need the weather to burn it.

 

Progress hybrid

9:17 top down cold start first attempt
~20# dry punky oak (this load is what I would use to start the stove not a normal overnight burn)
47* high wind

9:30 Bypass closed way earlier than I normally would but it worked
9:42 Damper closed all the way
10:30 stove top 320* slight back puffing opened air 1/2"
11:00 42* stove top at 350*
6:30 stove top at 155* small coal bed easy to relight

I'll try a warm start in the next few weeks.

 

that's what I was thinking 4 splits...

 

20 lbs of pellets burn 8 hrs easy...........IP runs and hides

 

This is a 28 lb run. It seems I had a failure of my catalyst sensor as you can see by the lack of temp. I engauged the catalyst at a flue temp just under 600* and st draft to 1/4 open and walked away. View attachment 73510

 

Odd how it keeps bumping up to 100 then falling back down. Still too warm here for running any tests; I'd like to have decent draft before dialing my stove down low. Will put up a results thread in a couple weeks ... it's got to be cold enough by then (I hope).

 

That catalyst probe is positioned directly in the middle of the opening that the exhaust flows threw. That initial fluctuation is the flames starting and fluctuation causing the spikes. Once the catalyst is engauged the exhaust is forced threw the cat and then the reading is directly above the catalyst and would have normally read significantly higher and much steadier. Or that was the beginning of the sensors failure.

 

But you need electricity for them there pellets.

 

Not to mention a credit card.

 

and cutting, splitting, stacking, and hauling is free right???, along with saws, chains, fuel and truck

 

It is the illness that leads us to believe it is all free.

I do know there is some kind of grate that will allow one to burn pellets in a wood stove, but I've never tried one. There are so many stoves/systems I'd like to try, but I had to pick one. Sure wish my neighbor had a pellet stove ... about time for his smoke dragon to come to life and do its part in polluting the neighborhood with smoke from his 3 month seasoned wood supply.