2 hours into a reload and NOTHING

I guess there is some irony in the fact that I have two VC stoves and the 30 was the one giving me the problem last night.

 

Lol that is kind of ironic..... We're the coals not quite hot enough?

 

Plenty of coals. I still think weather played a part in it.

 

Had it happen again tonite. My kiln dried took almost 15mins to get rolling after I shoveled the ashes out.
Usually the kiln dried will start to burn faster than a Rutland fire starter if you just toss it in on hot coals

 

Tonight I threw in large chunks of uneven splits. Nothing pretty, but enough to keep chit warm until 8 am. Wood from the same stack from last night. Took off quickly. Defiant is also purring along. It's like the stove knew I was tired wand wanted to sleep.

 

Definitely the weather. Just reloaded here too. Was flaming in seconds.

 

It was just weird. Last night there was a 45 minute difference between loading the Defiant and the 30. Defiant took off like normal.

 

The Encore is particular about how the load is arranged. If straight splits fit tightly together in the stack, it's reluctant to come up to cat-engage temp. Kinda like one huge single split in there trying to burn. But if the splits are twisty and lumpy, the spaces between splits allow a faster startup ( and usually a quicker burnout too). The wannabe engineer in me has to design every load for long or quick burns. This works about half the time.

 

I've found as long as I keep a small V (tunnel of love) running N/S under the first split or two mine takes off no problem. Seems to have a lot to do with how much air the new wood can get under, around and above it. I was having a lot of problems getting my reloads going when I switched to my Ash that's around 19-21% MC. Placement and the V under and I've been able to get my loads from coals to shutting it down at 550F STT in 15-20 min every time now.

 

I forget that thing every other load seems like. and like ya say..here comes the smoke to remind you.