Coals buildup in my Central Boiler

[Skiboat Dave]

I have a Central Boiler Classic (not the E Classic) and the first year I burned,, all I had was green wood. I was a cutting and splitting fool. I needed to get the wood to dry as much as I could before I burned it. The ash build up was not bad at all. Say once a month I had to clean out the fire box.

The second year, the wood seasoned all summer long. I figured I was all set!
Nice dry split hardwood! But…..
I found that when I burned it, the ashes would build up really fast in the fire box. I should say the coals built up. The coals were like tennis ball size on the average.
I found I would need to add more wood, more often to keep the heat up in the boiler.
I would need to add wood before the coals turned to ash.
Also the wood seemed to burn a lot faster.
There were times I had to clean it weekly!
I had to get rid of the large coals just to make room for more wood.

So I started taking a large “round “ “greener” piece and plunking that in the middle and then topping it with the dryer split stuff. That seemed to help. By the time the dry wood turned to “coals” the greener piece would still be burning, keeping the heat up and burning the coals down to ash. I was back to monthly clean out.

Anyone have a good system for burning in your OWB?
Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Marc]

Please don't burn green wood.

 

[blakey]

On the part about having large coals to remove, it sounds like you are adding too much wood too often. I just load enough to get me to the next filling, normally 12 hrs. I have had other people load mine for a week and the firebox gets half full of coals because they overload it again and again several times a day. I don't care if the temp is down 10 or 20 degrees when it is time to refill. As long as there are some hot coals left, I just rake them a bit, load and go.

Not sure about the excessive ashes, could be that there is still unburnt wood mixed in, or a different species of wood? You should be getting better results with seasoned wood.

The only other thing I could think of causing your issue is maybe the wood is split too small, causing a hot fast fire. I normally only split anything that is too heavy to comfortably lift.

Hope this helps.

 

[Slick]

I agree with blakey, I get those huge charcoal type balls if I load to much to fast like if I'm leaving for awhile and pack the crap out of the firebox, come back to that. You can burn them down with some scraps of dry wood like 2x4's or pallet wood...little bit to get a flame going and stir...over and over you can burn it down and heat for a day or two with no real "load" of firewood, there is alot of btu's left in those charcoal balls.
Also agree to only load what you need to get to the next loading, keep it burning, not smoldering.

 

[blackdogon57]

I want my wood to coal up. The more the better. Often I will just rake the coals and add little or no new wood. As long as the water temp is within set range and I have enough coals to keep it that way I am good to go. This will only work with well seasoned wood. :yoyo:

 

[Jon E]

Man, those coals are a good thing. I have been burning pine and junk all summer and can't wait to get into the good dry hardwood so that I can build up a good coal bed. The pine just doesn't produce any decent coals - which may be why you never see anyone trying to sell 'softwood charcoal' - it really doesn't exist.

I find that during the winter, I'll load up the OWB halfway - in other words, rake all the coals to the front half of the firebox and stack the firewood (normal splits, 20" long) to fill up the front half to the top of the door opening. So basically, the back half of the firebox is empty - no coals, no ash, no wood. During 24 hours, I will get a nice bed of coals, and the next day, do it all over again. In really cold temps, I might have to do that twice a day, or three times in two days.

This time of the year, I have been loading up the OWB with pine slabs, 3' long, and getting 48 hour burn (no domestic heat call yet, just hot water).

The coal bed also works really well, if you're inventive, for cooking. Wrap a few big potatoes in heavy foil, toss 'em in the OWB for an hour, fish 'em out and eat. I've also slid a grill in there and cooked burgers, steaks and chicken. You definitely pick up the flavor of the smoke, so stick to good cooking woods for a day or two beforehand if you do that - oak, cherry, fruitwoods, maple, etc. No pine or birch.

 

[Skiboat Dave]

I split my wood as though I was going to use it in a normal wood stove. I would say, size wise, it would be like a pile of cord wood you would have delivered. Not tiny.

I load my stove twice a day. I load it in the morning at 6:30 and then at night around 8pm. When its normal cold out, I usually load it to the top of the door. In other words, a full load.

By the next loading, it has burned up most of the wood.

I do use this to heat the hot water in the house and that is what really makes my stove work.
If my wife is doing tons of laundry, she will keep that baby humming all day.

If I rake around the coals and throw in a stick or two, the stove won't keep up with "Hot Water Harriet" and it will start to drop until my oil boiler kicks in.

 

[REDnekburner]

go back to burnin green-thats what these things were made for

 

[Skiboat Dave]

Jon, i should clarify, I load my stove just as you do.

"I'll load up the OWB halfway - in other words, rake all the coals to the front half of the firebox and stack the firewood (normal splits, 20" long) to fill up the front half to the top of the door opening. So basically, the back half of the firebox is empty - no coals, no ash, no wood."

So when I am out of wood and just have a bed of nice big coals, It wont keep up with the demand.

I do hate to take them out. I know I am throwing away nice heat!

Maybe I should just shut off the hot water.

 

[H-Ranch]

On the part about having large coals to remove, it sounds like you are adding too much wood too often. I just load enough to get me to the next filling, normally 12 hrs. I have had other people load mine for a week and the firebox gets half full of coals because they overload it again and again several times a day. I don't care if the temp is down 10 or 20 degrees when it is time to refill. As long as there are some hot coals left, I just rake them a bit, load and go.

This is the way I use mine too. When I first started using it I was overfilling and having the same issue with the coals. Now I try to estimate time and temperature and load it only enough to get to the next filling. I did miscalculate a few times and the water temperature was down, but I never had to relight the fire - raked a few coals around and added kindling to get it going again.

 

[Jon E]

Just put more wood on top of the coals. That's all I do.

I only take ashes out about three times a year. I find that they hold heat and act as somewhat of an insulation, so that the temperature of the water jacket won't drop as fast if the fire is unattended for too long.

 

[blakey]

Just wondering if part of your issue with coals is from splitting the wood too small, with a large firebox maybe the wood separates too much when it burns down. Usually I have that problem with trying to burn large rounds without splitting. One piece of wood won't burn, you need that action between 2 or more pieces. I like pieces about 2 or 3 times as big as "normal" firewood.

Maybe this is not your problem but to me one of the big advantages of the OWB is not having to split nearly as much.

 

[varna]

go back to burnin green-thats what these things were made for

opcorn:

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I split my wood as though I was going to use it in a normal wood stove. I would say, size wise, it would be like a pile of cord wood you would have delivered. Not tiny.

I only split wood down to a size I can carry and load without straining. The bigger the wood the better it works for me. And I only load enough wood to keep the flame going for 12 hours. I rake coals to the front in a thin layer and the new wood goes into the back. This way the coals get the air first and mostly burn up before the wood in the back does.

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

go back to burnin green-thats what these things were made for

:notrolls2:

 

[Jon E]

go back to burnin green-thats what these things were made for

Suggest you educate yourself about the right way to use an OWB. While any wood burner CAN burn green wood, that's not the intent, nor is it the way the manufacturers expect you to use one. I imagine you're one of those people whose neighbors hate you because of the big clouds of smelly smoke coming out of your OWB. Treat your OWB the same way you'd treat an indoor woodstove - clean, DRY, split hardwood - and nobody will be pissed off at you.

 

[REDnekburner]

Suggest you educate yourself about the right way to use an OWB. While any wood burner CAN burn green wood, that's not the intent, nor is it the way the manufacturers expect you to use one. I imagine you're one of those people whose neighbors hate you because of the big clouds of smelly smoke coming out of your OWB. Treat your OWB the same way you'd treat an indoor woodstove - clean, DRY, split hardwood - and nobody will be pissed off at you.

huhj?

 

[Skiboat Dave]

Well, this year I have large round "dry" wood along with the dry split wood that I already have. I got so wound up the first year I put in the OWB, that I split about 24 cords ahead. :biggrinbounce2:

I need to burn that up before I can adjust my size of split.

I am actually frustrated because I like cutting and splitting and I don't need to. I have enough wood for this year and probably 1/2 of next year. :bang:

I guess I will keep playing with the "mix"

Maybe I should go home and turn on the hot water

 

[Marc]

Well, this year I have large round "dry" wood along with the dry split wood that I already have. I got so wound up the first year I put in the OWB, that I split about 24 cords ahead. :biggrinbounce2:

I need to burn that up before I can adjust my size of split.

I am actually frustrated because I like cutting and splitting and I don't need to. I have enough wood for this year and probably 1/2 of next year. :bang:

I guess I will keep playing with the "mix"

Maybe I should go home and turn on the hot water

24 cords = 1.5 years? 16 cords a year? Wow. That's a lot of wood.

Still, I'm between 2.5 to 3 years ahead. Keep cutting and splitting for now. Sounds like you can afford to unless you're running out of space to keep it.

 

[REDnekburner]

gotta keep warm right! i burn about 12 a year