18
After 17 or 18 minutes –
Secondary Air – adjust to suit
Primary Air – remains closed
Door – remains closed
Once the embers of the first refuel
phase are glowing then these can be
evenly spread with a poker or
companion tool and the main
refuelling wood can be quickly set.
Wood burns best if the flames have
other wood to ‘play off’. For example a
single dense piece of wood or log will
not burn as well as 2 or 3 smaller logs
of equivalent mass. The more contact
the wood has with each other piece,
the hotter the embers will be. 3 or 4
logs tightly packed to each other will
burn longer but at a lower temperature
than loosely criss-crossed logs.
Approximately 1.0 to 1.5kg of wood
logs can be added at this stage. Be
careful not to add too many logs as
they may ‘smother’ the fire. Try to avoid
Maximum height of wood fuel load
Maximum fuel load: This should never be higher
than the lowest part of the logo circle in the
tertiary air plate at the back of the firechamber
as shown.
setting the ends of the logs pointing
towards the glass as this can cause
staining which the Airwash may find
difficult to remove.
Only reduce the Secondary air control
when the wood has ‘carbonised’ and
the fire is burning at a high
temperature. This is when the ash on
the burning wood looks light grey and
virtually covers all of the wood. A flue
temperature gauge will be invaluable.
You will be able to tell when the stove
is at this stage by studying the colour of
the burning surfaces – the ‘lighter’ they
are the better the wood is burning.
If the log surface is predominately
black and / or the flames are a dull
orange then there is still some time to
go before the fire is operating at full
temperature.
Never leave the stove unattended after
refuelling until the flames are well
established on the new logs. Always
load onto a bed of hot embers.
Once the fire is established the flame
pattern can then be adjusted to your
requirements with the Secondary air
(Airwash) control.
Getting the balance right between a
gently burning stove and one that is
burning too slow, creating smoke and
causing the Airwash to fail and
consequently the glass to stain is very
much a matter of trial and error. If you
are burning well-seasoned wood then
a quick ‘blast’ of the stove operating at
‘full throttle’, with Secondary and
Primary air fully open, should quickly
burn off any deposits left from any
slower burning phase.
