Solid Fuel Not Getting Hot?

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

 

Angiosperm wood tends to be more dense than gymnosperm wood. 

 

 

I must admit, I've only ever heard of Rosie and Gym, not Angi and Gym.

[magnetman]

Gym had a knot tied in it hence the nickname..

[gatekrash]

5 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Shows how long ago since I was involved with the Army Youth Team teaching survival.

 

I've still got a plastic box full of the stoves and tablets - JIC.

It was about 6 or 7 years ago they switched over I think. The new stuff has some advantages, you can light it with a spark, it's a whole lot cleaner, but it doesn't seem to put out as much heat as hexi did.

Keep that hexi sealed, the last lot I stored loose in their wax packets in the shed had done the whole sweating thing. Still lit fine though. The rest is in sealed plastic bags and still looks ok.

[Tracy D'arth]

56 minutes ago, nealeST said:

If you are using Morso stove you need to keep the door shut once lit. You are going around in a circle with it open and it’s consuming far too much fuel. The stove is designed to have the door shut and the vent only partially open when it’s underway. You can control the draw of the air into the fire by just a quarter of a turn. The top vent is rarely open. On the stove I had the thread was deliberately short only allowing for a slight opening. Use lots of kindling…stack it like a 'Jenga’ house and light scrunched newspaper. (3 Sheets). Let the kindling burn as fierce as possible and catch it once you have a really nice hot glow and knock it down. Now add your wood and coal…it should be really hot in there. You will have lit the kindling by having the door open a crack, no more than half an inch. The catch allows you to keep the door ajar. The kindling will roar whilst you have the door ajar and you are aiming for max heat. I always had fire brick in my Morso on the back and sides. It holds the heat and keeps the stove very hot once it’s going. I have had another variety of cast iron stove without fire brick…a lot more hungry for fuel. It takes a while for the stove to get to its working temp so be patient. Once it’s set up you will be able to keep it going constantly and maintain the fire by careful adjustment to the bottom vent. 
 

surely someone at the marina can help you out?  
 

if it’s a Morso I can promise you people in Sweden heat the whole of the downstairs of a 70 sq metre timber clad house with these stoves…in minus 15-20 degs. it’s definitely up to the job.

 

your chimney should be clean. I’m sceptical about wood burning on boats. You need a lot of it and ideally it should be dry stored for a year before you burn it….you have space for that on a boat? The stuff they sell in plastic bags in petrol stations here in the UK is rubbish. If it’s been kiln dried the energy has been sucked out if it. It’s purely for effect…not much heat to be had. 
 

sorry for the long reply and better luck with your heating.

But its not a Morso Squirrel stove! Its some cheap welded tin box of no name we know and with a dangerous flue.

We keep telling him it should be run with the door closed but either he doesn't want to know or it has killed him.

[magnetman]

I think the OP was a her not a him.

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

11 minutes ago, gatekrash said:

but it doesn't seem to put out as much heat as hexi did.

 

It must be pretty poor stuff, the hexi was very slow and struggled to get a kettle boiling - it'd almost get there but never really managed to get a good roiling boil.

 

Even the Hexamine manufacturers website says :

 

Disadvantages: With its brilliant portability does come some downsides.  We think the advantages far outweigh the hurdles to overcome, but you need to make your own mind up!  The biggest problem is that they can take quite a long time to cook.  If you are in a rush and don’t have much patience then perhaps this method of cooking isn’t for you.

Depending on how much you need to cook the cooking time can be reduced by adding a large amount of blocks at the same time.  If you go for this option remember you’ll need to stock up on hexi tablets!

The other disadvantage is that hexi stoves are prone to be affected by the wind.  With such a relatively low power heat source to cook on you need to shield the flame in windy conditions or you’ll be there for hours.

 

I did get some of the Swedish NATO 'field' individual stoves which are basically a small tin of chafing gel (with barely enough gel to get an MRE warmed up), They are good, in as much as they included a pan stand, and a book of matches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[rusty69]

Just now, magnetman said:

I think the OP was a her not a him.

 

 

Probably still is. Unless........... 

[Tracy D'arth]

2 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Probably still is. Unless........... 

That explains it.

[magnetman]

Blonde?

[Tracy D'arth]

Cheeky,  red heads light the best fires.

[rusty69]

Swan vestas? 

[magnetman]

7 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Swan vestas? 

No. They are pink. 

Although sadly no longer strike anywhere. Those were the days. 

[rusty69]

I thought the fire flame was pink 

[magnetman]

No that was the camera. 

[rusty69]

The camera was pink too? 

[magnetman]

Yes did you not notice the mirror?

[rusty69]

No. What mirror? Was that pink too? 

[magnetman]

No. 

[Alan de Enfield]

26 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

The camera was pink too? 

 

He was a member here (Chris Pink - not Camera Pink) and also one of those K&A protesters that can be seen on the George Ward videos.

[magnetman]

Yes I remember Mr Pink. Not of course a real name. 

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

He was a member here (Chris Pink - not Camera Pink) and also one of those K&A protesters that can be seen on the George Ward videos.

I thought crisp ink was what they used on walkers packets 

[nealeST]

1 hour ago, Jerra said:

Being scientifically challenged can you explain please how kiln drying "sucks energy" out of wood, please.

I'm also scientifically challenged and I'm not bothering to google anything. For two and half decades  I have felled and chopped Silver Birch, Spruce, Ash and Pine. I currently have a huge amount of Elm seasoning for next year all this winter that was chopped before midsummer. I can share with you that all the above combust at different rates, have different densities and certainly look and smell different. Silver Birch is my absolute favourite, is nice dense wood with fine grain. Pine goes like a rocket, can be quite sappy even when seasoned and is rated anecdotally as being good for clearing out your chimney as it burns fast. Silver Birch is a slow burner but the Elm wood is hard as nails and burns the slowest I've seen. Overall silver birch burns optimally with loads of heat output. As mentioned I always chop, by which I mean split the wood before midsummer and it drys outside until August where upon it is moved and stacked neatly for air ventilation in a purpose built wood shed. It remains there all winter until the following Autumn when, as per tradition and for countless centuries of practise the wood is now seasoned and ready to go. Not being an expert I'm not going to disagree with generations of people who have done this for a lifetime, I just follow suit. The stuff I've seen in petrol stations and in bargain stores in plastic bags looks that people take home to burn whilst they have their gas fired central heating running in the background feels nothing like it should. The fact that it is heated to dry it out means that energy that could be stored in the wood has been forced out leaving you with something combustable but very short term ie it will burn fast...just like chipboard or even cardboard.  I'm sure the text on the plastic wrapper is convincing in its claims about how much better it is to for-go the time honoured way of seasoning wood but as far as I can see the difference between the two is vast and I'm quite happy to make my own mind about that. I am suspicious in general of things that are processed and claim to be better.....

[booke23]

3 hours ago, magnetman said:

supertherm is DEFINITELY COAL. 

Manufacturer	Coal Products Limited at Immingham Briquetting Works, Immingham, North East Lincolnshire
(a)	comprise a blend (in the proportion of 19:1 by weight) of anthracite and medium volatile coal (as to approximately 93% of the total weight) and cold-setting organic binder or a molasses and phosphoric acid binder (as to the remaining weight)

 

 

Fuel ingredients from defra https://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/fuels.php?country=england

 

 

That's not what the specs for Supertherm say. 

 

[magnetman]

13 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

 

That's not what the specs for Supertherm say. 

 

 

Ah. There are several different Supertherm products. I see the one I found was 'Supertherm briquettes'. 

 

Fuel ID: (England)

0061

Fuel ID: (Wal, Scot & NI)

0061

Fuel name	Supertherm briquettes
Manufacturer	Coal Products Limited at Immingham Briquetting Works, Immingham, North East Lincolnshire
(a)	comprise a blend (in the proportion of 19:1 by weight) of anthracite and medium volatile coal (as to approximately 93% of the total weight) and cold-setting organic binder or a molasses and phosphoric acid binder (as to the remaining weight)
(b)	were manufactured from those constituents by a process involving roll-pressing
(c)	are unmarked ovoids
(d)	have an average weight of 160 grams per briquette
(e)	have a sulphur content not exceeding 1.5% of the total weight.

 

 

Slightly unsure as to how one would easily tell the difference. I don't know why but I think the ones the OP was burning are the coal variety. 

 

 

Maybe its a regional thing. Looks like the English version is the 'Supertherm'. 

 

Google result:

 

What is Supertherm coal made from?

 

 

Fuel ID: (Wal, Scot & NI)

Fuel name	Supertherm briquettes
(a)	comprise a blend (in the proportion of 19:1 by weight) of anthracite and medium volatile coal (as to approximately 93% of  the total weight) and cold-setting  binder or a molasses and phosphoric acid binder (as to the remaining weight)

33 minutes ago, nealeST said:

 I am suspicious in general of things that are processed and claim to be better.....

I think petrol station firewood is just low grade fuel. 

 

My absolute favourite firewood of all is Hawthorn. Well dried although my fire will happily burn it green when the firebox is hot.  Love it. Give me a mountain of hawthorn I am happy. 

[booke23]

12 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

Ah. There are several different Supertherm products. I see the one I found was 'Supertherm briquettes'. 

 

Slightly unsure as to how one would easily tell the difference. I don't know why but I think the ones the OP was burning are the coal variety. 

 

 

Ah yes I've experienced that before with smokeless products. The only way to know for sure is to look up the MSF number (This has to be displayed by law) on the bag rather than go by the name. I've seen some fuels with three different formulations under one name....I suppose it depends on what ingredients the yard has lying around when they are making it!