hot air furnance

[allagashwoods]

Hi, I got an off brand wood fired hot air furnance to heat my firewood kiln and the manual said to season the furnance by opening the air flow to the forced air blower all the way. According to the instructions I am supposed to let the furnance heat up to 6-8 hundred degrees for an hour, as per the temp. gauge the gave me. My problem is I can't get the temp over 2 hundred degrees unless I open the door a least halfway. Is this normal? The firebox takes 42 in. wood and is filled with only 2 year split seasoned oak. Any thoughts?

[beenthere]

My thought would be when you said "filled" with wood, that there is too much wood to burn well.

I'd be building a small fire first, and add wood to get the temps up to "season" the furnace. I'm thinking the 'full' load of wood just isn't burning well.

[sparky1]

is the blower going the right way?

[allagashwoods]

Hi, The furnance is only started with a small fire and then I add wood as it burns. The fan is going the right way, I checked that. It's weird, I've had barrel stoves that get the stack temp over 8 hundred degrees so I thought that this furnance with the forced air system should at least duplicate that. The furnance is being used to dry firewood and I get the inside kiln temp over 180 degrees but not without leaving the door open all the time. This furnance was the most expensive part of my kiln build and the most frustrating, I'm thinking I could have spent a tenth of the cost on a double barrel stove and gotten better results.
                                                 Thanks

[doctorb]

I'll add an uneducated opinion, if I may.  You fire sounds as if it's air starved.  Something is blocked or closed or running in the wrong direction.  Check the air intakes, the direction of the blower, whether the blower is the correct unit for your furnace and check all outflow ducts and chimney to make sure they are wide open. Is there a damper like on an indoor wood stove?  That can prevent a new fire from progressing.  Keep us posted.

[allagashwoods]

doctorb, I agree with you that the furnance is air starved. Tomorrow I will let it burn down,clean it out and begin a compete check on everything. No damper, just a loading door on the front and an ash cleanout door below the loading door. I'm inclined to think the problem is in the blower,either blocked or undersized for the furnance. Thanks to all for the advice,I'll kept posting with the results of my findings.

[Crappiekeith]

doctorb, I agree with you that the furnance is air starved. Tomorrow I will let it burn down,clean it out and begin a compete check on everything. No damper, just a loading door on the front and an ash cleanout door below the loading door. I'm inclined to think the problem is in the blower,either blocked or undersized for the furnance. Thanks to all for the advice,I'll kept posting with the results of my findings.

I agree!

[screwsloose]

Not Sure if you have this problem figured this out yet? what kind of furnace are you using? some come with thermostats for the air inlet.

[shelbycharger400]

what do you have for a chimney?  if the smoke cant get out you will have problems as well !   my indoor stove has a 6 in flange but i put in an adapter and used 8 in class a.  It draws well all the time!    when the wind is only lightly blowing, you should hear the draft with your door open with no fire going at all in their.   I have NO reclaimer and no baffels in the chimney, i only have a dampener on the air intake. winter time id get a fire going, shut the doors with the dampener open,  30 minutes later or less i had a roaring fire, throw it shut, watch the flames slowly flicker. 
Check the Exhaust first! stoves like NO backpressure! The more bends you put in it the worse it gets.

[blades]

It is just possible that the oak you putting in is not dry enough internally. Switch to some other wood species that does not require 2-3 years to dry or use much smaller dia splits. Yes I saw that it was 2 year split seasoned oak, 2 worst wood types i know of to dry are Hickory and White oak, followed by any other oak.  Another choice use a bunch of cut up pallets But do not fill it full of these as it will go ballistic. Most of the Hot air furnaces I have seen ( specially off brand types) were designed as coal units and are a bit of a pain when using wood.

[allagashwoods]

Hi, Sorry about not getting back with what the problem was, it was a blocked forced air blower, I cleaned it out and it works fine. Now for another question, should I have a damper on the flue pipe? I would think I should just like a wood stove where you get a good fire going and then shut down the damper and you can really feel the heat radiate off the stove.
                              Thanks,[again]

[sparky1]

I wouldnt think you would, unless the directions tell you to.

[beenthere]

Now for another question, should I have a damper on the flue pipe? I would think I should just like a wood stove where you get a good fire going and then shut down the damper and you can really feel the heat radiate off the stove.

Before answering that damper question, need more information (and a good pic) of your wood stove.
Your comment "really feel the heat radiate..." makes me wonder a bit too.


What "blocked" the blower?