Don writes:
In October of '05 I decided enough was enough. Natural gas prices were expected
to skyrocket and I decided to "fight back" I ordered an Amaizablaze 7100 with all the trimmings in mid October '05. finally, on Dec 17, after a 2 month wait, I was on my way to pick it up. I had to drive all the way across the state of IA to get it, but it was worth the
savings in shipping, plus I got to meet the Gentlman I had been calling on a
regular basis to get answers to all the questions I had. One of the nicest guys
you will ever meet, Jerry Jackson. On the evening of Dec 19, A local dealer
arrived and installed the outside vent system, and by 8:30pm, it was ready to
fire. I was at this point still wondering if this stove was really going to heat
my house. All 2400 sq ft of it with only 6" of insulation in the attic and none
in the walls.
I couldn't sleep that night. I was afraid that it wasn't going to work and I was
going to have to turn my furnace back up.
Well it is now Jan '06 and all my worries are gone! This is the best thing since
sliced bread!!! The first night it run, it was 8 degrees outside and the stove
kept my house at a comfortable 72 degrees all night. Amazing!!!
The only real problem I had was relighting the stove after the first cleaning. I
got it started and thought that I needed to add a little more corn to get it
going untill the auger kicked in. Well, I snuffed the fire out. Just chalk it up
to the learning curve of owning one of these amazing stoves.
I pop the clinker out and fill the 115lb corn bin twice a day. The stove burns
about 2bu a day, which costs me about $4. I shut the stove down and clean out
the ash and heat exchanger tubes about once every 2 weeks. I have learned a real
good formula to restarting the stove. I would like to share it with you and all
the other people of the corn burning community.
This requires a glass pyrex cup, a microwave, a bottle of 91% alcohol, which you
can purchase at any drug store, wood pellets, and some plastic containers.
pour some wood pellets in a plastic container, and add some alcohol. make sure
you put in enough so that the pellets soak it up, and make sure to keep a lid on
it.take about 1/2 to 1 cup of corn (depending on the size of your burn pot) and
microwave it on high for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. This dries the corn out
further. Dump the hot corn in your burn pot. Fill it about1/3 full. Then, take
some of your alcohol soaked wood pellets and shake in a light layer on top of
the corn, just enough to lightly cover the top of the corn in the burn pot.
Throw in a match and it will instantly ignite. Close the burn chamber door and
thats it. The pellets will burn and ignite the corn in the burn pot. It should
be enought of a burn to kick on the auger. I learned this from the local dealer.
To date I am 110% satisfied with my stove and the way it performs. I would
encourage anyone to try this form of heating. It is the way to go!!!
He has not been burning for very long but it seems like he is happy to be here.
I have not tried his method of stove lighting. I have been real happy using the charcoal lighter fluid. Just a little sprayed over a chili can of wood pellets sitting in the burn pot. Put fire to them and it seem like it starts great every time. Much cheaper and better than gelled alcohol. The only trouble is (and I really can't believe I am making a product endorsement :-) I had been using Kingsford charcoal lighter fluid in the metal can. I switched to some off brand lighter fluid that I picked up at Menards. It was half the price of the Kingsford. It is in a plastic squeeze bottle. For one thing the bottle is very thin walled, so it is hard to not squeeze out a lot. Second, the nozzle holes are very large so that contributes to putting on a lot. It also seems like it is a touch more evaporant than Kingsford. I have only used it twice and both times I have gotten a POOF! when I put fire to the wood pellets. Not good. Damn shame I bought two bottles of the stuff. I guess I can always save it for the grilling season....
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