AUF process

[Nogden3929]

Just received my AUF for my half pint and had some questions on use. Do you start the fire, get it burning, then turn on the blower? Do you leave it running entire time or need to turn off when adding wood? Any suggestions or tricks?

[psparr]

Get a few sticks lit, then it may help to turn it on to get the fire going.
You'll most likely want to turn it off when loading wood. Will probably shoot out sparks when you open the door.

[Sugarmaker]

Play with different methods. Getting the fire going with natural draft and then turning on the blower works best for our rig. I also have a damper in the pipe to control the flow of air. As mentioned you may have to shut the blower off during firing too.
We don't shut our blowers off during firing.
Regards,
Chris

[Nogden3929]

Got the AUF running, huge difference already. Only problem is we are getting ash everywhere. The door isn't seated like the air vent was and doesn't sit flush. Just enough gap for sparks and ash to blow out.

Any suggestions for sealing the door tighter on the forced air unit? It's the leader unit the hangs on the ash part of the door.

[Greensprings sugar]

Raise whole evaporator up 8in or so to create an ash pit! Ashes won't be problem then!

[deckers007]

I sealed my ash door with ceramic blanket, i have 2 fans for AUF and go most of the season without having to clean ashes, there just is not any to clean.