First oven failure

[Tiger the Cat]

Built a dome oven and fired it last week,couldnt get over 250C even after 2 hours.
I think I made the dome too high and the arch also,I intend to knock this one down and start afresh.
Also,my wood did not burn at all well,maybe a bit damp as a lot of smoke.

Any tips or advice on where I might have gone wrong would be greatly appreciated.
Glad I found you online.

[david s]

Re: First oven failure

When ovens are new they still contain lots of water from the build. All new ovens are smokey. Read the thread on curing under heat management. I suspect there is nothing wrong with your oven, but you just need to drive off the water, this needs to be done slowly.

Try here

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/c...tml#post181550

[NCMan]

Re: First oven failure

Built a dome oven and fired it last week,couldnt get over 250C even after 2 hours.
I think I made the dome too high and the arch also,I intend to knock this one down and start afresh.
Also,my wood did not burn at all well,maybe a bit damp as a lot of smoke.

Any tips or advice on where I might have gone wrong would be greatly appreciated.
Glad I found you online.

Is there any insulation under and around the oven?

[kstronach]

Re: First oven failure

to me at first glance the opening does look at little on the high side? what is the height of your dome and entrance arch? you should be shooting for around 63%. if the entrance arch is too high the dome will lose too much heat but too small and it might not get enough airflow in. if the problem is to do with your opening to dome height you could rectify this by lifting your cooking floor by adding another brick on top or a storage heater brick or quarry tile depending on how much it needed raising, but don't panic yet because as david said new ovens need curing to drive the moisture out then don't perform to their best until after a few full firings.

keith

[Greenman]

Re: First oven failure

Each element contributes to the smoke problem in the beginning and good quality properly dried wood is a good start. It should improve as the oven dries out. I expect that if you demolished your oven and rebuilt you may still have the same issues until you get it dried out.
Act in haste, repent at your leisure.

[Tscarborough]

Re: First oven failure

Take off the front row of the entry, it is too deep and not needed. Reduce the size of the inner opening, mainly the height. Shoot for the top of the reduced arch to be in the 62-64% range of the finished ceiling height. To do this, the easiest way would be to cut your brick into 1/8 or 1/4 pieces, whichever work best on the ratio, and build the new arch abutting your existing inner arch so that you create a revel.

I would not worry about the overall ceiling height unless your goal is sub 90 second Neapolitan.

And if there is no insulation under the floor, tear it down and start over (I only say that as he has already admitted willingness to do so).

[Tiger the Cat]

Re: First oven failure

There is no proper insulation under the floor,only red clay bricks on top of concrete.
Same for the dome,clay bricks covered in mortar.
My feeling is to start again with firebricks and proper insulation
Also follow the plans for the low dome

[NCMan]

Re: First oven failure

There is no proper insulation under the floor,only red clay bricks on top of concrete.
Same for the dome,clay bricks covered in mortar.
My feeling is to start again with firebricks and proper insulation
Also follow the plans for the low dome

I think that is the best thing to do. In addition to using the plans as a general guide, there are lots of experienced folks here to help out w/advice if you need them when you rebuild. Best of luck to you.