I just opened my second bag of pellets for my recently acquired Mesa XL. They were cheap, so likely not hardwood pellets. When I refill the stove and start to smother the fire, I use an old CPAP machine to relight the flames, essentially turning it into a blast furnace.
This is true I have an East Oak, but the center column doesn't have a bunch of holes. I might add some holes because I think this caught on fire better and quicker when you add pellets during a burn.
I didn’t notice any difference. It’s definitely less pellets, so it’s likely a shorter burn time, but you can easily add more without completely sniffing out the fire. All in, I think it’s a win to do this modification.
Maybe a tomato paste can with hole drilled? I have the ozark trail table top pit. It’s a bit larger in diameter. Maybe even a regular sized soup can. Not a durable as stainless but cheaper and can make more. Cool video.
You smothered the fire with pellets... You'd extinguish any fire by overloading it with non-burning material. A pellet fire is a top-down burn. Adding a bunch of pellets like that creates a bottom-up burn. Taking up space and adding more air will ultimately result in a shorter fire won't it?
Yeah, absolutely. I think the trade off here is that you can add more pellets at once without smothering the fire. I like to be able to dump a bunch on at once and not have to worry about it for a while. You could also just add a scoop on at a time every couple of minutes. Either way works, but I prefer to be able to dump a bunch and not worry about it.
I just opened my second bag of pellets for my recently acquired Mesa XL.
They were cheap, so likely not hardwood pellets.
When I refill the stove and start to smother the fire, I use an old CPAP machine to relight the flames, essentially turning it into a blast furnace.
That is similar to how the EAST OAK Smokeless Tabletop Fire Pit works!
Very nice! I’ve seen a few videos on the East Oak. It looks like a good unit as well.
This is true I have an East Oak, but the center column doesn't have a bunch of holes. I might add some holes because I think this caught on fire better and quicker when you add pellets during a burn.
Did it decrease in burn time compared to without it?
I didn’t notice any difference. It’s definitely less pellets, so it’s likely a shorter burn time, but you can easily add more without completely sniffing out the fire. All in, I think it’s a win to do this modification.
You could have bent out the tabs you cut off to keep that tube upright and centered.d out
Maybe a tomato paste can with hole drilled? I have the ozark trail table top pit. It’s a bit larger in diameter. Maybe even a regular sized soup can. Not a durable as stainless but cheaper and can make more. Cool video.
I love those ideas. Lots of options to DIY this! Thanks for watching.
You smothered the fire with pellets... You'd extinguish any fire by overloading it with non-burning material. A pellet fire is a top-down burn. Adding a bunch of pellets like that creates a bottom-up burn. Taking up space and adding more air will ultimately result in a shorter fire won't it?
Yeah, absolutely. I think the trade off here is that you can add more pellets at once without smothering the fire. I like to be able to dump a bunch on at once and not have to worry about it for a while. You could also just add a scoop on at a time every couple of minutes. Either way works, but I prefer to be able to dump a bunch and not worry about it.
Would adding a fire starter with the additional pellets help?
Yeah, definitely. Good call. Anything to help get some combustion to eat up the smoke helps.
what kind of pellets did you use?
I used hardwood BBQ pellets from Sam’s Club. I’m sure you can use any wood pellet but these work well for me. www.samsclub.com/sams/a/prod22631792.ip
Do you have a link to the parts
Here is the smoker box I got from Amazon: a.co/d/5TrJYnd
East oak Hack
I haven’t used East Oak, but I’ve heard good things.