How much should doors be closed..?

[picker77]

I have the usual sliding half-firebrick door setup front and back on my little single-burner, but I've been sort of winging it on how much and when/if to close the back doors. How much is too much? The front doors of course need to be open wide enough to get stock in and out, but is there a general rule of thumb for the back doors (assuming a stock length that doesn't require them to be open)? Seems I read somewhere the color of dragon's breath out the front is a visual key, but I can't find that comment again. I have tried closing the back all the way, and the forge runs ok like that and it doesn't seem to restrict the burner, but of course that results in a rather nasty blast out the front, which can sometimes make stock handling a little more uncomfortable.

[timgunn1962]

The real answer is "whatever works best for you".

There are waaay too many variables for a single answer to cover all the possible scenarios.

Even the color of the DB will vary in different ways with different setups: some will tend to richen up more than others once the openings become restricted. 

[picker77]

Thanks, Timgunn. Well, I must be somewhere in the ball park, because what I'm doing appears to work. I just didn't have any real idea what too much closure might do to the burner mix, or back pressure, or CO output, all some of the things that are still a bit of a mystery to me. I do keep a CO monitor on the wall about 8 feet away and I watch it closely, so I suppose I'm ok.

[Mikey98118]

You just need to run your equipment somewhat longer, and you will answer these questions for yourself