Pro tip: check your fire pot before you blame your blower
Last Saturday I spent 90 minutes fighting a cold forge in my garage, convinced my $70 blower had finally died on me. Turned out a chunk of clinker the size of a golf ball had sealed off the tuyere, and once I chiseled it out the coal lit in about 4 minutes. How often do you all pull the fire pot apart, or do you wait until something acts up like I did?