2013 VC Burning Thread

[jharkin]

So last night I tried lighting off the cat earlier than I did before and it works pretty well. I ran it on bypass for the first small load and engaged the cat on the second. With the damper wide open the cat heated up steadily from about 500 to 1200, where I started to throttle it back, but I was behind the curve and opened the bypass when it hit about 1400. I repeated that process a few times, with a couple of reloads, and started to home in on cruising in the 1300's.

And here's where I discovered I'm an idiot - I had the fan controls reversed. Apparently the fan lever goes OFF: HIGHLOW, not OFF:LOWHIGH. So I had been running the fan at minimum speed. :| When I started running the fan at high speed the cat temp started to slowly fall, which I think is due to increased heat transfer. This should also make the stove temperatures easier to control.

Question: what rate of temperature increase is considered dangerous? I was getting at most about 50F/minute.

Nice catch on the blower

I think you are doing fine, dont be afraid to crank it up. When mine lights off strong the cat tamp can shoot from 500 to 1200 in literally 3-5 minutes. 1400 is nothing to worry about either, I only start to get nervous and watch it like a hawk when I hit 1600+. Ive only done the dump heat trick when it hits 1700.

And dont be afraid to engage the cat on the first cycle, you are just wasting heat otherwise.... As long as the wood is charred and the flue gases are over 500F you should be safe to go.


Looks like you are on your way to getting it dialed in, welcome to the VC family!

 

[R2.0]

Nice catch on the blower

I think you are doing fine, dont be afraid to crank it up. When mine lights off strong the cat tamp can shoot from 500 to 1200 in literally 3-5 minutes. 1400 is nothing to worry about either, I only start to get nervous and watch it like a hawk when I hit 1600+. Ive only done the dump heat trick when it hits 1700.

And dont be afraid to engage the cat on the first cycle, you are just wasting heat otherwise.... As long as the wood is charred and the flue gases are over 500F you should be safe to go.


Looks like you are on your way to getting it dialed in, welcome to the VC family!

The charred wood is where I'm having a bit of trouble. Because it is slabwood a heavy load will necessarily have some pieces where the flat sides are together, so they have trouble with the whole surface charring. What is the significance of getting the surface to char? Is it simply to make sure the first rush of volatiles from the wood surface are gone?

 

[grobinson2]

I have to say the more I burn my 2 in 1 the more I love this stove! Still wish my glass would stay clean though as it blacks out after the first fire. Heats great though!

Glenn

 

[jharkin]

What is the significance of getting the surface to char? Is it simply to make sure the first rush of volatiles from the wood surface are gone?

I believe its more to boil off surface moisture and get the temps up hot enough to light off the cat without any steam shock. I wouldn't worry that 100% of the load is black so long as the flue temps are good and the cat lights.

I have to say the more I burn my 2 in 1 the more I love this stove! Still wish my glass would stay clean though as it blacks out after the first fire. Heats great though!

Glenn

Awesome Glenn! I dont recall if this is your first stove or not... It does get a bit better as the temps go down and you push the stove hotter... but its never going to be as clean as a tube stove so no worries and welcome to the club!

 

[grobinson2]

Thanks jharkin,
I had a 1945 that I redid and burned for a month or so before I got this one.

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[jharkin]

In that case wait till the second and third years... The farther ahead you get on the wood supply also helps the window blackening issue.



In other news... *I* am happy to report that all is now right in the world with the new ceramic catalyst. I have not had a single stall or runaway since I put it in and fixed my stuck air door. Lightoff is a tad slower but not enough to be bothersome and other then that its been phenomenal and seems to hold the heat much deeper into the cycle. I feel like finally after 5 seasons I have this stove running like it was designed to!

 

[Diabel]

It is nice to hear that your stoves are working to your satisfaction.

I am sad to announce that my limping 0028 is down and out!! NG is heating the house 100% since last Tue. Not a nice sound....
Last weekend the stove did not burn right, I knew something was up. I decided to open the back access panel on Tue. Well, a deformed cat has fallen to the bottom of the refactory box, the box has fallen apart as well. Nothing can be salvaged. Called the supplier...$660 in parts!
The plan was to finally rebuild my 2550 that is sitting in the basement. And swap the two in the summer. I was hoping that the 0028 will be able to last until April.

I thinking of actually jigging something up... I do have a refactory box (ok shape) from another 2550. It would require some precision cutting and glueing etc. I would loose the back access to service the cat. I also have an extra cat in a decent shape. The problem I see is that the opening is the box (where the smoke enters) is about an inch lower on the 0028 which means more cutting and glueing. Also, the 0028 has a sheet of stainless steel heat exchanger shield in front of the box behind the lower fireback. Mine is completely done!
Cost $153.00 for a piece of steel 7x7 inch!!
To solve this and to save the cat from flame hitting it directly, I will try to somehow attach a hood from the 2550 to solve he flame issue.

I am off th HD to pick up some stainless steel bolts and screws and will attempt this project this weekend. I am not very optimistic but if I can make it work for another six weeks then I will be happy. Wish me luck....

 

[R2.0]

I have given serious thought to either making my own refractory or, even better, casting it in place. If corrugated cardboard is used as cores to form the passages, and it is oriented correctly, it could be left in place and consumed during the first fire of the cat.

 

[jharkin]

Thoughts on coal management and reloads...

Guys, I tried something new last night with respect to coals and reloads. When its cold and I'm burning hot and I have a lot of coals I just level out the bed, which we know works great. On milder days when I would let the stove nearly burn down cold between loads and there are minimal coals I would tend to rake them into a pile up front (like the noncat guys) and then reload. This helps things ignite because the airwash feeds the coals, but Ive found that it takes a really long time to get the stove hot enough to engage the cat because the fire starts down front and only very slowly burns toward the back. In this situation it would sometimes take 40 minutes to get hot enough to light off the cat again.

So last night I tried something new. Only a small amount of coals and griddle temps had fallen to 250. I stirred the coals till most of the ash had fallen down to the pan, then raked the coals into two N-S lines aligned with the andirons running from the window to the back of the stove. I left an open space in between and then loaded the stove full (kind of like the "tunnel of love" ash trick, but with coals). The result? the load takes off like a rocket, airwash flows down under the load and fires of the two lines of hot coals which gets the entire base of the pile burning and the stove heats up fast. I was able to engage the cat in under 15 minutes!

Anyone else try this or have other methods for reloading on minimal coals?

 

[grobinson2]

I was so pleased with my stove today guys I just had to brag about it. I had it burning all last night and this morning and this afternoon I reloaded the stove with some just split wood that was cut about two years ago but just split like I just said. Anyway the cat temp was at 750 - 800 F when I opened the bypass and added the wood. Closed the by pass and the cat shot to 1400 in under 15 seconds. Not a wisp of smoke out the chimney. Cat stayed at 1400 and griddle top stayed at 500F all afternoon and evening. This was with total crap birch wood that was kind of punky. Very very pleased. Of course my glass is as black as the white house at the moment, but oh well.

Have a nice evening,
Glenn

 

[firewoodjunky]

I have to say the more I burn my 2 in 1 the more I love this stove! Still wish my glass would stay clean though as it blacks out after the first fire. Heats great though!

Glenn

Glenn,

I am currently on week 4 of perfectly clean glass. I had some issues with blackening earlier in the year but I think it is because I was burning a bit too low temperature wise.

 

[grobinson2]

WHAT! Week 4 Give me a brake! I am running the stove at 500F!

 

[firewoodjunky]

WHAT! Week 4 Give me a brake! I am running the stove at 500F!

Yup, week 4. GT is usually around 550 to 625 peak temp. Glass is staying perfectly clear. I dunno.

 

[grobinson2]

Hummm.... Are you running in cat mode? How dry is your wood? How full do you load the stove? What type of wood are you burning (small splits or large)? What kind of burn times are you getting? What is your cat temp if running in cat mode? I am going to get my glass clean one way or the other!
Thanks again,
Glenn

 

[jharkin]

Yes running it hard will certainly keep the glass clean. If I close mine down all hte way for an overnight burn the griddle cruises low like 400 and the glass soots up no matter how dry the wood is. You can have 1500 cat tamps at the same time though and be burning clean flue wise.....

 

[firewoodjunky]

Hummm.... Are you running in cat mode? How dry is your wood? How full do you load the stove? What type of wood are you burning (small splits or large)? What kind of burn times are you getting? What is your cat temp if running in cat mode? I am going to get my glass clean one way or the other!
Thanks again,
Glenn

Yup, running in CAT mode. Wood is pretty dry - 3 yo old oak at night and 2+ yr old cherry during the day. Splits are a mix, medium splits to big splits and occasionally a small to medium sized round at night. For an overnight burn I lay down three of the smaller splits then load the bigger ones on top of that and if I have a round or two fill those on the top. Burn times with a load of oak - I am getting 8 to 9 hours at over 500 GT, would easily get 12 to 14 if I let her slip down below 300, but with the current temps that isn't going to happen yet. I reload with cherry in the am before I leave for work. Cherry splits on a full load give me around 6 to 7 hours, maybe more at over 500 GT - I don't run the stove during the day usually. Cat temp - unknown

 

[Reckless]

I feel like finally after 5 seasons I have this stove running like it was designed to!

Dont you do that! Shhhhhh youre gonna wake the encore overfire ferries!! hehe

Thoughts on coal management and reloads...

Anyone else try this or have other methods for reloading on minimal coals?

Yea I find that when I have minimal coals I do something similar, I rake forward and put a 4-5" gap in the middle to help air get under.

 

[grobinson2]

Okay, well I am getting some nice long burn times so I guess I just have to play with the stove some more. When you guys load, do you clean the ash away from the holes and opening that go back to the everburn/cat area or do you let that cover over?

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[firewoodjunky]

Okay, well I am getting some nice long burn times so I guess I just have to play with the stove some more. When you guys load, do you clean the ash away from the holes and opening that go back to the everburn/cat area or do you let that cover over?

Thanks,
Glenn

I just let it build up. I do find that there is a "sweet spot" with ash buildup, once I go past that point I need to up my airflow more to get similar burns. Once I hit that point I try to pick a mild day (not so easy with this recent weather) where I can burn it down enough to get a decent cleaning of the ash bed.

It may be possible to get more time if I cleaned around the back of the everburn/cat area but it seems if I need to let it cool down enough to clean some of the ashes I might as well just clean as much as I can....

I am cheap and don't like to burn oil

 

[grobinson2]

Hey Guys, I just came across a nice supply of treated fence posts that are shot for posts but fine for burning. I am under the impression that I can not burn these with the cat installed but if I burn them with the cat out and just use the ever-burn it should be fine right? Yes I am aware hey are bad for your health and so on and so forth. It is in a sealed stove so I am not worried about that.

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[elmoleaf]

Hey Guys, I just came across a nice supply of treated fence posts that are shot for posts but fine for burning. I am under the impression that I can not burn these with the cat installed but if I burn them with the cat out and just use the ever-burn it should be fine right? Yes I am aware hey are bad for your health and so on and so forth. It is in a sealed stove so I am not worried about that.

Thanks,
Glenn

Seriously? No. Never Burn Treated Wood.
Ever.
For many years, the most common preservative for treated wood was CCA, a combination of chromium, copper and arsenic. When wood treated with this preservative is burned, some of the arsenic is released into the air with the fly ash, and the rest is concentrated in the ash that remains.
Yummy, arsenic. Poison.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Hey Guys, I just came across a nice supply of treated fence posts that are shot for posts but fine for burning. I am under the impression that I can not burn these with the cat installed but if I burn them with the cat out and just use the ever-burn it should be fine right? Yes I am aware hey are bad for your health and so on and so forth. It is in a sealed stove so I am not worried about that.

Thanks,
Glenn

I would not do it, so why should you..... Just saying, don't burn ****

 

[grobinson2]

Thank you guys for the concern but I am fine with burning the treated wood. I have burned truck loads of telephone pole buts in an out door boiler with out any issues and am only really trying to make sure they wont hurt the stove. I know with the poles those that were treated with creosote would just smolder and besides that supposedly will attack stainless steel so I would throw those to the side, but the CCA wood burned great. The CCA was stopped in 2003 for the most part by the way, however these posts were prior 2003 so I am sure it is in there. As far as the ash goes it is burred for a shooting range backstop so I am not worried about that ether.

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[BrotherBart]

Just don't be blowing chromium, copper and arsenic out of your chimney around me.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Thank you guys for the concern but I am fine with burning the treated wood. I have burned truck loads of telephone pole buts in an out door boiler with out any issues and am only really trying to make sure they wont hurt the stove. I know with the poles those that were treated with creosote would just smolder and besides that supposedly will attack stainless steel so I would throw those to the side, but the CCA wood burned great. The CCA was stopped in 2003 for the most part by the way, however these posts were prior 2003 so I am sure it is in there. As far as the ash goes it is burred for a shooting range backstop so I am not worried about that ether.

Thanks,
Glenn

I'm sure your neighbors are thrilled.