2022/23 VC Owner thread

[arnermd]

Well tragedy has struck.... I had a good burn today, low and slow, cat climbed slowly up to 1500, cat spiked to 1600 for a few minutes then dropped down to 1400. Went 12 hours on a 3/4 load with enough coals at the end to bring cat back to 700 and reload.

The tragedy was when I disconnected the data logger the batteries were near dead (normally it is plugged into the wall) and it corrupted the data file. So I have no proof.....

I did manage to grab a pic of the stack at cat = 1200... hard to tell but it looked liked all steam to me. Bright white and dissipated quickly.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

that looks clean..

 

[NewGuy132]

Ok so I don’t really have an update as I haven’t been able to clean/seal things.
However, today while at work my wife started up the stove. She sent me a text a couple hours later saying that she thought something might be wrong. I asked her what was up and she said that the cat temp was higher than normal other than that the stove was running great. I just got home and she said that the cat has been in the mid 900’s most of the day and the STT has been around 450 turned all the way down. I did smell the stove running when I got out of the truck so some smoke is getting out, but other than that it’s running like a top. Glass is clean, nice deep coal bed. I don’t know what changed to make it run right. Hell yesterday I couldn’t get a fire going to save my life(I think I’m in to some sub par wood from the bottom of the stack) and gave up. Today it runs like a dream. Whatever I’ll take it.

Oh also as a data point I grabbed a temp about 6 inches back on the exhaust abt it was 360, I got a temp about 8 inches up after my t and it was 188. It looks like I definitely have some leaks. Although looking at the choice of an install below are you surprised? They cut the flex line too short and had to add about 6 inches on with a spacer. It was a bad install and this is after having them back out to “fix” it.

 

[NewGuy132]

Also I swear I just heard the wife reload. I’m upstairs spending some time with the kids so I’m not sure but that would be a reload with a cat at 950 or so and STT at 450. Talk about a hot reload.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Also I swear I just heard the wife reload. I’m upstairs spending some time with the kids so I’m not sure but that would be a reload with a cat at 950 or so and STT at 450. Talk about a hot reload.

totally ok to do that.. maybe she did something a little different, maybe the wood like u said, definitely put some gasket where the pipe meets..

Maybe the wife is good luck and she is the stove whisperer.. stranger things have happened..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

my 5am.. getter goin fire

 

[Eman85]

If I could just get it to stop puffing! Last night reloaded and it was burning great for a couple of hours before I went to bed. Cat had run up to 1300's and was cruising along just fine, dropped into the 12's when I checked it and went to bed. Hours later I smelled the puff. Today loaded and running fine cat temp the 1100 range and the air cut back. Cat temp climbed into the 13's and settled nicely I walked back through the room about an hour later and watched it give me a nice puff.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

If I could just get it to stop puffing! Last night reloaded and it was burning great for a couple of hours before I went to bed. Cat had run up to 1300's and was cruising along just fine, dropped into the 12's when I checked it and went to bed. Hours later I smelled the puff. Today loaded and running fine cat temp the 1100 range and the air cut back. Cat temp climbed into the 13's and settled nicely I walked back through the room about an hour later and watched it give me a nice puff.

Back puffing is normal a lack of draft issue.. sometimes rarely.. there is to much offgassing in the box.. mostly happening when box is not full and draft is moderate if that..

 

[Eman85]

Box started off full last night but as it burnt down and had gas build up it puffed. Back to my design where it would open the primary air when cat temps dropped, that would solve the puffing issue. Last night high humidity but temps weren't very cold, makes draft slower.

 

[arnermd]

my 5am.. getter goin fire

View attachment 307608

Clean glass! Whoooooweeee..... I am jealous. Just took a razor blade to mine as the last 3 burns were unable to clean it up good....

Stove was cold all day. Firing up again now. I am into some crap wood, MC 18-19% and kind of light..... I should just throw it back where it came from, the woods. But I am a frugal yankee so I won't....

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Clean glass! Whoooooweeee..... I am jealous. Just took a razor blade to mine as the last 3 burns were unable to clean it up good....

Stove was cold all day. Firing up again now. I am into some crap wood, MC 18-19% and kind of light..... I should just throw it back where it came from, the woods. But I am a frugal yankee so I won't....

put it on a rack and let it dry.. or put it by the stove it will dry some and mix it in with something with a lower MC.. I don’t let anything go to waste..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Spent a couple hours cutting into rounds today.. most were in the 24nch diameter range.. got done at 9am.. went to cabelas.. then chilies for lunch.. turned the stove all the way back and still had lots of coals when we got back

 

[dmccoole]

Spent a couple hours cutting into rounds today.. most were in the 24nch diameter range.. got done at 9am.. went to cabelas.. then chilies for lunch.. turned the stove all the way back and still had lots of coals when we got backView attachment 307748View attachment 307749View attachment 307750View attachment 307750

My glass was dark like it usually is in the morning. Added 3 med splits and let it burn on high. 600 STT and most of it burnt off. But still have quite a bit of build up.

 

[arnermd]

My glass was dark like it usually is in the morning. Added 3 med splits and let it burn on high. 600 STT and most of it burnt of. But still have quite a bit.

Did you run it with the bypass open or closed? 100% air?

I have been struggling to get mine clean..... ran it yesterday with full air in bypass and cat mode.... 100% air 550STT. A little better but still gunky....

 

[dmccoole]

Did you run it with the bypass open or closed? 100% air?

I have been struggling to get mine clean..... ran it yesterday with full air in bypass and cat mode.... 100% air 550STT. A little better but still gunky....

Overnight with bypass closed ~10% air. This morning, bypass open with 100% air to try to burn it off. And I try to balance the wood up front near the glass to give it extra heat. That pic was after an hour of that. Doing another round now to see if it will continue to burn off. I may need to open some windows though! Getting warm in the house!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Overnight with bypass closed ~10% air. This morning, bypass open with 100% air to try to burn it off. And I try to balance the wood up front near the glass to give it extra heat. That pic was after an hour of that. Doing another round now to see if it will continue to burn off. I may need to open some windows though! Getting warm in the house!

View attachment 307780

thats the way to do it.. put a couple splits up front and let it cook a little... Its 71 in the living room.. I dialed it all the way back.. been like that for 4 hours now

 

[Jmorg]

thats the way to do it.. put a couple splits up front and let it cook a little... Its 71 in the living room.. I dialed it all the way back.. been like that for 4 hours now

Yeah those pieces up front really do clean it off nicely!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Yeah those pieces up front really do clean it off nicely!

View attachment 307829

I have found that you can beat up on the thin gaskets between the glass and the door frame.. one needs to be mindful and check them every so often.. air leaks happen

 

[arnermd]

I have found that you can beat up on the thin gaskets between the glass and the door frame.. one needs to be mindful and check them every so often.. air leaks happen

Yes for sure.... I found my screws will loosen over time. I changed out the philips head screws to torx bit for a better bite. I check them over 2-3 weeks. Not too tight or it could crack the glass.

Also I started shimming my glass to keep it from dropping in the frame. I fold up some AL foil and shim the bottom and sides to keep it from moving. Not too tight of course, needs some room to expand / contract. Sometimes I wonder if my glass is cut undersized to what it should be.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I personally think that the glass is a little on the small size.. Id like to see it a little bigger.. Where did you get the torx head at.. Amazon. Id like to swap mine out

 

[arnermd]

I personally think that the glass is a little on the small size.. Id like to see it a little bigger.. Where did you get the torx head at.. Amazon. Id like to swap mine out

Some really smart guy posted about the screws last year.... spoiler alert: it was me. hahaha

My Screw Posting

After getting the wrong screws once I realized they are special heads, Truss heads they are called. Never heard of those before this.
Pretty sure your stove uses the same screws I do.

I had the glass panel drop down low enough once last year where it opened up an air gap at the top..... that's when I started shimming, and put the new screws in.

 

[vernorz]

Time for an update on running the Dauntless without the cat. The past few days I've been getting the stove started from cold at about 6:00am and burning until about 9:00pm. I'm sure many of you already know this, but it's my first VC so it's taken some time to figure it out, but making sure there are enough coals pushed to the back against the secondary air holes is key to getting my setup to burn cleaner and longer.

If I don't hear the blow torch sound, I know I need to get the combustion chamber hotter. The intensity of the blow torch sound varies, but if I hear it, there is little to no smoke coming out of the chimney, but I can still smell it. I've even been able to turn the air down 3 clicks pretty consistently, and run with the STT around 450-500, and single wall temps of around 350, 18" up the pipe, using an IR thermometer. I've only had one time where the STT got to about 675 for about 15 minutes. I just pushed things around and it settled down.
I only load about 3/4 full, and I can get about 4 hours before I have to reload. STT are usually down around 250-300 depending on the wood. But I've been throwing a split or 2 in to keep temps up. Hope this is helpful for some running without a cat.

 

[arnermd]

If I don't hear the blow torch sound, I know I need to get the combustion chamber hotter.

Interesting.... when I hear the "blow torch" sound it means my cat temps are going to the moon.
What are you seeing for secondary combustion temps? Where the cat would be if you had one installed.

Not to surprising you can still smell smoke, without the cat you may not be getting complete secondary combustion. But maybe good enough....

 

[vernorz]

Interesting.... when I hear the "blow torch" sound it means my cat temps are going to the moon.
What are you seeing for secondary combustion temps? Where the cat would be if you had one installed.

Not to surprising you can still smell smoke, without the cat you may not be getting complete secondary combustion. But maybe good enough....

I don't have a probe installed, so no idea. I've read on here that's the secondaries firing. So you think I may be over firing?

 

[vernorz]

So the manual does say that is the sound of over firing. I guess my question now is, with no catalyst to get destroyed, how hot can the combustion chamber get before damage is done? And how do I tell if any damage has been caused?