Am I doing this Right?

[ArmyMP]

Hi all. I bought a house last year that came with an Earth Stove Cat insert and I'm new to all of this and just want to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Yesterday, I relined the insert with new firebrick and removed and cleaned out the combustor the best I could. Huge difference before and after. It was really clogged when I removed it.

With the bypass damper open and the air control high, I use one duraflame firestart log (really small) and build kindling sticks (bought from lowes) above and around it in a grid pattern. I light it and when it gets good and hot I throw a small log on top and when that starts burning I'll throw another small log on. As it gets hot and starts burning I obviously start putting bigger logs on.

Once the cat reaches around 500-600 degrees I close the bypass damper to engage the combustor. However, once I do this the flames almost disappear. Is this normal? Is it because the wood isn't seasoned well enough? Occasionally a piece of wood will have moisture bubbling on the end which obviously means it's not seasoned well.

Also, once I turn the blower on, the temp usually drops to around 400 degrees. I turn it off and it goes right up to 1000. If I move the air control lever to the left (low) it seems to suffocate any flames that were dancing. I almost never move the air control to low.

Any tips, advice, suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[webby3650]

If you are seeing water bubble out then it’s wet, as you know. Do you have any idea how old that cat is?

 

[weatherguy]

When was the wood split?

 

[ArmyMP]

If you are seeing water bubble out then it’s wet, as you know. Do you have any idea how old that cat is?

I have no idea how old the cat is but it looked OK. Should I replace it?

 

[ArmyMP]

When was the wood split?

The guy I got it from said it was cut a year ago but recently split (ash). Although some of it was in halves so I split it again.

 

[ArmyMP]

I see some people talk about the cat glowing. Mine certainly doesn’t glow.

 

[webby3650]

I have no idea how old the cat is but it looked OK. Should I replace it?

Most likely, if you want optimal performance.
Ash is probably your best bet for dry wood that hasn’t been properly seasoned. Cut split and stacked for a year is optimal. Even longer for oak and hickory..

 

[weatherguy]

The guy I got it from said it was cut a year ago but recently split (ash). Although some of it was in halves so I split it again.

It's probably not optimal, cat stoves thrive on dry wood and aren't forgiving, maybe try burning bio bricks for half your load and see if the results are different. Sounds like your doing everything right other than burning well seasoned wood.

 

[ArmyMP]

It's probably not optimal, cat stoves thrive on dry wood and aren't forgiving, maybe try burning bio bricks for half your load and see if the results are different. Sounds like your doing everything right other than burning well seasoned wood.

Never heard of bio bricks but just looked it up. I may give them a shot and mix in with my load.

 

[HomeinPA]

Hi all. I bought a house last year that came with an Earth Stove Cat insert and I'm new to all of this and just want to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Yesterday, I relined the insert with new firebrick and removed and cleaned out the combustor the best I could. Huge difference before and after. It was really clogged when I removed it.

With the bypass damper open and the air control high, I use one duraflame firestart log (really small) and build kindling sticks (bought from lowes) above and around it in a grid pattern. I light it and when it gets good and hot I throw a small log on top and when that starts burning I'll throw another small log on. As it gets hot and starts burning I obviously start putting bigger logs on.

Once the cat reaches around 500-600 degrees I close the bypass damper to engage the combustor. However, once I do this the flames almost disappear. Is this normal? Is it because the wood isn't seasoned well enough? Occasionally a piece of wood will have moisture bubbling on the end which obviously means it's not seasoned well.

Also, once I turn the blower on, the temp usually drops to around 400 degrees. I turn it off and it goes right up to 1000. If I move the air control lever to the left (low) it seems to suffocate any flames that were dancing. I almost never move the air control to low.

Any tips, advice, suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I'm a little fuzzy on the details of this stove so......What other air controls are on the stove? Is there a second air control somewhere on that particular stove?? Are you sure the air control is actually open?

How is the insert installed, hooked up to a stainless liner or just slammed into the fireplace and venting through the original fireplace damper?

 

[weatherguy]

Never heard of bio bricks but just looked it up. I may give them a shot and mix in with my load.

Try them out. may answer your questions and solve you problem.

 

[ArmyMP]

I think part of my problem was not putting enough wood in the box. I just stuffed it with fuel, a mix of forewood I bough tfrom someone and some logs I got from the store. The combustor is glowing now! I’m guessing that’s good.