Appalachian 52 BAY Wood Stove Insert

[coltfever]

No I will go by an electrical supply and pick up one. The switch in the my old Buck 26000 is a one switch 2 position. Manual runs one speed ( high only ) or auto position gives you the 3 speeds as it sees needed for the heat of the stove. I wonder if the newer Buck have changed like the way the Appalachian's stove is.

 

[clemsonfor]

i like the setup my High valley has, its got a reostat that is either off or what ever speed you set it on from super slow to very fast high. And then its got a manual or auto switch. This seems to be the best for me, casue you can choose low high or anything inbetween. But i usually only run high when really cold or i run it about medium to medium-low.

 

[begreen]

The Buck had a more complex switching, thermostat setup than you may want to tackle. IIRC, they used 3 snap switches for the automatic mode. The location of the 3 snap disks is somewhat important for proper operation. If a single snap-disk that simply turns the fan on/off at a set temp, (say 130F on the bottom of the firebed), then that might be easier to retrofit.

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or as an assembly:

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[mellow]

A multi-stage snap disk would be cool for this application, not able to find one yet. Just throw it on Auto and let it control the fan speed.

 

[coltfever]

Maybe mellow or begreen can tell me the color of the 52 Bay. Looking at the Stove Bright High Temp colors maybe Charcoal. I need to do a few little touch up on it.
The other day I got a package from Service Sales on an order I had placed and received it in a day and a half. Even the cats were in there that I thought were on back ordered ( wow what service ). Begreen you were right about the original cats that were in the stove. I put them into a bucket of warm soapy water and they cleaned up like new. So now I have an extra set for next time. Anyway my little stove project is coming along fine and hopefully after a little touch up paint on it I can bring it in the house.

 

[mellow]

You could try calling Appalachian directly, their phone # is (828) 253-0164. I like to call them just to bug the girl that answers the phone, just be warned, she is nice until you have a problem. I wouldn't buy the touch up paint from them, lord knows when they would ship it out, but get the color code so you can buy elsewhere.

If you want to be on the safe side Matt might know as well, give him a call, if anything he will call Appalachian and find out.

 

[begreen]

I emailed them, no response yet. A phone call would be quicker.

 

[coltfever]

Got it on order. Called Tina at Appalachian Stove and she had another name for it but she said its the same paint ( Stove Bright High Temp = Charcoal

 

[mellow]

Last night was the first night I could really load up the stove and let it do its thing, the low was only in the lower 40's, but I am happy so far with the results. I loaded it up at 9pm last night and as of right now at 9am the cat is still at 400 and blowing out useful heat, downstairs is still 75 and upstairs 72. I am a happy camper so far.

This weekend will be a better test, lows in lower 30's.

 

[mellow]

I am going to start looking for a variable speed switch for the fan on mine. I would like it quieter and these nights I do not need as much heat and the fan on low eats 78 w, to high for my tastes especially when I almost lost power during the hurricane, my last stove I could get down to 30 w on the variable speed switch.

 

[coltfever]

I still haven't loaded mine full. Put about 3 or 4 sticks for overnight so far. Our coldest night was 2 days ago at 33 degs and then back up to 65 and 70. I hate to keep starting a fire just for the nights. Right now the back door is open. Weather sure is nice but now I'm wanting it to cool down so I can keep my stove going. This stove is new to me and I need some operating time.
On my 52 Bay I did notice the other night when I had the air closed the flames were still a little more active than I thought it should be. Quick fix, The bottom screw on the right side bay window was loose. I went back and retighten all 4 of them just to be on the safe side.
I like the fan idea you have in mind. Keep posted how it works out. Even the low speed is faster than I would like.

 

[mellow]

Can't seem to keep my front window from blacking out. Seems the air wash is not that great with these stoves.

 

[coltfever]

Mine is the same way. We must have the same stove. Oh yea, we do.
Picture showing temp on one and the other side trim.

 

[mellow]

So I finally got sick and tired of the ash drawer leaking air. I have to have a ton of ashes over it or a log on top of it so it blocks the leak. The wife emptied the ashes (we don't use the ash drawer) and I was in a hurry the other night to load the stove, ran the logs N/S and due to the leak in the ash drawer my cat was pegged at over 2000 deg even with the bypass open.

So fast forward to Saturday, I went and bought some furnace cement and sealed up the opening to the ash drawer, I would have a pic of my cement job but the kids got on my phone and deleted it. My pics of the air leak during the fire made it through the kids delete spree on my phone. Tried re-gasketing the ash drawer and lever but still could not get it to seal good. So the ash drawer is now for looks only.

The stove is much more controllable now and I am getting longer burns to boot. Now I can close the air down fully and let the cat purr along at 1500. Also noticed I am not getting any blow backs with the air turned all the way down.

 

[mellow]

Also Saturday after finishing up the cement job I thought I would inspect the cats, so I go to take off the cat shield and the first bolt comes off without a hitch, go to work on the second bolt and it gets halfway and snaps, ugh, so I had to drill that out and retap for a new screw, after that I got around to inspecting the cats, they looked great, still brushed them off for kicks and giggles and put the cover back on.

 

[mellow]

UPDATE: Since sealing the ash dump and replacing the door gasket I have a much more controlled stove, this thing loves to have the air shut down completely (cat runs hotter), have not had any blow back issues so far and I am amazed at my burn times now, burning gum wood I am now getting 12 hour burns. I loaded up the stove last night at 8pm, closed the air fully at 8:30pm and when I checked it at 8:30am this morning the cat was still purring along at 450 degrees and it was still putting out hot air with the fan on high, it could have gone longer than 12 hours but I had to reload it to get to work.

Outside temps last night were in the lower 30's.

 

[begreen]

Nice to hear that you are getting the stove dialed in well mellow. Maybe give Appalachian a call and let them know your findings.

 

[mellow]

Thanks Begreen. One of the reasons I am documenting this is so that potential owners and current owners can get and give feedback on these stoves, I wish I could say that Appalachian would welcome advise on their stoves but they make it very difficult to contact them, so much so it makes you wonder if they really care about feedback.

Not sure how often they update these stoves, looks like development stopped 10 years ago and it is a cookie cutter mold to this day, I guess they feel if something works why update it?

Anyway, it is no Woodstock but it helps warm my house.

 

[mellow]

I keep forgetting to ask this, coltfever, do you have an IR gun to register temps? Wanted to know if you get higher temps on the right hand side of the stove just above the door than the left side. I get a 100 degree difference between the sides sometimes.

 

[weatherguy]

Sounds like a good stove with a couple kinks that need to be worked out, fortunately your handy and can tinker, sounds like it burns like the BKs now.

 

[coltfever]

No mellow I don't have an IR gun. I just go by Rutland on the right side of the stove. I thought I would share a few changes I have made with mine though.
(1) Put a off/on switch that sure comes in handy when removing ashes. I don't like or use the ash drop box. Its wired to the low side of the fan.
(2) The catalyst flame shield is very easy to remove but a pain to put back on as you well know. The two small bolts holes are kinda hard to see to line back up. You can see in the picture I cut 2 small treaded rod stubs and put those where the bolts go and now all you have to do is raise the shield up and put your washer and nut on. Another thing was the damper flame shield blocked any view of the catalyst and I notice pictures of other cat stove have where aleast you can see when active. Well I can now. Not the neatest job but I drilled alot of small holes and now I see active catalyst and also and ash fly dust that might build up.
I think this is a very good stove and as alot of stoves as you use them you can see where improvement are needed. Any changes I do can very easy be put back to original if needed.

 

[mellow]

I always thought it was nice to see the cat glow on my old Sierra cat insert but worried about flame impingement killing my cat, I will leave my cat shield stock on this stove for this reason.

Why is 'flame impingement' bad for the catalyst?

Direct flame contact is death to the catalyst. A catalyst burns the byproducts in the smoke. The gases such as CO, HC, and O2 ignite with each other in a chemical reaction in the presence of the catalyst (while passing through the honeycomb configuration). Direct flame inhibits this reaction by changing the chemical make-up of the catalyst breaking down the substrate or ceramic. Today's modern wood burning stoves are designed so that flame impingement is unlikely. However, it is not impossible. A strong fast draft can pull the flames into the catalyst. A hot fire with all the primary air controls wide open or perhaps the firebox door or ash pan door ajar are other ways the catalyst might receive flame impingement.

 

[mellow]

While I was sealing up the ash dump I took a picture of my liner just to see if I am getting any build up in the first few feet since my last cleaning when I installed the stove, can't complain about that. With the warmer weather I might be so inclined to go up on the roof and check the last few feet for buildup but I am pretty sure it will look the same as I see very little smoke after I engage the cat. Gotta love having a stove with a bypass, I did miss having that with my last tube stove, having to take that baffle down to see up the liner was a pain.

 

[coltfever]

I still have my stock cat shield also. The one on the stove is homemade. Like I say, I can go back original if needed. Did you ever put an off switch on your fan ? Also I did seal my ash drop door with furnace cement like yours. Looks like your stoves burning like it should.

 

[mellow]

I have mine connected to an APC 1500 UPS backup battery, it has a power switch on the front so I just turn it off when I want the fan off.

Which by the way, the fan in this thing is power hungry, 78 watts on high.