Can’t get Woodstock Fireview above 400

[3650]

Absolutely but that will take a while to get so I wonder if it’s ok to keep doing what I’ve been doing as I need some heat in the house. Until a new cat arrives.

 

[fire_man]

Its ok to use a combustor that is cracked - its not going to hurt the stove and as long as most of the substrate is intact (as yours is) it will still work. Its just important to heat the load of wood up to drive moisure out before engaging the cat.

Follow WS instructions for properly heating up the stove prior to engaging the cat. Don't leave the cat engaged when the loading door is open.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Absolutely but that will take a while to get so I wonder if it’s ok to keep doing what I’ve been doing as I need some heat in the house. Until a new cat arrives.

I would.

 

[3650]

Oh good. I was afraid I was going to have to spend the day wrangling stoves around and fighting stove pipe. I’d much rather focus my attention to my recliner!

 

[fire_man]

I did not re-read all the post here but are you getting alot of heavy coaling between reloads or is it burning down to ash?

 

[3650]

I have been reloading at 250 so not really getting to that stage. When I let it burn out finally there was some cold coal left. I wouldn’t call it heavy, but my wood burning experience is very old school.

 

[fire_man]

Usually wet wood causes heavy coaling. I had that problem with the FV.
Your picture does not look like heavy coal which leads me to think your cat is toast.

 

[3650]

Yeh I’ll contact WS tomorrow and get the stainless one ordered

 

[fire_man]

Make sure WS knows you are switching from a ceramic to a stainless. The setup is a little different.

 

[3650]

Will do. Thanks.

 

[fire_man]

I also wonder if you have air leaks in the stove which would exlain the 4 hour burn times- definitely mention the 4 hour burn time.

 

[webby3650]

I wonder if it’s ok to keep running it like this. There’s some cool weather coming tonight and my house is already 68. I haven’t got a furnace other then my coal furnace. I can burn wood in it but have to reload about every 3 hours.

I’ve got an elm stove I can pull over to the chimney but it’s only slightly more efficient then burning wood in the coal furnace.

It’s fine to run like it is. It’s very common to see cracks in ceramic cats, almost unavoidable. The cracks shouldn’t be to the point that the cells are falling out.

 

[Woody Stover]

I got the stove shut down. It appears I have seriously cracked the cat. Not sure how I did that....There were some comments about being able to see the cat glow. I never saw it and I’m wondering how you see it.

If the cat is hot, and you open the door and load more wood, moisture can 'thermal shock' the cat. When reloading, open the bypass for a few minutes to let the cat cool, before opening the door.

important to heat the load of wood up to drive moisure out before engaging the cat.
Follow WS instructions for properly heating up the stove prior to engaging the cat. Don't leave the cat engaged when the loading door is open.

Right, if the wood is still a bit damp, burn it longer to drive off the moisture. When the stove top is at around 200, you can try closing the bypass and see if the cat starts to burn. As mentioned, you might need to keep a little flame going in the box to keep drying the wood. You don't want big flames that will hit the cat when you close the bypass, though.
To see if the cat is glowing, you get your head down kinda low and look up through the window, through the metal mesh on the front of the combustor scoop. Now, if you have some flame in the box, that will be burning some of the smoke, and the cat may not glow very bright. The cat doesn't have to be glowing to be burning smoke, but you should see a steady rise in stove top temp if the cat is burning.

I have been reloading at 250 so not really getting to that stage. When I let it burn out finally there was some cold coal left.

Having some black charcoal left in the box may indicate that the wood is damp. Is your window getting pretty dirty? That happens with damp wood as well.

Make sure WS knows you are switching from a ceramic to a stainless. The setup is a little different.

Right. To switch to steel, you also have to get the stainless combustor scoop with the screen on the front to catch some of the fly ash and keep it from plugging the cat. Every so often you'll need to remove the cat and dust the front and back with a soft brush, then manually blow it out to remove any remaining ash in the cells.
If the cat never glows, you can try a ceramic cat from firecatcombustors.com. It's about $200. You also need some interam gasket to wrap the two cat sections, to seal smoke from getting past the cat between the cast iron cat housing and the cat itself.
The stainless cat is cheaper, so with it and the stainless cat scoop, cost might be about the same. I recently put in a ceramic cat, and swapped back to the original cast iron cat scoop on my Keystone, and it seems to be working well so far. Stove top temps generally go up around 500-550. That's partly because I don't like to see the cat glowing very brightly, I prefer a medium red glow, not a real bright orange glow. I figure this will be easier on the cat in the long run.
I wouldn't give up on the old cat just yet, though. If you had 620 on the stove top with that wood that dried in the house for a while, unless you had huge flames in the box, that cat was blazing!

 

[3650]

I pulled the cat at cleaned it and the intake screen. The screen was fairly plugged with ash.

The wood I brought indoors is much drier now. I threw some in and fired it up today. I let it burn a little longer to dry it out more. Closed the bypass and set the draft to 2 for about 10 minutes. Stove top got up to 550. I lowered the draft down to .75 and about 10 minutes later it was at 600. So it’s looking much better. I can even see the cat glowing now.

 

[Woody Stover]

I pulled the cat at cleaned it and the intake screen. The screen was fairly plugged with ash.
The wood I brought indoors is much drier now. I threw some in and fired it up today. I let it burn a little longer to dry it out more. Closed the bypass and set the draft to 2 for about 10 minutes. Stove top got up to 550. I lowered the draft down to .75 and about 10 minutes later it was at 600. So it’s looking much better. I can even see the cat glowing now.

Whew, if that's with the bypass closed, that's some serious flame goin' on! Cut 'er down under 1 for a longer cat-only burn..if that still gives you enough heat. It's not a huge firebox. I've wondered why Woodstock never offered a bigger firebox in a straight cat stove; That could get some looong burn times, I bet..
You said "screen"..has it got the stainless cat scoop, or the original cast iron? What is the mfg. date on the metal tag?

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Is the stove throwing enough heat to keep you warm? What's your sq.ft, layout, insulation/air-sealing level and so on?
Nice zombie avatar. I just got done watching OTA TV..."Night of the Living Dead"

 

[moresnow]

I pulled the cat at cleaned it and the intake screen. The screen was fairly plugged with ash.

The wood I brought indoors is much drier now. I threw some in and fired it up today. I let it burn a little longer to dry it out more. Closed the bypass and set the draft to 2 for about 10 minutes. Stove top got up to 550. I lowered the draft down to .75 and about 10 minutes later it was at 600. So it’s looking much better. I can even see the cat glowing now.

Sounds like your getting everything figured out. Good to hear. Guessing the heat output has started to increase nicely.

 

[3650]

I have the cast iron cat but there is an expanded metal screen in the front of the stove. I figured it was the intake to the cat. I can see the cat glow behind it.

I cut it back to 2 for about 10 minutes after cat engagement then .75. I got about 6 hour burn with a lot of flaming coals left then I reloaded. The stove was about 300. I could have waited longer but the timing was an issue.

My house is 108 year old split faced block cottage. 1100 sq. ft. It’s not insulated. The heat pours out of it. The blocks are heat sinks. I live in a tomb essentially. Half of the windows are newer Anderson’s. I’ll work on the other half this summer.
Thinking about studding out the interior walls and insulating but most everything I have read says not to insulate split-faced block as it needs the heat in the winter to dry the mortar joints out and keep them from rotting.

My avatar is a pic I snapped off my tv screen. It was actually a western but I have forgotten which one. I put that on there many years ago. I remember though that the guy was stranded in the desert that’s why his face was so burned up. Lol

Btw, I did a little cooking on it. Bacon and eggs for supper last night. Then I dumped black beans in the bacon grease added garlic and salt. Simmered overnight and they turned out very tasty this morning.

 

[Woody Stover]

I guess I've got Old-Timer's...I don't see the post now but I remember you describing the block construction, and me saying that even if the stove was working well, it still might be tough to heat.
And I should have seen the cast iron cat scoop/expanded metal in your previous pic.
"Earth to me...earth to me...do you copy??"
Looking online, I see that insulating block walls can present problems..
It didn't take the pooch long to find a comfy spot.
I haven't cooked on the soapstone stoves but I'll pre-heat coffee water on it. Clearly a plate-steel stove will have a hotter stove top and bigger flat space, and be better for cooking. My Keystone has even smaller flat spaces on the top, with three sections..can't get a pan flat on there.
I totally agree..."Bacon and eggs..they're not just for breakfast any more."

Another story for your avatar could be that you got cooked when you dozed off too close to the stove, before you had cut the air fully.

 

[begreen]

Now yer cookin', literally too.

 

[3650]

Lol thanks guys.

I was looking at cats and came across this reasonably priced one. It says it’s for the Fireview but doesn’t quite look the same. Is this just one side and I’m meant to buy two?

205 Fireview

Firecat has been manufacturing EPA approved catalytic combustors here in the USA for over 30 years. We provide the best wood stove combustors on the market.

www.firecatcombustors.com

 

[Woody Stover]

I was looking at cats and came across this reasonably priced one. It says it’s for the Fireview but doesn’t quite look the same. Is this just one side and I’m meant to buy two?

Yep, you need two sections, as I just found out when I ordered that "deal" recently. If I'd thought about that picture a bit, I'd have figured that out up front. I wouldn't think anyone would order just one section, but I guess it could happen.
But if the one you have lights off well on dry wood, and glows for several hours, you may be able to ride it for a while longer.
The steel cats from Woodstock are cheaper as I mentioned. You could just get the steel cat, and not the stainless cat scoop/screen, but it might need to be brushed more often since the expanded metal lets more dust through, and the cells of the steel cat are smaller.
The weight of the cast cat housing is enough to seal it against the gasket underneath, but I use the shipping bolts to hold the steel cat a little tighter to the gasket since it is a lot lighter. So then you have to take the two bolts loose to remove the steel cat for brushing, instead of just lifting the lid and grabbing the cast frame/ceramic cat out. There's no interam gasket needed for the steel cat.

 

[3650]

Oh that’s too bad. Here I thought I had discovered a $100 cat. Lol. I reckon I’ll get the stainless from Woodstock.

This one still glows so I’m good for this season. I imagine I’ll need one next season.

 

[webby3650]

I tried forever to buy one from Woodstock, they were always out of stock. They would put me on a list if I prepaid, but couldn’t give me a time line...
I finally gave up and bought 2 ceramic cats from another source. Which was way cheaper for me anyway.

 

[Woody Stover]

I tried forever to buy one from Woodstock, they were always out of stock. They would put me on a list if I prepaid, but couldn’t give me a time line...
I finally gave up and bought 2 ceramic cats from another source. Which was way cheaper for me anyway.

The two ceramics I see are the one I got from firecatcombustors (Applied Ceramics,) and one from Condar. They're close in price; Maybe you got a wholesale deal?
I got the last steelie for my Keystone from Woodstock, but it took quite a few months for it to finally show up in stock. Woodstock recently started doing some of the combustor assembly in-house, so that will hopefully fix the availability issues they were having. I'm trying to find where they posted that..

 

[weatherguy]

U.c

I tried forever to buy one from Woodstock, they were always out of stock. They would put me on a list if I prepaid, but couldn’t give me a time line...
I finally gave up and bought 2 ceramic cats from another source. Which was way cheaper for me anyway.

What sourse Webby? That's one thing that irked me about Woodstock even though I love the stove.