Do Ashfords have a smoke smell problem?

[cannon]

Sorry that I state nothing but facts,they upset some people.I think blaze king has a great stove,you will find nowhere were I said differently.It's just there are some problems that could be addressed. I ask you to take the time and read this link and understand it.
http://www.firecatcombustors.com/v/vspfiles/manuals/WoodStove_Usage_Guide.pdf

 

[HotCoals]

What cannon said is correct.
You don't want a leaky door period.
It can and will kill the cat.
He didn't say anything wrong or bash BK at all that I can see.

 

[3fordasho]

I don't have a BK but have had my share of smokey smell in the house.

First was my Woodstock Fireview - only time it would smell is after a "back-puff" - if you've even witnessed a larger back puff it's amazing all the places around the stove the smoke will come out - not real air tight. Solution was to open the air a little bit.

2nd was my Woodstock PH, I had an early one and it had the smoke seepage around the door issue, not caused by backpuffs or smoke out the loading door on a reload. Fix was pretty much a factory rebuild where they installed several updates and this eliminated 90% of the smell. I've since moved this stove to a different house/chimney set up and have not noticed any smoke smell since.

3rd is my Drolet Tundra wood furnace - will often backpuff during certain parts of the burn - Since the damper is either open or closed (no in-between) or I can't really solve by opening the air a "bit". Still pondering what to do about this one but I will probably modify the air inlet so the closed position lets in slightly more air.

 

[HotCoals]

Still pondering what to do about this one but I will probably modify the air inlet so the closed position lets in slightly more air.

Maybe drill a small hole in the metal that closes off the air?

 

[Woody Stover]

Sorry that I state nothing but facts,they upset some people.I think blaze king has a great stove,you will find nowhere were I said differently.It's just there are some problems that could be addressed. I ask you to take the time and read this link and understand it.
http://www.firecatcombustors.com/v/vspfiles/manuals/WoodStove_Usage_Guide.pdf

Well, that article was interesting, and I pretty much agreed with most of it but it was not written all that well, and I didn't agree with several of their 'facts.' Thanks for the link nonetheless.

 

[jeff_t]

Additionally, cat stoves are NOT air-tight. There is always a fixed fresh air supply to the combustor, which can indeed back-feed to the firebox.

Actually, Blaze King doesn't have a dedicated air supply for the cat. The only air into the stove is through the thermostat or the little hole that always allows a bit of combustion air into the stove. Unless the Chinook/Sirocco/Ashford is different?

I think that's why the 'airwash' is so ineffective. Shine a light into a heavily offgassing, fresh load with no flame, and there's some crazy stuff happening. Instead of washing down over the glass into the fire, a lot of it is drawn right back up into the cat, leaving the characteristic 'eyes' on the glass.

 

[Ashful]

Jeff, that would be a departure from conventional cat stove design. Are you sure this is accurate?

 

[webby3650]

Actually, Blaze King doesn't have a dedicated air supply for the cat. The only air into the stove is through the thermostat or the little hole that always allows a bit of combustion air into the stove. Unless the Chinook/Sirocco/Ashford is different?

I think that's why the 'airwash' is so ineffective. Shine a light into a heavily offgassing, fresh load with no flame, and there's some crazy stuff happening. Instead of washing down over the glass into the fire, a lot of it is drawn right back up into the cat, leaving the characteristic 'eyes' on the glass.

For the record, the airwash is very effective on the Ashford! It's as clean or cleaner than any other stoves I've used.

 

[HotCoals]

Jeff, that would be a departure from conventional cat stove design. Are you sure this is accurate?

?

Tube burners have a separate air intake. I don't know of any cat stoves that have one.

 

[Woody Stover]

? Tube burners have a separate air intake. I don't know of any cat stoves that have one.

The Dutchwest does, but not the Buck 91 or Woodstock Fv or Ks. I think the IS does, not sure about the PH.

 

[HotCoals]

The Dutchwest does, but not the Buck 91 or Woodstock Fv or Ks. I think the IS does, not sure about the PH.

Interesting..never knew that.
Do you know if they are passive intakes?

 

[Woody Stover]

Interesting..never knew that. Do you know if they are passive intakes?

You can see the cat air intake above the side door. It screws in and out to control the air to the cat. It doesn't really do all that much, but I adjusted mine to where the cat is the brightest when it's cranking on a fresh load, a little less than a half turn open. Now that you got me thinking about it, maybe I'll try playing with it when lighting the cat...maybe I can get it to light quicker at lower temp. This is my SIL's 2460 but I have the same stove. You can tell this is hers by the fall-away handle which is resting in the bypass lever in this pic...she replaced the broken porcelain with thread spools. I like mine a little better...Red Oak.

 

[HotCoals]

You can see the cat air intake above the side door. It screws in and out to control the air to the cat. It doesn't really do all that much, but I adjusted mine to where the cat is the brightest when it's cranking on a fresh load, a little less than a half turn open. Now that you got me thinking about it, maybe I'll try playing with it when lighting the cat...maybe I can get it to light quicker at lower temp. This is my SIL's 2460 but I have the same stove. You can tell this is hers by the fall-away handle which is on the bypass lever in this pic...she replaced the broken porcelain with thread spools. I like mine a little better...Red Oak.
View attachment 156387 View attachment 156388

lol

That's really interesting about the intake.

 

[jeff_t]

Jeff, that would be a departure from conventional cat stove design. Are you sure this is accurate?

I've had a King apart as far as it could be taken apart. There is no other air inlet.

 

[jeff_t]

For the record, the airwash is very effective on the Ashford! It's as clean or cleaner than any other stoves I've used.

Makes me wonder if there's something different besides the shape of the firebox. Have you had one apart?

 

[Ashful]

?

Tube burners have a separate air intake. I don't know of any cat stoves that have one.

All of the Jotul and VC cat stoves have cat fresh air supplied to the cat, not thru firebox.

 

[HotCoals]

All of the Jotul and VC cat stoves have cat fresh air supplied to the cat, not thru firebox.

Never knew any cat stoves had that.
My BK seems fine with out one but now I wonder if it would be better yet with one. Maybe BK was trying to keep it as simple as possible?(broken image removed)

 

[webby3650]

Makes me wonder if there's something different besides the shape of the firebox. Have you had one apart?

It's because the firebox is so much shallower. The deep box on the king and Princess causes more turbulence which interrupts the airwash.

 

[webby3650]

Never knew any cat stoves had that.
My BK seems fine with out one but now I wonder if it would be better yet with one. Maybe BK was trying to keep it as simple as possible?(broken image removed)

If you had one you would experience 1 of 2 things, maybe both. Blown out cats in a short amount of time, or greatly reduced burn times. Both of which plague other cat stove manufacturers. In the past that was the norm with cat stoves, comparatively poor burn times and premature cat failure. The stoves mentioned above have proved to have similar burn times as a tube style non-cat stove.
This is the same problem that these Hybrid stoves will struggle with. It's already been proving true. I must exclude Woodstock though, they seem to have it figured out.

 

[HotCoals]

If you had one you would experience 1 of 2 things, maybe both. Blown out cats in a short amount of time, or greatly reduced burn times. Both of which plague other cat stove manufacturers. In the past that was the norm with cat stoves, comparatively poor burn times and premature cat failure. The stoves mentioned above have proved to have similar burn times as a tube style non-cat stove.
This is the same problem that these Hybrid stoves will struggle with. It's already been proving true. I must exclude Woodstock though, they seem to have it figured out.

After I posted I did think about how the cooler air directly hitting the cat could be a problem but i thought well maybe the air gets heated enough before it gets to the cat.
I surely would not want shorter burn times either!

 

[webby3650]

After I posted I did think about how the cooler air directly hitting the cat could be a problem but i thought well maybe the air gets heated enough before it gets to the cat.
I surely would not want shorter burn times either!

Think about it, what sets blaze king apart? Burn times! And long lasting cats!

 

[HotCoals]

True Webby..very true! Cheers!

 

[begreen]

It's because the firebox is so much shallower. The deep box on the king and Princess causes more turbulence which interrupts the airwash.

Not following, how does the deeper firebox create more turbulence? Why do non-cat, deep firebox stoves seem to evade this issue?

 

[HotCoals]

I think it's just way less air flow .It seems what little air flow i have on low burn just makes it to the cat for the most part. Probably why my king does not need separate air for the cat because the air flow that it has comes out right above it?

 

[Woody Stover]

The stoves mentioned above have proved to have similar burn times as a tube style non-cat stove.

I thought you had a Dutchwest at one point? Mine can easily go 10+ hrs. on a load of Oak with stove top 300+, not too shabby for a 1.4 cu.ft. stove. Not sure about the cats; Since I got dry-wood religion I've only used steel cats, which aren't subject to thermal shock. The air is somewhat pre-heated by the air duct/ air distributor assembly.