My Ongoing Fireview Saga

[xraydog]

Interesting posts regarding hot Cat and no flames.

As a newbie I was trying to throttle down the air intake and the stove kept getting hotter. No flames just some splits coals. I didn't let it get to 700 but was at 600 and rising when I bypassed the CAT. I am amazed how much heat the CAT can put out without flames. Sort of makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about burning wood.

I have recently been burning with a little more flame (nicer to look at) and I notice the stove top rarely goes above the 500 range. With a little more air (Intake at 1 - 1.25) the glass also stays cleaner.

I'm waiting for some really cold weather to see how well it performs.


Rick D.

 

[Slow1]

On the clean glass front -

I noticed during my first few fires the glass would get dirty, however now that I'm up to about a dozen I haven't noticed anything on the glass, even with the air turned down quite a bit. I wonder if perhaps it takes a while for all that moisture in the firebox to really get out of there and that is contributing to the glass issues initially.

Oh - and I think I need to play more with lower air settings to see how it will affect the cat temps.

 

[Todd]

Interesting posts regarding hot Cat and no flames.

As a newbie I was trying to throttle down the air intake and the stove kept getting hotter. No flames just some splits coals. I didn't let it get to 700 but was at 600 and rising when I bypassed the CAT. I am amazed how much heat the CAT can put out without flames. Sort of makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about burning wood.

I have recently been burning with a little more flame (nicer to look at) and I notice the stove top rarely goes above the 500 range. With a little more air (Intake at 1 - 1.25) the glass also stays cleaner.

I'm waiting for some really cold weather to see how well it performs.


Rick D.

Yeah, your stove top doesn't always tell the whole story. A 500 degree stove top with a good hot fire will give more total stove heat than a smokey cold fire with 600 stove top because the hot coals and fire heat up the whole stove verses just the top. I like to find that in between spot where it will be most efficient and still have a nice fire to look at.

 

[Frostbit]

Got my probe thermometer installed, got my avatar changed and here is a picture of it burning.

Jeez-us, that there stove is gorgeous. I dunno if I could wander off to work in the morning and leave that thing home alone.

 

[wendell]

I have been trying to respond for 2 days to you, but haven't been able to get it to go through. Seems you can't just say thanks.

But, thanks!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hello Wendell. Sorry, I had forgot about this thread so I just went back and read most of the posts. It sounds as if most questions were answered. But I would still like to add some remarks.

First and foremost, I saw that you engaged the cat in less than 10 minutes. I definitely would not recommend that at all. Heck, there have been times, even on reload that we've waited up to 30 minutes simply because I did not feel the wood had charred enough.

Like Todd, I don't run very long on full draft. Turning down to 2 comes pretty quick but that is not a total given. Sometimes I will have to turn down to 1 to keep the fire from going wild. Sometimes I've turned down to 3, waited a bit and then to 2, etc. But most times we'll turn down to 2 and then maybe to 1 but as soon as we engage the cat, the draft definitely has to be turned down

Here are some exceptions: At this time of the year and in the Spring, we do not turn the draft down as low as we do in December-February. This time of year I'll usually have 1 as the low point. By December we are turning it down to .25 up to .5 maximum. I've always assumed it has to do with the temperature difference between indoor and outdoors creating different pressures.

Also, like Todd, we always sort of rake the coals forward when reloading. Naturally this time of the year that is quite meaningless but the time is getting close to when we'll have some real fires.


Please, for the new guys with these stoves, understand that what you are going through now is not necessarily the same thing you will go through when it is colder outdoors. You may not get much of those pretty flames now but you will when you stoke it up. If you want to watch flames now, just disengage the cat.! We run ours quite a bit without engaging the cat. in spring and fall and have had no problems with dirty glass or dirty chimney.

Take your time learning the stove and like Wendell, get used to the idea of having a hot stove without a roaring fire. You will enjoy the heat for sure.

 

[Flatbedford]

It sure is weird to have a hot stove and no visible fire! I know I have a ways to go before I figure mine out. I agree that once it gets colder, operating the stove will make more sense.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Steve, wait until the time when you look into the firebox and see not even one visible coal...yet the stovetop temperature is over 600 degrees. Now that is really weird. But it won't stay that way too long. It will start that beautiful rolling flame at the top of the firebox. You are in for some joys for sure.

 

[Flatbedford]

I can't wait!

 

[wendell]

Thanks, Dennis. I was definitely over eager that first time but am being more patient now. We've only needed to have a fire every other night but with the cold snap upon us, will be firing it up again tonight.

Last night when I went to bed it was already down to just coals and the stove top was still at 225 this morning. I love this stove!

 

[Slow1]

I have to share this one - I think my wife is starting to appreciate the improved efficiency of our new stove.

Yesterday I was home sick and feeling cold so I built a fire in the morning. Later in the day the house was quite warm. Evening came and it was still hot (house too actually) and I was looking at the coals and she asked when I last fed the stove. I told her it was in the morning when I was showing her how to do it. She said "that was it? I thought for sure you put more in during the day, that's amazing!"... hmmm..

Anyway, such is the life - yes I overfed the stove again and had the house overheated. But the flames were beautiful to watch as I lay there hoping my head would explode and soaked up the radiant heat. I swear it cured my cold too I feel much better today.