New catalytic Blaze king, ?s

[bogydave]

Hi all

I'm new to catalytic wood stove operations.

Model KE 1107, blowers, internal combustion air, glass door, in basement,
Flu:single wall pipe to 90 "L" to 8" metal-bestos thru-wall "T" & metal-bestos pipe up to 2 feet above roof line with cap.
2 & 3 year old wood (white birch) good & dry. (some spruce)
Brushed chimney before starting the stove.
1st 12 hours I ran it on High, smoked everything off external of stove & pipe. Vented the house (no choice)
2 weeks old & has been burning full time.

1. I have yet to learn how to add wood without smoking a little into the house.
I bypass the catalytic, turn to high, crack the door to get the flu hot & drafting good for a minute or so, but still get some smoke when I add wood.
Any suggestions?

2. Old stove was 1982 Blaze King with blower, so burning a wood stove is not new but the catalytic is. (typically 9 - 10 cords per year (was younger then) until we got gas then 3 - 4 as supplement heat).
Now that I upgraded, to a more efficient stove with a catalytic, I'm learning more about cured wood, no trash, colored newspaper, glossy paper etc.
The catalytic glows red when on high & when I add wood, after a few hours on medium I don't see the red glow. There is a temp probe on the stove to show "active" temp range
& when to close the bypass door.
Wanting to keep the catalytic in good condition & last, after I add wood I run it on high until I get a good red glow then slowly turn the thermostat down, Is this the correct method?

3. When the stove cools down & just coals/charcoal remaining should I run it on high, with "bypass" open or "closed" to finish burning the coals before I empty ashes?
(The old stove would burn until just ashes were left)

4. Also the book says to leave an inch or so of ashes in the bottom, The only reason I see for that is the middle of the stove has a trap door, to an ash pan under the stove.
I'll probably never use the ash pan, so should I pull the trap door & put in a piece of fire brick? Any other reasons for leaving an inch of ash?

I like the heat output & have noticed I'm burning less wood than with the old stove. Furnace hasn't kicked on, just the fan to circulate the air every 20 minutes (smart thermostat option)
Being retired, saving on the gas bill is going to nice. When we loose power a wood stove is almost a must here . I think there may be a tax credit also.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Our burn cycles are pretty simple. Load it all the way up, do a a burn off that varies depending on how the dry the loaded wood is, then close the bypass and let the tstat do its thing. At the end of the burn cycle, I turn the tstat wide open and usually get another 4-6 hours of useful heat. Unless it is cold, we usually dont do this until the cat thermometer is right near the bottom of the active range. Sometimes you will find that wood gets stuck along the edges and back corners. You should be able to rake this front center towards the end of the burn cycle without getting a face full of smoke.

I go right through the front door with a full size coal shovel and just use the trap door for the final cleanup.

 

[bogydave]

Thanks,
Just as you said:
I noticed this AM that the wood o the edges were still solid. I did just what you said:
I first turned it to high, opened the bypass (my thinking there is all the fine ash dust would get in the cat).
I got in & out quick, closed the door & bypass with no smoke. (did not add more wood)
Cat started to glow.
I think the wood being really dry, & some of the bark ignites quick, so it catches fire pretty quick, is causing smoke.
I burn on med (2) to high (3) mostly. get 12 hrs +/- per load.

Should I leave ashes in the bottom when "emptying time" comes? (1 inch or so)
Emptied once, after a week of burning, was still pretty warm with some hot coals, so left coals & some ashes. (shovel to bucket method)
Did not get allot, 3/4 bucket.

I do notice that the front wood burns down to ash first , just the opposite from the old stove.
Sure heats the house nice.

Getting more comfortable with it as I make ashes.

 

[SolarAndWood]

12 hours sounds right for softwoods and the tstat set between 2 and 3.

I am haphazard with the ash removal. We had a nice day yesterday so I started a good burn down yesterday morning and emptied in the evening. Ended up with almost a full bucket after 2 or 3 weeks. Still had a nice pile of coals to ignite the reload. I go at the ash with a full size coal shovel and what I can't get easy with the shovel stays in the bottom of the box.

 

[bogydave]

Finally got a system that works to not get smoke when loading.
Let the wood burn down to hot coals, or almost,
Turn to high
Open the bypass
crack the door & let the flu heat up & get a good draft going. (1 - 2 minutes)
Open the door & rake the coals around to an even bed.
Close the door to where just cracked open, resting on the latch.
Get the wood that's going in ready
Open the door, load the stove quick as you can. If the wood ignites & starts to smoke, hurry. (sometimes the birch bark ignites quick)
Close the door.
As soon as the temp-probe is in the active zone, close the bypass.
When temp is around midway of the active zone, set thermostat to desired setting.
Repeat for 1/4 to 1/2 cords of wood then let it cool down & empty ashes.

My problem, I think, was that using a cat stove for the first time, I didn't realize how cool the flu/chimney pipe was. I wasn't
getting a good draft up the chimney so any smoking in the stove, some would come out the door.
I have a 90 deg elbow, not two 45s, so now I'm getting a good draft, sucking up the flu. That keeps it from smoking when the door is open.
Like anything new, takes some time (learning curve) to get the proper operation down for each situation.

Sound logical?

 

[SolarAndWood]

Sounds logical Dave. I get a little smoke at reload but don't worry about it because I have a straight pipe. I turn it all the way up during the coaling stage and rake forward once or twice while it is burning down for a number of hours. Helps burn the coals down faster while producing more heat and has the coal bed nice and hot for the reload.