New to Wood Stoves . Recommendations?

[begreen]

Wellllllll for some it isn't just a little black spot.
And keep in mind most stoves don't suffer with a very poor flame watching experience. None that I've seen at least.

Otherwise, why put a damn window on it in the first place right?

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The stove is being run very low and slow. Or the wood is really poor.

Welp, no one is interested in my stove - and the dealer sure isnt in a hurry to call me back and 'lets make a deal'. So I guess Im stuck with the VC.

After all of that crud is burnt off the glass with a hot, sustained fire, put it on Craigslist and FB marketplace.

 

[GrumpyDad]

The stove is being run very low and slow. Or the wood is really poor.

After all of that crud is burnt off the glass with a hot, sustained fire, put it on Craigslist and FB marketplace.

Oh that's not a recent picture, that was one of the first times I operated the stove and tried to get an overnight burn but turned it down too low. I woke up to 1/3 of the box still full of just charred wood.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Wow! That's crazy! Is that after one burn?

Yes that is after a completely cleaned glass, cold start - did the usual start up etc etc per the manual then loaded the stove full , lowered it down, kept the stove around 400 then went to bed and woke up to that.

 

[GrumpyDad]

My dealer told me the stove operates best between 550-650 and I tend to believe that is pretty accurate. It is warm here today so I will run it lower and cooler and probably turn it up around 4 and get it nice and hot with a lot of coals before I load it for the overnight. When I wake up at 4:30-5:00 tomorrow morning I will throw 3-4 splits and run it wide open till that burns down, glass will be clear then burn as my heat requirements are from that point.

I burn whatever during the odd. I try and use more of the odd sizes and ugly pieces. I use bigger splits at night

My glass has never looked like that

I operate between 475> If Im at 475 it's because I wasnt paying attention for the 50th time that hour. I try to keep it above 500 at all times, but for my space - below 600

 

[Ant428]

Yes that is after a completely cleaned glass, cold start - did the usual start up etc etc per the manual then loaded the stove full , lowered it down, kept the stove around 400 then went to bed and woke up to that.

Must have a lot of buildup in your chimney after that. I'm actually starting to figure this stove out. When I shut the bypass, I must hear the secondary combustion and see flue temps rise, if I don't, it's not ready. The only way I get it to run well like that is with a full bed of coals. I'm not running with a cat, either. When I have it running like that, there is no smoke at all coming out of the chimney cap. It takes about an hour and a half after startup to get to that point. And if I throw a log in there that's more than 20% moisture, well forget it. It won't run well at all. It's very sensitive to moisture in wood.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Must have a lot of buildup in your chimney after that. I'm actually starting to figure this stove out. When I shut the bypass, I must hear the secondary combustion and see flue temps rise, if I don't, it's not ready. The only way I get it to run well like that is with a full bed of coals. I'm not running with a cat, either. When I have it running like that, there is no smoke at all coming out of the chimney cap. It takes about an hour and a half after startup to get to that point. And if I throw a log in there that's more than 20% moisture, well forget it. It won't run well at all. It's very sensitive to moisture in wood.

Yep. I figured out more and more how much coals I needed in my stove for it to run well

 

[SkipperH]

Yep. I figured out more and more how much coals I needed in my stove for it to run well

As a former VC Dauntless owner, yes, the glass would only stay clean when A) you clean it before firing it up and B) when your STT was around 650 deg. If you throttled it down to get a longer burn time it would soot up where you couldn't see the flame or hot coals. In comparison to the Jotul F45 I've been running this stove for two weeks and haven't cleaned the glass yet, super clean. The Jotul is steady, predictable and easy to operate. The absence of rapid temperature fluctuations that I experienced with the VC has kept my heart rate in the normal range.

 

[begreen]

Oh that's not a recent picture, that was one of the first times I operated the stove and tried to get an overnight burn but turned it down too low. I woke up to 1/3 of the box still full of just charred wood.

Then why post a user error as something typical for the stove? At least take credit in the posting for it being a learning mistake, pre-cat. These postings are helping no one.