Should I be able to turn the primary air on my defiant completely?
I noticed that if I have the primary air open (by-pass closed) 1/4 way the cat glows quite a lot & lots of flame in the firebox, griddle temp will be around 650-700*, internal flue 24" up will be around 400-450*. If I turn it to 1/2 closed position cat stops glowing & flames become lazy & slow, griddle temps will drop to 550-600* & flue temp will stay around 400*. If I close the primary air completely flames disappear I can see a faint glow from the cat (hardly noticeable), griddle temp will drop to 450-500* * flue temp will start to drop as well. During all this time there is no visible smoke out the pipe (other than steam on very cold days). After about 45min on burning at fully closed primary air, I will start to see a bit of smoke out the chimney (not huge amount but surly noticeable). This tells me that cat operation has stalled....
Is this possible?
Also, if at this point I open the primary air to 1/2 some flame re-appears & the smoke disappears from the chimney.
My wood supply is pretty dry 2-3yr old beech split back then. To the point that if I run the stove on open by-pass there is "0" smoke out the pipe!
I noticed that if I have the primary air open (by-pass closed) 1/4 way the cat glows quite a lot & lots of flame in the firebox, griddle temp will be around 650-700*, internal flue 24" up will be around 400-450*. If I turn it to 1/2 closed position cat stops glowing & flames become lazy & slow, griddle temps will drop to 550-600* & flue temp will stay around 400*. If I close the primary air completely flames disappear I can see a faint glow from the cat (hardly noticeable), griddle temp will drop to 450-500* * flue temp will start to drop as well. During all this time there is no visible smoke out the pipe (other than steam on very cold days). After about 45min on burning at fully closed primary air, I will start to see a bit of smoke out the chimney (not huge amount but surly noticeable). This tells me that cat operation has stalled....
Is this possible?
Also, if at this point I open the primary air to 1/2 some flame re-appears & the smoke disappears from the chimney.
My wood supply is pretty dry 2-3yr old beech split back then. To the point that if I run the stove on open by-pass there is "0" smoke out the pipe!