OK, I need some comments from people more experienced than me with the Fireview cat.
There are really two questions here - one about the cat and one about creosote. I'm most interested in cat comments, but creosote insight is welcomed also!
This morning I fired up my four month old Fireview. Soon after I cut in the cat I noticed a dark drip stain on the back side of the stove, running all the way down the back from the bottom edge of the damper assembly. I thought the stain might be from some type of gasket cement that had melted, but when I went to rub-out the streak with 00 steel wool I found that it was still wet, especially right below the damper assembly, and it was actually watery brown creosote. So then I got an old cotton towel from my workshop and mopped up the wet creosote.
While doing this, unbeknownst to me, I jostled the flat sliding damper plate and got it kitty-corner in its slide, with the result that even though I had the front edge of the damper plate shut down to about 1.1 there was actually a good-sized triangular air space near the back end of the plate. So the damper was effectively open to 2 or more.
Not knowing the damper was really open further than I thought, I walked away from the stove and did not notice I had a pretty good burn going until some time later. When it is not too cold outdoors (26 F this morning) I usually set the damper for low blue and orange flames, with the stove top temp around 350 to 400. When I came back into the room I realized I had bright yellow flames going and the stove top was up to about 500. When I saw the damper was still apparently set for 1.1 I looked closer and realized the back edge of the damper was letting in a lot more air.
After I got the damper back in place using leather gloves I set the damper way down to about .5 to let the stove cool down. The stove wasn't over heated, but my family room was! I left the room again and when I came back I realized I had set the damper too low and now I had no flames at all.
Here comes the first question: To my surprise, with no visible flames at all my cat was in full glow. Normally, I only get a full glow on my cat after I first cut it in, when I have bright yellow flames licking up toward the air scoop screen. In the past, the cat has always become dark after I set the damper for low blue and orange flames. Based on what I saw today, I'm wondering if the cat was in full glow because the were NO flames to burn off any of the wood gasses, with the result that the cat was in full glow because it was doing all the gas burning work that would normally be done by the low blue and orange flames.
In fact, within a few minutes after I adjusted the damper to re-establish low blue and orange flames the cat stopped glowing.
I'd really appreciate comments from the veterans out there about what I observed today.
On the creosote question, I have burned wood stoves for thirty years and I am certainly aware creosote can take the form of a watery brown flow leaking from incorrectly-assembled flue pipes (don't ask me how I know this!). However, I have never seen a stove leak watery creosote from around the cast iron assembly parts of the stove itself. I realize the damper assembly on the Fireview is right in the area of the exhaust outlet, and thus right below the inlet to the flue pipe, but I have looked at the first six inches of my flue pipe on several occasions (when the stove was out and cool) and I have never seen any evidence of wet creosote, or even evidence of wet creosote that had dried out to a brown glaze. All I have seen is a very thin dusting of fine brown powder on the inside of the flue pipe.
Creosote comments appreciated also!
There are really two questions here - one about the cat and one about creosote. I'm most interested in cat comments, but creosote insight is welcomed also!
This morning I fired up my four month old Fireview. Soon after I cut in the cat I noticed a dark drip stain on the back side of the stove, running all the way down the back from the bottom edge of the damper assembly. I thought the stain might be from some type of gasket cement that had melted, but when I went to rub-out the streak with 00 steel wool I found that it was still wet, especially right below the damper assembly, and it was actually watery brown creosote. So then I got an old cotton towel from my workshop and mopped up the wet creosote.
While doing this, unbeknownst to me, I jostled the flat sliding damper plate and got it kitty-corner in its slide, with the result that even though I had the front edge of the damper plate shut down to about 1.1 there was actually a good-sized triangular air space near the back end of the plate. So the damper was effectively open to 2 or more.
Not knowing the damper was really open further than I thought, I walked away from the stove and did not notice I had a pretty good burn going until some time later. When it is not too cold outdoors (26 F this morning) I usually set the damper for low blue and orange flames, with the stove top temp around 350 to 400. When I came back into the room I realized I had bright yellow flames going and the stove top was up to about 500. When I saw the damper was still apparently set for 1.1 I looked closer and realized the back edge of the damper was letting in a lot more air.
After I got the damper back in place using leather gloves I set the damper way down to about .5 to let the stove cool down. The stove wasn't over heated, but my family room was! I left the room again and when I came back I realized I had set the damper too low and now I had no flames at all.
Here comes the first question: To my surprise, with no visible flames at all my cat was in full glow. Normally, I only get a full glow on my cat after I first cut it in, when I have bright yellow flames licking up toward the air scoop screen. In the past, the cat has always become dark after I set the damper for low blue and orange flames. Based on what I saw today, I'm wondering if the cat was in full glow because the were NO flames to burn off any of the wood gasses, with the result that the cat was in full glow because it was doing all the gas burning work that would normally be done by the low blue and orange flames.
In fact, within a few minutes after I adjusted the damper to re-establish low blue and orange flames the cat stopped glowing.
I'd really appreciate comments from the veterans out there about what I observed today.
On the creosote question, I have burned wood stoves for thirty years and I am certainly aware creosote can take the form of a watery brown flow leaking from incorrectly-assembled flue pipes (don't ask me how I know this!). However, I have never seen a stove leak watery creosote from around the cast iron assembly parts of the stove itself. I realize the damper assembly on the Fireview is right in the area of the exhaust outlet, and thus right below the inlet to the flue pipe, but I have looked at the first six inches of my flue pipe on several occasions (when the stove was out and cool) and I have never seen any evidence of wet creosote, or even evidence of wet creosote that had dried out to a brown glaze. All I have seen is a very thin dusting of fine brown powder on the inside of the flue pipe.
Creosote comments appreciated also!