2013 VC Burning Thread

jharkin said:

Wow you are heating 3000ft2 with an encore?! Wow. I'm at 1400 andit struggles when we see single digits...

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At times its only a suppliment. Also you dont keep your GT up in the 700's!

Today in 18 degree weather I dug out some better dry oak. I reloaded the 0028 Encore and waited a touch longer to engage the cat. My cat probe went to 450 as soon as I closed bypass and I watched the probe temp climb to 1400 to get nice and warm. Then I closed air down 50% and left it there while i put on coffee. Next thing I went back to stove and heard the cracking sound of stove getting hotter and WOW The cat shot too 1900 and GT went to 800. This was the first time that I tried the OPEN DAMPER and see what happens.
With in a minute the Cat probe came down to 1700 but I could tell the liner was getting a good cleaning with all the hot temps flying up there.
I kept the damper open for few minutes and air down. The Cat temp came down to 1350 so I closed the damper and all was good. I simply waited too long with dry oak and it took off but all seams good

Well, after reading this thread decided I needed to check my seconday damper control and looked like I needed to adjust the damper down a little and let me tell you that adjustment slot for the screwdriver was soooo small, about like eye glass tools, so I ended up taking the whole assembly off while messing up the threads on the end and breaking a screw off in the stove, this is really starting to look like last years season which was mostly dedicated to the total rebuild right in the middle of winter. Here we go again plus being Holiday season will probably be back offshore before the new one makes it here.

Back to the primary air controls. A few of you mentioned you were pretty sure the primary closes all the way. I just confirmed that it does not on the Defiant. In the midst of a climb where the Defiant topped out at 660 with the primary closed, I went back to cover the primary with aluminium foil. In the process of doing so, I blew out a match and watched the smoke. The smoke was easily and quickly drawn to the primary air opening even though the primary was "closed."

It is too close to the wall to get a good photo and to actually see it, but I felt around and confirmed that the flap is functioning properly, in place, and at its closed position.

I checked mine this evening as well and while the flapper door was "closed" there was enough of a leak around it to suck in some smoke. On another note, I put way more wood in the stove then usual (about 3/4 full) and got the stove up to 500 when I closed the damper. That stove started pumping heat out into the room. I could see the CAT glowing a little behind the perforated piece of cast iron above the fire brick and I am assuming that was my cat lighting off. Anyway, I closed off the primary air and it settled in at 500 F and was running great as I go to bed. I also unblocked one of my EPA holes and the stove ran better this evening. I still have the secondary blocked.

Merry Christmas,
Glenn

Hi. My 2550's primary air flap does close all the way. I actually hear it click. The problem is that the flap itself is about 1/4 inch too small from the bottom lengthwise. This leaves a gap when fully closed. Does your primary air flap cover the entire opening or does it have this gap? Thanks!

troopman said:

Hi. My 2550's primary air flap does close all the way. I actually hear it click. The problem is that the flap itself is about 1/4 inch too small from the bottom lengthwise. This leaves a gap when fully closed. Does your primary air flap cover the entire opening or does it have this gap? Thanks!

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Mine appears to close completely. Whats everyones obsession with the primary closing completely? The ONLY time I could ever close it completely and not have secondary backpuffs is when in coal stage. A wise man told me one important tip about this stove, if it isnt operating correctly replace your gaskets and if that doesnt fix the problem replace them again maybe jeremy didnt say all that but the point got across.

Yeah my secondary damper was around 1/2" open when cold. My primary flap will completely seal (no openings) when dampered down. It rose to 1000 in about 10 minutes after engaging the cat. I am thinking my wood is way too dry. Also thinking about changing the combustor since it's the original, 20 plus years but not much smoke when engaged, and looked good when visually inspected last year.

31 bertram said:

Yeah my secondary damper was around 1/2" open when cold. My primary flap will completely seal (no openings) when dampered down. It rose to 1000 in about 10 minutes after engaging the cat. I am thinking my wood is way too dry. Also thinking about changing the combustor since it's the original, 20 plus years but not much smoke when engaged, and looked good when visually inspected last year.

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The cat hit a 1000 in 10 min? It should be engaging in 5 and then you can back off primary.

Cat engaged at 600-primary closed temps went to 1000 for about 15 minutes or so.

31 bertram said:

Cat engaged at 600-primary closed temps went to 1000 for about 15 minutes or so.

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Im still missing what you mean. Do you have a probe and are these the readings from it? Or are these griddle temps (I hope your griddle isnt at 1000)

Yes, griddle temps, seems I am still getting air in from somewhere, even when dampered back. Fully closed.

HOLY chit! Griddle temp at 1000!

31 bertram said:

Yes, griddle temps, seems I am still getting air in from somewhere, even when dampered back. Fully closed.

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grobinson2 said:

HOLY chit! Griddle temp at 1000!

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Sounds like you have an air leak or a bad thermometer. Do you have a second thermometer to test it with? 1000GT is crazy hot. Let it cool down to coals and start checking gaskets with the dollar bill test.

Woooo, my mistake, it was a little over 700. Sorry about that, I purchased a new condor stove top thermometer last year and with my old eyes read it wrong. So it jumped up around 700-800 for a bit with everything dampered down and never choked down at all, with the windows clean the whole time. I never put over three splits (usually two) in for fear of over firing. Thanks

31 bertram said:

Woooo, my mistake, it was a little over 700. Sorry about that, I purchased a new condor stove top thermometer last year and with my old eyes read it wrong. So it jumped up around 700-800 for a bit with everything dampered down and never choked down at all, with the windows clean the whole time. I never put over three splits (usually two) in for fear of over firing. Thanks

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If I understand correctly you get GT of 700 with primary all the way down? I keep mine around 700 no problems (1/2-3/4 open primary), Cat temps are more important to me. My stove operates in two ways high GT and lower CT (day burns) or high CT and lower GT (overnight burns). High GT and High CT is a runaway stove and can lead to a overfire. If your stove is climbing that fast with the primary almost closed you have an air leak.

Thanks reckless, I'm gonna start checking gaskets again. May get a probe and monitor the combustor too.

31 bertram said:

Thanks reckless, I'm gonna start checking gaskets again. May get a probe and monitor the combustor too.

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Running these stoves with no probe is like putting a blind man in a maze..... seriously

Reckless said:

Running these stoves with no probe is like putting a blind man in a maze..... seriously

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hahhahaha I agree. I am ordering a probe tonight.

One of the guys at work tried a steel cat in his 1945. He is a very experienced VC burner (started with the 1975 and then went cat back in the late 80's and now has been running a 1945 for four or five years) and got rid of it after about two weeks of issues. He went back to the Condor ceramic cat and said it was like a breath of fresh air. He liked that the steel cat would light off after just a few minutes but that was about the end of what he liked. One of the things he did not like was the fact that he would still have smoke coming out of his chimney.

Thanks,
Glenn

jharkin said:

Yes thanks Glenn Im getting very suspicious of the steelcat. This is the second one that's acted this way... Curios what BBar uses as he has the same smoke problems I do.

I tried calling Condar just now but they are closed through New Years. I am going to ask them to swap mine out for a Ceramic, see if that improves things. (fingers crossed).

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This could be your mid burn stall problems too...... stupid new technology XD

When I rebuilt my 0028 I went back to ceramic and noticed much cleaner at chimney top

I didn't have any luck with the steel cat either. I called condar and they promptly sent me a ceramic cat. Great customer service. The difference between the two was night and day.