vc encore stove top Temps and secondary burn

jamesm14000 said:

Thanks for the input. I have searched maybe I'm not using the right words for the search. Is that a German Shepard in your avatar?

Click to expand...

Yup!
I have not tried linking old threads before on here.
Let me dig a bit.
Btw. I loaded my encore at 2:30pm and right now it is sitting at 475-500f
I would not even dream to try to reload it now!
Two hours and she will be ready for a night load.

One of the poster here did a good write up:

"1) have the left bypass damper open when starting a fire or reloading.
2) Allow stove griddle to get to 550-600
3) close left bypass damper
4) wait 10-15 minutes you don't want to see the flames die out nor the temperature really drop drastical with the bypass damper closed and the right secondary air control valve open completely (pulled forwards towards you).
5) You will likely see the cat engage unless the stove is packed to the brim (a thin slit of glowing behind the removable refractory sheild, but not necessary. I often have the stove packed to the brim and can't see it, but I know if my stove is maintaining 550-600 stove top it is maintaining and active.
6) start to incrementally close the right secondary air control in 1/4 to 1/3 steps every 5-10 minutes (pushing it away from you towards back of stove.)
7) Ensure you have at least some minor whispy slow burning flames. You don't want the firebox to go completely black as you will likely experience a buildup of smoke gas and can experience back-buffing where it will suddenly WHOOOSH into combustion in the main chamber and not in the catalyst area and smoke can push up out the top loading plate.
8) You should see the stove back down in temperature as you close it down. I wouldn't go below the 400 range. For me with dry seasoned wood and the stove either almost completely close (3/4) or all the way closed..I don't really want the griddle temp below that.........."

I believe it was Charles.

Almost certain you have air leak(s). Find them get the Encore running tight and it's a dream to operate.

jamesm14000 said:

Thanks for the replies. I have loaded the stove full let the wood catch then closed the air off and get dancing flames but have a box full of fire. A few times when I close the damper everything roars and the small piece of stove pipe coming out of the back to my liner tee is glowing. Am I possibly not adding enough wood soon enough to keep the temp down? I also no longer see the glow in the back of the box from the refractory. I pulled the "plate" off tonight to look at the cat and it looked clean, however I couldn't remove it because it was still pretty hot from this morning. This thing is making me mental

Click to expand...

As I recall, the cat would show some orange behind the access cover irregularly. With my BK now, even its cat glows orange sometimes and other times no. I'm not sure the glow matters. As others have stated, watch your temps after engaging Everburn (closing damper). If they hold steady and you keep at a least a little flame, it has lit off and is "surviving" on its own (off the gases it's releasing and primary and secondary air input). At this point Id wait a bit, see if it can handle a little reduction in primary air (push your draft slowly away from you) remember not to starve it. You want to always see at least a little flame.

If you've got draft completely shut, damper closed and it's still running away on you, sounds like you've got too much draft or a potential leak in a gasket somewhere. Otherwise, try to reduce draft via key damper or plugging secondary air inlets one at a time. The problem will only get worse the colder it gets...

One sure-fire way to know if the CAT is operating is simply to observe the chimney exhaust. If its clear or just steam then the CAT's functioning. If you see smoke, the CAT's not functioning - which most likely means its not hot enough. (hopefully its not damaged, clogged or whatever)

If your stove isn't able to throttle down it HAS to be one of two things, or both: Its your fuel source or the air source, or a combination of the two. The VC Encores are complex both in design (parts count, parts complexity) and in design execution (lots of air seals that need to be tight, many parts need to be adjusted properly, etc). For that, I believe they get a somewhat bad rap from the user base. The Encore is expensive and needs lots of TLC, but runs like a thoroughbred when its tweaked just right.

One last observation: the Encore's thermostatic air system simply cannot control primary burn temps adequately due to its inability to actuate the air door with enough speed and authority. The metal spring thermostat actuator doesn't have enough range of movement / sensitivity to really keep the stove running in the sweet spot all the time. It does move the primary air door in response to temp change, but not enough to keep the stove where most of us would probably like to see it running.

My technique: After the stove body reaches the desired cruising temp (500-600F or so) and the CAT is engaged and stable (900-1000F or so) I adjust the primary air lever so that the air door just touches the fully closed position. From there, any further increase in stove body temp will keep the door closed, but when the stove begins to cool off, the door will open in response to the cool-down side of the burn. That's about all it can do, IMHO.

I've found that the stove will run body temps higher than I like (over 650) if I load it up with too many small splits. My stove burns really well on 3 smaller (4") and 2 or 3 larger splits and/or rounds. I'm burning well seasoned black oak. If I load it up with all small splits I'll see stove body temps peak out in the 660-680 range for an hour or two then fall back off. I like cooler burns than that, so I load accordingly. 8-9 hours of good heat is typical.

When the temps get up to 500 or 550 close the damper and just keep it closed until you reload next unless temps drop way down soon after you close it. If temps hold or rise reduce the air to control the burn according to the heat you need, 500 + or - is good. Don't worry about the rumbling noise.

I don't ever recall my stove rumbling..that sounds a little scary. I would hear cast iron expansion noises but never rumbling....You must be heating a lot of square feet because it sounds like you are getting killer heat out of that thing!

When I close the bypass sometime the refractory chamber roars like a forge but only for a few seconds 20-30... But if you crack the top loader with the bypass closed you will hear the roaring flare up. Some kind of draft increase I think.

Although I don't own a stove like this I think the glowing stovepipe is not good, you should be closing the damper before this happens, the back puffing with these stoves happens when the gases build up and then ignite because the wood isn't seasoned or the air is restricted too much relative to the draught say if it's warmer outside, if it happens open your primary air control more. The joint between the stove and the outlet sometimes has a gasket but if you do put one there the smoke will probably come out through the top load door. Unfortunately these stoves can be finicky to operate with a lot of people giving up on them and moving to a simpler design. Is your wood well seasoned?

when I back the air off with the damper open the fire dies off but not much and the flames are rolling down that pipe[/quote]
I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean but I just can't see why you would be reducing the air before you close the damper. Everything I know about these VC stoves says that you close the damper first and then reduce the air as needed.

jamesm14000 said:

To try and prevent overheating the stove pipe.

Click to expand...

Well if you always run it hot and get the fire going good before you close the damper your stove pipe will be clean and you won't have to worry about chimney fires. You might be worrying too much about the stove pipe, just try letting the stovetop get up to 500 with the air wide open and then close the damper. Since your wood seems dry this should work for you. Maybe someone else will chime in about your hot stovepipe concerns but with the 2 VC stoves I had I never worried about running them with the air wide open as long as I made sure to close the damper when the time was right.

jamesm14000 said:

Thanks. I might be to worried I just don't want something tragic to happen. The raging fire in that little box makes me real nervous

Click to expand...

Understandable but if your stove is installed correctly you'll be fine it just takes some time to get used to the idea.

Loud like a freight train? No!
Loud like a whooshing sound yes!

jamesm14000 said:

I went through the steps the damper is closed air is throttled down half way top temp is 550 and this thing is making a loud rumbling sound. Is that normal

Click to expand...

I think it's normal, it shouldn't last that long and it's not a chimney fire it just seems to happen with these stoves it might be the cat igniting.

You should record a video and post it. I really don't think any loud constant noise is normal.

Mine makes some minor roaring for a few seconds after closing the damper, I can hear a very mild air rushing by sound as I close the right air control handle slowly as the valve under the stove closes.

Other then those noises and the pings and pangs of a heating up and cooling down stove that is about it.

... and I agree with Charles. My VC 2040 is almost totally silent when running damper (bypass) closed and primary air turned all the way down.

IF its allowed to run wide open (primary air control full open; damper closed) it will emit a mild roaring or sort of rumbling sound. And it will throw out tremendous amounts of heat. First time I heard that I thought - Whoa!! This thing is SERIOUS. And it is - its a fine piece of equipment! So now, like the other Encore owners here, I run it closed down after secondary temps are stable. (I have a CAT probe to monitor secondary temp)

One note: I no longer run the stove for prolonged periods of time with the damper open. Only when starting a fire, or during/after reloading and need to get the wood burning thoroughly and chimney hot enough for good draft. It runs in CAT (damper bypass closed) as soon as its ready to support secondary combustion. My thanks to the forum members here who straightened me out on that - VC's guidance isn't exactly concrete in the manual.