Vermont Castings Encore (Non Cat)

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WhatIsChazaq

WhatIsChazaq

New Member
Jan 19, 2009
61
Southern Missouri
www.slowbellyfarm.com
Finally got it installed a month ago.

Having a heck of a time trying to find the sweet spot for overnight burns. Burning Aspen at night. If I close it all the way down at 9pm, I'll have just about nothing by 5:30am and the stove will be at about 150f on the top plate. If I BARELY crack it open - I have to re-load between 1 and 2am.

It's also taking over an hour to get this thing up to operating temp to where the re-burn will start burning, that's starting the stove off with split, dry pine.

Another thing...the manual only states the max temp for curing the stove as 450.

What is the max temp for a hot fire? I'm using a Sixth Sense LT300 Infra Red Temp Gun on the stove. I'll have mid 500's on the top plate near the cook top and around the backside toward the flue vent...at the same time though I've seen just over 700 on the back side of the flue vent.
 
A lot of people seem to have trouble finding the sweet spot with this stove. It seems odd to me that it takes you an hour to get it up to temp... sure your wood is dry? I can get mine to 450 surface in about 20 minutes. I'm pretty sure the manual (mine anyway) states a 500F surface temp for break in. As for max surface temp, not really sure, but I know it can run comfortably between 550 and 650. 700 is probably pushing it.

One thing I have noticed... a lot of people seem to complain that the everburn "stalls" when you close the damper at lower temps. I've observed this as well, but I've also found that if you just wait out the stalling period where nothing seems to be happening, the stove will pick back up on its own and temps will start to climb again. You just have to avoid the "oh crap it died, let me open the damper back up again".

If it's of any help, I've also found my installation likes smaller splits and a really good coal bed, at which point things hum along quite well. The stove seems to like a lot of airspace.
 
WhatIsChazaq said:
Finally got it installed a month ago.

Having a heck of a time trying to find the sweet spot for overnight burns. Burning Aspen at night. If I close it all the way down at 9pm, I'll have just about nothing by 5:30am and the stove will be at about 150f on the top plate. If I BARELY crack it open - I have to re-load between 1 and 2am.
Click to expand...

I have the cat model and my burn times are very similar -- and pretty typical for a wood stove in general.

Before I go to bed, I top the stove off with a good bed of coals established and choke it down to the lowest thermostat setting. 8 hours later there's just enough coals left to reestablished a fire in pretty short order. If I open up a little bit, as you say, it will only take 5 or 6 hours to reach this point.
 
When I was burning the VC I too couldn't find anything in the manual for surface temp guidance. However, I ended up buying a "Genuine" VC thermometer and was surprised (sort of) to find the guidance for burning temperatures on the back of the package. Here is what is written regarding "Woodburning":

" When burning wood, place the thermometer on the griddle right of center.
At the beginning of a burn cycle it is necessary to establish a hot fire and a good draft in the chimney. In order to accomplish this in most installations, the temperature should be in the 500*-600* range for 15 min. - 1/2 hour before the damper is closed. Once the damper is closed, it is advisabel to set the thermometer on a high setting for 5-10 minutes to maintain proper draft. Experimentation will show you where to position the thermostat after this 5-10 minute period.
The usual operating range is 350*-600*, although slightly higher temperatures are all right when extra heat is needed. Surface temperatures higher than 700 degrees are considered excessive. At temperatures below 350 degrees the stove should be burned with the damper open."

So - given that this is a VC product I always assumed the guidance was valid for my VC stove - it seemed to fit anyway. Hope this helps. (yes, sad that I still have the packaging and can find it... I just can't toss potentially useful stuff away - and I like the thermometer enough that I still use it for my flue temp monitoring).
 
Slow1 said:
When I was burning the VC I too couldn't find anything in the manual for surface temp guidance. However, I ended up buying a "Genuine" VC thermometer and was surprised (sort of) to find the guidance for burning temperatures on the back of the package. Here is what is written regarding "Woodburning":

" When burning wood, place the thermometer on the griddle right of center.
At the beginning of a burn cycle it is necessary to establish a hot fire and a good draft in the chimney. In order to accomplish this in most installations, the temperature should be in the 500*-600* range for 15 min. - 1/2 hour before the damper is closed. Once the damper is closed, it is advisabel to set the thermometer on a high setting for 5-10 minutes to maintain proper draft. Experimentation will show you where to position the thermostat after this 5-10 minute period.
The usual operating range is 350*-600*, although slightly higher temperatures are all right when extra heat is needed. Surface temperatures higher than 700 degrees are considered excessive. At temperatures below 350 degrees the stove should be burned with the damper open."

So - given that this is a VC product I always assumed the guidance was valid for my VC stove - it seemed to fit anyway. Hope this helps. (yes, sad that I still have the packaging and can find it... I just can't toss potentially useful stuff away - and I like the thermometer enough that I still use it for my flue temp monitoring).
Click to expand...

That's funny... they should really include that in the manual for the stove, because after some screwing around, that's about exactly what I established as the best way to get things working.
 
My stove manual (2008 model) states to break-in at less than 500 °F . It also states that when the surface temp reaches 450 one is to adjust the air controls for the amount of heat desired. The same page has a warning box that states "DO NOT OVERFIRE THIS HEATER....If any part of the Encore glows, you are overfiring". I see no other references to operating temps in the manual.

My experience is that my stove runs best at 550°F . When I go beyond 625 I see about slowing things down. I typically am burning maple and birch once the coal bed is established. Packed full and shut done to just a trickle, I can get 8-9 hours of effective heat overnight. That is from loading at 10:00pm to 6:30am where there are good coals and the surface temp is 300°F and the living room is in the high 60s. A good overnight burn took me a while to learn last year.

The Everburn sometimes has an audible rumble and sometimes not. I check my chimney every so often to see how I'm burning. After burning two cords last winter I came out with 2 cups of creosote? this summer when I swept. I have found the Everburn works very well when I rake the coals to the front, create a valley in the middle and load the wood.

I'm wondering about the aspen, is it too soft to create the length of burn you want? My aspen/poplar is light, burns hot and fast, but is only used to get things going.
 
Anyone know of a wood hardness/btu chart?

I think I have the Everburn down now. I wait until the fire is hot enough to burn the junk off the windows from the previous night's slow burn and then close it up tight. Takes about an hour to get to that point.

I'm in Colorado at 5,800ft. How much does the vent height really affect the draft? I had to add a 4ft section of pipe, it's now about 20ft from the top of the stove to the vent cap. Maybe I really need another 4ft? That would be about 10ft above the roof exit point!
 
Do you think you need more draft? The easy way to tell is when you've got the damper closed: if you can vary the intensity of the burn with the air control, you should be fine (this comes from the manual by the way).

FWIW, when I start a fresh burn I bring the surface temp up to 650 or so as you found out and then close it down. Gets a good draft going, burns any crud off the glass and from then on I just reload when needed, damp it down within 15 minutes and throttle the air back a few minutes later. Runs like a champ around 550 or so all day long.
 
.... even got a 7 hour overnight burn the other day, and that was with a horribly loaded firebox.
 
heffergm said:
.... even got a 7 hour overnight burn the other day, and that was with a horribly loaded firebox.
Click to expand...

That is very good using aspen!
 
heffergm said:
Diabel said:
heffergm said:
.... even got a 7 hour overnight burn the other day, and that was with a horribly loaded firebox.
Click to expand...

That is very good using aspen!
Click to expand...

sorry, think you mixed me up with the OP. I'm burning red oak at the moment.
Click to expand...

oops, sorry my mistake...

Yeah, I did not think that aspen would give a 7hr burn. With red oak you will do better ;-)
 
Just for the heck of it- what is it like in your house when you do an overnight burn? Is it frigid and that's why you want to keep it going, or are you trying to avoid having to "start a new fire" in the morning?
I don't mean to be a jerk about it by any means, all I'm trying to find out is if the stove's limitations are causing a real problem for you- or if there's some other way to go about achieving your desired aim if you're unable to get the stove to go all night on the settings you have with the fuel you have.
Any one else able to piggy back on what i'm saying?
 
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