Fireview operational questions!!!

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scotsman

scotsman

Feeling the Heat
Aug 6, 2008
453
West Texas
Loaded up stove to about 2/3 for overnight burn, put it on cat and tried to go to sleep, but kept getting up to check on it. (Kinda like puttin' th' baby to bed for the first week they come home--y'think you've got t'watch 'em sleep!) Stove was holding at just under 600 degrees. Air was at 1.0.

1-Noticed that where the manual shows to put the thermometer is 150 degrees cooler than up in the back, center corner.
Q-Is there some compelling reason for putting it over the combuster shield as opposed to the back, center corner? Seems to me I'm wasting 150 degrees of heat and several minutes of combustor time.

2-Got up at 0230 to check. Almost no flame, but very bright orange glow on the floor in front of the stove. Got down on floor and looked up through grill into combustor compartment. That thing was glowing bright orange!
Q-Is this okay or am I over cooking it?

2a-Little or no flame on wood, but little "flame people" kept running down from top of firebox and around all over the wood.
Q-Does this mean I'm doing something wrong?

3-When reloading stove manual says to open air and put cat in "off" position.
Q-When finished and closing door, if temp is still in cat range, should cat be put back on or not? If not, what should be done?

4-Heard sound like a gas flash (like when lighting a propane burner that has accumulated a little too much gas when it finally lights). I heard it in the bedroom, which is behind the wall the FP sits in with the stove in front of--not very far away.
Q-Any of y'all have such a noise from the cat engaging?

Left stove with no reload until 1430. Still enough coals to light it again right away when I put in some 4" diameter "logs".
 
Texas boy said:
Loaded up stove to about 2/3 for overnight burn, put it on cat and tried to go to sleep, but kept getting up to check on it. (Kinda like puttin' th' baby to bed for the first week they come home--y'think you've got t'watch 'em sleep!) Stove was holding at just under 600 degrees. Air was at 1.0.

1-Noticed that where the manual shows to put the thermometer is 150 degrees cooler than up in the back, center corner.
Q-Is there some compelling reason for putting it over the combuster shield as opposed to the back, center corner? Seems to me I'm wasting 150 degrees of heat and several minutes of combustor time.

2-Got up at 0230 to check. Almost no flame, but very bright orange glow on the floor in front of the stove. Got down on floor and looked up through grill into combustor compartment. That thing was glowing bright orange!
Q-Is this okay or am I over cooking it?

2a-Little or no flame on wood, but little "flame people" kept running down from top of firebox and around all over the wood.
Q-Does this mean I'm doing something wrong?

3-When reloading stove manual says to open air and put cat in "off" position.
Q-When finished and closing door, if temp is still in cat range, should cat be put back on or not? If not, what should be done?

4-Heard sound like a gas flash (like when lighting a propane burner that has accumulated a little too much gas when it finally lights). I heard it in the bedroom, which is behind the wall the FP sits in with the stove in front of--not very far away.
Q-Any of y'all have such a noise from the cat engaging?

Left stove with no reload until 1430. Still enough coals to light it again right away when I put in some 4" diameter "logs".
Click to expand...

1. They want you to take the center temp because it's directly above the cat which needs to reach 500 for light off. The rear of the stove will heat up quicker in the bypass mode than the front.
2. Glowing cat is normal, just means it has reached 1000 degrees. Also doesn't need to glow to be working.
2a. Normal, different air settings give you different flames.
3. I always wait 10-15 minutes to let the cat adjust and drive out any moisture in the wood. I know your wood is very dry so prolly no need to wait as long.
4. Never heard anything like that, but sometimes I can hear the wood shift around, maybe that's what you heard.
 
Everything you have said sounds normal. Have only had a "pop" from the stove if I just turned the air way down (reduced it), and the firebox fills with combustible gas/air mixture - which then lights off. Have only seen this within a few seconds of turning down air, and only a couple of times total. The cat does not make any noise when it engages. An orange cat says that its OK and working well, even though it can be working and not visibly glowing.

I think waiting 10 minutes to re-engage the cat after loading with dry wood is overkill. Five is probably OK, you'll figure out what works for you. Sounds like its working out well.
 
YUP, I'll just chime in here to help out Texas Boy and say I agree with everything in the above two posts. ALL sounds normal - I get the POP when I turn the air way down, but it takes a while - sometimes 30 -40 minutes until the wood cooks enough for lots of gases to form and the stovetop temp always climbs above 500 before it pops and ignites the gas in a huge loud fireball. I'm amazed by the long burns and high temps Texas Boy is getting out of his wood. I hear everything in Texas is bigger and better and this just continues to confirm it. :cheese: BTW, that's a great signature image of Texas!
 
Forgot to ask in the OP--Should I un-bolt the combustor now? I think they said when you're through moving the stove, you can un-bolt the combustor. I guess it should be completely cold before doing it, huh?
 
You don't have to unbolt it until you need to clean it. I would wait till it's cool just for safety's sake.
 
I didn't unbolt mine until the first time I looked at it; months after starting burning. The bolts hadn't seized or anything; you can do it now or later - it really doesn't matter.

The last time I looked at the cat it was so clean I just put it back in. No deterioration of the ceramic honeycomb, a tiny bit of ash on it. The whole thing takes like 5 minutes; the stove doesn't have to be cold - but obviously at the end of a burn cycle.

Are you happy with the stove?
 
rickw said:
I didn't unbolt mine until the first time I looked at it; months after starting burning. The bolts hadn't seized or anything; you can do it now or later - it really doesn't matter.

The last time I looked at the cat it was so clean I just put it back in. No deterioration of the ceramic honeycomb, a tiny bit of ash on it. The whole thing takes like 5 minutes; the stove doesn't have to be cold - but obviously at the end of a burn cycle.

Are you happy with the stove?
Click to expand...

"Happy" with the stove has not been determined at this point. I LIKE the stove. It looks nice and I like the workmanship and obvious quality. "Happy" would include doing what I want it to do and heat what I want it to heat. I still think the stove is too small, but it was my only choice. I think this type of stove is good and will heat better than a steel or cast iron stove, but, for this application, I think a larger version would match up with this space far better and would be more likely to equal "happy". Did that make any sense? I guess it's a bit like trying to use a Ford Ranger to do a job that really needs an F-350. I will be interested to see how it performs when we return to cold weather!
 
Texas boy said:
Loaded up stove to about 2/3 for overnight burn, put it on cat and tried to go to sleep, but kept getting up to check on it. (Kinda like puttin' th' baby to bed for the first week they come home--y'think you've got t'watch 'em sleep!) Stove was holding at just under 600 degrees. Air was at 1.0.

Don't worry Terry, you'll soon get over that.

1-Noticed that where the manual shows to put the thermometer is 150 degrees cooler than up in the back, center corner.
Q-Is there some compelling reason for putting it over the combuster shield as opposed to the back, center corner? Seems to me I'm wasting 150 degrees of heat and several minutes of combustor time.

Still best to follow the manual. They have done testing in the lab so we assume this is the best method they have found to follow.

2-Got up at 0230 to check. Almost no flame, but very bright orange glow on the floor in front of the stove. Got down on floor and looked up through grill into combustor compartment. That thing was glowing bright orange!
Q-Is this okay or am I over cooking it?

That is very normal. It is what I find mostly when I get up in the night. It gives enough light that I don't even turn on a light. Glowing bright orange = a happy combustor.


2a-Little or no flame on wood, but little "flame people" kept running down from top of firebox and around all over the wood.
Q-Does this mean I'm doing something wrong?

You are doing something very right!

3-When reloading stove manual says to open air and put cat in "off" position.
Q-When finished and closing door, if temp is still in cat range, should cat be put back on or not? If not, what should be done?

It is still best to wait, I think at least 5 minutes. With your wood being so dry I would doubt you have to wait any longer than 5 minutes though.

4-Heard sound like a gas flash (like when lighting a propane burner that has accumulated a little too much gas when it finally lights). I heard it in the bedroom, which is behind the wall the FP sits in with the stove in front of--not very far away.
Q-Any of y'all have such a noise from the cat engaging?

What no doubt happened was there was no flame in the firebox until you heard that little puff. I've been at our stove when that has happened and every time after it happens there is that beautiful rolling flame at the top. All is well.

Left stove with no reload until 1430. Still enough coals to light it again right away when I put in some 4" diameter "logs".
Click to expand...

Terry, it sounds like you have everything under control.
 
Texas boy said:
Forgot to ask in the OP--Should I un-bolt the combustor now? I think they said when you're through moving the stove, you can un-bolt the combustor. I guess it should be completely cold before doing it, huh?
Click to expand...

You can remove the bolts and clean the cat (we use an old paint brush for that). When you put the cat back in, you can replace the bolts or not. What I did was go to the hardware and got a couple longer bolts. Now when we put the cat back in, I just barely screw these bolts in, just to make sure the cat is in place. One time either I did not put it far enough back or it slid, but it was off. Now I don't have to worry about that.

On the stove being completely cold, they say that to cover their bottoms. Why wait? I usually wait until the stove is down to 200 or less but never wait until the stove is cold to clean that cat. Just wear welding gloves.

This morning we are a warm 37 degrees so I decided to take our cat out to clean it. I waited a couple hours after getting up and then I simply put the welding gloves on and grabbed the cat. Took it outside and lightly brushed off the fly ash, put the cat back in and then put kindling on the remaining coals. No match needed, the stove has a small fire in it now. Weird, my wife was chilly this morning but I was plenty warm. It is usually the other way around. But a fire is needed anyway because it is raining so no sense in letting the house cool too much.

btw, taking the cat out, cleaning and then back in took about 3 minutes.
 
Sounds about right to me. I wish I had some 60 year seasoned wood. I have heard and seen the pop once.
 
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