Woodstock Stove 600 Plus?

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leeave96

leeave96

Minister of Fire
Apr 22, 2010
1,113
Western VA
I have been filling my stove to the gills and getting stove top temperatures up to 500 degrees, but not near 600 and nowhere close to 700 degrees.

I have been trying to push those temperatures for when the weather really cools down just to get a feel for the settings when I'd need them.

I've got good wood, seasoned oak and locust, and good chimney draft.

My question is - what settings are you using to get a cruzing stove top temp of 600-650 degrees?

I'm wondering if the smaller Keystone may not have enough firebox to drive these hotter temperatures vs the larger Fireview.

Thanks!
Bill
 
What kind of wood are you burning? When was it cut and split? The wood you burn makes a huge difference. How tall in your chimney and is it insulated? Are there any 90 degree elbows in your flue? Here in Virginia with the humidity you can burn oak after 2 years but the oak that is seasoned for 3 will get the temps up over 600. The oak seasoned for 2 years will not get the high tempatures very often. If your draft is not good you will not see those high temperates. The first year I was having issues with the high temps and tried some 2x4s cut to fit in the stove and figured out it was the wood. Maybe some others have some thoughts. Good luck.
 
I haven't really pushed mine yet and have been burning mostly shorties and junk wood but I have had her up to 600 a couple times and she seems to like to cruise between 500-550. My air settings are at 1.5 when I engage the cat and I let it burn for about 30 minutes before turning it down to just a smidge above 1.

I think you may find that you will get more heat with more flame and red hot coals in the box even though your stove top temps are in the 500-600 range. Sometimes the stove top doesn't tell the whole story because the cat is right under the top and a smouldering fire can give the cat a lot of fuel and give you those high stove top temps while the rest of the stove is relatively cooler.

How many splits are you stuffing in there and what size? Are they packed tight or do they have some gaps? Different loading techniques can make a difference as well. Smaller splits with good gaps for air flow can make for a hot fire where a packed tight large split load will make a longer cooler burn.
 
Todd said:
I haven't really pushed mine yet and have been burning mostly shorties and junk wood but I have had her up to 600 a couple times and she seems to like to cruise between 500-550. My air settings are at 1.5 when I engage the cat and I let it burn for about 30 minutes before turning it down to just a smidge above 1.

I think you may find that you will get more heat with more flame and red hot coals in the box even though your stove top temps are in the 500-600 range. Sometimes the stove top doesn't tell the whole story because the cat is right under the top and a smouldering fire can give the cat a lot of fuel and give you those high stove top temps while the rest of the stove is relatively cooler.

How many splits are you stuffing in there and what size? Are they packed tight or do they have some gaps? Different loading techniques can make a difference as well. Smaller splits with good gaps for air flow can make for a hot fire where a packed tight large split load will make a longer cooler burn.
Click to expand...

I think I got the stove to 550 degrees one time - 500 is no problem. Yea, I am playing around with damper settings to balance the cat performance/stove top temp to whole fire box temp. The weather is cooling down and that enhances my draft so I am relearning some of my damper settings just based on outside temperatures. My splits are anywhere from 2 to 4 inches in diameter with maybe a large one for an overnight burn - can't be to big due to the door opening size! Sometimes I pack the wood in the stove, other times I make the stack such that there is space between the wood. My wood is dry, I cut all my wood and only cut dead stuff too.

Mostly just courious how you guys are hitting the 600 degree mark.

Thanks!
Bill
 
I don't often run my keystone that hot, but can easily when I want to. So I would think yours should also. I am burning 2-3 year seasoned (under roof) oak and hickory. Yours may seem dry, but perhaps not enough. I have found that with these cat stoves, really dry wood is important. Good luck. Z
 
What air settings are you guys burning at? If I go below #1 the fire box goes black and snuffs out the flame. A little above #1 seems to give me that low slow burn with the floating flames and a 450-550 stove top. 1.5-2 gives me a lot of flame and burns up fast.
 
Todd, With very dry wood, I can set they control as little as 1/2 and still get those dancing flames. Z
 
Where you set the draft can differ a lot. We will set it as low as .25. Sometimes we still have lots of flame at that setting and at others no flame.


leeavy, you stated, "My wood is dry, I cut all my wood and only cut dead stuff too." That is sort of a generic term and does not mean too much to us who are reading the forum. To give an example, I cam cot a lot of standing dead elm that has all the bark fallen off. That is pretty dead and dry. However, all the wood in those trees will not be dry! Up top it is usually ready to burn right away but the closer to the but we cut, that wood needs another year to dry. Oak is much worse.

What I am saying is just because a tree is dead does not make it good firewood. This is just one more reason wood needs to be cut, SPLIT, and stacked for a year before burning.
 
Zimm said:
Todd, With very dry wood, I can set they control as little as 1/2 and still get those dancing flames. Z
Click to expand...

That sounds about the same setting as my Fireview. I'm thinking my chimney is a little short, only 13' of liner and a short 45 elbow pipe on stove. From what I've read here the Woodstock's with taller straighter chimneys seem to run at the lower settings under #1 and I think they burn a little hotter. I guess that makes sense. I'm buying an 18" extention for my chimney cap to get me a little better draft for my Keystone. It will be interesting to see if that makes any difference, it's not much of an increase.
 
Todd, I had put a 4' extension on our chimney and did not notice any difference. It came down rather fast.
 
Todd said:
What air settings are you guys burning at? If I go below #1 the fire box goes black and snuffs out the flame. A little above #1 seems to give me that low slow burn with the floating flames and a 450-550 stove top. 1.5-2 gives me a lot of flame and burns up fast.
Click to expand...

Todd,

I am finding that as the temp drops, the damper settings are a bit different. I also re-glued my gaskets to the firebox door and ash pan door and that may have improved my damper control too.

Where I am at now with my Keystone is:

1. Build the fire or re-kindle at #4.
2. After a bit and the flames are rolling, I damper down to #2 (I hardly ever use 3).
3. When the stove top hits 200-250 degrees I engage the cat and damper down to 1.5 (my cat will fire-off at 200 degrees everytime with a nice orange glow)
4. For that fireplace look and more heat, I adjust the damper between 1.25 and sometimes up to 1.75-2
5. With the cooler weather, I get a nice overnight burn at #1 and if I go below that (which I have been experimenting), I get soot build-up on the glass. When morning comes, I've got a nice bed of coals to rekindle the fire - no matches necessary.

As the draft gets better with cooler temps, I'm think I can damper down more.

BTW, for the fireplace look - like I mentioned above, I let the flames max out just when they wick the bottom of the cat shield and with the large Keystone glass, it is really a beautiful burn - most relaxing! Also, I like the fire show when I damper down and only the secondaries are flashing away, but to me, the fireplace look with the flames simply rolling off the logs - that is the best!

Looking forward to hearing your Keystone experiences too.

Bill
 
Bill,
That pretty much exactly how I burn mine. If I want good flame and lots of heat I burn at 1.5-2, for a low slow burn and floating secondary flames I go with a tad over #1.

I've been getting soot on the right side glass no matter what setting I'm burning at and I checked the air gap between the glass and air wash plate. It's suppose to be 1/4" and it is on the left but a little narrower on the right so I adjusted the plate so it's a smidge over 1/4" all the way across. I have yet to burn the stove since doing this so don't know if it will help but it is adjustable.
 
Todd,

Mine is the opposite with the heavier soot/ash on the left hand side on these slow burns. I haven't checked the 1/4 inch air gap, but one thing that has helped is I am using wood that is 16 inches in length or less now. That makes it easier to load and provides a good air space at either end of the split and I think that helps air flow across the glass too - to the extent that it helps keep the corners clean/cleaner.

Bill
 
Bill:

The surest way for me to get my Fireview stovetop to really high temps (above 650) is to run the stove from the beginning of a reload (after getting to 250 F stovetop) with the air set below 1/2 so that no flames develop. THis causes lots of smoke and the cat gets gorged. As Todd says, this is not your highest heat output since the firebox has low temps but the stovetop can easily hit 700F with some dry wood. But once the first flame starts (by increasing the air) the stovetop temp drops fast and the firebox temp rises. I keep a separate thermometer on the front of the stove, the fireview has a nice area of cast iron trim in front to mount to.

Bottom line: dry wood + low initial draft setting = very high stovetop temp.
 
leeave96 said:
Todd,

Mine is the opposite with the heavier soot/ash on the left hand side on these slow burns. I haven't checked the 1/4 inch air gap, but one thing that has helped is I am using wood that is 16 inches in length or less now. That makes it easier to load and provides a good air space at either end of the split and I think that helps air flow across the glass too - to the extent that it helps keep the corners clean/cleaner.

Bill
Click to expand...

How tall is your chimney? I know mine is a little short at 13', I added 18" today to see if that will help. An easy way to measure that gap is to take a 1/4" drill bit and slide it up into that gap and run it across.
 
Todd,

My chimney is about 16 ft. I say about because I haven't measured this chimney, but I may do it this weekend. The big improvement in draft has been the change in the weather.

Thanks,
Bill
 
Rule out the easy stuff first. Check your thermometer with another or with a infrared gun.
 
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