Encore cat 2550 how is the Primary Air flap supposed to work?

Tonight I fired up my Encore cat 2550 again. Ran out of wood at the house, so wasn't running the last week. I got bunch of well seasoned cherry from my dad today...
I got things going nice and slow, had 2 logs in burnt down into coals, then filled it up to the griddle.
Primary air control open, cat bypassed. 15-20 min like this to char the splits. Then engage the cat. after 5 min or so, flames die down, slowly close down the primary air in steps. After 45 min, I hear the stove making more noise. More air pulling through the thing. Temp is 575, but lots of air noise. I look behind the stove, and the secondary flapper is open pretty far.

I haven't seen this happen yet. The whole back of the stove seems pretty hot. griddle temp still 575.

I have only seen the flapper closed when the stove was hot in operation. Is it possible that the spring/arm went over center and lifted the flap?
How's this thing supposed to work?

I just looked at it again, the lever on the spring is at about 9- o-clock.

BeGreen said:

The "spring" is a bimetalic, thermostatic coil that will open the air supply when the stove cools down. After the bypass has been engaged and the room is at a comfortable temperature, move the lever so that the flapper door on the air supply just closes. It will self regulate after that.

Click to expand...

I'm referring to the secondary air control. The one that's on the back of the stove with the approx 6"X5" black metal cover held in place with 2 screws.

So I must have been in an overfire condition? The bimetalic, thermostatic coil was opening the air supply as the stove got hotter, causing the stove to get even hotter. I was up till 2 last night, using my mitten warmers to prop against the secondary inlet "flapper/gate" to keep it shut. (at least as closed as it will go till it hits the pin that holds it open)

I got a new stove top thermometer to replace my POS rutland. A week ago It has been burning reliable loaded to the griddle with large splits.

Now, I must have wood that is "too seasoned"?

What a miserable night! Can't go to bed for fear of waking up in heaven!

Thanks

Initially, I was asking the proper operation of the secondary air flap on the back of the stove. I was getting too hot, over-fire conditions, and could not control the burn temp. Up to and including 700 griddle temps almost all the time. This was frustrating, causing lack of sleep, etc.

I removed the 6x5 black cover on the rear of the stove, allowing me to view the operation of the secondary air flapper. When the stove would get hot the bi-metallic spring/lever would rotate from approx the 4 O-clock position to the 9 O-clock position. This was causing an opening of the secondary flapper, bringing in more air when Its hot.

I called my la VC dealer asking about the proper operation of this flapper. When I told him my idea of installing a stop screw to limit, He said "it sounds like you're on the right track.

So.......

Here are some pics of the fix.

Drilled and taped a 10-24 thread machine screw to limit the bi-metallic lever.

I also blocked off the EPA air holes on the bottom of the stove. Now I can regulate the burn! I can now achieve long night burn times, consistent temp range of 550-650, and the Northern lights effect instead of constant flame.

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to share my fix!

I now love this stove, and I can sleep at night!

Thanks all for the advice!



I added magnets to the EPA holes on the bottom, and in