This is my 3rd fire got it roaring stovetop came up to 300* cat gauge said active. Closed bybass. Left thermostat on 4. Turned fans on medium/ low. Stovetop temp hanging around 300* cat gauge seems to creep up. I am using bought kiln dried wood. New insulated lined 35 foot interior chimney 8 inch around. Why can it get it up? Does cat need break in process ? Will performance get better with the more fires that get burned?
Any Viagra for my new blaze king ?
- Thread starter kwikrp
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SolarAndWood
Minister of Fire
Turn the tstat down to 3 or just above when you close the bypass. Wait on the fans until the cat is good and lit and the temps are up. Once you have the temps up, drop the tstat in small increments every 15 to 20 minutes to your desired setting until you get a feel for it.
Are you filling the firebox and loading NS?
Are you filling the firebox and loading NS?
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Exactly, that was the mistake I was making at first, it should zoom right up once it gets cooking with the fan off, then turn it on low and slowly turn the tstat down, it will take a while for you to get the feel for where everything should be set.
SolarAndWood
Minister of Fire
kwikrp said:
That 8" pipe sucks a lot of air out with the tstat and bypass open. It may never get any hotter than that with the bypass and tstat wide open. The cat thermometer is usually between 9 and 10 oclcock when I close the bypass. But, I don't really worry about it as long as the wood looks burned off.
It makes no sense. Are you sure your thermometer isn't screwed up? Stick it in your oven and turn the oven on 450 and see if it reads correctly..
RustyShackleford
Minister of Fire
Patapsco Mike said:
Also, make sure the "zero" is calibrated: with the stove dead cold, the needle should be
at the tick mark just below the bottom of "Inactive".
Get the fire going good with the thermostat set above 3 , cat in bypass(handle up), get the cat temp gage above where it says active by just a bit...once you have a good fire going with this mannor then close the bypass(handle down) and tighten just a bit to ensure some mechanical force down on the cat rope seal, the turn down the t-stat and watch the cat light off and get good and hot....the more wood you have in the box and the more you turn down the t-stat in the ("normal ) range the more smolder you get on the wood and the more smoke you produce the hotter the cat gets because its catalizing the smoke....my single wall pipe temp rarly gets over 350 but the cat will be glowing red and in the 2:30- 3:00 oclock position on the cat temp guage with tons of heat comming out with the blowers on....!!
Lesson learned ...full firebox... get it real hot, turn it down,, and start makin smoke
! smoke is your friend and your money...not flames...smoke
Lesson learned ...full firebox... get it real hot, turn it down,, and start makin smoke
! smoke is your friend and your money...not flames...smoke
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Patapsco Mike said:
All that will do is screw you up more. These meters are not designed to be put in the oven. You will be chasing your tail if you test a meter that way.
Please elaborate. You mean a thermometer that can be attached to a 750 degree stove can't handle an oven temp of 450?
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