bk owners with (update w/ new cat ?)

[SolarAndWood]

When I reload, I push everything back with the shovel, rake the coals front center and toss 2 of the little "pine" splits on the pile of coals. Then fill the rest of the box.

 

[ecocavalier02]

How Long do u burn on High and at how low r u turning the t stat down to

 

[SolarAndWood]

Depends on what I am burning and what the weather is like. I am doing 24 hour cycles on punks, shorties and uglies right now. Reloading in the morning, probably run on 3 without blowers for an hour or so before I turn it down and go to work. Turn it up again in the evening depending on how much solar gain we had. When burning crap and during warmer temps, I tend to burn it hotter and longer in the beginning to make sure I have burned any remaining moisture out of the wood before I close the bypass and then make sure that the draft is going strong before turning it down. I've found this stove to work by far best as a batch burner. Load it up, get the batch going strong and let it do its thing. I haven't seen any advantages in doing partials and a lot of disadvantages.

 

[ecocavalier02]

I do not leave it burning on 3 for that long. Maybe I should try. I turn I down to 2 .5 after 20 min the. -after 30 I'm down to 2 then 1.5 at bout an hour.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I do not leave it burning on 3 for that long. Maybe I should try.

I would. It may very well be that you never really get the batch going in these warmer temperatures before you are shutting it down causing the traces of smoke.

 

[ecocavalier02]

I will try this from now on

 

[weatherguy]

[quote author="SolarAndWood" date="1319736089"]Depends on what I am burning and what the weather is like. I am doing 24 hour cycles on punks, shorties and uglies right now. Reloading in the morning, probably run on 3 without blowers for an hour or so before I turn it down and go to work. Turn it up again in the evening depending on how much solar gain we had. When burning crap and during warmer temps, I tend to burn it hotter and longer in the beginning to make sure I have burned any remaining moisture out of the wood before I close the bypass and then make sure that the draft is going strong before turning it down. I've found this stove to work by far best as a batch burner. Load it up, get the batch going strong and let it do its thing. I haven't seen any advantages in doing partials and a lot of disadvantages.[/quote

Couldnt agree more, I just time the length of burn I want with the tstat. Thats why I do two long burns now when its 40's days and 30's nights and three a day in the colder winter months. Takes a while to know your stove so you can get the timing down.
I think your right about turning it down too soon and getting more smoke, I find its better to get it going good and hot, then turn it down.

 

[ecocavalier02]

This is a quote from chris from bk. what you guys are saying is very true.

That is why if a person goes to bed at 9:00 p.m. and loads the stove full of wood that is a bit green and shuts the stove down for the night, they can plug up the combustor or really make a mess of the inside of the firebox. If instead the same guy would load the stove at 8:00 p.m., run the stove on high for an hour and then shut it down, the moisture will mostly have been consumed by the combustion process.

Also, recoverable Btu energy is highest when you minimize the amount of steam you create when burning wet wood. So, the steam cools the steel body of the stove and you can get the feeling you are not getting as much heat as you had hoped.

So burn good dry wood in ALL wood stoves, which will keep the stove, combustor (if equipped), chimney and environment cleaner (PM 2.5 increase with an increase in moisture content, especially in non catalytic wood stoves).

Solid, good questions guys!


Chris

 

[ecocavalier02]

I do not leave it burning on 3 for that long. Maybe I should try.

I would. It may very well be that you never really get the batch going in these warmer temperatures before you are shutting it down causing the traces of smoke.

are you running it on 3 with the bypass closed to correct for an hour? i let it going good for 10 to 20 min then shut by pass and run on 3 ? i run it like this for a few before shutting the bypass

 

[HotCoals]

At the end of my burn I throw in a few small pieces and crank it up.
I like to get the cat probe at least half way.
Then I open the door and reload and set it for 1.5 and forget it.
Did that at 9 last night..this morning at 7:00 I had close to 2/3 of my wood left..cat was glowing great,stove temp near probe was 525 ir.
Just came home from work still have over a 1/3 of wood left...temp near probe 350..cat glowing some.
I opened the air all the way for maybe 10 mins and then shut it down again to 1.5..cat is glowing great again.
I won't touch it again till 9.
But it was like 40 most of the day..rainy...real warm in the house.
This stove still amazes me.

 

[weatherguy]

I do not leave it burning on 3 for that long. Maybe I should try.

I would. It may very well be that you never really get the batch going in these warmer temperatures before you are shutting it down causing the traces of smoke.

are you running it on 3 with the bypass closed to correct for an hour? i let it going good for 10 to 20 min then shut by pass and run on 3 ? i run it like this for a few before shutting the bypass

That how I do it, I let it get roaring before I engage the cat, then I lower the tstat a bit until it get to the temp I want, then I turn it down low (1.5-2) for the rest of the burn, it usually holds that temp for the majority of the burn then slowly goes down from there, wash, rinse, repeat.

 

[bogydave]

At the end of my burn I throw in a few small pieces and crank it up.
I like to get the cat probe at least half way.
Then I open the door and reload and set it for 1.5 and forget it.
Did that at 9 last night..this morning at 7:00 I had close to 2/3 of my wood left..cat was glowing great,stove temp near probe was 525 ir.
Just came home from work still have over a 1/3 of wood left...temp near probe 350..cat glowing some.
I opened the air all the way for maybe 10 mins and then shut it down again to 1.5..cat is glowing great again.
I won't touch it again till 9.
But it was like 40 most of the day..rainy...real warm in the house.
This stove still amazes me.

+1
I rake the coal around & pull them up front. Throw on a small split around 8 - 9 PM. close up on 3. (Learned this trick from BrotherBart)
At 10 or so , it's still good & hot, split is gone, coals burned down small I load it up.
Get it burning good for 10 min, close the bypass, 10 min more, down to just below 2, fan on low.
Last night a full load, 2 big spits in the middle of the load, still lots of wood a 3 PM today, should be good till I do it again tonight.
Like you , I'm still amazed how much heat I get with the amount of wood burned.

 

[ecocavalier02]

well i did the procedure above burned on 3 for an hour then turned it down real slow. all was good for first couple hours. then same thing after bout 3 hours cat temp is still very active but theres smoke coming out of the stack again. i dont remember it doing this the last couple years. so possibly i think the cat has taken its toll.

 

[bogydave]

Known good dry wood?

 

[SolarAndWood]

Doesn't make sense that the cat would work well during the beginning of the cycle and then get worse as the cycle goes on. What happens if you turn the tstat up when you see the smoke after 3 hours?

 

[ecocavalier02]

Doesn't make sense that the cat would work well during the beginning of the afcycle and then get worse as the cycle goes on. What happens if you turn the tstat up when you see the smoke after 3 hours?

this is what I had tried I turned it up a little not a lot and there was still smoke.

 

[nate379]

If I left my stove on 3 with a fire going I would probably melt down the stove!!

I turn it all the way up when I just have loaded some wood but once it's going decent I turn it down. To hold my house at around 75* I put the knob straight up and down or a bit less (pointing to "A" on warmer.)

 

[HotCoals]

Seems like after mine is really warmed up and running anything below 1.5 and the air flopper is closed anyway.
Move the t-stat kinda fast up and down and you will hear where it's closing at.
I like 1.5 in the dead of winter..if the stove cools some the t-stat will open sooner then if it was turned down more.

 

[rdust]

Seems like after mine is really warmed up and running anything below 1.5 and the air flopper is closed anyway.

x2, mine closes around 1 so I'm not sure turning down lower than that makes a difference. This time of year 1 is perfect to keep this place in the low 70's, 24 hours between reloads with a mix of soft maple and white ash. I know I'll have to run it higher once it starts getting cold.

 

[HotCoals]

Seems like after mine is really warmed up and running anything below 1.5 and the air flopper is closed anyway.

x2, mine closes around 1 so I'm not sure turning down lower than that makes a difference. This time of year 1 is perfect to keep this place in the low 70's, 24 hours between reloads with a mix of soft maple and white ash. I know I'll have to run it higher once it starts getting cold.

I filled at 9 last night. At 7 tonight I had way to much wood left for another good fill..so I ran it on 2.5 from 7-10..crazy burn times.

 

[bogydave]

The Number setting on your stove will not correlate to the number setting on my stove. the system is different.
Mine shuts down just below 1-3/4 when the stove is burning, pretty warm but by no means real hot. Never checked it cold.
My chimney is different & drafts differently. Stove is in the basement & roughly a 20' stack.
I have 2 double wall 45°s going to the tru-wall pipe (24") to a metal-bestos "T". Everyone has some differences so the number is not that big of an issue.

e02:
Are you getting a good draft with the bypass "open" & the damper wide open?
Are you getting a good draft with the bypass "closed" & the damper wide open. ** I wasn't which led me to the combustor.** (the flames dropped off some when I closed the bypass)

e02:
With all you've tried,
1st; Im thinking the combustor is bad (maybe something other than clean wood, a chemical or metal that damages the combustor's platinum/palladium coating, got burned in the stove) & it is not getting/staying "active" as it cools.
2nd; it's plugged or something is preventing a good draft when the bypass is closed.
You should clean the stove per the instructions in the manual, inspect/clean/replace the combustor, inspect/clean all the pipe & chimney.
3rd; You may have a leak in the pipe to the flue, a leak in the flue or stove pipe will kill the draft.
To get a good draft at lower settings any leak is a killer, it let cool air in & cools the pipe, reduce the strength of the draft. The reason for double wall pipe leaving the stove to the stack, tighter joints & less heat loss = better draft.
1 or more of the above will cause problems.
Got a picture of your pipe set up from stove to the top cap?
Wh you get your new combustor, the problems will disappear. If not you have a good spare.
**I think like you said "im thinking maybe my cat has takien its toll. also i think i put it through quit a learning process a few years ago when i was learning the stove. plus the knock out when i hit it with the vacuum"..." i planned on purchasing one this coming month".** will solve the problems.

I got a new ceramic , been working great ever since. It glows red for hours on low settings with no smoke out the stack.
Pics of my plugged SS cat: (now a good spare.)
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/70546/

A good read How the catalytic combustor works & other good info.
http://www.woodstovecombustors.com/How_They_Work.html

 

[ecocavalier02]

The Number setting on your stove will not correlate to the number setting on my stove. the system is different.
Mine shuts down just below 1-3/4 when the stove is burning, pretty warm but by no means real hot. Never checked it cold.
My chimney is different & drafts differently. Stove is in the basement & roughly a 20' stack.
I have 2 double wall 45°s going to the tru-wall pipe (24") to a metal-bestos "T". Everyone has some differences so the number is not that big of an issue.

e02:
Are you getting a good draft with the bypass "open" & the damper wide open?
Are you getting a good draft with the bypass "closed" & the damper wide open. ** I wasn't which led me to the combustor.** (the flames dropped off some when I closed the bypass)

e02:
With all you've tried,
1st; Im thinking the combustor is bad (maybe something other than clean wood, a chemical or metal that damages the combustor's platinum/palladium coating, got burned in the stove) & it is not getting/staying "active" as it cools.
2nd; it's plugged or something is preventing a good draft when the bypass is closed.
You should clean the stove per the instructions in the manual, inspect/clean/replace the combustor, inspect/clean all the pipe & chimney.
3rd; You may have a leak in the pipe to the flue, a leak in the flue or stove pipe will kill the draft.
To get a good draft at lower settings any leak is a killer, it let cool air in & cools the pipe, reduce the strength of the draft. The reason for double wall pipe leaving the stove to the stack, tighter joints & less heat loss = better draft.
1 or more of the above will cause problems.
Got a picture of your pipe set up from stove to the top cap?
Wh you get your new combustor, the problems will disappear. If not you have a good spare.
**I think like you said "im thinking maybe my cat has takien its toll. also i think i put it through quit a learning process a few years ago when i was learning the stove. plus the knock out when i hit it with the vacuum"..." i planned on purchasing one this coming month".** will solve the problems.

I got a new ceramic , been working great ever since. It glows red for hours on low settings with no smoke out the stack.
Pics of my plugged SS cat: (now a good spare.)
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/70546/

A good read How the catalytic combustor works & other good info.
http://www.woodstovecombustors.com/How_They_Work.html

Dave you are right. before i knew more about what to burn and what not to burn.i did burn a lot of oak pallets which were nailed together last year. plus a lot of the kindling i used also had nails. the cat does stay in the active range the whole time though. The new cat will he here monday and i will throw it in..no biggy. im almost positive its the cat. i will take a picture of the flue when i get out of work. i have double wall as well with two 45's about a 3 foot rise into the chimney then a about 25 feet of a steel liner insulated up to the cat. which i believe is a pretty solid setup. also i have read that woodstove combusteor web page within the last few days. wish i would have read it 2 years ago.

 

[ecocavalier02]

it seems to me also that as soon as the cat is not glowing red and really hot that is when the smoke starts to come out of the stack.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I seem to recall someone had a problem with the bypass door seal but I couldn't find it with a search. As I recall, it was a very minor leak but could be another explanation here.

 

[ecocavalier02]

I seem to recall someone had a problem with the bypass door seal but I couldn't find it with a search. As I recall, it was a very minor leak but could be another explanation here.

maybe a small leak around the bypass? I did try to tighten the bolt a the beginning if the season. i was wondering how one would get into change out the gasket. Looks tight in there.