Burn Temperture for non-Cat Encore.

[tsantoli]

I'm burning my non- cat VC Encore for the fist time this season and have a few questions about the burn temperature, this stove replaced an Upland 207 that I burned for years.

My stove top thermostat is reading 600-700 degrees with the draft control at its lowest setting and the recirculation damper closed; this seems quite high and is much hotter than I let the Upland get. Is this temp alight?

I sometimes hear a muffled clunk or metal expansion type sound from my chimney near wherre the stove pipe connnects, the chimney is a lined brick chminey. The sweep said it was in excellent shape late last season and that someone must have relined it properly before I bought the house. Is this just the metal expanding? I hear it most when the stove is just begining to fire.

Thanks for any responses.

Tom

 

[Todd]

There are others here that have had problems maintaining a good hot clean burn with these new down draft everburn stoves. Sounds like yours is working too well. Try a search of this site "everburn" you may learn alot.

Have you checked all your gaskets? May not have a good seal somewhere? What does your manual say for overfire temps? What kind of wood are you burning and is it a full load? How tall is your chimney? You may have an overdraft issue? May need a pipe damper?

 

[jpl1nh]

The noises you here most likely is the metal of the pipe expanding. Kind of a nice sound once you know it's ok.

 

[jodie]

Today is my second fire in my new nc Encore and the manual was vague, it said to have 2-3 break in fires, no extremes and not over 500 degrees. I found more information in the old manual, archived on the vermont castings website, it said "monitor griddle temp with a surface thermometer, the usual operating range is 350-600 degrees, although slightly higher temps are all right when extra heat is needed. Surface temps higher than 700 degrees are considered excessive". I cracked the bottom of my older vc vigilant with a runaway fire that was over 800. The fire I lit yesterday wouldn't shut down with the damper closed and the air intake at lowest and then I noticed that the damper wasn't completely closed. There must be a tight spot on the adjustment and when I forced it alittle it closed all the way. Just sharing and praying I made the right choice buying a non-cat! The encore fit perfect, looks good now lets see if it realy is a pain in the neck like everyone is saying!!

 

[begreen]

I can understand your concerns. VC used to give more guidance. It is really confusing to read in a manual about the risks of overfiring with no temperature guidance. VC and many other stove companies are dropping the ball here. The original VC stoves came with a thermometer and guidance on how to use it. They need to get back to better user docs.

If you were reporting 800 degree stove top temps I would start getting a little concerned, but 600-700 should be within normal operating temps. It's ok it it temporarily goes up to 700 during the initial gas burn off of the wood. If in a darkened room, the back of the stove is glowing, even dull red, the stove is starting to overheat.

 

[JimWalshin845]

..... The original VC stoves came with a thermometer and guidance on how to use it. They need to get back to better user docs.....

I keep on looking for that elusive thermostat on my VC Defiant. BeGreen, where did they put that little bugger? :question: :coolgrin:

 

[begreen]

Sorry, the thermometer wasn't built-in. My original VC Resolute came with a magnetic Sand Hill thermometer to put on the stove top. I sold the stove long ago, but still have that thermometer.

The thermostat should be a bi-metallic coil connected to a secondary flapper intake on the back left side.

 

[swestall]

600-700 stovetop is about top of what you would want to run. If you have a great draft, you should close the primary control some. Since the secondary is an air siphon you will most likely be pulling in from there a bit. Once you close the damper the draft is going to pull on the secondary siphon air as hard as it can. As you see from many other posts you need that refractory chamber to be preheated and to have a good amount of coals in front of the opening. When the Eberburn secondary starts you should close off the primary a little at a time. If you are still pulling a lot of air, resulting in the temp being too high, you do need a second damper to slow it down a bit. BUT, if you can slow it down to 400-550 I'd say you have a great setup.

 

[tsantoli]

Thanks for the responses, I agree that the manual is of little help here.

My chiney is 28-30 feet high and there is no damper currently; the old stove setup (Upland 207) had a stove damper bu I did not reinstall it in this stove as I assumed it was muich tighter than the Upland and draft control would be easier.

It was a half load of mostly maple and some oak splits and logs.

The stove is about a year old but I'll check gaskets and adjust the latch as well.

Are stove top tempeature and stove pipe temperatue (single wall) similar and interchangeable?

It's going to be in the 20s tonight and it's real windy so we'll see how things go after the adjustments.

Tom

 

[begreen]

Everburn stoves appear to have a specific draft range in which they optimally burn. With that tall a stack, I would recommend a flue thermometer placed about 2 feet above the stove. That will give you a better idea of how the everburn system is working. It the stack temps are high (>800 deg.), then it should have a stack damper installed. You can also darken the room and watch the back of the stove. If it is glowing, even dull red, it may be starting to overheat. If this is the case, adding a stack damper should bring the stove back into well behaved regulation.