Close bypass, fire goes out

[Wildcatfan55]

As a new member I would like introduce myself. I live in east tn my wife and I just finished building our own home, from the ground up, with lots ofnhelp of course. We included in this build a wood furnace in the basement as well as an insert upstairs. That being said on To my question, the insert is installed with a direct connection to an 8x8 flue liner that extends 15 feet to four feet above the roof line on an exterior wall, when the stove was installed it worked great, get to temp, close bypass, lights off and cruises at around 1000 for hours, now not so lucky, with bypass open fire burns very well, what could be the problem?, clogged cat or air intakes maybe?

 

[rdust]

What type of stove is it? Add it to your signature line when you get a minute. If the stove is a cat stove my first guess would be a plugged up cat, what does it look like?

Welcome to the group, you'll get the answers you're looking for here!

 

[Shari]

1. What is the moisture content of your wood? Answer: Should be 20% or less. If you don't have a moisture meter get one.

2. When was your wood cut, split and stacked? Answer: Should be cut, split and stacked for at least one year. Oak takes 2-3 yrs. in my climate.

3. Have you checked your chimney cap? If you wood is not well seasoned, your chimney cap could be plugged up with creosote and needs to be cleaned. If it's plugged, your chimney probably needs cleaning also.

4. What is the model/brand of your stove and what does your owners manual say about chimney size? Most stoves today require a 6" stainless steel liner which equates 28" sq in - you state your flue is 8x8 - that is 64" sq. in. Too large a flue = low draft. Low draft = lazy fire. Lazy fire = creosote build up. Creosote build up = see item #3 above.

 

[begreen]

Definitely inspect the cat first to make sure it isn't plugged with fly ash, shocked or contaminated. By cruising at 1000 I am guessing this is the cat temp. Is that correct? What stove is this?

 

[pgmr]

If the cat is only partially plugged and you are able to close the damper part way, you might be able to burn off the blockages. When you have a good fire going, close the bypass halfway (or more) to send more heat through the cat, but still allow good flow up the chimney to keep the fire going. Burn for a half hour or so this way, keeping a close eye on things. Once the cat temp has risen to 1500-1600, you can close the bypass to see if the fire is maintained. If not, you might need to repeat this a couple times.

 

[Wildcatfan55]

Stove is a buck model 91, bought it used from a guy that did nit like how EPA stoves operated, wood is dry and the same wood I started the season with, a mix of oak, cherry, walnut and locust, cat looks black, can get it to light off and glow with the bypass half closed technique mentioned above, I know a cat does not have to glow to work, but I do not get a temp gain, but I dint get any smoke either.

 

[pen]

Stove is a buck model 91, bought it used from a guy that did nit like how EPA stoves operated, wood is dry and the same wood I started the season with, a mix of oak, cherry, walnut and locust, cat looks black, can get it to light off and glow with the bypass half closed technique mentioned above, I know a cat does not have to glow to work, but I do not get a temp gain, but I dint get any smoke either.

If your wood now is just as good as it was at the beginning of the season, considering the previous owner didn't like EPA stoves, I'm betting he was burning less than optimal fuel and put that cat through hell.

From my experience, most folks who like the older stoves either are trying to heat too big a space w/ too small a stove (and the old ones could chew through wood faster) or else they are trying to burn less than optimal fuel which may have worked well in the old stove, but doesn't perform in the new beasts.

pen

 

[rdust]

The cat should be pretty much white if you're burning it right with good wood.

Once it was glowing did you try closing the bypass the rest of the way? As mentioned above if you can get the stove burning hot the cat should clean up.

 

[bogydave]

My cat got partially plugged, it would glow but not pass enough draft to be able to burn well when closed.
I found it plugged pretty good when I removed it. (over 50%)
When it's clean, I cannot tell much difference looking at the fire when the bypass is open or closed now.
Don't know how your stove bypass operates but don't think it should change much unless somewhere it's plugged in "bypass", combustor most logical place to check.
My plugged combustor:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/70546/

Good luck

 

[Wildcatfan55]

Definitely thinkmit is the cat now, looked it over and it's not up to par, vaccumed it and got. Little better results can now close the bypass fully and cat will light off, and stay lit, still think it's having issues will probably pull it out later and see what it looks like, and I'm sure the previous owner did not run the stove properly as he didn't even know what a car stove was. Pulled it out and put in a wonder wood after one season.

 

[bogydave]

Definitely thinkmit is the cat now, looked it over and it's not up to par, vaccumed it and got. Little better results can now close the bypass fully and cat will light off, and stay lit, still think it's having issues will probably pull it out later and see what it looks like, and I'm sure the previous owner did not run the stove properly as he didn't even know what a car stove was. Pulled it out and put in a wonder wood after one season.

Don't ask the price, just get a new combustor so when you pull it out you can put the new one in.
Save time & then you know how many hours you have on it & if it's that old, I'm betting it used up

 

[begreen]

It could be at end of life, but I would try pickling it first before giving it up. Here is a link to a bit of information on the process. it's at the end of this post.

http://www.ruralvermont.com/vermontweathervane/issues/winter/96011/dthomas96011.shtml