Fireview overfire?

[pinewoodburner]

Dennis:

Last year towards the end of the burning season I had trouble preventing the stovetop from exceeding 700F with beech. Even adding air to get a flame going did not always work, the stove liked to peg past 700 once the cat was engaged. This year is completely different. We have gotten to 600 or so maybe twice, but 550 is usually peak. I have spalted Beech, Oak and Maple, all seasoned 2.5 years. I am simply not getting the >600 stovetop temps others report, not sure why. Same flue, new Cat, adjusted bypass for tightness and have nearly 3 year old wood that sounds dry as a bone when dropped.

I am now trying Todd's idea to really heat up the stove before bypassing. I have got to guess it's something with the wood. I have absolutely awful land for drying my wood, shaded, poor wind exposure, very damp climate. Two Summers ago did not even count towards seasoning, I think that Summer re-hydrated the wood!.

I have the same problem this year. Last two years stove would get over 600 but not over 650. This year with 3 year old oak I am am getting crappy burns with temps 450 to 500 max. Had a long talk with Woodstock and they think my wood is to dry. I thought no way not in Va. They suggested mixing some newer wood in with the 3 year old wood and I am getting better burns, but I do not get a fast heating stove like the others. It took 1.5 hours today to get the stove from 180 to 250.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not sure who you spoke with at Woodstock but they are cracked! I'll even tell them so. Besides, if your wood is too dry than their kiln dried wood is too dry and they have no problem burning that! I've never seen firewood that is too dry to burn! Of course one could make a case for old lathe being to dry but it certainly makes excellent kindling.

 

[Todd]

Man, must be contagious? I've been burning 3 year Oak most of the year and have had no problems til today. I ran into some punk. Half the Oak is hard as a rock and the other half is punky. Stove still comes up to temp but it doesn't last long, definitely the wood for me. Glad I have an extra stove to help out.

 

[pinewoodburner]

Man, must be contagious? I've been burning 3 year Oak most of the year and have had no problems til today. I ran into some punk. Half the Oak is hard as a rock and the other half is punky. Stove still comes up to temp but it doesn't last long, definitely the wood for me. Glad I have an extra stove to help out.

I don't know what is up this year but something has changed. I put in 4 piece of nice oak at 5:45 am and at 7:30 the stove is at 390 degrees. I use to get better burns from pine. The big change this year is that it's colder but that should give a better draft. It is hard to understand how you all are getting such good burn times and heat? Last year I could get 8 hr burns from pine and now I can't get that out of oak or pine. Frustrated

 

[Todd]

Man, must be contagious? I've been burning 3 year Oak most of the year and have had no problems til today. I ran into some punk. Half the Oak is hard as a rock and the other half is punky. Stove still comes up to temp but it doesn't last long, definitely the wood for me. Glad I have an extra stove to help out.

I don't know what is up this year but something has changed. I put in 4 piece of nice oak at 5:45 am and at 7:30 the stove is at 390 degrees. I use to get better burns from pine. The big change this year is that it's colder but that should give a better draft. It is hard to understand how you all are getting such good burn times and heat? Last year I could get 8 hr burns from pine and now I can't get that out of oak or pine. Frustrated

How old is your cat? Maybe time to replace? Do you clean it frequently?

 

[pinewoodburner]

Man, must be contagious? I've been burning 3 year Oak most of the year and have had no problems til today. I ran into some punk. Half the Oak is hard as a rock and the other half is punky. Stove still comes up to temp but it doesn't last long, definitely the wood for me. Glad I have an extra stove to help out.

I don't know what is up this year but something has changed. I put in 4 piece of nice oak at 5:45 am and at 7:30 the stove is at 390 degrees. I use to get better burns from pine. The big change this year is that it's colder but that should give a better draft. It is hard to understand how you all are getting such good burn times and heat? Last year I could get 8 hr burns from pine and now I can't get that out of oak or pine. Frustrated

How old is your cat? Maybe time to replace? Do you clean it frequently?

My cat is in good shape, had to replace after the first year so this one is only on its second season. I do clean the cat every 4 weeks. Just cleaned it and it was not dirty. My combustor scoop is slightly warped but not bad. I question Woodstock about that since my stove has only been above 600 less than 10 times and only once over 650, and never up to 700. I am getting the new steel cat this week and I will replace the combustor scoop this spring with the new redesign on. The only thing I can think is that we had a wet fall and it was very humid down here in Virginia this fall and maybe that has put more mosture into the wood. This weekend I will let the stove go out and clean the liner to see if something got into it.

 

[Todd]

Man, must be contagious? I've been burning 3 year Oak most of the year and have had no problems til today. I ran into some punk. Half the Oak is hard as a rock and the other half is punky. Stove still comes up to temp but it doesn't last long, definitely the wood for me. Glad I have an extra stove to help out.

I don't know what is up this year but something has changed. I put in 4 piece of nice oak at 5:45 am and at 7:30 the stove is at 390 degrees. I use to get better burns from pine. The big change this year is that it's colder but that should give a better draft. It is hard to understand how you all are getting such good burn times and heat? Last year I could get 8 hr burns from pine and now I can't get that out of oak or pine. Frustrated

How old is your cat? Maybe time to replace? Do you clean it frequently?

My cat is in good shape, had to replace after the first year so this one is only on its second season. I do clean the cat every 4 weeks. Just cleaned it and it was not dirty. My combustor scoop is slightly warped but not bad. I question Woodstock about that since my stove has only been above 600 less than 10 times and only once over 650, and never up to 700. I am getting the new steel cat this week and I will replace the combustor scoop this spring with the new redesign on. The only thing I can think is that we had a wet fall and it was very humid down here in Virginia this fall and maybe that has put more mosture into the wood. This weekend I will let the stove go out and clean the liner to see if something got into it.

I think I'm getting to the point of cleaning my cat. Like you about every 4 weeks I'll brush it off. I also like to physically blow it out or use a low pressure air can. Lots of ash seems to get inside. I've even used a pipe cleaner a couple times. It's tedious but you would be surprised what comes out.

 

[fire_man]

Good luck Tony. You might have some snow coming your way.

Yup: we got around 20 inches of the white stuff. I've been blowing snow and shoveling all day.
As far as my draft: I just cleaned the flue a couple weeks ago, including checking the cap and screen. My old VC Resolute would clog that screen after every cord of wood. Not with the Fireview, clean as a whistle. I have been getting up to 550 with this oak, just not much better. We have some really cold stuff on the way, may be the cold will help the draft and get the stove hotter??

 

[fire_man]

Dennis:

Last year towards the end of the burning season I had trouble preventing the stovetop from exceeding 700F with beech. Even adding air to get a flame going did not always work, the stove liked to peg past 700 once the cat was engaged. This year is completely different. We have gotten to 600 or so maybe twice, but 550 is usually peak. I have spalted Beech, Oak and Maple, all seasoned 2.5 years. I am simply not getting the >600 stovetop temps others report, not sure why. Same flue, new Cat, adjusted bypass for tightness and have nearly 3 year old wood that sounds dry as a bone when dropped.

I am now trying Todd's idea to really heat up the stove before bypassing. I have got to guess it's something with the wood. I have absolutely awful land for drying my wood, shaded, poor wind exposure, very damp climate. Two Summers ago did not even count towards seasoning, I think that Summer re-hydrated the wood!.

I have the same problem this year. Last two years stove would get over 600 but not over 650. This year with 3 year old oak I am am getting crappy burns with temps 450 to 500 max. Had a long talk with Woodstock and they think my wood is to dry. I thought no way not in Va. They suggested mixing some newer wood in with the 3 year old wood and I am getting better burns, but I do not get a fast heating stove like the others. It took 1.5 hours today to get the stove from 180 to 250.

So this is the thread Dennis was talking about - too dry wood. My oak I am having trouble with getting over 550 stovetop temp measured 13% after re-splitting. This was 2.5 years of seasoning, split the whole time. One of those Summers was terrible drying.

Pinewood Burner:1.5 hours to get the stove from 180 to 250 sounds crazy, it must be that new wood slowing things down, but its odd you get better burns.

I think we should send Dennis some of our Oak and ask him if it burns better in his stove!

 

[Todd]

Good luck Tony. You might have some snow coming your way.

Yup: we got around 20 inches of the white stuff. I've been blowing snow and shoveling all day.
As far as my draft: I just cleaned the flue a couple weeks ago, including checking the cap and screen. My old VC Resolute would clog that screen after every cord of wood. Not with the Fireview, clean as a whistle. I have been getting up to 550 with this oak, just not much better. We have some really cold stuff on the way, may be the cold will help the draft and get the stove hotter??

So how long did this load of Oak last over 500? Do you seem to get more heat from this Oak than the Beech? I would think the colder weather will help, I know it increases my temps but also shortens burn times.

 

[fire_man]

Good luck Tony. You might have some snow coming your way.

Yup: we got around 20 inches of the white stuff. I've been blowing snow and shoveling all day.
As far as my draft: I just cleaned the flue a couple weeks ago, including checking the cap and screen. My old VC Resolute would clog that screen after every cord of wood. Not with the Fireview, clean as a whistle. I have been getting up to 550 with this oak, just not much better. We have some really cold stuff on the way, may be the cold will help the draft and get the stove hotter??

So how long did this load of Oak last over 500? Do you seem to get more heat from this Oak than the Beech? I would think the colder weather will help, I know it increases my temps but also shortens burn times.

Todd: I still have not burned a load of Oak during the day so that I could monitor the stovetop temps vs. time. I think this weekend will be cold enough to burn oak during the day and I will load and monitor. I have never gotten as high a temp with Oak as with Beech, but the Oak definitely lasts longer. I have a strong feeling my stovetop temp is highly dependent on outside air temp. I need to start tracking this.

 

[WarmInIowa]

I just saw the thread you guys linked to about the combustor scoop when researching about my stove. I have been very careful about loading wood, damping down and engaging the CC after 15 minutes once the stove is warm. My top temp is 400 - 550 and once to 600 or so. See the pics of my "melted" scoop with a hole in it my wife noticed today. She wanted to know what the droopy thing was with the big Bertha hole in it..... I'm letting the stove cool and will be inspecting it first thing in the morning. Be careful. We love our stove; I just want to warn others to watch this part. If caught soon I'm sure it is an easy fix. I'm expecting my CC to be cracked. It was fine when I cleaned it over Christmas.

 

[Todd]

Hopefully that is the only thing that is warped. I'd check the bypass damper as well. Looks like major overfire to do that kind of damage? What air setting do you normally burn at?

 

[WarmInIowa]

I normally burn with the damper just above or just below 1, depending on the fire, and I set my oven timer for 15 minutes so I don't close it too soon, or forget about it. The flue temp is normally 400 - 850 when the catylitic converter is engaged, then it drops to 200 - 300F. As mentioned, I'm careful about the stove, but I also know you can see it got hot.

 

[Todd]

I'm chasing you around on another thread. Check your air slide, mine was off track and let too much air in and warped my scoop. Also check the rest of your innards and gaskets, air may be getting in somewhere.

 

[Slow1]

I normally burn with the damper just above or just below 1, depending on the fire, and I set my oven timer for 15 minutes so I don't close it too soon, or forget about it. The flue temp is normally 400 - 850 when the catylitic converter is engaged, then it drops to 200 - 300F. As mentioned, I'm careful about the stove, but I also know you can see it got hot.

I hope that "850" is a typo. Otherwise it seems you are running VERY hot before engaging the combuster there. Given that the rest of your numbers seem consistent with surface mounted thermometer on single wall pipe that really stands out to me as too high for 'routine' burning.

 

[Todd]

Here is a picture and instructions for replacing the combustor scoop.

http://www.woodstove.com/index.php/maintenance-a-repair

 

[WarmInIowa]

I hope that "850" is a typo. Otherwise it seems you are running VERY hot before engaging the combuster there. Given that the rest of your numbers seem consistent with surface mounted thermometer on single wall pipe that really stands out to me as too high for 'routine' burning.[/quote]

No typo, this is measured right after the exit of the stove. The flue temp guage is in the "normal" zone from 400 - 880 so I figured this was OK. This is before the cat is engaged, so the flames are heading right up the flue, not so much hitting the combuster scoop. Is this not OK? I can use the air slide to damp it down if necessary.

I have the new SS combustor scoop on order along with a new bypass frame which was a little warped. The parts cost are very reasonable. Fortunately the cat combustor is fine. Here is a pic of the cast iron combustor scoop before I removed it.

I think I am going to damp the stove down more once the cat is engaged in the future. My stove temp has not been too hot, but I can certainly reduce the flames some and make sure they are lifting off the wood. I think this will cure my problem.

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[fire_man]

WarmInIowaWhoa! What the heck!?!?!? What the heck is that white stuff??? And that hole in the combustor scoop is amazing! How old is your Fireview and do you use it 24/7?

I have also measured above 750F at the exit point on the stove - but just for brief periods when as you say the flame is roaring up the flue in bypass mode. I try to keep it under 600 and I only got over 700 a few times just after we got the stove and I was still getting used to it. There should be no reason to hit those 600+ temps, I get the stovetop up to 250 or higher and stay below 600 at the exit point.The pipes are really clicking away at those higher temps.

 

[WarmInIowa]

My stove is from 2006. Yes, it runs 24/7 from Oct to the end of March and a little in Sept and April. The white stuff is just ash coating the inside of the firebox. the red area was wetted with WD40 to get the bolts loose. No worries, it will be cleaned up before I re-ignite in a few days.
Sounds like I need to damp it down more when in bypass during reloads. Interesting, it doesn't seem as though I run the stove too hot, but maybe the damper needs to be more shut during bypass and during normal operation. Less flames is better! In the past I have set the air slide between 0.8 - 1.2 and then leave it alone for 5-8 hours until I reload. I think what I need to do it close it up a touch more as the cat is engaged and then open it up a little if necessary as the burn progresses.

I'm using the stove to supplement propane in a 4,000 sf house. I have ceiling fans in a 2 story room above the stove and the room is open to the upstairs, so the heat moves around quite a bit. Of course it won't heat the whole house when the temp is below 25F, but it saves me a couple grand in propane each year. I love the slow, even heat this stove puts out.

 

[Todd]

My stove is from 2006. Sounds like I need to damp it down more when in bypass during reloads.

I think your right. Were you running it wide open in the bypass mode during reloads? I run wide open for a couple minutes til it catches then it's down to 1.5-2 and then I engage at #1 and go up or down a little depending on the heat needed. Lots of wasted heat goes up the flue in the bypass mode so I like to minimize it.

 

[fire_man]

I just had an amazing burn by following advice to engage at 1.0 and leave it alone - the stove top hit 600 and I had stovetop temps above 500 for about 3 hrs with remaining flames towards the end of the 3 hrs- this was really exciting! It was a really amazing burn! And The room temp soared to 74F! But now I am worried I may damage the combustor scoop!?!?

The question: Is the scoop damage occurring during bypass mode or when the cat is engaged and flames are roaring into the scoop? It seems during bypass mode the flames are directed out the rear and away from the scoop, so the damage must happen during the first hour after engaging at 1.0 or higher?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Tony, it is good to hear you got to the 600 mark! But it also seems to me that you might be worrying too much. You are right with the flames going to the rear of the stove and out the flue until you engage the cat.

For us, we usually get the flue to 500 and then engage the cat. I first set the draft to 1 or 1.5 and then engage. Yes, some flame is going up to the cat cut the stove is designed for that and I can't see where it will do harm unless the stove is really burning super hot. After all, think of those times when the flame has lifted to the top and is sort of rolling; reminds you of the pits of Hell itself! For sure that has to be really hot. Our stove has not been harmed by it and we run the stove pretty hot a lot of times. I simply do not worry about it. I have no idea why this happened to a few folks but there must have been something wrong at the manufacturing point is my guess. So I say, Happy burning to you and enjoy the heat while not worrying.

 

[Todd]

I just had an amazing burn by following advice to engage at 1.0 and leave it alone - the stove top hit 600 and I had stovetop temps above 500 for about 3 hrs with remaining flames towards the end of the 3 hrs- this was really exciting! It was a really amazing burn! And The room temp soared to 74F! But now I am worried I may damage the combustor scoop!?!?

The question: Is the scoop damage occurring during bypass mode or when the cat is engaged and flames are roaring into the scoop? It seems during bypass mode the flames are directed out the rear and away from the scoop, so the damage must happen during the first hour after engaging at 1.0 or higher?

Yea Sounds just like my burns at #1. I think you will be much warmer burning this way during colder weather and saving those lower burns for the shoulder seasons.

As far as the scoop goes I think most of the damage happens in the cat mode but if you are burning wide open in the bypass mode and suddenly flip the lever your going to suck a lot of heat and flame up forward to the scoop and cat, almost like a thermo shock. Probably better to back off some before engaging. Woodstock says the scoop usually don't last forever. They take a lot of heat from the flames below and the cat above, kind of a double wammy. Mine has a slight sag in the middle after 4 years and I will prolly replace it with a new stainless scoop next year. Woodstock is also looking into changes for the andirons, bypass and glass retainer.

 

[fire_man]

I just had an amazing burn by following advice to engage at 1.0 and leave it alone - the stove top hit 600 and I had stovetop temps above 500 for about 3 hrs with remaining flames towards the end of the 3 hrs- this was really exciting! It was a really amazing burn! And The room temp soared to 74F! But now I am worried I may damage the combustor scoop!?!?

The question: Is the scoop damage occurring during bypass mode or when the cat is engaged and flames are roaring into the scoop? It seems during bypass mode the flames are directed out the rear and away from the scoop, so the damage must happen during the first hour after engaging at 1.0 or higher?

Yea Sounds just like my burns at #1. I think you will be much warmer burning this way during colder weather and saving those lower burns for the shoulder seasons.

As far as the scoop goes I think most of the damage happens in the cat mode but if you are burning wide open in the bypass mode and suddenly flip the lever your going to suck a lot of heat and flame up forward to the scoop and cat, almost like a thermo shock. Probably better to back off some before engaging. Woodstock says the scoop usually don't last forever. They take a lot of heat from the flames below and the cat above, kind of a double wammy. Mine has a slight sag in the middle after 4 years and I will prolly replace it with a new stainless scoop next year. Woodstock is also looking into changes for the andirons, bypass and glass retainer.

Thanks for the great tips. I've been fighting running it at 1.0 for fear of hurting the stove (Dennis talks about 0.25 settings).
For the life of me I cannot figure out why I got higher initial temps and for a longer time, and yet the total burn time did not suffer much if at all. That makes no sense, after all, all of the energy available from the wood gets transferred either up the flue or into the room, so if my room is warmer on a higher setting, and the burn time is the same as a lower setting, more heat must be wasted up the flue on a lower setting. I don't know, but life sure seems good at 1.0 when its cold out!

Interesting that Woodstock is looking into changing the andirons, bypass and glass retainer. I wonder why?? I understand it makes sense to replace the cast iron scoop with stainless, it takes a beating.