I *thought* I had the Encore all figured out last year...

[jharkin]

... but I just cleaned the flue and got 2 or 3 coffee cans of crusty black stuff out

I got the hang of control last year, and I'm on a 2 year old SS catalyst, new secondary thermostat, all new gaskets, refractory is not great but in OK shape.

But still all this black junk. Probably due to the cat stalls I still got occasionally on big loads.

This year I'm finally on to real honest 2+ year old wood that I seasoned myself, and a rhythm to stay 18 months ahead minimum. I'm hoping that finally gets this thing to work like it should. If it doesn't next year I will have to start thinking about either a full rebuild or getting a new stove.


Browning, how is your 028 doing?

 

[BrowningBAR]

0028 is doing okay. The clean-out produced less gunk than yours, but not by much. I would bet you burned more wood in your stove than I did in mine since yours is the main source of heat and mine is heating a much smaller area.

This year I re-did the fireback gaskets and bypass damper due to poor execution on my part during the rebuild last year. Going forward, I think I might pay to have that chimney cleaned out from top down as it is truly annoying disconecting the stove, pulling it out, cleaning the stove, and then reconnecting. The reconnecting is the worse part as it is rear vented with very little room to work with.

I got the double wall pipe I needed for the Defiant, so I will see how the house reacts to the Defiant and 30 going at the same time. I am hoping I only need the Encore during real winter temps, which would cut down on wood consumption.

 

[jharkin]

Its only a weekend heater for us, and with last years mild winter I don't think I burned much more than a cord in it. I also did every gasket except foe the bypass damper... but it passes a dollar bill test.

LIke I said, I'll give it one more year in case its the wood...

 

[raybonz]

... but I just cleaned the flue and got 2 or 3 coffee cans of crusty black stuff out

I got the hang of control last year, and I'm on a 2 year old SS catalyst, new secondary thermostat, all new gaskets, refractory is not great but in OK shape.

But still all this black junk. Probably due to the cat stalls I still got occasionally on big loads.

This year I'm finally on to real honest 2+ year old wood that I seasoned myself, and a rhythm to stay 18 months ahead minimum. I'm hoping that finally gets this thing to work like it should. If it doesn't next year I will have to start thinking about either a full rebuild or getting a new stove.


Browning, how is your 028 doing?

This was the big reason I replaced my old CDW and haven't had that problem with the T-5.. Some cat stalls and also the wife closing the bypass too soon.. Got tired of dealing with it and worrying about a chimney fire..

Ray

 

[BrowningBAR]

Its only a weekend heater for us, and with last years mild winter I don't think I burned much more than a cord in it. I also did every gasket except foe the bypass damper... but it passes a dollar bill test.

LIke I said, I'll give it one more year in case its the wood...

I didn't know that. That does seem like a lot of gunk for the amount you burned.

 

[webby3650]

That does seem like alot. I got about half of a coffee can from the BK and it went24/7 from late October thru early April. I don't get much more than that from my non-cat stoves.

 

[jharkin]

In the 3 years Ive owned it I have done new griddle, ashpan, and fireback gaskets. I put in a new secondary thermostat, a new Condar SS catalyst and replaced the refractory block that holds the cat in.

All the gaskets including the damper check tight via the dollar bill. I have very good control, turning the air down will pretty much extinguish the fire when in cat mode. The problem is occasional cat stalls... always on full loads...and the sometimes the glowing fireback of overtire death when it finally does take off

Either
*I have bad wood (doubt since last year I checked some and it varied 15-22% resplit, this year I'll be starting on leftovers from that batch that are even drier now)
* I need a full rebuild including the entire refractory
* Or I managed to kill the SS cat

One more winter....


Knowing how I love punishment I'll probably try rebuilding before I can bring myself to drop a couple grand on an all new stove. Somebody smack me.

 

[webby3650]

Don't beat yourself up over the amount of junk from the flue. It's still less than half of the amount from a non-hearth member flue! Every set up is different, every stove is different too. If you do decide to pull the trigger on a new one, make it something besides a VC next time.

 

[begreen]

Started up the T6 today and in spite of warming temps it was a non-event. I like an easy launch into the new season.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I agree with webby. finding a few coffee cans of crap isn't ideal, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[jharkin]

Ha.. See what a few years on this board does??? Ive become a perfectionist.

 

[jharkin]

. If you do decide to pull the trigger on a new one, make it something besides a VC next time.

ha. As it is the stove came with the house and we don't rely on it for our only heat source. I'm handy enough I might just try a rebuilt for a few hundred in parts when the time comes before replacing it.

But if I do replace it, agree that I'll definitely look long nad hard at other brands. I grew up with 70's vintage VC, its a shame these new ones aren't what they used to be.

 

[webby3650]

its a shame these new ones aren't what they used to be.

You got that right. It's a shame

 

[Gark]

Hey Jeremy,
We get creosote, too:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/still-getting-creosote-in-flue.79409/
I'm pretty sure that our flue setup is very like yours. Responses from that thread above say that restarts from a cold stove can contribute (we don't burn 24 X 7 either). It did help some to run the stove hot w/open damper for 20 minutes twice a week before closing the damper - also suggested by responses in that thread. This heats the flue so the smoke won't stick to it as much.

 

[raybonz]

Hey Jeremy,
We get creosote, too:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/still-getting-creosote-in-flue.79409/
I'm pretty sure that our flue setup is very like yours. Responses from that thread above say that restarts from a cold stove can contribute (we don't burn 24 X 7 either). It did help some to run the stove hot w/open damper for 20 minutes twice a week before closing the damper - also suggested by responses in that thread. This heats the flue so the smoke won't stick to it as much.

I think your onto something Gark as I find the flue temp much higher with my T-5 VS my CDW and my flue stays clean now.

Ray

 

[evilgriff]

Never had more than a coffee cup when using my Intrepid II for a full season, including some non perfect operation and not always the best wood. Maybe the straight up chimney design that stays inside the house for almost all of it's run? I am hoping to get the same results from my BK. Will update about that at the end of the season.

 

[begreen]

Yes, a warm, interior flue will generally stay cleaner given the same wood. We don't get very much accumulation either. I'm sure it's helped by burning in a milder climate too. We have about 7ft exposed pipe and the accumulation is not bad at all. I usually run the first of the day fire hot for about 30 minutes. Flue temp gets up to about 700F. Then I let the stove cruise with a flue temp around 400F. Last year we ended up with about 2 cups of light stuff after 2.5 yrs of burning. Based on past performance, I'm considering switching to an every other year schedule. More than that seems to be overkill for our install when burning good dry wood.

 

[raybonz]

Cool flue temps with the CDW were probably the creosote culprit but that was an old pre-epa cat stove. The CDW design was more of an afterthought rather than a designed-in feature. It was a big deal when I bought it and it was very efficient for a stove of it's era considering the smoke dragon ruled the wood stoves back then. I suspect today's cat stoves would much better as stated by Backwoods Savage and others on many occasions.

Ray

 

[jharkin]

Hey Jeremy,
We get creosote, too:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/still-getting-creosote-in-flue.79409/
I'm pretty sure that our flue setup is very like yours. Responses from that thread above say that restarts from a cold stove can contribute (we don't burn 24 X 7 either). It did help some to run the stove hot w/open damper for 20 minutes twice a week before closing the damper - also suggested by responses in that thread. This heats the flue so the smoke won't stick to it as much.

I think that could be it. I'm reading this and also BBars notes in other threads about his definat working better once moved to a 30ft Chimney. Being an old house this is an interior chimney, however its an old liner that predates the stove (1998 install) that the fire department let them reuse. The liner could be from the 80s or earlier. Its on the short side (18ft or so with T at the bottom) and I don't know for sure if its insulated all the way up. One of these days I should go up on the roof and see if I can take the top plate off to check.

Generally we don't have major draft issues -I have no trouble starting and I can top load without spillage, but I think I will be more careful this year to let it get really hot on reloads and not try to engage the cat too early (last year I was experimenting to see how quick I could get it on cat for max efficiency, probably not a good idea on these). Hopefully that makes a difference.

The weekly cold starts is not something I cant change.

 

[raybonz]

I think that could be it. I'm reading this and also BBars notes in other threads about his definat working better once moved to a 30ft Chimney. Being an old house this is an interior chimney, however its an old liner that predates the stove (1998 install) that the fire department let them reuse. The liner could be from the 80s or earlier. Its on the short side (18ft or so with T at the bottom) and I don't know for sure if its insulated all the way up. One of these days I should go up on the roof and see if I can take the top plate off to check.

Generally we don't have major draft issues -I have no trouble starting and I can top load without spillage, but I think I will be more careful this year to let it get really hot on reloads and not try to engage the cat too early (last year I was experimenting to see how quick I could get it on cat for max efficiency, probably not a good idea on these). Hopefully that makes a difference.

The weekly cold starts is not something I cant change.

Jeremy you may be onto something there as I did what you did in the interest of best efficiency.. Keep us posted..

Good luck!

Ray