Wife wants to solo burn?

[black smoke signals]

I have a lot to still learn here SO! I have had a least 5 fires in my new insert but no overnight fires apox run time 5 hours per day.On the last day after I got some hot coals going I loaded the firebox up with pine and some red oak four half splits north south then east west Cat lever down TOS temp 500 degree.I let the cat temp drop from far right to just into the active range before I loaded wood full. Then set t-stat to High ran it 5min then from a full firebox flames I set t-stat to 2 this slowed the fire down to just small flames. Now cat temp gauge goes to far right almost to the extreme right and have TOS temp 650 fan on high.So I turn the t-stat to 1 with no flames and get a back puff inside the stove so then I set it back to 2 for a little more air. Average wind speed 7 mph 40 degree outside temp with clear smoke from chimney.My question is (according to the Bk manual dont be afraid to load fire box full) does this sound like a run away stove or should I tell wife this is normal? I would like to have a cruising temp of 450-500 degree.I have seen on recent posts where wood is loaded almost to the top of the firebox. My wood is apox 2years old on the pine and oak is 7years old.

 

[mellow]

You might have to wait till the really cold weather moves in before you can turn it lower than 2. I would chalk it up to warmer weather that you currently having to burn hotter to keep the draft going, especially with an uninsulated liner.

I would let her have at it once you get it down, I know I am looking forward to not hearing my wife complain about how hard the stove is to operate.

 

[Highbeam]

Ignore the cat temp gauge other than to determine when the cat is active or not.

These stoves aren't as simple to run as a non-cat and I cringed when teaching the wife to run solo as she is not an enthusiast as all of us. That said, keep it simple. Tell her to run the cold stove at full throttle until the meter hits the active range, engage cat, and set the thermostat to the middle. If you want to get fancy you can determine the lowest stat setting that guarantees the cat remains active and mark that on the stat with a pencil to be the low setting.

 

[begreen]

Why would this be necessary with a stove that burns for 24-40hrs?

 

[bholler]

These stoves aren't as simple to run as a non-cat and I cringed when teaching the wife to run solo as she is not an enthusiast as all of us. That said, keep it simple. Tell her to run the cold stove at full throttle until the meter hits the active range, engage cat, and set the thermostat to the middle. If you want to get fancy you can determine the lowest stat setting that guarantees the cat remains active and mark that on the stat with a pencil to be the low setting.

Aren't you guys always telling us non cat users that blazekings are so much easier to run and you can turn them way down to have low heat in shoulder season burns? Now you say it is more complicated and you cant turn it down too low when it is warm out.

 

[Highbeam]

Aren't you guys always telling us non cat users that blazekings are so much easier to run and you can turn them way down to have low heat in shoulder season burns? Now you say it is more complicated and you cant turn it down to low when it is warm out.

I know you're new Bholler but the "which is easier" debate has raged on for many years here on the hearth. I own both and stick to my position that running a cat stove is harder than a non-cat. Twice as many levers to operate, can't burn certain fuels, must maintain an active cat, etc.

The extra work pays off huge in the form of 30 hour burn times from a little 2.8 CF stove. Make no mistake, it is much easier to teach a non-stove person how to run a non-cat.

I can turn my cat stove to low when it is warm out. The specific low setting that results in barely keeping the cat active can vary with outside temperatures a bit.

 

[bholler]

I know you're new Bholler but the "which is easier" debate has raged on for many years here on the hearth. I own both and stick to my position that running a cat stove is harder than a non-cat. Twice as many levers to operate, can't burn certain fuels, must maintain an active cat, etc.

The extra work pays off huge in the form of 30 hour burn times from a little 2.8 CF stove. Make no mistake, it is much easier to teach a non-stove person how to run a non-cat.

Well I am not exactly new and I am just giving you a hard time because so many blaze king guys act like their stoves are perfect all they do is put wood in them set the thermostat and let it go for days. I know they are good stoves with long burn times and they are not hard to run once you get the hang of it.

 

[Highbeam]

Why would this be necessary with a stove that burns for 24-40hrs?

I was away from home for 15 nights in October. Two separate week+ long trips. None of the BKs have week long burn times, not yet at least!

 

[begreen]

Wait until the electric bill shows up.

 

[Highbeam]

Wait until the electric bill shows up.

Oh no, the wife was great. She burned the BK and seemed to have no problems. Well, she did call once when the dang cat bypass handle fell off in her hand. Seems that she never realized that it just slides onto the operating shaft. Stick it back on hun....

No electrical surprises either with the cool efergy electrical monitor. I could roll back over the week to see the kwh use per day though I didn't do that. The breakers for the wall heaters have been off for years!

 

[begreen]

Good lady. When we are burning my wife prefers to burn too. Surprising too because she's a real neatnick and has to clean up after loading. But she likes the warmth.

 

[kennyp2339]

Quick hint.... stop moving the t-stat so many times, load her up on hot coals, keep the t-state fully open, let it burn like the dickens for 30mins (achieve a good char) then lower the t-stat to 2:30 - 3 o'clock, walk away, come back in the morning. This is how you learn your stove, load that fire box to the gills, burn at a little less than half stat, once you learn the burn then start trying to have the stat in lower positions, everyone has different draft speeds / setups, so the t-stat setting will act different, but we all have to start the same, and that's a full flaming load of wood in the fire box.

 

[kennyp2339]

Aren't you guys always telling us non cat users that blazekings are so much easier to run

Dude, this is why I absolutely love you man, I know you have been patiently waiting for the opportunity to say this, every dog gets his day lol.

 

[bholler]

Dude, this is why I absolutely love you man, I know you have been patiently waiting for the opportunity to say this, every dog gets his day lol.

there have been other occasions when I could have said something but didn't I guess I felt argumentative toady lol. But it was all in fun like I said I know they are great stoves there are just some who are a bit fanatical about them so I give them a hard time occasionally.

 

[webby3650]

I think this Quadra-fire is the most difficult to run. We have never had any issues running a Blaze King, my 9-10 year old kids operate the stove, it's easy! Ya, it has a bypass, but so do some non-cats, at least a BK tells you when to close it. I don't get it, it could only be easier if loaded itself!

 

[Lake Girl]

I have to throw my two cents in here ... Who do you think stoked the woodstove, outdoor wood boiler and now the pellet stove in this house? When we had the OWB, nephew wanted to know where I was working out. I know I've read the manual front to back a couple of times for the pellet stove. Has she read the manual yet?

If you are worried about her running it, let her take the lead a few times while you are there.

 

[bholler]

I have to throw my two cents in here ... Who do you think stoked the woodstove, outdoor wood boiler and now the pellet stove in this house? When we had the OWB, nephew wanted to know where I was working out. I know I've read the manual front to back a couple of times for the pellet stove. Has she read the manual yet?

If you are worried about her running it, let her take the lead a few times while you are there.

Agreed we have many female customers who are the primary operator of their stoves.

 

[rdust]

My wife runs my stove the same as me. Load it, close the bypass when it tells you to, burn it hot for 30 minutes, 3 o'clock for a few then the "n" on normal if you have that on your t-stat, if not about 2 o'clock. Repeat about a day later.....

 

[Poindexter]

It took me about 2 dozen burns to let go of everything my grandpa taught me about running smokedragons.

No more opening the door every thirty minutes to fool around with stuff. open the door twice daily, re-engage the cat. turn the knob up if you are cold.

 

[heavy hammer]

I showed my wife how to use the stove once, she got the hang of it real easy. Makes the most sense because she is home more than me. Nothing better than coming home to a warm house after working outside in the cold all day.

 

[moresnow]

While working out of town my wife likes to send me pics of the stove blazing! Rather proud of her. No worries.

 

[black smoke signals]

My wife and I have read the manual but we have a small concern here. After hot coals are going from small 1inch sticks it's the transition burning a full house full of wood. Then burning for 30 minutes as suggested here at WOT then turning down draft. It's the 30min that concerns her overheating the stove and stove pipe. It's going to be colder here soon I'm going to shoot the rear stove pipe IR gun after start up. 30 year old insert to a new insert is a new learning curve for us. Thanks for all replys

 

[mellow]

As long as you don't leave your door open the air has to go through the tstat and is metered, I am with you on being leery as I have done all the air control on my previous stoves, but as others have explained it would take a lot to overfire these stoves. Go by your cat temp, once it goes active and you have a good ember bed I would close the damper and start dialing it down, that might be quicker than 30 minutes.

 

[Highbeam]

My wife and I have read the manual but we have a small concern here. After hot coals are going from small 1inch sticks it's the transition burning a full house full of wood. Then burning for 30 minutes as suggested here at WOT then turning down draft. It's the 30min that concerns her overheating the stove and stove pipe. It's going to be colder here soon I'm going to shoot the rear stove pipe IR gun after start up. 30 year old insert to a new insert is a new learning curve for us. Thanks for all replys

You can totally skip the 30 minute thing. I did just last night in an effort to stretch burn time. BKVP still recommends the 30 minute high burn once per week when burning low for the purpose of burning the goo out of the firebox.

When I taught the wife I simply said to throw the stat to the desired setting after the cat was engaged. Keep it simple.

 

[bcrtops]

Good lady. When we are burning my wife prefers to burn too. Surprising too because she's a real neatnick and has to clean up after loading. But she likes the warmth.

Sounds real familiar !
Wife has always operated our stoves & kept them burning. The only issue has been is that she is overly cautious & tends to let the stove run too cool. I don't complain -- just get it going hot again to burn off any soot! Used to be more of an issue with the old Fisher.