2022/23 VC Owner thread

[Eman85]

That's impressive. last night I left it at about 25% and when I walked back in the stove was rumbling and the cat was over 1600. This was after an hour or two past a hot reload. I cut the air and it settled around 1100 so I could go to bed. Needless to say the stove cooled but the burn lasted about 14 hours. It's warm today so I just opened the bypass and there's still a thick bed of coals 17 hours after the hot reload.

 

[arnermd]

That's impressive. last night I left it at about 25% and when I walked back in the stove was rumbling and the cat was over 1600. This was after an hour or two past a hot reload. I cut the air and it settled around 1100 so I could go to bed. Needless to say the stove cooled but the burn lasted about 14 hours. It's warm today so I just opened the bypass and there's still a thick bed of coals 17 hours after the hot reload.

What's impressive to me is you cut the air and the cat temps came down..... Still trying to figure out what the lever on the right side of the stove does..... anybody know?

I think its a cat over fire timer... all the way forward cats goes to 1600 fast, all the way back cat goes to 1600 slow....

Where is @Woodsplitter67? He has been very quiet lately.... Maybe he has given up on us.... its hopeless....

 

[Eman85]

What's impressive to me is you cut the air and the cat temps came down..... Still trying to figure out what the lever on the right side of the stove does..... anybody know?

I think its a cat over fire timer... all the way forward cats goes to 1600 fast, all the way back cat goes to 1600 slow....

Where is @Woodsplitter67? He has been very quiet lately.... Maybe he has given up on us.... its hopeless....

I can close the air and the cat temps drop fast and steady as the box goes black. Cat will cruise at 1100 or so but it will drop to the 900's. I really wish it would adjust the air itself to keep the cat in the a200's and keep the STT up.
I left the damper open and air open all day today. Stirred the ash and had a good amount of hot coals at 6:30 tonight, that's 18 hours since the hot reload! I threw some dry kindling in after emptying the ash and we're off to the races for tonight as it's going in the 30's. Threw some splits on and when the flue temps were rising good I closed the damper took a little while and it was 1450 at the cat cut it to 1/2 air and it dropped to 1100's just checked andit's climbed back up to 1400.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Shelves finally came in. Only 6 months of waiting. Definitely helps fill the space more

View attachment 309241

I absolutely love these shelves. I really thought about getting this stove.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

What's impressive to me is you cut the air and the cat temps came down..... Still trying to figure out what the lever on the right side of the stove does..... anybody know?

I think its a cat over fire timer... all the way forward cats goes to 1600 fast, all the way back cat goes to 1600 slow....

Where is @Woodsplitter67? He has been very quiet lately.... Maybe he has given up on us.... its hopeless....

I wound up getting sick.. then spent some time in the woods with my son on the scrounge.. haven't followed much the past couple weeks.. Im back on the scrounge getting the wood for 2027.. yo.. If I dont have 6/8cords of log length sitting in the back yard I feel kinda naked..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

todays burn

 

[Willcgt77]

New England Folks.. My stove seemed difficult to maintain a decent Cat temp and a flame in the firebox Last night and this morning. Usually its the complete opposite. We did just add 2 extra feet to the exterior SS pipe to meet Code The outside temp did rise last night with a mix of rain/sleet/snow. This morning was dense with a foggy feel. Would that cause stove to act funny.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

New England Folks.. My stove seemed difficult to maintain a decent Cat temp and a flame in the firebox Last night and this morning. Usually its the complete opposite. We did just add 2 extra feet to the exterior SS pipe to meet Code The outside temp did rise last night with a mix of rain/sleet/snow. This morning was dense with a foggy feel. Would that cause stove to act funny.

Usually warmer weather reduces my draft but I didn't notice it last night

 

[Willcgt77]

Usually warmer weather reduces my draft but I didn't notice it last night

Good to know, I'll keep an eye on this new situation!

 

[Eman85]

New England Folks.. My stove seemed difficult to maintain a decent Cat temp and a flame in the firebox Last night and this morning. Usually its the complete opposite. We did just add 2 extra feet to the exterior SS pipe to meet Code The outside temp did rise last night with a mix of rain/sleet/snow. This morning was dense with a foggy feel. Would that cause stove to act funny.

I've posted on this thread about the changes due to temperature and humidity's effects on my stove. You become much more aware of weather beyond temeprature when you run a cat stove.

 

[arnermd]

New England Folks.. My stove seemed difficult to maintain a decent Cat temp and a flame in the firebox Last night and this morning. Usually its the complete opposite. We did just add 2 extra feet to the exterior SS pipe to meet Code The outside temp did rise last night with a mix of rain/sleet/snow. This morning was dense with a foggy feel. Would that cause stove to act funny.

Could be weather, could be wood, could be the way you loaded the wood, could be ash load, could be completely random.

I have learned not to judge performance on one nights burn. Give it 2-3 days and see if you can spot a corrleation.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Good to know, I'll keep an eye on this new situation!

Going to be warm, humid, and wet here tomorrow. Last time we had weather like this I had issues and the stove puffed a ton on me. I'm home tomorrow so plan on keeping an eye on it and see what happens.

So far tonight cold start went fine and just loaded her up for the night.

 

[Eman85]

@arnermd I haven't run the stove for a couple of days as it warmed up so I pulled the cat for inspection and cleaning. Mine has a panel on the back held by screws. Here's what it looks like, it shows that it's been hot but very little ash all of the cells are clear. Frame is slightly warped. It has seen it's share of 1600* temps. Pics are before a vacum job.

 

[arnermd]

@arnermd I haven't run the stove for a couple of days as it warmed up so I pulled the cat for inspection and cleaning. Mine has a panel on the back held by screws. Here's what it looks like, it shows that it's been hot but very little ash all of the cells are clear. Frame is slightly warped. It has seen it's share of 1600* temps. Pics are before a vacum job.

Looks pretty good. I suspect the 2" cats are more robust than the 1" thick one like I have.... I do not see any evidence of the ceramic checking or crumbling.

I let the stove go out last night too, still have enough coals to get tonight's load started, 24 hours later since last reload. I was going to check on my metal cat, but forgot, now she is loaded and heating up.... "I'll think about that tomorrow" (Scarlett O'Hara for the uncultured among us.... Google it.... haha)

Superbowl weekend.... got family and friends coming over for wood stove chili and baked beans, gonna be a great weekend. The stove top will be loaded with lots of simmering vittles.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

stove sat cold a few days.. got it running this morning.. nice to sit by the stove again..

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

@arnermd I haven't run the stove for a couple of days as it warmed up so I pulled the cat for inspection and cleaning. Mine has a panel on the back held by screws. Here's what it looks like, it shows that it's been hot but very little ash all of the cells are clear. Frame is slightly warped. It has seen it's share of 1600* temps. Pics are before a vacum job.View attachment 309499View attachment 309500View attachment 309501View attachment 309502

The 2 inch cat looks like it was supposed to be in my stove

 

[bert670]

Quick question on installing a probe thermometer in the flue. Do you just drill a hole into the flue, then insert the probe? What’s a the proper distance from the stove top up to drill said hole?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

most say between 12 to 18 inches.. FWIW I didnt drill my pipe I placed a decent magnet on it right when the double wall pipe starts..

 

[arnermd]

Metal cat pics after 10 days of operation.

I am very impressed with how good it looks. The frame is mostly square and straight. Not perfect but pretty good. Ypou can see where some the cells have started to stetch and compress, not doubt due to CTE but it looks really good, better than I expected.

I have not noticed a significant difference in operation. The metal cat does seem to light off faster, but not shockingly so. I have not seen a significant difference in operating qualities, burn times about the same and heat output is the same. No smoke when it is up to temp.

Peak temps are still running 1600 to 1650.

So far I think it has performed well, if I can 2 seasons out of it I will be a die hard fan....

 

[arnermd]

Quick question on installing a probe thermometer in the flue. Do you just drill a hole into the flue, then insert the probe? What’s a the proper distance from the stove top up to drill said hole?

I pulled screws out of the pipe joints and I stick my TC in those holes. Depends on the size of the probe.... I am using 1/8" dia TC's.

I have 2 locations I use, one is at the top of the oval to round adapter, maybe 12- 14" off stove top. The other location is after my elbow where it enters the chimney to go straight up, about 36" above the stove top.

18" is a common distance I have heard around here. But I do not think it really matters.... you are going to look at temps relatively anyway, not so much the absolute value.

FYI... Temp probes make great smoke indicators, when I do not burn clean my temp probe will be loaded with black gooey stuff.... when I burn clean it is lightly coated with black / brown / grey fluffy stuff....

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Metal cat pics after 10 days of operation.

I am very impressed with how good it looks. The frame is mostly square and straight. Not perfect but pretty good. Ypou can see where some the cells have started to stetch and compress, not doubt due to CTE but it looks really good, better than I expected.

I have not noticed a significant difference in operation. The metal cat does seem to light off faster, but not shockingly so. I have not seen a significant difference in operating qualities, burn times about the same and heat output is the same. No smoke when it is up to temp.

Peak temps are still running 1600 to 1650.

So far I think it has performed well, if I can 2 seasons out of it I will be a die hard fan....

View attachment 309702View attachment 309704View attachment 309701View attachment 309705View attachment 309706 View attachment 309703

Thats awesome.. I my stove for what ever reason.. my temps rarely get as high as the ceramic version.. 1400 degrees is high when the steel cats in.. compared to regularly seeing it with ceramic.. I found it lighs off faster.. but thats not to say the ceramic before it may have been on its last leg.. the steel should hold up much better in the long run.. from what I understand you can clean the steel with vinegar.. I haven't gotten to that point ..keep us posted

 

[arnermd]

Thats awesome.. I my stove for what ever reason.. my temps rarely get as high as the ceramic version.. 1400 degrees is high when the steel cats in.. compared to regularly seeing it with ceramic.. I found it lighs off faster.. but thats not to say the ceramic before it may have been on its last leg.. the steel should hold up much better in the long run.. from what I understand you can clean the steel with vinegar.. I haven't gotten to that point ..keep us posted

If it is still in one piece and I need to clean it that will be a roaring success....

 

[NewGuy132]

After reading all about cats working as they should I am going to get a new one for next year. I'll finish out the year on mine and see if a new one makes any difference next year. With any luck Spring is almost here anyway.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

So here it is.. I actually had a problem with my stove..

Last week I noticed that my temperaturs on my stove were no longer normal.. STT and cat temps were extremely low. It even got to the point when I engaged the cat it struggled to get to 1000 degrees with the air wide open and when I dialed it back for my overnight burn my cat crashed.. and for the most part my stove stalled..
I also noticed that the primary air control seamed to kind of hang up on me. I had my son .. While the stove was hot move the primary air lever half way back and when he did the shutter was completely closed.
When I got home today I pulled the right side of the stove off on the inside to get to the primary air control.. all seamed to be working normal and everything was attached.. I think the the cable moved on the inside of the guide and was off track.. when I reassembled it was no longer hanging up.. I did adjust the shutter in the back to make sure it was wide open and closed all the way when the primary air was all the way back..

Overall I found this the be a fun little project.. Its the first-time I took apart the stove and worked on it. Took me roughly 75 minutes to do and clean up.

I did a full cleaning of the stove and while I had it apart I vacuumed out the air passages.. All those years running there was bound to be a bunch of dust bunnies in there..

Hopefully when I fire up the stove, I did a good job and it works properly..

 

[arnermd]

So here it is.. I actually had a problem with my stove..

Last week I noticed that my temperaturs on my stove were no longer normal.. STT and cat temps were extremely low. It even got to the point when I engaged the cat it struggled to get to 1000 degrees with the air wide open and when I dialed it back for my overnight burn my cat crashed.. and for the most part my stove stalled..
I also noticed that the primary air control seamed to kind of hang up on me. I had my son .. While the stove was hot move the primary air lever half way back and when he did the shutter was completely closed.
When I got home today I pulled the right side of the stove off on the inside to get to the primary air control.. all seamed to be working normal and everything was attached.. I think the the cable moved on the inside of the guide and was off track.. when I reassembled it was no longer hanging up.. I did adjust the shutter in the back to make sure it was wide open and closed all the way when the primary air was all the way back..

Overall I found this the be a fun little project.. Its the first-time I took apart the stove and worked on it. Took me roughly 75 minutes to do and clean up.

I did a full cleaning of the stove and while I had it apart I vacuumed out the air passages.. All those years running there was bound to be a bunch of dust bunnies in there..

Hopefully when I fire up the stove, I did a good job and it works properly..

So....? Success?

I am struggling to think of what could go wrong with the mechanism to make the flapper more closed...... everything I think of would make it more open.

You have any pics?

There is this area here.... but to get to that you need to do a near complete teardown....

There is also a post for the right side air passage cover bolt. I can't recall if the cable goes in front of or behind that post..... I think it goes behind the post as shown here.