2025/26 VC performance discussion thread

[skb31]

My stove was running a little sluggish this past Saturday so after running it non stop for close to a week I let it cool all the way down from yesterday morning into today so I could do the first maintenance in about a month.

I cleaned out most of the ashes from in the stove (left the ash pan full) and pulled the cat chamber apart to clean stuff. Vacuumed out the cat chamber a bit, vacuumed the secondary air inlets, blew some air through the cat, checked the damper tension, and doors. Chimney cap and flue pipe look good.

I’m not exactly sure what the issue was but I moved the remaining wood I’d been burning out and moved to a new stack. Built up a nice base of coals over a couple hours and as we speak I’m cruising at 1207 cat temp and 425 STT. I’ll try sweet talking my stove a bit more if that’s what it takes.

 

[Turbo89]

My stove was running a little sluggish this past Saturday so after running it non stop for close to a week I let it cool all the way down from yesterday morning into today so I could do the first maintenance in about a month.

I cleaned out most of the ashes from in the stove (left the ash pan full) and pulled the cat chamber apart to clean stuff. Vacuumed out the cat chamber a bit, vacuumed the secondary air inlets, blew some air through the cat, checked the damper tension, and doors. Chimney cap and flue pipe look good.

I’m not exactly sure what the issue was but I moved the remaining wood I’d been burning out and moved to a new stack. Built up a nice base of coals over a couple hours and as we speak I’m cruising at 1207 cat temp and 425 STT. I’ll try sweet talking my stove a bit more if that’s what it takes.

My stove is a slug (encore) with a full ash tray and firebox. Once the secondary inlet holes are blocked with ash, it’s hard to get the CAT above 900. I’ve fallen in the trend of emptying the ash pan, then raking the firebox ash back and forth till it falls through the cracks.

I burn a lot of ash in the encore, and never have an issue with CAT temp (even some 6-8 month seasoned stuff). The only runaway CAT temp I have had is with 22% moisture oak, when i had a door gasket leak. May be worth looking for air leaks if you have runaway CAT temps?

 

[skb31]

I was having lower refractory temps than normal. Needed to keep the air open 25 to 50% for a significant portion of the time on Saturday. I’ll bring in a couple pieces from that stack to warm up so I can split it and test the moisture content. The wood I brought in on Sunday has been good today.

When I was experiencing some high temps in the first season it was definitely some air leaks. The griddle gasket was wonky as were the doors so I replaced both of those.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

I haven't been in to my office since Dec 16. Stove has run 24x7 since then. Every 5 or 6 days in the morning I move the coals to the side and scoop out the ash. Then rake em back and continue. Going back Tuesday and she'll get a well deserved afternoon off. I'll clean it all out then and give the cat a look but haven't had issues. Standard when I'm home is half load the box, air at 50% and let it go. Cat sits between 1000 and about 1300. I've seen it hit 1500 during these few weeks maybe twice. I just leave it be and let it do its thing

 

[dmccoole]

The stove loves the cold! It's been single digits in the mornings this past week. 10hr burn last night on all red oak. This morning the Cat 411, stt 375. Opened it up for 5 minutes to get the coals fully going, added a few splits and already back above 800 and climbing. I try to burn more of the ash during the day and keep the oak for the overnights. Seems to be working well.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

The stove loves the cold! It's been single digits in the mornings this past week. 10hr burn last night on all red oak. This morning the Cat 411, stt 375. Opened it up for 5 minutes to get the coals fully going, added a few splits and already back above 800 and climbing. I try to burn more of the ash during the day and keep the oak for the overnights. Seems to be working well.

Oh yeah it drafts so well in the cold

 

[Smokey Da Bears]

Went into the city yesterday for work so I let the stove go out for cleaning today. But Weather here near Cape Cod MA - high of 51 today, high of 47 tomorrow. But low of 19 overnight. Shoulder season still going in January! I'm debating not even lighting the stove today. Looks like cold settles back in later in the week. Go Patriots, that's all.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

It's been cold and the stoves been cranking out heat. It was 4 degrees at my house this morning.

I did run the soot eater down the pipe 2 weeks ago. I can say the stoves been running awesome by what came out

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Running the soot eater up mine today. Going to be 32 today before 0 and snow this weekend. Wanted to get to it yesterday when it was 45 but ran out of time. Stove has been running well all winter and it's been cold here. Gotta load up a nice stack of wood in the garage too so I don't have to walk through a foot+ of snow to get it

 

[AsylumResident]

I've been burning pretty hard the last couple days. Woke up to outside temps at -18 this morning. Today's high is -9. Glad to be inside with the fire stove crankin'!

 

[Smokey Da Bears]

Same situation here. Stove has been running well these past few weeks. I just brought 3 heaping wheelbarrows of wood into the house (that's about a 3-4 day supply for me) and then stacked another 6 wheelbarrows under our back deck so I don't have to trudge through the foot of snow we're getting. Restocked my kindling supply, ran the generator, and the snowblower. My wife is doing the shopping today before tomorrow's grocery store pandemonium. We're ready....go Patriots!

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Same situation here. Stove has been running well these past few weeks. I just brought 3 heaping wheelbarrows of wood into the house (that's about a 3-4 day supply for me) and then stacked another 6 wheelbarrows under our back deck so I don't have to trudge through the foot of snow we're getting. Restocked my kindling supply, ran the generator, and the snowblower. My wife is doing the shopping today before tomorrow's grocery store pandemonium. We're ready....go Patriots!

Outside of the last two words, this is basically everything I have done in prep for this. Went to the grocery store at 8 last night. Place was empty. Always amazes me why people buy so much bread and milk for a snow storm

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Always amazes me why people buy so much bread and milk for a snow storm

Milk sandwiches, of course. Go Patriots!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

This has been one of the colder winters in recent years. This stove is kicking out some mad heat guys/gals it almost feels hot in here at 70 degrees. We will be burning 24/7 for the foreseeable future.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

It's snowing good right now, 9"and a change to sleet happening. Going to sleet for the next 8 hours. It 15 degrees and a 20mph wind is blowing it sideways.

Home is super warm and stove is cranking out the heat. Got the air mid way cat on and house hovering at 68 stove room 70

 

[Eman85]

I haven't posted yet this year, it was pretty warm and the heat pump is cheap to run. I had a cracked door glass so finally got around to replacing it and resealing the glass on both doors and the other gaskets. Decided to paint the stove while I had the doors apart. Stove appreciated it and it's been running better than it has in years, or so it seems. We've had some warm days so it's been mostly night time burns but it's now turned cold so it's 24/7.
Pulled the back panel and cleaned the cat, metal body was well deformed from past years but the ceramic looked good so I just vacuumed it.

 

[Smokey Da Bears]

Snow report, I think about 16 inches here. Stove kept the house a nice 68-70 degrees through most of it and knock on wood, no occurrences or events with high secondary temps. That stove was hungry though and I've gotta pull some wood in from the outside. My strategy of piling up some wood under my back deck was a complete bust. I'm glad I tarped it but the snow drifts under that deck are going to keep me busy for a little. That area usually doesn't get drifts like that. My stove will go cold tomorrow for a clean out as I head into the city for work. Can't wait to see how poorly Boston cleaned up the snow and how delayed the commuter trains will be tomorrow. Go Patriots!

 

[AsylumResident]

What is the typical STT you're seeing while running your stoves?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

What is the typical STT you're seeing while running your stoves?

When it's this cold I'm running it at 550 degrees. Obviously I had to keep my home at the temperature my wife likes.

Iv been getting up at 5 everyday so when she gets up she can park herself by the stove and drink her coffee.. in warmth..

 

[skb31]

Long stretch of cold weather and unusually cold when it snowed this weekend. Stayed below 10 degrees during the day and we ended up with about 20 inches of the lightest snow possible. I’ve been running the stove 24/7 for about 4 days. It got a little excited the other morning and ran up to about 1625 for 30 minutes or so. I just rode it out.

Stove top runs between 450 and 550. I burned a few smaller loads at higher temps this weekend when my wife wanted to be warmer. 76 is too warm for me but she loves it

 

[Jarch2202]

I installed a catalyst this year on my dauntless flexburn after burning last year without one. Took about 2 weeks before I started to get a smoldering smell when the bypass was closed. Took a look about a month or two later and the thing was warped. Dealer gave me a new one under warranty but said I was running it too hot.

I was at first keeping the bypass open for a while after loading to get things charred and the stt up to 450-500 then closing which worked well without the catalyst. I was noticing the cat temp was getting above active zone regularly. I slowly transitioned to closing bypass immediately and either slowly notching back air or immediately putting it to 90% or 100% closed. I was still seeing the catalyst temperature get above range quite a bit even with the bypass closed and air all the way back.

Now that I have the new catalyst, I am worried that even when I close bypass and put air all the way back immediately its going to continue to overheat and fry rhe catalyst again. The dealer suggested a manual damper, which feels crazy to need one when I have 3 45% angles and 2 90 degree angles throughout my chimney system. The dealer also said I shouldn't really be seeing the stt get above 500, and that its too hot for the catalyst, despite the manual saying you can run it up to 650.

Should I just try to run it with hopes that I had already impaired the catalyst before I started using it correctly?

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Anyone buy a gasket replacement recently for an encore 2040 Cat-C?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I installed a catalyst this year on my dauntless flexburn after burning last year without one. Took about 2 weeks before I started to get a smoldering smell when the bypass was closed. Took a look about a month or two later and the thing was warped. Dealer gave me a new one under warranty but said I was running it too hot.

I was at first keeping the bypass open for a while after loading to get things charred and the stt up to 450-500 then closing which worked well without the catalyst. I was noticing the cat temp was getting above active zone regularly. I slowly transitioned to closing bypass immediately and either slowly notching back air or immediately putting it to 90% or 100% closed. I was still seeing the catalyst temperature get above range quite a bit even with the bypass closed and air all the way back.

Now that I have the new catalyst, I am worried that even when I close bypass and put air all the way back immediately its going to continue to overheat and fry rhe catalyst again. The dealer suggested a manual damper, which feels crazy to need one when I have 3 45% angles and 2 90 degree angles throughout my chimney system. The dealer also said I shouldn't really be seeing the stt get above 500, and that its too hot for the catalyst, despite the manual saying you can run it up to 650.

Should I just try to run it with hopes that I had already impaired the catalyst before I started using it correctly?

Mistake #1 using the bimetal cat prob.. that tells you nothing.. Mistake #2 listening to the dealer.

My stove was actually running at 550 degrees with the cat engaged and cat temperature roughly 1200. Get yourself a good digital cat probe like a alber at 100 so you can see the temperature in real time and a decent IR gun and a.STT thermometer

You shouldn't be smelling anything even if your catalyst is broken so I'd check the moisture on the wood it sounds suspect

 

[Jarch2202]

Mistake #1 using the bimetal cat prob.. that tells you nothing.. Mistake #2 listening to the dealer.

My stove was actually running at 550 degrees with the cat engaged and cat temperature roughly 1200. Get yourself a good digital cat probe like a alber at 100 so you can see the temperature in real time and a decent IR gun and a.STT thermometer

You shouldn't be smelling anything even if your catalyst is broken so I'd check the moisture on the wood it sounds suspect

So i called back the dealer before reading this to ask about damper install and where I should be putting it. In opposition to the original guy I talked to he said I should absolutely not install a damper on the stove.

I guess thats to your point of not listening to them, but now I have conflicting information.

I haven't checked all of my wood, but most of it is below 20% and I was getting the smell with the catalyst in, but for the 5-6 days without it I wasnt getting it all, my thought was that there's some gasses getting choked up back there.

Should I be adjusting my process at all? Ive heard so many conflicting ideas, the two being, regardless of cat temp, letting logs catch before closing bypass, or if the cat is in range, just closing it immediately and let it go from there.

I do have an auberins magnetic stove top attachment that I got before the catalyst was installed, so ill have to order the probe attachment. Do you have a suggestion on which probe works best for this stove?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

So i called back the dealer before reading this to ask about damper install and where I should be putting it. In opposition to the original guy I talked to he said I should absolutely not install a damper on the stove.

I guess thats to your point of not listening to them, but now I have conflicting information.

I haven't checked all of my wood, but most of it is below 20% and I was getting the smell with the catalyst in, but for the 5-6 days without it I wasnt getting it all, my thought was that there's some gasses getting choked up back there.

Should I be adjusting my process at all? Ive heard so many conflicting ideas, the two being, regardless of cat temp, letting logs catch before closing bypass, or if the cat is in range, just closing it immediately and let it go from there.

I do have an auberins magnetic stove top attachment that I got before the catalyst was installed, so ill have to order the probe attachment. Do you have a suggestion on which probe works best for this stove?

The first thing that I'd do is get the auber hooked up, because you can actually run the stove with it. You need the 6"k type thermo coupler. I have the 2k degree one.

Id double check the wood. Check on a room temperature piece, split it open and check the fresh split face, pins with the grain. Never check the ends or outside of the split

It doesn't sound like a draft issue to me so let's forget about the key damper for now

Let's start with that. we will start to remove the variables. Once you can actually talk about temperatures and what the stoves doing we can work from there