Advice on running my Ashford 30

[therdlesstravld]

SO Ive just finished my break in fires for the new Ashford 30 (stinky and scary) and Id like a little advice on running it. I've been experimenting with draft control and already stalled the cat once. It was no big deal as I just turned it up and it relit.

My question is during a long slow burn should my cat be glowing when turned down? I've currently got the air set to around 1.5-2 and the firebox is slightly glowing. The cat thermometer is directly at 12 o clock so it's in the active range but not going nuts. The cat isn't glowing at all anymore which is what concerns me. There's also some heat rolling off it so im not too worried about heat output, more so with whether im running it correctly.

Earlier I had the air all the way up, there was hellacious flames and the cat was bright orange so I know that the cat WILL light up. Also the thermometer was pegged when the cat was all aglow. So opinions/thoughts are appreciated.

 

[begreen]

The cat does not need to be visibly glowing to be active. Go by the thermometer reading.

 

[therdlesstravld]

Awesome thank you. As long as the cats in the active range I should be good to cruise the stove? Is there any time that the thermometer will be pegged with little fire in the box? Or will it just be in the active range on a normal slow burn?

 

[begreen]

I would not expect the thermometer to peg when there is little flame but this is best answered by webby3650. He's been burning the longest in this stove.

 

[Poindexter]

I have been able to peg the cat probe with a small fire by putting really sappy spruce splits on a decent bed of coals, but it's a useless parlor trick.

I have also been able to keep the cat barely active by loading a small split every couple hours when I was home on a long weekend. Again, useless parlor trick.

My cat only glows when it is way up in the active range anymore, I put 9-10 cords through mine last winter. When it was brand new I could get it to glow with a stern glance. If the probe is in the active zone and the cat is engaged, go out in the yard and look at your stack. If you can't see any smoke, your fine.

All I do anymore is cram the thing as full as I can fill it, run it on high for 30-60 minutes once the cat is engaged, turn it down to about half for maybe another 15 minutes and then take 'er on down as low as I want to go for the rest of the burn.

The hardest thing for me last year as an experienced burner with my first ever cat stove was to forget about the fool thing for 12 hours at a time and let it do what it is designed to do. Really. With hindsight, the hardest part was keeping my hands off it.

 

[SCOTT S.]

Poindexter nailed it, if the cat is in the active range and the house is at the temp you want keep your hands off and let the bk work it"s black magic.

 

[webby3650]

The cat does not need to glow to be doing its job. Also the cat will be way more active when the stove is new, once you've burned it for a few weeks the cat will settle down and won't peg easily anymore. You are doing things just fine, relax and enjoy your new stove.