Appalachian 52 BAY Insert

[wood4free]

Three years ago I purchased a Drolet Escape Insert and quickly realized it was going to be a real challenge to heat my home. Each year I got a little better at coaxing heat out of the stove as the quality of my wood improved but it required a tremendous amount of micro managing and frequent loading. My home’s heating requirements, (1900 sf with mostly old single pane window including 3 very large picture windows), were just too much for the small stove. Getting up in the middle of the night to reload was miserable. The Escape also produced a lot of dust in the house as ash would fall down into the blower, despite my attempts to work around the design flaw. I looked at a number of stove options and while I wanted to stick with an insert, two years ago I deposited money on the Progress Hybrid but just decided it was too expensive for my budget.

In January of this year I noticed a Craigslist ad from Service Sales announcing an overstock stove sale. I was interested in trying a catalytic stove and decided to purchase the Appalachian 52 Bay Insert at a fantastic price. I know it will not have the burn times of a Blaze King but this 52 Bay cost me less than half what I would pay for a Princess Insert. I installed the stove late in August and just getting around to posting now. I am using this thread to document some of the installation process.

 

[wood4free]

The stove is designed for an 8 inch flue but Appalachian sells a 6 inch reducer. The problem is the reducer is not secured any way into the larger opening and will just lift out. I called the company about this problem and was told they advise to install the insert with something called a direct connect kit instead of the reducer.

 

[wood4free]

Here is my workaround (thanks to Mellow for the idea). I drilled and tapped a hole on each side of the reducer and using fender washers bolted it securely in place.


Next, I found my appliance connector was sitting at an angle and would easily come free. I drilled 3 holes into the reducer and bolted small angle brackets. A machine screw attached each angle bracket to the stove connector.


This stove has an ash drop and I could tell there was quite a bit of slop in the sliding ash drop opening. The ash drawer is rather difficult to remove and reinstall so I have no intention of using it and I suspect this area would be a major air leak. I cut a piece of metal from an old car axle frame which you can see sitting next to the ash drop.


The metal covers the ash drop hole and after this photo was taken I put a little stove cement around the perimeter of the slot to further seal it shut.


The firebox is rather spacious at 2.8 cf. and there are only 4 firebrick in the stove


This is a shot of the Catalyst shield and damper housing. I wanted to see how difficult it was to remove so I loosened the 4 bolts that hold the whole assembly and lowered and raised with a bottle jack. I found the jack very helpful as the entire housing is rather heavy.


The majority of the hot air comes out the top of the stove but I found that a small amount comes out the bottom at the opposite side of the blower housing.


The finished stove

 

[wood4free]

My blower door would not open all the way and I was advised by Service Sales this was a problem with some stoves and just re-drill new holes slightly higher. Since it was a new stove I didn’t think I should have to correct a problem that should have been discovered at the factory. Also, the firebox door does not pass the dollar bill test so I put in a warranty claim but never heard anything. I re-drilled a hole on just one side of the blower door and relocated a small screw and now that door opens fine. The stove seems fairly airtight for now but I expect the door to loosen up over time since I can easily pull a dollar bill. As others have noted Appalachian service is practically non-existent.

I am getting 6 to 8 hours of heat out of pithy silver maple right now so once I start using good hardwood I expect 10 to 12 hours between reloads. Getting up in the middle of the night to reload is history so I am very happy. So far I am pleased with the stove. For the money I could not have purchased any other stove in the size range. Will the stove heat my house better? I will let you know in mid-January/February.

 

[PLAYS WITH FIRE]

Just a thought, maybe, but I'd put some furnace cement around where the pipe enters the adapter. Maybe try to run a bead and push in with your finger. Just so any air being pulled in is only through the controls.

Nice work btw!

 

[coltfever]

Glad to see your new stove up and running. I think you will enjoy it. 2012 was my first year using the stove and I am well pleased with it. Its a little after 4 am and its time to put on a pot of coffee. Yes put on a pot of coffee. You would think tending to the stove be the first thing. Its 28 degrees outside right now the house is 74 degs. I loaded the stove last night at 8 o'clock and it still good to go without touching it. Nice looking stove you have. Good job.

 

[mellow]

I almost fired mine up last night but let the heat pump run instead. The 8" to 6" adapter they gave you is different from mine, glad I didn't have to use those L brackets. For sure put some furnace cement around that appliance connector, I would push the insert further back and attach it then pull it forward if possible. I reapply a bead of furnace cement around mine yearly, I had the same issue as you but my appliance connecter is is further down than that, I got it to right where you could barely see a crimp, in order to do that I attached the connector first to the reducer then attached the reducer to the stove while a buddy helped hold it to keep it down while I attached the side bolts.

The furnace cement on top of my ash dump is holding up well, don't think I will have to mess with that this year. I would defiantly change out the door gasket, I guess the guy in Asheville putting those on needs to lay off the weed.

 

[wood4free]

I almost fired mine up last night but let the heat pump run instead. The 8" to 6" adapter they gave you is different from mine, glad I didn't have to use those L brackets. For sure put some furnace cement around that appliance connector, I would push the insert further back and attach it then pull it forward if possible. I reapply a bead of furnace cement around mine yearly, I had the same issue as you but my appliance connecter is is further down than that, I got it to right where you could barely see a crimp, in order to do that I attached the connector first to the reducer then attached the reducer to the stove while a buddy helped hold it to keep it down while I attached the side bolts.

The furnace cement on top of my ash dump is holding up well, don't think I will have to mess with that this year. I would defiantly change out the door gasket, I guess the guy in Asheville putting those on needs to lay off the weed.

 

[wood4free]

The picture showing the appliance connector looks worse than it actually is. My liner comes down at a steep angle and was very difficult to get connected. I actually have the appliance connector in better than with my last insert. Mellow, perhaps if I had thought of connecting the reducer to the appliance connector first and then connecting to the stove as you did it would have worked out better. I will take your’s and Plays With Fire’s advice and smear some stove cement around the connection just to make certain I have a good seal.

I got 12 hours of heat out of a load of silver maple and 1 piece of mulberry last night. I did come down during the night and open the air up slightly. This morning the cat probe was still at 600 degrees. Coltfever, my house will never get to 73 degrees inside with an outside temperature of 28 but I certainly expect to do better than when I was using the Drolet insert. If I can keep the downstairs around 66 degrees when it gets really cold outside I will be happy. So far I am very pleased with the stove but it is going to take time to really learn the operating nuances as I am a complete newbie using a catalyst. I am finding it sometimes challenging to get the cat to really fire off. A lot of times the cat probe has to be at 700 – 800 before it takes off. Other times it just sits at 800 but still no smoke is coming from the chimney. Could be the silver maple I am using during the shoulder season is not quite dry enough.

The door latch seems very difficult to close so hopefully it will get easier as it wears over time. The other night I engaged the cat and went upstairs and came down about 10 minutes later to find the cat probe pegged at 2000 degrees. I found the door handle needed a slight additional twist to make certain it was completely closed.

Couple questions – what should be done if the cat gets too hot? In the above situation, I opened the bypass and let the cat cool down to an acceptable level before re-engaging. Was this correct? How about when it gets really cold and I need more heat – do you let more air into the firebox thereby creating flames? If so, how do you make certain the cat temperature does not exceed 1700 degrees? One other thing, I noticed the stove top temperature never gets that hot – 250 degrees is the maximum I have seen right now and actually measures about 70 degrees higher on the right side of the stove than the left.

Any operational hints anyone can offer for using a catalyst would be most appreciated.

 

[mellow]

Check my thread on it and you will see the same issues. When it gets too hot you do like you did and open up the bypass to let it cool down. On a full load I almost always have to close the air down due to the cat wanting to hit over 1800, if I leave the right hand side air inlet cracked just a smidgen it will hover at 1700-1800 with a full load. To get more heat out I just turn the fan up higher, which sucks because it is loud but when the cat is already at its peak that is about all you can do.

 

[mellow]

@wood4free How is your door latch holding up?

 

[coltfever]

mellow here is a picture of my door latch. Mine does not have any sign of or worn and still latch tight.

 

[bholler]

are there really supposed to be no brick on the floor? and why dod they make it an 8" outlet if you can run a 6" doesnt make any sense. Oh well as long as it is working for you good deal

 

[mellow]

No firebrick on the bottom, just the lower sides. After a buildup of ash on the bottom it doesn't seem to hurt operations.

It is an old design, they want to be able to use the newer small outlets so they made an adapter, that is the way Appalachian operates, "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

 

[bholler]

No firebrick on the bottom, just the lower sides. After a buildup of ash on the bottom it doesn't seem to hurt operations.
It is an old design, they want to be able to use the newer small outlets so they made an adapter, that is the way Appalachian operates, "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

Ok as long as it works it just sounds odd that it would be designed that way. What ever works i guess

 

[wood4free]

@wood4free How is your door latch holding up?

Mellow, sorry for the delayed response - my door latch seems okay but I am only ending my 2nd burning season. It is fairly loose now but I still have to be sure to give the latch and extra twist to make certain the door is tight. Have you talked with Appalachian about the latch? It would seem that would fall under the warranty which I think is for 5 yrs. on the stove.