Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
For sure. I've been burning some three-year Red Oak recently and it is rockin'!
Appalachian 52 BAY Wood Stove Insert
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Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
Try an angle grinder with a cutting wheel to cut the liner. Like a warm knife through butter (almost), and no distortion. Also used it to remove parts of the cast iron damper to make way for the liner.
Just got done reading this thread on the 52 bay, great info. I have had a 52 since 2009 and have had many of the same issues. There are things that I love about the stove and things that I hate. I haven't closed off my ash door like some have because I keep my fire burning continuous and like to just sift the ashes into the ash bin before I reload each morning. I am going through my stove now and am going to try to seal the ash door better so that less air is fed through it. I have also experienced the warped flame shield and even a crack in the damper housing. I added extra fire bricks to the factory location so that the brick goes up to the top of the stove with hopes of holding heat longer and preventing heat from leaving the back of the firebox. All in all, the stove has performed fair for the price. I burn it steady from October through March, and clean the Cats about three times per year. My wood supply is not always top notch and this has lead to some of my problems with the stove. I have to add extra air to keep the subpar wood burning and have let it get too hot once the moisture comes out of the wood. I only get about 3 years out of my cats due to this. I'm making good ground on getting ahead of my wood supply this winter so this shouldn't be an issue in the future. I am not experiencing the glass issues that others are, I can keep my front glass 75% clean most of the time, I feel that this is due to keeping the primary air controls at least 25% open all of the time. keeping logs as far away from the glass as possible helps as well. How many years are you guys getting out of your cats? I find it hard to believe that anyone is getting the 10 years that fircat claims is possible.
I forgot to mention that I added a ceiling fan rheostat to my blower right next to the other switch's, This allows me to adjust the speed infinitely and shut off the blower all together when reloading.
I am on my 3rd season with my cats, they still look good. I think you are running the stove way to hot with the controls open that much, do you have a cat temperature probe? I bet you are cooking your cats, but at the same time you are running hot enough to keep the glass clean 
These have been known to kill blowers, that is why a speed controller is recommended.
I am on my 3rd season with my cats, they still look good. I think you are running the stove way to hot with the controls open that much, do you have a cat temperature probe? I bet you are cooking your cats, but at the same time you are running hot enough to keep the glass clean
I do have a temperature probe that was given to me by my dealer but I don't think that it is getting close enough to the cats to give me an accurate reading. My probe never goes over 1600 and is usually around 1000. The end of the probe is about 3/4" from the front of the cat. I'm going to order the longer one mentioned earlier in this thread.
clemsonfor
Minister of Fire
Dry wood helps A LOT with keeping the glass clean. I'm on year three of my cats...I dint have the same stove you do and I have Condar cats.
Not much, I try to keep a little active flame so I do not get any puff backs. My air controls are pretty close to closed within 15 minutes of a reload, especially with the compressed wood bricks I am burning this year, which BTW this stove loves them mixed with my regular oak/maple mix. I have been getting 16 hour burns with plenty of hot coals left for reloads.
Not sure if anyone is still checking this thread but I found it very helpful. I've been trying to troubleshoot my Appalachian Bay 52 and came across this forum. Here's my situation: I moved into this house about 3 years ago and have been running this wood stove according to the instructions of the previous owner. The house is about 2,400 square feet with 3 distinct sections. One main room is about 900 square feet where the wood stove sits. Another room on the ground floor is about 800 square feet and upstairs attached to the 800 square foot room is the upstairs. The smaller downstairs room is about 30 feet in front of the wood stove and is accessed by a single door which is left open.
On the colder days and nights here, typically in the 30's day time and teens to low twenties in the day (2 degrees tonight!) the temperature in the larger upstairs room hovers around 60, the second room in the mid-50's and upstairs in the low 50's. This is my first experience with woodstove's and assumed this was normal but after visiting a friend to see his new wood stove I realized I should be expecting more. His stove uses radiant heat and he has problems keeping his double wide trailer below 78. After scouring the internet I've found that for the most part people's main problems with wood stoves is they keep the house too warm, not cold.
I read through every post in this thread and have put into practice many of the tips. I don't have a cat probe or a stove thermometer (ordered both since coming across this thread earlier today) but I am measuring the temperature of a pot of water I keep on the stove for humidifying purposes. Before coming across this thread the water read 110 and with some tweaking of how I operate the stove it now reads 135. The heat output is noticeably increased but still not enough to get the house into a more comfortable range.
I am using well seasoned firewood. I have not opened the unit to check the status of the cat but I had a new one installed Fall of 2015 and the smoke coming out the chimney is clean. I'm not sure what the chimney dimensions are but the unit was installed by a professional and I'm assuming he did a good job. Any idea where the weak link might be?
On the colder days and nights here, typically in the 30's day time and teens to low twenties in the day (2 degrees tonight!) the temperature in the larger upstairs room hovers around 60, the second room in the mid-50's and upstairs in the low 50's. This is my first experience with woodstove's and assumed this was normal but after visiting a friend to see his new wood stove I realized I should be expecting more. His stove uses radiant heat and he has problems keeping his double wide trailer below 78. After scouring the internet I've found that for the most part people's main problems with wood stoves is they keep the house too warm, not cold.
I read through every post in this thread and have put into practice many of the tips. I don't have a cat probe or a stove thermometer (ordered both since coming across this thread earlier today) but I am measuring the temperature of a pot of water I keep on the stove for humidifying purposes. Before coming across this thread the water read 110 and with some tweaking of how I operate the stove it now reads 135. The heat output is noticeably increased but still not enough to get the house into a more comfortable range.
I am using well seasoned firewood. I have not opened the unit to check the status of the cat but I had a new one installed Fall of 2015 and the smoke coming out the chimney is clean. I'm not sure what the chimney dimensions are but the unit was installed by a professional and I'm assuming he did a good job. Any idea where the weak link might be?
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
samfatboy
Member
Glad to see this forum on the Appalachian 52 Bay.
I have had my 52 Bay since the end of the 2007/2008 winter when I got tired of burning 1000 to 1350 gallons of oil every year to heat my home. Our kids have grown up and moved out. I went through a divorce, and my ex is no longer here, but I am, and the Appalachian is still burning strong.
My oil consumption was cut nearly in half by using the Appalachian. I don’t cut or stack wood. For the most part I burn Bio Bricks, Fiber Bricks, Envi Bricks, whatever bricks are on sale. The Appalachian loves them. I also throw in the pallets the bricks come on, which I cut up with a chain saw. I have an unlimited supply of pallets to supplement my bricks.
The stove has its quirks, but overall, it has been a great value. This is not a Blaze King or Harmon. I would call it a working mans/womans stove. Similar in value, but not customer service, as Englander pellet stoves.
By simply following the good advice I found on this forum – choosing the right draft and chimney liner, insulating the liner with Roxul, installing a damper block off, insulating the area behind the stove, checking the gaskets, etcetera – I have been able to get 12-15 hour burns on a pack of bricks pretty regularly. I had to replace the original cast iron flame deflector once, but the replacement is thick hardened steel plate that looks unblemished after 5 years. One of the side lite window screws broke, and I had to re-tap it. Other than that, I still have the original cats, and they seem to work fine.
Since my house is a colonial, and the Appalachian is at one end of the house – in the family room – I installed an Englander 25 PDVC on the other side of the house in the living room. Now the only reason I burn any oil is to move the hot air around the house – I have oil fired forced hot air. I am down to about 200 gallons a season, and 50 of that is for convenience at the end of the season when I don’t feel like shoveling snow, and I don’t feel like loading another load into the Appalachian. Overall, my heating costs have run about 25 to 35 percent lower than if I was heating with oil, but I buy all of my wood. The Appalachian will heat the whole 2100 square feet with outside temps down to about 30F. With the two stoves the house stays a comfy 70 to 74 downstairs and 65 to 70 upstairs with outside temps down to about -10F.
One warning. I don’t know about anyone else’s App, but mine has this habit of putting me to sleep on the couch while loading the evening burn. It has this thermo-wave, hypnotic effect that lulls me into a stupor that makes it impossible to get up.
Happy burning!
I have had my 52 Bay since the end of the 2007/2008 winter when I got tired of burning 1000 to 1350 gallons of oil every year to heat my home. Our kids have grown up and moved out. I went through a divorce, and my ex is no longer here, but I am, and the Appalachian is still burning strong.
My oil consumption was cut nearly in half by using the Appalachian. I don’t cut or stack wood. For the most part I burn Bio Bricks, Fiber Bricks, Envi Bricks, whatever bricks are on sale. The Appalachian loves them. I also throw in the pallets the bricks come on, which I cut up with a chain saw. I have an unlimited supply of pallets to supplement my bricks.
The stove has its quirks, but overall, it has been a great value. This is not a Blaze King or Harmon. I would call it a working mans/womans stove. Similar in value, but not customer service, as Englander pellet stoves.
By simply following the good advice I found on this forum – choosing the right draft and chimney liner, insulating the liner with Roxul, installing a damper block off, insulating the area behind the stove, checking the gaskets, etcetera – I have been able to get 12-15 hour burns on a pack of bricks pretty regularly. I had to replace the original cast iron flame deflector once, but the replacement is thick hardened steel plate that looks unblemished after 5 years. One of the side lite window screws broke, and I had to re-tap it. Other than that, I still have the original cats, and they seem to work fine.
Since my house is a colonial, and the Appalachian is at one end of the house – in the family room – I installed an Englander 25 PDVC on the other side of the house in the living room. Now the only reason I burn any oil is to move the hot air around the house – I have oil fired forced hot air. I am down to about 200 gallons a season, and 50 of that is for convenience at the end of the season when I don’t feel like shoveling snow, and I don’t feel like loading another load into the Appalachian. Overall, my heating costs have run about 25 to 35 percent lower than if I was heating with oil, but I buy all of my wood. The Appalachian will heat the whole 2100 square feet with outside temps down to about 30F. With the two stoves the house stays a comfy 70 to 74 downstairs and 65 to 70 upstairs with outside temps down to about -10F.
One warning. I don’t know about anyone else’s App, but mine has this habit of putting me to sleep on the couch while loading the evening burn. It has this thermo-wave, hypnotic effect that lulls me into a stupor that makes it impossible to get up.
Happy burning!
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