Fireview: How often do you have to adjust your cat-linkage?

[fire_man]

I'm just wondering how often you Fireview guys have to adjust the linkage that is responsible for that gratifying "click" noise you get when engaging the cat. It's no big deal to adjust, just two nuts, but about once per month the lever gets real "loose" upon engagement and I find the inner nut has backed off a few threads.I adjust both nuts nice and snug and get a firm "click" . I hate to use a thread-lock compound at those high temps. And boy is it a little tricky tightening when the stove is still hot! :bug:

 

[Chad S.]

Blue threadlock?

 

[Todd]

That was happening to me a couple months ago til I put some azz behind it and really sinched it down good.

 

[fire_man]

That was happening to me a couple months ago til I put some azz behind it and really sinched it down good.

I guess I need to get me a can of azz. Hopefully its not made in china!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I'll have to have a look at ours just out of curiosity as we've had no problems. No, I won't try to fix it if it isn't broken. lol

 

[wendell]

I just love this site. After reading the initial post it got me to wondering and I took advantage of our current warm up to clean up the stove so I opened up the top and watched as I opened and closed the bypass and realized that I have not been pushing the bypass all the way closed so that it locks into place. Too warm today for a fair test but i definitely had to have the air set higher. At 1 I had no flame and a 675 degree top.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wendell, that will be interesting to see what difference that makes. I hope you keep us posted on that.

You said at 1 there was no flame and 675 degree top. Here is a good one for you. Last night after putting in 4 splits and after engaging the cat I dialed it down to .5 but there was too much flame. From that point until this morning when I put wood in, the draft was closed completely. Shortly after closing the draft there were only 2 small (perhaps I should say tiny) spots of red coal showing. The temperature just kept climbing and the cat was glowing pretty. It topped out at 680! Wow, and all that without flame.... It was a bit toasty in here to say the least with this warmer outdoor air.

 

[fire_man]

I would also really like to see how Wendell makes out after adjusting. I can't imagine not having flames with 675 degree top and air set to 1! Mine would be a raging inferno, at least with my dry wood. I can't see how the cat bypass would keep the flames down at higher air settings, though. I think a leaky bypass would waste wood since the cat would be robbed of some heat-generating smoke. That's amazing Dennis got to 680 with only 4 splits. I'm not surprised it hit 680 with the draft at the lowest setting, since my highest stove top temps always happen at very low air settings ( .5 or so) combined with zero firebox flame.

 

[Todd]

Dennis, I wonder if you have a air leak somewhere? Turning the air off should smother the fire. Seems like your the only one that can turn it down that far. I use to think it was your super dry wood, but now I have a sneaky suspicion there could be something more to it?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I too am amazed. I just never thought I'd see the day a stove would punch out that much heat with that little bit of wood....and only a couple tiny red coals! It just simply amazes me. I've burned many different stoves over the years and all types of wood, wet and dry but have never seen anything like this. It is no wonder we burn only half the amount of wood we used to.

 

[Todd]

Does the wood in the back burn down completely at those low settings? There are times when I'm burning at .5 with little or no flame and 12 or so hours later there is still a half of an unburnt split laying in back and a bunch of black chunks in front.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Todd, if there is a leak we have not been able to find one. I even have had that slider for the draft completely out and re-installed it. You had asked this question before and I had checked. Then one day, the linkage actually came apart! Now that was interesting getting everything back together! I even got a couple of burns while trying to get things working again.

There is a little spring-type washer (not sure what they are called; I always called them a spring washer) that is pressed on the linkage and for some reason it worked its way off. Getting it back on took a bit of doing but after calling Woodstock it turned out to be easier than I thought. I had to remove the draft control lever and when I did this, it was a simple task to just twist the slider and it popped right out. Then I was able to get it back together and put it back in. But wouldn't you know; I went to the hardware to get a new one and the new one was so weak that within 2 days it came back off. Woodstock sent me a couple new ones and all has been well since.

We are able to control the stove but for sure this summer we will be going over it with a fine toothed comb to make certain everything is okay and I will also be working with Woodstock while doing it.

On days like today when not much heat is needed we can keep it down to 400-500 quite easy. It is only when we load that thing up when it gets so hot. Those splits I put in were a pretty good size last night. Tonight it is not supposed to be very cold (we are almost roasting now!)so not much will be put in before bedtime.

Thanks again for your concern.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Todd, as you know, that back log is the key to long burns. Almost always when it is down to or very close to being down to all coals, there is a chunk yet completely unburned. It for sure will be mostly burned but not completely. I just move it to the front to finish the burn.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Todd, I just got up to put wood in the stove. I had a window open and suddenly I was getting chilly. Not a lot of coals left but that one chunk of wood in the rear was there. I flipped it to the front and it was in flames within maybe 5-10 seconds. Now it looks like the Pits of Hell as the draft is full open and some new wood in the stove. The stove top is at 300 degrees.

 

[Todd]

Todd, if there is a leak we have not been able to find one. I even have had that slider for the draft completely out and re-installed it. You had asked this question before and I had checked. Then one day, the linkage actually came apart! Now that was interesting getting everything back together! I even got a couple of burns while trying to get things working again.

There is a little spring-type washer (not sure what they are called; I always called them a spring washer) that is pressed on the linkage and for some reason it worked its way off. Getting it back on took a bit of doing but after calling Woodstock it turned out to be easier than I thought. I had to remove the draft control lever and when I did this, it was a simple task to just twist the slider and it popped right out. Then I was able to get it back together and put it back in. But wouldn't you know; I went to the hardware to get a new one and the new one was so weak that within 2 days it came back off. Woodstock sent me a couple new ones and all has been well since.

We are able to control the stove but for sure this summer we will be going over it with a fine toothed comb to make certain everything is okay and I will also be working with Woodstock while doing it.

On days like today when not much heat is needed we can keep it down to 400-500 quite easy. It is only when we load that thing up when it gets so hot. Those splits I put in were a pretty good size last night. Tonight it is not supposed to be very cold (we are almost roasting now!)so not much will be put in before bedtime.

Thanks again for your concern.

It would be interesting to see what WS says about your low burns. I remember our discussion about the air slide and I thought you might of had the same problem. My first year I burned like that and the innards got so hot it cracked the cat and warped that plate that protects it. I was burning at 0 and still had plenty of flame! :bug: Of course WS stood behind it and sent me new parts.

 

[Todd]

Todd, I just got up to put wood in the stove. I had a window open and suddenly I was getting chilly. Not a lot of coals left but that one chunk of wood in the rear was there. I flipped it to the front and it was in flames within maybe 5-10 seconds. Now it looks like the Pits of Hell as the draft is full open and some new wood in the stove. The stove top is at 300 degrees.

I'll be firing up my stove shortly, I haven't loaded it since 8am this moring and it's still 73 upstairs 75 down. I like these days where I can get away with 12 hour reloads. I too still have a single chunk in the lower back of my stove which will be raked forward to start the next load.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

So far Woodstock's only suggestion was that I might consider installing a damper in the flue but I do not think that is any problem. I simply do not have too much draft.

One more point: if there were a leak somewhere then I should not be able to get that down to just a couple red coals as it seems to me if there were more draft then we would not be able to control a flame.


btw, when I stated 300 degree stove, the flue was 200. It did not take long to raise the flue to 500 so I engaged before the 10 minutes I usually go. It was between 7 and 8 minutes when I engaged the cat.

 

[Todd]

Good point, you still have control, I didn't. I just stuffed the stove for the night, she's flaming away, I think I'll experiment some and see how low I can go.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Good luck. Stove now at 430 and only a small flame. Good night.

 

[wendell]

I would also really like to see how Wendell makes out after adjusting. I can't imagine not having flames with 675 degree top and air set to 1! Mine would be a raging inferno, at least with my dry wood. I can't see how the cat bypass would keep the flames down at higher air settings, though. I think a leaky bypass would waste wood since the cat would be robbed of some heat-generating smoke. That's amazing Dennis go to 680 with only 4 splits. I'm not surprised it hit 680 with the draft at the lowest setting, since my highest stove top temps always happen at very low air settings ( .5 or so) combined with zero firebox flame.

Mine would have been like that before. Obviously, the warmer air outside today is also making a difference but since I was not locking the bypass closed, I must have been getting some heat leaking up the flue. Hopefully, this will help me get more heat out of the stove.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, last night was interesting. After showering and then laying in bed reading for a half hour I checked the stove (520 degrees) then it was lights out.

For years I have had a lot of problems with headaches and last night was one of those bad nights. At 4:00 I simply got up hoping being vertical rather than horizontal might help and it did a little bit. I did put 3 small sticks in the stove and it was over 300 when I did this. It is really warm in here now as it is not cold outdoors. It appears 32 was our low temperature last night so not much heat will be required today. We'll only add 2 or 3 small pieces as needed through the day. The headache is finally easing but my sight is still a bit blury.

 

[Todd]

Dennis, If those headaches are effecting your vision you better go get checked out. We have the same weather here and I'll be loading every 12 hours or so til it cools off.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Thanks Todd. I've been fighting the vision thing for some time and seeing the eye doctor quite regularly. Next appointment on the 19th.

I will say one thing for sure. I had some laser fixing done on my eye a little over a year ago. I was told if they did not do it I was at very high risk of a detached retina. My eye has not been the same since and if I had it to do over again I would not have had that laser crap done. Believe me, it was extremely painful and then I went totally blind for about an hour after it was done. Now it constantly feels like there is something foreign in my eye. I only have one good one so I do have to be careful but right now it is pretty aggravating to say the least.

On the weather, it looks like we are going to have this for quite a while. Yesterday I dropped a tree which hung just a little. When I cut the butt off I found that it had sunk into the ground about 4". In some places there is lots of frost but apparently not every place. Oh, the tree was no problem. I have another one quite close to the one I just took down and it appears that will also hang a little but I don't sweat those things as it is easy to get down on 99% of them. It is just that some of those other trees I don't want down so some are bound to hang up. As stated though, most all of them are easy to cut up (or down).

 

[wendell]

Dennis, sorry to hear about your eye. Hopefully, they can figure out something to help.