Help needed with defiant encore 2190

[Wood-heater2190]

How can I tell if my cat is actually working? It’s is brand new. Also can anyone give any insight to getting a fire started and also keeping on going all night I can’t seem to get more then 3-4 hours fully loaded cat engaged and air control turned all the way down. And takes an hour to get a fire actually established and going? New to this stove but burned wood growing up and have never had these issues.
Thanks in advance

 

[John B]

I have owned 2 of these stoves over the years, and they are very easy to operate with the right technique but it can take time to get it right.

Easiest way to tell if the cat is working...go outside and look at what is coming out of the chimney once the air is turned down and the damper is shut. If you see no smoke at all or just wisps of white steam that dissipate soon after leaving the chimney then the cat is working.

As for getting it started, our method is to place two smaller splits side by side E\W with a fire starter or kindling between them on the grates. Then I light it and place a small split diagonal across the top of the two splits laying down, also covering the fire starter but leaving air gap so that it doesnt smother the flames. You can help it along at the early stage by cracking the ash pan door open a hair but only do this until the small fire establishes or you risk over firing the stove.

Once the 3 small splits really take, add some larger splits but be sure to leave some air gaps. Usually when it takes after adding the load I will then close the ashpan fully. Once your stove top temp hits about 350-400 I will close the damper and let the stove continue to heat up, leaving the primary air mostly open as the cat starts to engage. As the cat engages temps will climb into the 500's, and as it gets hotter I turn down the primary, aiming for a 600-650 stove top temp at the center of the griddle. It will usually cruise like this for a while, but probably needs a reload after 4-6 hours. Its not a huge firebox.

When I used to do overnight burns, I could generally get 6-8 hours on a full load if I really packed it in and be left with coals to start a new fire in the morning. If you have a really good base of hot coals you can pack the stove in pretty good and it will take off. Burn time will really depend on the wood being burned - the type and moisture content so ymmv.

 

[Wood-heater2190]

Thank you for the advise. It seems when I pack the stove tight with wood and close it all down it slowly works it’s way up to around 650-700 degrees on the griddle temp no smoke out the chimney and with the cat engaged and the air turned all the way down I’m lucky to get 3-4 hours out of it fully packed just curious if I was doing something wrong! Thanks again I just worry that I’m doing something wrong it’s my first winter with it, though it’s been mild we are about to have a week worth of single digits and I just hope all goes well with the stove!

 

[webby3650]

Thank you for the advise. It seems when I pack the stove tight with wood and close it all down it slowly works it’s way up to around 650-700 degrees on the griddle temp no smoke out the chimney and with the cat engaged and the air turned all the way down I’m lucky to get 3-4 hours out of it fully packed just curious if I was doing something wrong! Thanks again I just worry that I’m doing something wrong it’s my first winter with it, though it’s been mild we are about to have a week worth of single digits and I just hope all goes well with the stove!

What are you defining as burn time? After 3/4 hours is the stove full of coals and still 400 degrees or so?

 

[Wood-heater2190]

Maybe a handful of coals stove around 250-300 degrees

 

[webby3650]

That’s pretty poor. Is the fire active the whole time? Or does it shut down when you reduce the air?

 

[John B]

What kind of wood are you burning?

I used to get 6-8 hours out of mine, burning mostly hardwoods like ash and maple.

Sounds like you may have some air leaks. I used to be able to make mine cruise at basically any temp by adjusting the primary air.

 

[Diabel]

Yeah
Something does not add up
You should get around 8hrs out of the 2190.

As asked before, do you see flame in the firebox while everything is closed up?

 

[Wood-heater2190]

I’m burning mainly hardwoods ash oak hickory. When I turn the air control down the flame dies down but yea there is always a flame in the stove. If I pack the stove full and shut it down around 450 degrees on the stove top it slowly climbs until it’s reaches around 700 degrees on the stove top. I replaced gasket around doors, griddle and ash tray door at the beginning of the season this year, but it is my first time using the stove so I have no idea how it did in the past. I also had to replace the upper fireback and refractory and the damper that engages the cat before I could use it due to it being cracked and warped.

Thanks for all the help

 

[webby3650]

I’m burning mainly hardwoods ash oak hickory. When I turn the air control down the flame dies down but yea there is always a flame in the stove. If I pack the stove full and shut it down around 450 degrees on the stove top it slowly climbs until it’s reaches around 700 degrees on the stove top. I replaced gasket around doors, griddle and ash tray door at the beginning of the season this year, but it is my first time using the stove so I have no idea how it did in the past. I also had to replace the upper fireback and refractory and the damper that engages the cat before I could use it due to it being cracked and warped.

Thanks for all the help

Looks like you’ve already spent too much money to throw in the towel now. For future reference, these stoves are rarely worth fixing once they’ve had all those parts fail. So many people had the impression these stoves were so great, in reality they weren’t. They were better than an old fisher or old timer. Mostly they were just pretty. They were parts heavy and had a very high parts failure rate.

 

[Kevin Weis]

A 10 hour burn would mean the air is turned down Anouilh do that n flames would be present yet the cat is till active feeding on just the smoke moving through it. If you still have flames then either air is not closing all the way or as has been said it has an air leak somewhere. Shouldn't though being new. It's entirely possible primary air damper was not adjusted right from the factory. Also you may need bigger splits in there.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Spell check not working well on last post. Also misunderstood cat was new not the stove obviously. Think you might have cracked/warped panels still. You should re-check all mating surfaces for leaks.

 

[Wood-heater2190]

This what it looks like with cat engaged air turned all the way down griddle temp is 500 only a couple pieces of wood in it

 

[webby3650]

View attachment 238449 This what it looks like with cat engaged air turned all the way down griddle temp is 500 only a couple pieces of wood in it

Temps are fine, griddle always has hot temps. Too many flames though. I bet that ashpan is leaking.

 

[Wood-heater2190]

I’ll check that out is there anyway maybe the doors could be leaking? If so would stepping up the size of gasket material make a difference?

 

[webby3650]

I’ll check that out is there anyway maybe the doors could be leaking? If so would stepping up the size of gasket material make a difference?

No, stick with factory size gasket. Have you done a dollar bill test on all the doors?

 

[John B]

Agreed, that flame looks way too active on low. It sounds like you replaced all of the gaskets in the stove. You may be able to find an air leak by using a piece of incense and wave it around any joints to see if the smoke gets sucked in. You can do the same with a lighter too I would think, see if it pulls the flame in. Your stove sounds like it runs exactly like my old Encore would before I replaced all the gaskets and made sure it was sealed up.

 

[Dobish]

definitely a leak somewhere... not the best picture, but this is on almost shut down.

 

[Wood-heater2190]

Looks like I’ll be checking gaskets and go from there I really want this stove to work since I’ve put the money into it now!

Thank you for the replies it’s greatly appreciated seems we’ve got the starting a fire in it taken care with two successful starts no in the last two days with out having to fight it for an hour. Thank you all very much will check the gaskets out and report back.

 

[webby3650]

definitely a leak somewhere... not the best picture, but this is on almost shut down.
View attachment 238499

That looks about right to me. Glow, but no real flames on low.

 

[Charles1981]

If I turn the air down all the way...the flames are gone on 5 minutes and the stove goes black almost except for glowing coals at the bottom. Of the cat is active I can see it glow in the back. Flames like that shut all the way down really make me think as well as previous posters you have air leaking into the Firefox.

 

[moresnow]

Have you checked the glass gaskets? Another possibility.

 

[Wood-heater2190]

I took a lighter and ran the flame around the doors and around the bottoms of both doors it sucked the flame into it is there an adjustment for that or just have to replace them the gasket were brand new three months ago? That’s the only place it would suck the flame in.

 

[Wood-heater2190]

So I did the paper test on the gaskets and the top is great but between the doors and the whole bottom of both doors and the far right side and far left side the paper pulls out super easy the bottom gasket isn’t even touching the stove on either door? Is it possible to bring the bottom of the doors in?

 

[Wood-heater2190]

Anyone have any ideas?