Kuma Sequoia problems

[Scott in Careywood]

Hopefully someone can help me out here. I bought a free standing from the factory in 2018 and have stopped in there numerous times looking for help and have been helped and they fixed numerous problems. Safe to say I am not very happy. I have tried hard not to compare this stove to my old Blaze King non-cat. And now for the last 6 months basically all winter I have the problem of the left side of the firebox going out (not burning) while the middle and right side burn okay. Kuma and myself are scratching our heads on this one. Anyone have any ideas? fyi I have cleaned it out with a vacuum, damper is clear, stove pipe is clear. It drafts just fine. Kuma replaced the door last year. The stove pipe is single wall 12' feet and then triple wall for 7' feet.

I usually get up in the middle of night to stir it and get it going good again.

If I cant get this fixed then Im selling the kuma and rehab my old blaze king.

Thanks a lot

 

[kennyp2339]

What elevation to do live at? Chimney cap to restrictive? Do you have a tight house? When you open the door to stir the coals does any smoke come out of the door?

 

[webby3650]

The only time I’ve seen wood just stop burning in a stove, the wood was the issue. Your old stove would be satisfied with under seasoned wood, not the Kuma though. What is your wood storage/processing like?

 

[jetsam]

BK or Kuma, it's still a metal box with a fire in it.

Wet wood is most likely. Some kind of issue that shuts the air down partway through the burn is possible, but if I recall the Sequoia is not a thermostatic stove.

One long shot possibility is that your secondary air is completely blocked all the time, and ash starts to block primary air during the burn? I think webby had a story about a rag stuffed in an air intake from the factory, so I guess anything is possible.

 

[webby3650]

BK or Kuma, it's still a metal box with a fire in it.

Wet wood is most likely. Some kind of issue that shuts the air down partway through the burn is possible, but if I recall the Sequoia is not a thermostatic stove.

One long shot possibility is that your secondary air is completely blocked all the time, and ash starts to block primary air during the burn? I think webby had a story about a rag stuffed in an air intake from the factory, so I guess anything is possible.

That was probably my foil ball trying to stop a nuclear overfire that I forgot about.. just another non cat story!

 

[sweedish]

I have a sequoia, check the moisture content in the wood. What are you burning it at as far as the air control? Full or less?
Last year I did notice unburnt/charcoal pieces in the back. My solution was rake the coals/charcoal pieces to the back and back corners of the stove upon reloads.
I wouldn’t give up on your stove, I’m going on a 13 hr burn on ash currently, and just now stirred the coals, will probably get another few hours out of it before the temp probe reads cool and the blower clicks off.

 

[sweedish]

I have a sequoia, check the moisture content in the wood. What are you burning it at as far as the air control? Full or less?
Last year I did notice unburnt/charcoal pieces in the back. My solution was rake the coals/charcoal pieces to the back and back corners of the stove upon reloads.
I wouldn’t give up on your stove, I’m going on a 13 hr burn on ash currently, and just now stirred the coals, will probably get another few hours out of it before the temp probe reads cool and the blower clicks off.

Also check that the ash is not blocking the air at the front of the stove, dig out the ash to make a pocket.

 

[Woody Stover]

Also check that the ash is not blocking the air at the front of the stove, dig out the ash to make a pocket.

Right, the Brother Bart "tunnel of love," a trench in the ash/coals so that air can get to the back of the load.
Do you have strong winds? I wonder if a hard wind from one side of the stack would cause the load to burn hotter on one side? Doesn't seem likely, but maybe someone has seen it happen..?
If you would, describe your wood seasoning procedure. How big are the splits? How long is it split and stacked before burning? Wind can blow through the stacked wood? Do you have a moisture meter? I'd think wood would dry pretty quickly in ID, but thought I'd ask..
I'll be interested to hear your answers to kenny's questions. Elevation can have a big effect on draft..

 

[begreen]

Er, I have the trademark rights to that name.

 

[Scott in Careywood]

Hi Everyone and I will reply to this last comment on the thread answering all questions.
elevation is 2600 feet
chimney cap is not restrictive and is clean, pipe is clean. Im living in my pole barn so is not very tight and when I open the door it does not smoke and the stove has a very good draft. Wood storage is under the lean to of the pole barn and open on three sides for air flow. The wood is split to about 5-6 inch thick and some rounds that are 5-6 inch and that was hard to get used to splitting the wood so small. That is kind of funny about the moisture content comments. A couple on months ago I went and bought a meter to be able to rule out wet wood as the culprit. I burn birch, red fir, jack pine, white pine, white fir and spruce. The readings I got ranged from 14% to 18% moisture content so the wood is not the problem. I should have mentioned this in my first post but if I leave the catalytic converter disengaged and the damper pulled out about a 1/4 inch then I do get the complete burn and just not the long burn time as with it engaged. I always make sure that the front where the damper holes are is clear of ashes.

Thanks a lot

 

[webby3650]

Have you cleaned the cats?

 

[Scott in Careywood]

With the cat all I have done is blow it out with air. Tim from Kuma stopped by here about 4 months ago and said the cat looked fine. Tim didnt mention anything about cleaning it. How do you clean it? Other than compressed air. The owner of Kuma told me not to baby it and to leave the door cracked open and engage the cat and let it roar for 3-5 minutes and that this would "charge" the cat. That has helped getting the cat engaged and working but it didnt help the issue of the left side not burning.

 

[webby3650]

The owner of Kuma told me not to baby it and to leave the door cracked open and engage the cat and let it roar for 3-5 minutes and that this would "charge" the cat

It really surprises me that Mark would tell you that. Pulling cold air through the cat can be detrimental to it. According to another leading cat stove manufacturer, even a leaky door gasket will kill a cat in short order.
Just make sure the cat isn’t clogged with ash, canned air is a good way to verify.

 

[jetsam]

With the cat all I have done is blow it out with air. Tim from Kuma stopped by here about 4 months ago and said the cat looked fine. Tim didnt mention anything about cleaning it. How do you clean it? Other than compressed air. The owner of Kuma told me not to baby it and to leave the door cracked open and engage the cat and let it roar for 3-5 minutes and that this would "charge" the cat. That has helped getting the cat engaged and working but it didnt help the issue of the left side not burning.

If it is a ceramic cat, this is terrible advice. If the cat is warm and you "charge" it with 70 degree air, you are also going to charging your firebox with little crumbled pieces of expensive cat.

I would also not recommend it with a steel cat due to the additional accumulation of fly ash, which causes plugging. (Doesn't actually hurt the cat, but it does require the cat to be cleaned.)

Not sure which your stove has.

 

[jetsam]

That was probably my foil ball trying to stop a nuclear overfire that I forgot about.. just another non cat story!

I thought you told a story one time about a customer's brand new stove that didn't burn well unless the door was cracked, and it eventually turned out that the factory shipped it with a rag stuffed in the OAK inlet? Something like that. Or maybe that was someone else.

 

[begreen]

Can you see the cat when it is burning well? Does it glow equally on both sides?

 

[Woody Stover]

You don't want to blow compressed air hard through the cat. I can damage or peel off the catalyst coating. I just gently brush it with a soft brush, then blow through it manually to remove any ash from the insides of the cells.
To accurately measure wood moisture, get a few large splits to room temp for a couple days, then re-split and immediately test on the freshly-exposed faces, jamming the pins in firmly. The fact that you have to stir the load in the middle of the night and stir the load to get it going again is pointing toward wood that isn't fully dry, although I would expect those species to dry pretty quickly in your climate. How long was the wood split, stacked and drying?
At that altitude, you'll lose at least 4' of effective stack height, so draft might be marginal. If the wind is coming over the roof ridge and pushing down on the top of the stack, that could hurt draft as well. One thing that could help would be double-wall connector pipe up to the ceiling. Can you temporarily add some cheap snap-together vent pipe to the top of the stack to see if that will improve draft? If you need to permenantly add more stack, you'll need to brace it if it exceeds 5' above the roof.

 

[Scott in Careywood]

Ill try adding some pipe to the top of the stack and see what happens. Ill also try the firewood inside and split and check. The wood I am using was cut and split two years ago.

 

[Woody Stover]

What other issues have they helped you address?

 

[BKVP]

Depending upon the air wash, try alternative stacking. If you usually load N/S, try E/W...or alternate in layers.