New hearthstone Shelburne question

[Foggy Mtn]

We got a hearthstone Shelburne a week ago and I’m trying to figure a few things out. Last night I loaded the firebox and opened the air for 40 min like the instructions say. Shut it down to a low burn and the cat thermometer rose to the very high end of active and the fire was throwing big flames. I shut the air all the way in and it never got hotter but was still throwing flames which surprised me. Should I have not burned it on high that long with that big of a load ? It burned all night with the air all the way in and 18 hr later I had hot coals

 

[Rob_Red]

I have a similar but different stove, the hearthstone green mountain 40.

I have learned to never to leave the air wide open and walk away. A good load of wood and cold temps will get it quite stoked up and an over fire is possible

I will watch it until the splits have fully caught fire and wait for the cat to reach active temps. Once it’s showing active I then will shut the air down half way and engage the cat. Let it stabilize for a minute or two then shut it all the way down for a nice long burn.

Flame will still be visible fully shut down because the stove is a hybrid. It has a cat and a secondary burn tube.

Very beautiful fire to watch!

 

[neverstop]

We got a hearthstone Shelburne a week ago and I’m trying to figure a few things out. Last night I loaded the firebox and opened the air for 40 min like the instructions say. Shut it down to a low burn and the cat thermometer rose to the very high end of active and the fire was throwing big flames. I shut the air all the way in and it never got hotter but was still throwing flames which surprised me. Should I have not burned it on high that long with that big of a load ? It burned all night with the air all the way in and 18 hr later I had hot coals

Same stove, following the manual lead to the same result for me. Once fire is established I start closing the air down. Sometimes this is before the cat is in operating range.

 

[Foggy Mtn]

Thank you. This is from the manual but man I got nervous. “ HIGH BURN: Completely open the primary air control by moving it all the way outward toward the operator.Fully load the firebox with wood on a bed of hot coalsor on an actively flaming fire. To minimize creosote accumulation, run the stove on high once or twice daily for 35 to 45 minutes to fully heat the stove pipe and chimney.”

I guess there could be more variables that could affect this but seems like they should say that in the manual. My pipe is double wall and about 27” with no elbows

 

[neverstop]

Thank you. This is from the manual but man I got nervous. “ HIGH BURN: Completely open the primary air control by moving it all the way outward toward the operator.Fully load the firebox with wood on a bed of hot coalsor on an actively flaming fire. To minimize creosote accumulation, run the stove on high once or twice daily for 35 to 45 minutes to fully heat the stove pipe and chimney.”

I guess there could be more variables that could affect this but seems like they should say that in the manual. My pipe is double wall and about 27” with no elbows

Do you mean 27 ft?

I followed the suggestion for high burn setting 20 minutes after closing the bypass and had i had a full firebox would have had an oversized stove for sure. Cat was at the top of the active range, glowing and the top exit cover plate was like 900F (right above the cats since I have it setup as a rear exit). My chimney is only 17.5' and I have a rear exit into an external chimney.

 

[Foggy Mtn]

Do you mean 27 ft?

I followed the suggestion for high burn setting 20 minutes after closing the bypass and had i had a full firebox would have had an oversized stove for sure. Cat was at the top of the active range, glowing and the top exit cover plate was like 900F (right above the cats since I have it setup as a rear exit). My chimney is only 17.5' and I have a rear exit into an external chimney.

Yes 27 feet. Sorry

 

[neverstop]

Yes 27 feet. Sorry

I bet that pulls like a train. Yes the manual is very generic and doesn't seem like it would apply to the everyone.

 

[MedleyCreekfarm]

We got a hearthstone Shelburne a week ago and I’m trying to figure a few things out. Last night I loaded the firebox and opened the air for 40 min like the instructions say. Shut it down to a low burn and the cat thermometer rose to the very high end of active and the fire was throwing big flames. I shut the air all the way in and it never got hotter but was still throwing flames which surprised me. Should I have not burned it on high that long with that big of a load ? It burned all night with the air all the way in and 18 hr later I had hot coals

We have had the Hearthstone Craftsbury (one size down from the Shelburne) for about a week now. This stove replaced a non-cat Vermont Castings Madison stove that was about 20 years old. The Madison was a great stove, but kind of oversized for our smallish living room. I plan to move the Madison out to the work shop. The house is a 1930's brick colonial. The top of chimney is probably 25 ft from where the stove exits. Chimney has a liner and is insulated. Stove is setup for rear exit.

My experience has been similar to Rob_Red's. Once the temp gets a little ways into the "Catalyst" area and the fire seems to be going well, I engage the cat, and use the air control to regulate the fire. I have noticed that if I have the air control open too much (either with the cat engaged, or without), the fire really gets going, secondary burn tubes jetting flames, lots of heat and flames. Temp gauge moves to the top of "catalyst" zone but doesn't go higher. So far, it has been pretty easy to control the stove by using the air control lever. I am very pleased with this stove so far, but still getting used to having a catalyst, a smaller firebox and no ash pan.

I attached a pic of the stove and the chimney because I always enjoy looking at other people's setups. OK, so I snuck in a pic of some wood I just cut this morning (pretty sure it's locust, but I may be wrong). It won't be ready for quite a while, but it will be the perfect length once it is ready.

 

[Just Some Cold Guy]

I just bought a Hearthstone Shelburne 8372 a couple weeks ago. I have yet to witness the magic of the secondary burn. Where is the air intake located on the stove for the secondary air tubes?

 

[begreen]

I just bought a Hearthstone Shelburne 8372 a couple weeks ago. I have yet to witness the magic of the secondary burn. Where is the air intake located on the stove for the secondary air tubes?

How soon is the air control being closed down and how far? Also, what is the flue setup on the stove?

 

[Foggy Mtn]

We have had ours for close to a month now and it took some learning to figure out how it burns and what it likes. We have it pretty nailed down now and love it. The secondary burn tube is in the top back. The stove needs the box to be at least half full and the Firefox needs to be pretty hot to see the secondary burn. Load it up, run it open, when I see it getting halfway in the active zone I start backing down the air. This works for us. I was very frustrated at first also but once you figure it out the thing is pretty awesome. Last night it was 20 here. Loaded the firebox as much as I could get in, run it open for about 15 min and closed it down. 9 hr later I woke up and our 1900 sq foot house was still warm and the stove still was throwing good heat. Never touched it all night. I have found that I like burning shorter 12” sticks and running them north south. Really can jam it full like that and no sticks will roll onto the glass

 

[Foggy Mtn]

How soon is the air control being closed down and how far? Also, what is the flue setup on the stove?

Very good question. I’ve found it depends on your bed of coals. If u have a good bed of hot coals you are able to shut the air down sooner. If not, it needs to run open for longer-sometimes 45 min. It really helps to open the air, get all the wood charred, then close your air down where you want it

 

[neverstop]

We have had ours for close to a month now and it took some learning to figure out how it burns and what it likes. We have it pretty nailed down now and love it. The secondary burn tube is in the top back. The stove needs the box to be at least half full and the Firefox needs to be pretty hot to see the secondary burn. Load it up, run it open, when I see it getting halfway in the active zone I start backing down the air. This works for us. I was very frustrated at first also but once you figure it out the thing is pretty awesome. Last night it was 20 here. Loaded the firebox as much as I could get in, run it open for about 15 min and closed it down. 9 hr later I woke up and our 1900 sq foot house was still warm and the stove still was throwing good heat. Never touched it all night. I have found that I like burning shorter 12” sticks and running them north south. Really can jam it full like that and no sticks will roll onto the glass

I've found that I get secondary flames at all different loads/temperature, but the gas grill effect from the ports usually happens with a larger load and at higher temps. On hot reloads with wood I know it's dry it really takes off. Within 5-10 minutes I usually have the air 50% closed and the by pass closed.

How far below the baffle have you been loading wood? And have you been placing wood on top of the air inlet (doghouse i believe it's called)?

I'm loading E/W and think I would need to load on top of that in order to really be able to stuff it.

 

[mazza1414]

I’m having similar problem, can’t get the gas grill effect with the cat. New stove, and first stove, for me too. I load up the box get a nice burn going (300-375 stove top) with full to 3/4 air, and when in range of cat I flip it and shut down air to about 1/4. It seems to just smolder eventually and not throw off that grill flame you see videos of or hear about.

 

[neverstop]

I’m having similar problem, can’t get the gas grill effect with the cat. New stove, and first stove, for me too. I load up the box get a nice burn going (300-375 stove top) with full to 3/4 air, and when in range of cat I flip it and shut down air to about 1/4. It seems to just smolder eventually and not throw off that grill flame you see videos of or hear about.

Chimney setup and wood moisture content? Try closing the bypass, and waiting until the fire regains strength to lower air to 1/4

 

[mazza1414]

Chimney setup and wood moisture content? Try closing the bypass, and waiting until the fire regains strength to lower air to 1/4

seasoned wood for 18 months. I’m pretty green at this stuff but rear venting out of fireplace through stone chimney that is 2 stories high. Is it possible I clogged the cat with bad initial fires?

 

[neverstop]

Adding video to my previous post

seasoned wood for 18 months. I’m pretty green at this stuff but rear venting out of fireplace through stone chimney that is 2 stories high. Is it possible I clogged the cat with bad initial fires?

Is the chimney internal or external and is it lined with a 6" insulated liner? Also oak takes close to 2 yrs to dry properly.

Oh this is on cold starts. Try adding 2 small logs perpendicular to the rest of the stack underneath the wood stack to provide an air channel to the fire. Also on reloads you want to keep a channel in the middle of Ash the same reason

 

[tabner]

I’m having similar problem, can’t get the gas grill effect with the cat. New stove, and first stove, for me too. I load up the box get a nice burn going (300-375 stove top) with full to 3/4 air, and when in range of cat I flip it and shut down air to about 1/4. It seems to just smolder eventually and not throw off that grill flame you see videos of or hear about.

If you get the fire good and hot and everything ignited, then cut air a bit and it goes straight to a smolder, I would say damp wood. This is what happens to me. Good dry wood I can cut right back after it’s fully ignited and it just rolls nicely. Damp wood snuffs out and smolders.
Only other thought is try flipping the bypass closed to engage the cat, and then wait five mins to close down the air. Sometimes it likes a couple minutes of hot flames and secondary burn to really heat up the cat before I start cutting the air too aggressively.

 

[tabner]

Also, I think I would say the “gas grill effect” is from the secondary burn holes on this stove, across the back top of the box, just under the baffles. Nothing to do with the cats. And I only get the gas grill effect on large loads in cold weather with strong draft. Not on every load.

 

[mazza1414]

Thanks a ton for all the input. Again, quite new but is there a visual to know whether or not the cat is working as expected? What is the expected outcome if firing properly?

I have been monkeying around with it while reading/posting. I get that “grill” effect but now just temporarily. 1-2 min, then cuts out. Hit it back with more air and the secondary burn holes flicker for a bit, then the wood catches again

 

[tabner]

Thanks a ton for all the input. Again, quite new but is there a visual to know whether or not the cat is working as expected? What is the expected outcome if firing properly?

I have been monkeying around with it while reading/posting. I get that “grill” effect but now just temporarily. 1-2 min, then cuts out. Hit it back with more air and the secondary burn holes flicker for a bit, then the wood catches again

I don’t have anyway to know my cat is working when engaged, really. The temp rises, but it would anyway from the flue gasses being routed through it. The only way I know 100% is if the fire snuffs out and it’s offgassing, after a couple mins I can shut the light off and look just above the baffle into the back of the stove and see the cats glowing reflecting down onto the top of the baffle.
I guess the other answer is smoke. Get a fire going nice and hot and look at your chimney, then flip the bypass closed and check again. You should see less smoke, or none.
Although to be honest if I’m burning good dry wood with secondaries firing, I don’t see a huge change with this method.