New vc encore and new to wood burning

[Crash525]

Hello everyone, I came here to ask the experienced wood burners about their experience and advice of vc encores and their use. My wife and I just moving into our newly built home and we had a vc encore wood stove installed with the house. Its all professionally installed besides the hearth pad which I made to code and it was approved by the installers and building inspectors.

Anyways, I am new to wood burning. I'm in southern michigan. The weather has been up and down. This week has been fairly cold. I was able to get non- treated pallet wood that's 3x4x12 -16in. It ranges from 10 to 16% moisture content. Its been in the 30f and 40f when I try to burn. I can get a good kindling to light, then add a few larger pieces and and then whole pieces and get everything up to temp. I was burning with the catalyst in and it appeared to work just fine. No smoke out of the chimney and running around 600f on the stove top temp gauge. It basically cooked us out. We had to open windows. I set them TAC all the way down but it stayed at 600. I figured it was the cat just doing its job. We have a 1620 sqft ranch, main room is 700sq where the stove it. Basement 1620 and basement door open, room doors open and furnace recirculation fan on at times and ceiling fans on. I still had to open windows to keep it less than 76f inside. That's with two whole pieces max.

The next day I let it cool down and I removed the cat since the manual said once it hits 450f the damper can close. I figured it can run cooler without it. Well it gets to 600f and stays there until the wood burns down. Even if the thermostat is closed. Even after it gets up to temp and has been closed for over an hour with it closed. I only put a max of two whole pieces of wood in at a time plus the residual coals. Its supposed to warm up after today. I am afraid to fill the box with wood like it recommends either with or without the cat. The griddle had started to blue. I figured this is normal since it does get up to 600f. The stove never got over around 600-660f range.

My question is am I doing something wrong or is something not working properly with my stove? I read good and bad reviews about the stove. I want to make sure that my stove is working properly and it's not user error. We picked this one out over a hearthstone because my wife and I thought it would go better with the home design and decor along with the fact that its a top loader was a better fit for the house layout.

Any advice l, tips, or help will be greatly appreciated
Thanks.

 

[begreen]

A new catalyst is going to be quite active and will burn hot. That should settle down with more fires. However, it could be that you have too large a stove for the space. 700 sq ft is not that large. The Encore is a serious heater. If the house is well insulated then it could be too much heat. What was the outdoor temp at the time?

 

[Crash525]

The temp was in the low 40s. The main room it's in is roughly 700sqft. The basement door is 13 feet directly in front of the stove and a hallway right next to it. The main floor is 1620. Even with the furnace fan on moving air and two celling fans on. My question is am I able to turn the burn temp down to around 400 - 450f with the thermostat while it's not using the cat? Or better question yet should I be able to do so with my stove?

We purposely put two ceiling fans in our main room for air movement and had large hallway to the other rooms that air can move down easily. I think if the temps can normalize around 450 the temp inside would be manageable.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Hello and welcome
Is your stove a 2040 or 2040cat-c

I have a vc encore also. good heater. 40 out side is not really a low temp. What your doing is burning the stove like it's 20 degrees out with a low sun angle. In mid April your going to get solar gain with the sun being out so factor this in. This time of year I consider this shoulder season.. to me This means that I am burning wood with less BTUs and smaller fires. I had a fire the other day never go to the point that the cat is engaged, small fire, small wood to 1 medium at best I let the fire burn hot but let it burn down and may add a pice if the house is still cool. Your kinda burning like is still late February.. Your technique of burning will change throughout the burning season. In October its a fire here and there and let it go out. By mid November your burning in the evening and over night. By late December Your burning 24/7 throughout February. March the burning will slow here and the fire will burn to coles during the day and fire the stove back up at night for an overnight burn. A sure sing that your adding to much wood is having to opening the windows. If you want your stove to run at 400 you do 1 of 2 things.. add just enough wood to keep it at 400 or when your stove is getting past that 400 mark start cutting the primary air back.

 

[begreen]

The temp was in the low 40s. The main room it's in is roughly 700sqft. The basement door is 13 feet directly in front of the stove and a hallway right next to it. The main floor is 1620. Even with the furnace fan on moving air and two celling fans on. My question is am I able to turn the burn temp down to around 400 - 450f with the thermostat while it's not using the cat? Or better question yet should I be able to do so with my stove?

We purposely put two ceiling fans in our main room for air movement and had large hallway to the other rooms that air can move down easily. I think if the temps can normalize around 450 the temp inside would be manageable.

How much insulation is in the house walls and ceiling?

The basement door is probably irrelevant. Hot air will not go down unless forced convected. The stove is primarily an area heater. Ranches are challenging for heat distribution; the hallway is restrictive meaning little heat will get into the bedrooms without assistance. There are dozens of threads on moving the heat in this forum, with ranch-style houses being the #1 inquiry.

 

[gthomas785]

I think your wood is too small. I don't care how cold it is outside or the square footage, you should be able to turn it below 600 degrees. I often run my encore at 350-400 stovetop on a full load with the air closed all the way. Try some bigger 5-6 inch splits and if that doesn't help then you may have excessive draft or an air leak. Check the ash pan door to make sure it's seated all the way closed.

 

[begreen]

I think your wood is too small. I don't care how cold it is outside or the square footage, you should be able to turn it below 600 degrees. I often run my encore at 350-400 stovetop on a full load with the air closed all the way. Try some bigger 5-6 inch splits and if that doesn't help then you may have excessive draft or an air leak. Check the ash pan door to make sure it's seated all the way closed.

I was thinking the new cat might be part of the issue, particularly if the stove temp is being measured near the cat, but yes, small splits will burn quicker.

 

[gthomas785]

I was thinking the new cat might be part of the issue, particularly if the stove temp is being measured near the cat, but yes, small splits will burn quicker.

My memory may be off, but when I had this stove brand new I don't think I had this crazy heat output. The cat temperature did get pretty high on the first several fires, but I was still able to control it and limit the stovetop temp. In fact, this stove has always felt like one of the most controllable, wide-ranging heat output stoves I've had.

Now I will say, it does go crazy on me if I wait too long before turning it down. One time I closed the bypass, air fully open, and then got distracted and forgot about it for about an hour. When I came back the stovetop was 700 degrees and even after I shut the air I couldn't get it to go below 600 until the coaling stage. Maybe that's what's going on?

 

[Crash525]

How much insulation is in the house walls and ceiling?

The basement door is probably irrelevant. Hot air will not go down unless forced convected. The stove is primarily an area heater. Ranches are challenging for heat distribution; the hallway is restrictive meaning little heat will get into the bedrooms without assistance. There are dozens of threads on moving the heat in this forum, with ranch-style houses being the #1 inquiry.

The house is very well insulated. It's not that the heat is not going throughout the house because it is. The fans help alot and there are fans in other rooms that help circulate the heat. The main room stays the warmest. The issue is that even burning a single 3x4x12 to 16 cut of wood. The stove gets hot and won't come back down below 550-600 until it starts to burn out. It's like I can't get it to choke out.

 

[gthomas785]

The house is very well insulated. It's not that the heat is not going throughout the house because it is. The fans help alot and there are fans in other rooms that help circulate the heat. The main room stays the warmest. The issue is that even burning a single 3x4x12 to 16 cut of wood. The stove gets hot and won't come back down below 550-600 until it starts to burn out. It's like I can't get it to choke out.

That really sounds like you have an air leak. My intrepid was like that until I figured out that the griddle wasn't sitting flat.

 

[Crash525]

My memory may be off, but when I had this stove brand new I don't think I had this crazy heat output. The cat temperature did get pretty high on the first several fires, but I was still able to control it and limit the stovetop temp. In fact, this stove has always felt like one of the most controllable, wide-ranging heat output stoves I've had.

Now I will say, it does go crazy on me if I wait too long before turning it down. One time I closed the bypass, air fully open, and then got distracted and forgot about it for about an hour. When I came back the stovetop was 700 degrees and even after I shut the air I couldn't get it to go below 600 until the coaling stage. Maybe that's what's going on?

Hmm. That could be that I wait to long to shut the thermostat down. But I feel that I am on top of it. I feel like it just can't get it to come down. Even before it hits the 600 mark.

Today I started a fire. Kindling lit, put some a bit larger sections on it, getting upwards of 300-350, saw the pieces start to burn down put one 1x2x12 section on and a 3x4x12-14 ( that's the largest diameter I have). It started to burn well and got up to about 450 on the griddle top. Waited a few more minutes and the temp didn't raise much. Shut the damper and then backed the thermostat to almost closed. It got up to 600. Then the wood started to burn down. I let it cool down to about 400-4500 and then I added 2x2x12 and a 2x4x12-14 and opened the damper and thermostat to high and it would not stay lit and just fizzled out. There was a decent amount of a coal bed, maybe 1-2 inches and the other logs were still burning. I couldn't even stoke the fire opening the door.

As for leaks. The ash pan door seems to seal tight and the front doors seem sealed. I can open the handle halfway and the fire will ramp up. The girddle top initially on first fire up had a small amount of smoke leak out but then stop.

 

[Crash525]

That really sounds like you have an air leak. My intrepid was like that until I figured out that the griddle wasn't sitting flat.

When I first started it up the griddle had leaked some smoke but since then it had stopped. It doesn't seem like it leaks anymore. What's the best way to check for a leak around there?

 

[gthomas785]

When I first started it up the griddle had leaked some smoke but since then it had stopped. It doesn't seem like it leaks anymore. What's the best way to check for a leak around there?

Dollar bill test - close it on a dollar bill or piece of paper and see if it pulls out easily. Do that all the way around the griddle, doors, and ash pan. Also check that the window glass is tight against the gaskets.

 

[gthomas785]

And in the meantime, get some bigger wood and stack it up to dry.

 

[Rusty18]

Second the bigger splits. Once a few small ones get going it’s hard for me to keep them under control too.
When you shut the air off do the flames die out? And if so how long does it take stove to cool down (or fire to burn out) after the flames go out? Once mine gets to the 600 mark it will stay hot for a while...that’s a big ol chunk of iron to try and cool down once it gets hot.

 

[Diabel]

Welcome to the zoo!
What do you see in the firebox once bypass closed (cat mode on) and primary air closed 100% (small lever pushed back all the way)? You should see all the flames go out.

 

[Crash525]

Second the bigger splits. Once a few small ones get going it’s hard for me to keep them under control too.
When you shut the air off do the flames die out? And if so how long does it take stove to cool down (or fire to burn out) after the flames go out? Once mine gets to the 600 mark it will stay hot for a while...that’s a big ol chunk of iron to try and cool down once it gets hot.

I'll work on getting different wood. When I shut the thermostat off there still are flames and it stays hot. Say if it's up to 600 while there's wood in it. I shut the thermostat off. It will stay 600 until the wood goes out. I think one time while using the cat I had just small flicker of flames while it was burning but it was still holding at 600. I expected that to happen with the cat though.

 

[Crash525]

Welcome to the zoo!
What do you see in the firebox once bypass closed (cat mode on) and primary air closed 100% (small lever pushed pack all the way)? You should see all the flames go out.

So the few times I burned with the cat. It would get up to 600. I'd close the damper (pulled forward), close the thermostat (pushed back), I would still get some flames but you could see it die down from a bright fire. But it would never drop down below 600 with the thermostat closed.

 

[Crash525]

This is after I started a fire today. Kindling, added a bit larger, then bit larger, got up to temp 450, needed to add more while there was wood still burning. Opened damper, opened thermostat, top loaded the wood. One whole and a half piece. I couldn't get it to stay lit. Even with cracking open the front to let some more air in to stoke it and close it once it caught. It never fully burned. The wood is around 12% moisture. It seemed to have a good draft. I didn't have any smoke come out when I opened the griddle.

 

[gthomas785]

By the way, the cat shouldn't really boost the heat output that much. What it actually does is it's supposed to let you turn the heat down farther without smoking. You should always burn with the cat engaged unless you're starting or right after a reload.

 

[gthomas785]

This is after I started a fire today. Kindling, added a bit larger, then bit larger, got up to temp 450, needed to add more while there was wood still burning. Opened damper, opened thermostat, top loaded the wood. One whole and a half piece. I couldn't get it to stay lit. Even with cracking open the front to let some more air in to stoke it and close it once it caught. It never fully burned. The wood is around 12% moisture. It seemed to have a good draft. I didn't have any smoke come out when I opened the griddle.
View attachment 278176

Dude you need more wood than that for a proper fire. Like 3-4 pieces minimum or it won't stay burning.

 

[Diabel]

So the few times I burned with the cat. It would get up to 600. I'd close the damper (pulled forward), close the thermostat (pushed back), I would still get some flames but you could see it die down from a bright fire. But it would never drop down below 600 with the thermostat closed.

That is a good sign. You should search this forum for “operating procedures” for encore 2550. Similar to your stove and very informative. The magnetic thermometers are not very accurate, they are often off by 100*F either way. 600* f is actually a very sweet spot for these stoves in a dead of winter. In spring you should be able to dial it down to 400 by following the proper shut down procedures and timing.

 

[Crash525]

By the way, the cat shouldn't really boost the heat output that much. What it actually does is it's supposed to let you turn the heat down farther without smoking. You should always burn with the cat engaged unless you're starting or right after a reload.

After reading the manual it says I can run it without the cat and I can shut the damper at 450. I didn't want to run it at 600. I wasn't able to turn it down with the cat in and the thermostat all the way down. I know the temps don't adjust instantly. The cast retains it heat and the thermostat has to have time to adjust.

 

[Crash525]

That is a good sign. You should search this forum for “operating procedures” for encore 2550. Similar to your stove and very informative. The magnetic thermometers are not very accurate, they are often off by 100*F either way. 600* f is actually a very sweet spot for these stoves in a dead of winter. In spring you should be able to dial it down to 400 by following the proper shut down procedures and timing.

That's what I was picking up from the manual. I mean it was 35 out when I was burning. I figure it shouldn't have to be -10 to use the stove.

 

[Crash525]

Dude you need more wood than that for a proper fire. Like 3-4 pieces minimum or it won't stay burning.

I figured as much. But it would stay burning with less. Also with the way the stove has been burning more than 2 would seem like it was be a glowing red stove.