Newbie alert! need help w/ very short burn time on Vermont Casting Encore 2n1

[salgal33]

I got a brand new Encore 2040 2n1 installed on Monday 1/16. I had a Vigilant Coal stove for the last 15 years and decided I was tired of the dust...so back to wood!
The wood I have is well seasoned
I have a stove pipe thermometer - got through the break-in just fine.
It puts out really nice heat. It gets it nice and hot, very quickly - about 700 before I turn it down.
When I adjust the thermostat back, the temp goes down to about 300.
I have the stove as loaded as it can be - every nook and cranny.
But after about 5 hours it is crumbling hot coals.
I would be happy with 8 hours, but it is no where near the 12 advertised.
The cat is in....

Please help me figure this out... It's cold!

 

[oldspark]

OK its crumbly hot coals after 5 hours but is the stove still hot and giving off good heat?

 

[salgal33]

OK its crumbly hot coals after 5 hours but is the stove still hot and giving off good heat?

It’s definitely still hot, but I wouldn’t say “good†heat. The electric heat pump kicks on at 67, so I know I went from about 73 when I go to bed or work to 67 or less in just a few hours.

 

[oldspark]

What type of wood are you using.

 

[salgal33]

It is almost all cherry, maple and some oak.

 

[oldspark]

That's a cat stove correct, nice looking stove, I'm hoping to get some of the ground work done so someone who is more familar with the stove can give you some good advice.

 

[Todd]

How long do the coals last? Burn times include the coaling stage. What's your stove top temps? 300 pipe temps sound about right when you turn it down for a lower burn. Maybe your waiting too long to engage the cat? Might need a little more time to get familiar with the stove.

 

[jharkin]

[EDIT: I missed that you stated stove pipe thermometer. Can you check griddle temps?]

As asked above... when you say 700 then drops to 300 is this griddle temp? Are you closing the air all the way, or leaving it somewhat open? Do you see any smoke during the burn or any other sign that maybe the cat isnt lit off? (I'm guess no as a stalled cat for that long would probably kill off the fire altogether but worth verifying).

Everyone's setup is different and everyone definition of good heat is different but for what its worth this is my experience with the predecessor 2550... and from what I hear your 2in1 should do better...

If I have a GOOD coal bed - 2-3in. I load it up to within an inch of the griddle packed tight with 18in splits of heavy stuff, oak, maple etc. This is 2+ year wood that measures 15% on a re split. Let it burn wide open 10-15 min should get the griddle into the 550F range. Turn the air down a bit ~75% then let it keep burning open till the griddle hits 650F+ (around 20min). Now I close the bypass damper, cat should light off. Now close the air down in 3 stages or so at 5 minute intervals 50%, 30%, etc till its completely closed. At this low setting the griddle temp will settle in around 400F or so. I don't know how long because I usually have gone to bed after a couple hours but 10 - 12 hours later when I wake up in the morning I will still find it at 300 with a good 1-2in coals and if I open the air I can get a brief burst up to 450F or so burning down the coal bed for a new load.

Moral of the story is I can get the advertized burn times but its to coals and on zero air, ie. low heat output. If you are pushing it harder significantly shorter burn is normal.

 

[salgal33]

Todd, I am so confused about this stove! 20 years ago I just threw the wood in, turned the knob till it was amost closed and walked away.
So engaging the cat simply happens when you close the damper right? (how do you know when?)
This was my routine last night:
I let the stove burn down till it was almost 2-3" of hot coals.
Loaded it up full at 9:30 pm
Let damper open until it reached almost 700 deg on the stove pipe. (Maybe 5 minutes)
Turned the thermostat back all the way and then opened less than 1/4.
Woke up at 2:30 to check and just had the crumbly coals.
I really think by 6:30 it would have been out.

So...this morning I did the same thing (I know...same action, expecting different results = insanity)
went home lunch and again...don't think it would make it to 5:00 so I added a few pieces.
But...this time I grabbed a piece of a little less seasoned and a bigger split. I figure worst case is I get some smoke...
...is it possible the wood is too dry or split too small? I loaded it very tight for the overnight.

Any ideas?

 

[salgal33]

Thanks Jeremy
It sounds like I am not doing anything terriby wrong.
I am just tired of my heat pump kicking in. The blower is on backorder so hopefully that will at least help with some circulation.

 

[charger4406]

I've been burning my defiant 2N1 for over a week now and it took a will
to get a hang of this stove but I can get 6-8 hours on poplar and up to 13.5 hours
on maple if loaded correctly and air/thermostat set at about 1/3 to 1/2 ,about 560 to 630.
About 1 to 1-1/2 hours of coal at the end with stove top temp of 450-500 with ir temp gun.
air set at 1/3 to 1/2 until coals the open the rest of the way gradually.
make sure you wait till griddle is at least 460,better at 500 before you close the damper and the wood is completly chared first.