Newbie - Insert won’t go into active zone

[anjapower]

Hi all,

I just had a BK Ashford 25 installed in a 15-20 ft chimney with a Vacustack chimney cap. Dealer advised that I buy the chimney cap given my chimney is in between two higher gables.

I lit my first fire yesterday evening. About 40 degrees out. Got coals going and then put in a couple logs. Thermostat all the way high, and bypass fully open. So far so good…but I could never get the temp needle to swing into the active range. And the furthest it would go is maybe 11 -1130 if the face of the gauge is 10-2 on a clock.

I thought that perhaps the wood was too wet (had bought a cord of seasoned wood and this was under a tarp), so I picked out more split logs that felt light and dry (just ordered a moisture meter today) and stacked them in the insert. Watched the fire for close to 2 hrs but couldn’t get it to go active so I turned to low and went to bed (bypass remaining open).

In the morning, about 7.5 hrs later, the fire was still going (still not active) so I put in 4-5 more pieces of wood and went to workout and shower, and turned it back to high. Checking an hour plus later, with nice flames inside, needle remained at the 11-1130 zone. Over the course of the day the wood burnt out and fire died but it never advanced to the active zone.

What am I doing wrong? Not sure what I would try differently here besides making sure wood is (more) dry per a moisture meter.
So is it just that the wood too wet?
Should I have shut the bypass anyway and that would have got temps higher?
Is the vacustack causing problems?
Is the temp gauge not working/inaccurate?
Could I have damaged my cat running it 16-17 hrs with the bypass open?

So many questions - hoping some of the vets can help!

Thank you!!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'd verify moisture content of the wood as a starting point. Purchased wood that is sold as "seasoned" often isn't.

The chimney might be an issue too. 15ft is the listed minimum height for sea level if the chimney is straight up, through the roof. Any bends in the chimney or elevation changes can require you to have a taller chimney. I'm not sure what a Vacustack would do.

 

[anjapower]

Thanks for the reply!

I measured from the top of the stove and the chimney is 16-17 ft tall and it runs straight up with no bends.

Here’s a pic of the gauge with the insert having no fire for about a week, and a red line painted over as to the furthest spot it advanced.

My moisture meter is indicating most of the wood is under 14% moisture, with some of the latter pieces of wood I added being 8-9%.

It feels like this gauge is just broken/inaccurate. I would’ve thought that with a roaring fire with hot coals I’d have gone into the active zone but it never even came close to the red border.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

How are you measuring the moisture? Are you splitting a piece thats room temperature and measuring with the grain on that freshly split face? 9% is pretty unusual. The reason I think wood is the issue is wet wood will create a cool fire. All of the energy is used to boil off obscure, and the moisture keeps the fire cool. Itll keep you from hitting the active zone.

 

[stoveliker]

8 percent wood was measured on the outside. That does not count.

You have to split a piece in half and measure on a fresh surface.

Burning a long time with the bypass open is also not good for the insert.

I do think you may have wet wood. But I'm also thinking that indeed your gauge may be not working as intended. Calling the dealer may be needed for that.

Get a few pieces of (non pressure treated) 2*4 and see how that goes.

 

[begreen]

If the fire is burning robustly this could be a dead cat or a faulty thermometer.

 

[stoveliker]

I shouldn't say never. But it was a new install.. maybe "Monday morning cats" exist.

I'd still think a test with "no doubt fuel" (lumber from a box store) is a good idea. If it won't get active then with a good fire, it has to be dead.

New cats do glow easily.
Have you looked at it, especially after turning down (after having a ripping fire).

 

[Highbeam]

The cat meter suspected of being broken here is not the traditional bk cat meter that most of us are familiar with that measured temperature like a meat thermometer. These inserts use a remote meter that and wires and I would expect them to be less dependable and offer less useful data.

Could be a bad connection.

Even wet wood, when burning hot, should be enough to get a cat active. It only needs to be 500 degrees.

 

[Apetaccia]

I’m having the same issue as you. Did you ever figure this out?

 

[Forrest]

I have a newly installed enameled Ashford 25 insert and completed my 4th and final break-in fire last week. For each fire, as the temp increased. my cat meter slowly moved toward the active zone and stopped about 1/4 inch into the red area. With the talk about the cat meter being a "switch," I had expected the needle to jump into the red zone when correct temp was reached.
Also unexpected was that the fan automatically turned itself on and off as the insert temp increased and decreased. I didn't notice the Owners Manual mentioning this.

 

[begreen]

The fan is thermostatically controlled. It comes on once the stove reaches a certain temperature and goes off when the temp drops below that threshold.