Stirring coals on Cat stove

[BillsWS]

Thanks in advance for any help you can give. I have a BK Sirocco and was wondering about this; when there are still some huge "coals" in the stove, is it OK to open the door and rake them a bit? Will this improve the heat output (along with opening the draft more)? If I do stir them, should I open the cat bypass before opening the door & raking the coals? Also, if the cat probe shows the cat is not firing and I open the door and rake the coals, when I close the door do I leave the Cat bypass open or go ahead and close it even though the indicator says the cat isn't firing? If the indicator says the cat is firing, is it open to open the bypass and stir the coals or is this not helpful?

 

[NVHunter]

Subscribed to you thread. I'm looking at purchasing a Sirocco 30 in a couple of months.

How do you like it? Is your stove the 20 or 30?

If you don't mind, can I ask what the distance is between the back of your stove and the door opening? I'm trying to plan my hearth and want to know how far I have to extend it to get the 16" required by code.

Thanks and sorry I wasn't any help with your question...

 

[Slow1]

Well, first off it really shouldn't be necessary to stir up the coals until you are reloading. Just turn up the air a bit and they are likely to get you as much heat as they can.

IF you do choose to do this, then open the cat damper before opening the door (always a good habit) as this will help to minimize the amount of ash being sucked through the cat.

As to re-closing the cat - I doubt it makes any difference either way unless those 'coals' actually have enough meat in them to make smoke and heat sufficient to light the cat off again. I'd probably close the cat damper anyway just in case (I don't see a harm).

There could be some benefit to stirring up the coals but if you need more heat, just load the stove; if you don't need the heat let the coals lay about.. if you have large coals and want some heat but don't need a reload then perhaps adding air is enough.

Mind you this is generic advise based on my experience with the FireView and the ProgressHybrid - a bit different from your stove but I think it fits enough.

 

[jeff_t]

Sure, open the bypass and pull them up by the door. At that point, there isn't much of anything left for the cat to burn, so you won't see the probe move much. I open the air wide and close the bypass to burn them down. Closing the bypass holds more heat in the stove, instead of letting it straight up the pipe. It is usually good for 2-3 hrs of 4-500 temps for me. You can put a small split on top, if you need more heat.

Got any Sirocco pics?

 

[Highbeam]

Every time that door is open, the cat bypass should also be open. Easy to remember that rule since it is always.

In my princess the center of a fuel load burns out leaving a split load which burns okay but not as well as when I shimmey the split load together into one load where it makes much more heat. Coals aren't the problem so much as a split load. Open air fully, open bypass, consolidate the load with the BK hook tool and then close door, close bypass, set air to desired output.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Bill, we've found that if we open the draft full just before the burn gets to the all coal stage, the stove will hold the temperature while burning down the coals. This is important as the outside air gets colder and we need more heat else you will end up with too many coals and not enough room for the wood.

The guys are correct too with opening the bypass before opening the firebox door.

Hope you aren't getting buried with lake effect snow. Looks like it is a bit more as you go east, especially toward Grand Marias.

 

[BillsWS]

NVHunter, I like the Sirocco 30 just fine. No complaints at all. Still learning to load just a couple splits at lunch so at bedtime I can load it full for the all night burn. My hearth is 36 x 50. The 50" is from the wall to the front edge.

Hey Dennis, minimal snow but COLD. We had a 50* day last December. Last night was 6 below and colder forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Toasty warm in the house with the 30 crusing though. Best to you and your family for the upcoming holidays. Bill

 

[NVHunter]

Thanks Looks good. How big of an area are you heating? Your ceilings are about the same height as mine are.

Your measurements are exactly what I was thinking my hearth is going to be depth wise. The width for me is no issue as the stoves gonna be in an alcove.

Thanks again

 

[Charles1981]

When I have big coals in the morning, I open my bypass, break them down, spread them out, open the air and get another 60-90 minutes of burn out of them before reloading on top of them. I always close the bypass again after breaking down and spreading the coals, otherwise all that residual hot air will just fly straight up the chimney. Different stove but should have very similar results. You may even get more than 90 minutes with a BK....

Typically in morning stove is 250-300. Break up the coals and it will creep up to 400 again for that period of time before reloading.

 

[BillsWS]

Thanks Charles1981, that is what I have noticed. The temp will go up and occasionally the CAT probe will go back up into the active range after I rake the coals and open the air up a bit more.

NVHunter; 2000 sq. ft. It is the big room in the picture (living, dinning, kitchen) and a hallway opposite the stove with three bedrooms & bath. I put a small fan on the far end of the hallway blowing toward the stove and that seems to keep that end of the house warmer.

Highbeam, I like the "always" rule on the door open/bypass open, thanks. I do notice the split load as well. Huge chunks of glowing "coals" to either side of the stove with the middle pretty well burned down. Definitely gets hotter after I move things around a bit with the hook tool.

 

[Highbeam]

That hook tool has turned out to be pretty handy. Of course, I would never use it to hook the ash chute plug as intended but it's perfect for moving things around in the firebox.

 

[BillsWS]

That hook tool has turned out to be pretty handy. Of course, I would never use it to hook the ash chute plug as intended but it's perfect for moving things around in the firebox.

Highbeam, I have a welder friend who could weld a small flate plate (2" x 3") to the end of the tool, making it more like a hoe for moving coals around.... Do you think it would work any better?

 

[Highbeam]

I also work with metal and I was thinking of making a BK hook for the shop stove to pull stuff forward from the deep recesses of the NC30. The single bar hook allows you to manipulate a chunk in any direction where a hoe might be more of a hassle. On the BK, I'm not moving around the small stuff, just the larger chunks.

The best part of metal work is that you can always cut off the hoe plate if it doesn't work out.

 

[ohlongarm]

Thanks in advance for any help you can give. I have a BK Sirocco and was wondering about this; when there are still some huge "coals" in the stove, is it OK to open the door and rake them a bit? Will this improve the heat output (along with opening the draft more)? If I do stir them, should I open the cat bypass before opening the door & raking the coals? Also, if the cat probe shows the cat is not firing and I open the door and rake the coals, when I close the door do I leave the Cat bypass open or go ahead and close it even though the indicator says the cat isn't firing? If the indicator says the cat is firing, is it open to open the bypass and stir the coals or is this not helpful?

Rake the coals forward into a pile in front of the door,add on a few small splits lay the air to her with the bypass closed if the cat is within operating range should produce at least 3 hours more burn time of usable heat. The larger the coal bed the more heat.always open bypass when opening the door,if the cat is not in active zone when burning the coal bed down it will be when you add the splits and leave the bypass and damper wide open,then close bypass when cat shows active.