Diabel
Minister of Fire
The wires are not connected right. Play around with them, there are maximum 9 combinations
Vermont Castings Encore Reloading
- Thread starter Jimmy C
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Diabel
Minister of Fire
RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
They have instructions on the website. I thing there is some setup involved. I can’t remember entirely
Okay problem solved... apparently it was not set for k-type. Ran into another problem however...
The black plate I have that covers my fire box does not leave enough space for the probe to stick out as far as it needs to. I can just pull out the pipe that goes to my tee and paint to to match then figure out a way to keep the cover pressed up against the fire box (using cast iron pans for now) .. the more immediate problem is while backing my stove back into place, the fire box cover pushed the probe through the other side of the refractory until it hit the back of the back fire wall (piece with the shell design). I pulled it back a couple inches so it would be back inside the second burn chamber. My question is did I do any damage by doing this? I’m assuming a small hole in refractory will not affect the second burn especially because it is pressed up against that back fire wall. Thoughts? @RandyBoBandy any thoughts as well?
Also can you guys tell me what the Cat probe temp should be when closing the damper? It’s much lower than griddle temp but I have a lot of embers and am worried about overfiring
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Your griddle top is 850? I always heard 500 but my cat temp after 30 mins is only around 150. I closed is and it started to climb quickly then slowed down around 750
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Ok
Sorry I was in a bit of a pickle earlier.
Disregard my earlier post.
I close the bypass once my flue (probe) temps reach 300-400f. The cat temp at that point can be anywhere from 150 to 500 (this is a downdraft stove after all). I do not pay attention to griddle temp, it is too slow to respond. Once I close the bypass the cat temp will shoot up fast. I start reducing the air at 850 or so. Usually, by the time the cat temp reaches 1300 o have the primary air closed 90%.
I realize you do not have a flue probe. In your case, I would run it with bypass open, observe the fire and it’s intensity, watch the griddle get to say 400 and close the bypass. If you see the cat temp shoot up. Intervals of 2-5 degrees in 5 of seconds, then you likely had a good light off.
Hope this helps. Just my experience. Others will c
Sounds right to me! I don’t have a flue probe but hit my bypass at about 500 stovetop and it almost always has the umph to get the cat going. The 2 to 5 degree jumps on the Auber is exactly what happens on my Encore. I can also report similar behavior on the cat when turning down a mature fire. Can maintain nice high cat temps with low air overnight.
RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
You can plug that hole with refractory cement. If it’s inline with one of the secondary air channels on the back side of the lower fireback (clam shell) than it might suck cold air into the refractory box. As far when to close the damper....this is where a pipe thermo comes in. My pipe thermo is all I look at when the damper is open. When my pipe thermo hits 600 I close the damper. After that I pay attention to the cat probe and GT thermo. In your situation I would try closing the damper when the GT hits 400 and then observe the cat probe. If it is climbing steadily than you have lift off. If it climbs some and than kind of hovers around 400-500 degrees than your cat stalled out and you have to try again. If your cat is stalling out open the damper and let the GT get up to 450 and than close the damper and see what happens. The last thing you want to do is overfire your flue while trying to get things up to temp. If it were my stove I would get rid of the fire place cover and turn it into a block off plate up in the top of the fireplace. This will give you room for the probe to stick out the back of the stove and also the ability to check your flue temps.
I think cat temp was at about 132 when I closed the bypass. Took a while to get there stove top was at about 550. I did get a quick rise to about 800 then slowed down quite a bit so I opened the bypass again for a little while to try again. I think after that it got to around 1100 and stayed there until I started turning down the air. From there it dropped back to 800. I am attributing this to having wood that’s around 25%. Hoping that there is not something wrong with the CAT. At least I am now able to monitor the temps in second burn chamber.
Gentlemen,
Currently GT at 550, probe around 1150 (slowly climbing) and some nice dancing flames in fire box.
After playing around with when to close bypass and when to start shutting down air I think I have found the sweet spots of this stove. Happy to see my CAT seems to be working properly. This CAT probe was a MUST. No telling how many times in the past I was closing bypass to early or not shutting down air properly. Probably took a couple years off the cat but at least I know now!
Can’t thank you guys enough!
Currently GT at 550, probe around 1150 (slowly climbing) and some nice dancing flames in fire box.
After playing around with when to close bypass and when to start shutting down air I think I have found the sweet spots of this stove. Happy to see my CAT seems to be working properly. This CAT probe was a MUST. No telling how many times in the past I was closing bypass to early or not shutting down air properly. Probably took a couple years off the cat but at least I know now!
Can’t thank you guys enough!
Attachments
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Great job! Now let the stove and cat do it’s thing. In the course of the burn the cat will go up and down couple of times.
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Here is my VC doing its job
I do pay much attention to the stove top temp.
I do pay much attention to the stove top temp.
Was thinking of getting another probe to monitor the pipe. I wouldn’t be able to get a magnetic thermometer on it, but I could put a probe behind the cover and have the wire run to a display on the other side. Not looking to buy another thermometer and probe this year however.
I would like to get the AT 100 for the catalyst. Question - Does the AT100 come complete ready to go, or do I need to buy a probe or other? I did read through the post. Looking for a part number or something to help me figure out everything I need. Thanks guys! Rick. It’s going in a new VC encore.
RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
You have to buy the the K type probe separately. Make sure the heat range is correct. I believe the 2000* max is the right one. Arbur sells it as well. It’s 6” so if you are using the rear heat shield you have to drill a hole in the heat shield. Did your stove come with the analog probe?
Yes, it has the analog probe. I purchased the AT100, WRNK - 191. 6” probe earlier today. I didn’t buy any mount, I figured that would be a custom fabrication job I’ll have to do. Thoughts on that purchase, correct?
RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
I believe it is correct. My probe is a condar probe that I had before I bought the AT 100 so I never actually bought an Auber probe. I think you can use your analog probe mount with the Auber probe. Is your analog probe already installed on the stove?
Yes, my top of stove magnet thermo indicates 600, flue magnet thermo reads 400. When I close the damper to engage the catalyst, everything slowly goes down in temp. The flue will read under 250, top of stove magnet thermometer reads below 400. The analog probe reads in the white area. This is the area it is supposed to work in. It takes about an hour to get to those reduced temps. Those magnet thermometers are cheap. Who knows what that temp is. I am hoping I can get a good accurate reading on the catalyst temp with the AT. I’m new at catalyst stoves, I just replaced my smoke dragon with this new encore. I have a 6” single wall pipe going into a masonry chimney. The flue liner in the masonry chimney is rectangular. I’m burning red oak.
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