Very confused..getting frustrated

[btuser]

Is that a full liner or just a chimney cap? There's a lot of mass in a brick chimney to heat before you get roaring, so if you're just burning once a night its going to be tough to really get it sucking good air.

 

[Todd]

Looking good Whitman. Woodstock sells a stove pipe wall trim collar that will hide that reducer where it goes into the wall and give it a more finished look.

 

[kayakkeith]

So why does Woodstock say not to use fatwoods - I have been using them in my new Keystone and didnt see any issues. I also have not had any problems getting stove up to temps or any real problems with dirty glass - except right at the begiining.

Basically for now I have been starting the fire with some kindling and one ball of paper and maybe two fatwoods. Let it build up a bed of coals - with door open for the first couple minutes- then about a 30 to 40 minute burn with door closed and damper around 2 to 3. Add maybe two small splits and then wait anothet 15 minutes or so and the stove is up to temps. Engage cat and watch flue temp drop and stove temp rise. After a hour or so put in two or three bigger splits - let it burn for 10 minutes or so to get temp back up and dry out wood - then engage cat and let it go for awhile. Have been burning 24/7 the past few days.

Its been heating our whole house which is two floors and 110 years old - maintains about 70 degrees in upstairs

Again my concern is the fatwoods and why they are no good for my keystone - heres a pic of my setup

 

[Todd]

I never heard that about Fatwoods, they are just pitchy Pine sticks right? I would think any kind of firestarter would be ok in a cat stove since you start up in the bypass mode for 15-45 minutes which gives plenty of time for all the cat nasties to burn up before passing through the cat?

 

[North of 60]

Is that a full liner or just a chimney cap? There's a lot of mass in a brick chimney to heat before you get roaring, so if you're just burning once a night its going to be tough to really get it sucking good air.

Right on btuser, this has been asked also by BeGreen and has been the best damn questions in this thread. This one needs an answer but has been ignored. Set up looks good but whats beyond the wall/brick?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Hi - I'm wondering what the chimney set up is? I wanted a moisture meter, now I don't. To get a decent reading most folks split a few pieces and measure inside. It's still an approximation. I judge by sound. If splits sound like old baseball bats clunking together thy're good to go. Starting fires I load thebottom half of the stove with splits, add a handful of twigs or kindling/splitter debris, and hit the kindling with a propane torch for 10 seconds or so. I then walk away appearing confident, but do have to relight it once in a while.

If you're getting black soot in the firebox it's to cool in there IMHO. More air & or dryer fuel. Does your dealer have this stove on display? It would be nice for you to see on ein action.

ATB,
Mike

Good man.

I think they cause more concern and questions than they alleviate and answer.

OP: If your wood has been cribbed up a year or more it should be good. If you have wood that takes longer than that to dry, switch to pine. It dries in a year (or less) and dudes give it away over there.

 

[Whitman]

s that a full liner or just a chimney cap? There’s a lot of mass in a brick chimney to heat before you get roaring, so if you’re just burning once a night its going to be tough to really get it sucking good air.

It is just a chimney cap. So it sounds like this may be the root of my problem. I can not afford a liner at this time, so any suggestions?

 

[Todd]

s that a full liner or just a chimney cap? There’s a lot of mass in a brick chimney to heat before you get roaring, so if you’re just burning once a night its going to be tough to really get it sucking good air.

It is just a chimney cap. So it sounds like this may be the root of my problem. I can not afford a liner at this time, so any suggestions?

What is the inside diameter of your flue tiles? 10" square is the max for your stove but 6-8" is best. It looks like an inside chimney, so it may work fine as is without a new liner. You might have to give it a little more air after you engage the cat and wait a little longer before turning it down to a low burn. Just keep playing with it, it's early yet, a little trial and error and you should be fine.

 

[begreen]

The flue is the engine that drives the stove. When it is warm outside draft can be weak, especially with a shorter flue. We need to know more about this chimney and how the stove is connected to this chimney.

Still need a good description of the chimney. Without that, we are just guessing.

 

[Whitman]

I made an appointment with a reputable chimney lining company to come out and take a look. I am not sure about the size of the tiles, but will certainly ask.

Thanks for all your help! I will post an update after my meeting with the installer. Hopefully he will be truthful and guide me in the most appropriate direction.

 

[firefighterjake]

So why does Woodstock say not to use fatwoods - I have been using them in my new Keystone and didnt see any issues. I also have not had any problems getting stove up to temps or any real problems with dirty glass - except right at the begiining.

Basically for now I have been starting the fire with some kindling and one ball of paper and maybe two fatwoods. Let it build up a bed of coals - with door open for the first couple minutes- then about a 30 to 40 minute burn with door closed and damper around 2 to 3. Add maybe two small splits and then wait anothet 15 minutes or so and the stove is up to temps. Engage cat and watch flue temp drop and stove temp rise. After a hour or so put in two or three bigger splits - let it burn for 10 minutes or so to get temp back up and dry out wood - then engage cat and let it go for awhile. Have been burning 24/7 the past few days.

Its been heating our whole house which is two floors and 110 years old - maintains about 70 degrees in upstairs

Again my concern is the fatwoods and why they are no good for my keystone - heres a pic of my setup

Wow . . . I really like the look of this hearth and set up.

 

[Battenkiller]

Is that a full liner or just a chimney cap? There's a lot of mass in a brick chimney to heat before you get roaring, so if you're just burning once a night its going to be tough to really get it sucking good air.

Btuser, do you have a masonry chimney yourself? I wonder, because I have a 25' clay tile lined brick chimney and have been burning in it for 20 years. I have absolutely no problem getting a good fire going in a stone cold stove and creating a very strong draft in a matter of mere minutes. With good, dry split kindling, I can reach 600º flue temps and a 400º stove top with a roaring fire in the box in a timed 10 minutes. The draft generated is so strong you can hear the air rushing into the intake from the top of my basement stairs.

Contrary to popular opinion, you do not need to get your tiles up to temp to get a good draft, just the flue gases themselves. Yes, the cold tiles will rob some of that heat, but with a good draft there is a short residence time in the flue, so the gases leave the top of the stack pretty hot. That's all it takes to generate draft.

I like to run the stove hot for a good 30-45 minutes afterward to get the flue warmed, but that is just to minimize the risk of condensation way up high, it's not necessary in creating a good draft.

 

[Renovation]

Wow . . . I really like the look of this hearth and set up.

+1 I'm with you Jake. Don't miss the ceiling--it looks like copper? Nice.

 

[Battenkiller]

I purchased a moisture meter. My readings are in the 14-18% range. I would like to know if these readings are accurate because I am not sure if the moisture meter probes are supposed to penetrate the wood entirely. Actually, it would be impossible to do this as the wood is so hard. So, I have just pressed the probes against various parts of the splits to get my readings.

Whitman, moisture meters were originally designed for the lumber and woodworking industry, not for firewood. The only thing a furniture maker cares about is if his wood is 6% or 8%, not if it is 25%. They work very well for the low moisture content range they were designed for, but get pretty wonky at the upper end of their range. Above 30% they are fairly unreliable. The fact that the makers of professional meters stop giving species corrections above 25% MC tells you something about that, and I have personally called and spoken to an engineer at Delmhorst on a couple occasions and they concurred on this.

In the mid-range you are at, I'd pretty much trust the reading to be withing a point or two in either direction. Because it is so dry, you needn't be at all concerned even if it's 2% higher than the top reading you are getting. 20% MC is considered to be perfect for a wood stove. Three different people I spoke to at Woodstock confirmed that 15-25% MC is the range that is considered acceptable with their stoves.

The question is, are you re-splitting the wood before you take the measurement. This is essential in thick pieces, even if you could sink the probes to the hilt. Splitting also eliminates the effect of any surface moisture on the outside, which would throw your reading off as well. Work the probes in as far as you can with moderate pressure and that is perfectly sufficient. Take several readings immediately after splitting and average the results. Throw out any readings that are way out from the rest, they indicate that there is a local anomaly (perhaps a small sap pocket just under the surface) in the wood at the insertion points. Make a quick mental average, no calculator is necessary. This is firewood, not a dining room table. All you need is a simple "go/no-go" moisture evaluation.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Looking good Whitman. Woodstock sells a stove pipe wall trim collar that will hide that reducer where it goes into the wall and give it a more finished look.

hey do tell more about this 'reducer'. is it a woodstock thing or what? am i seeing a larger pipe going into a smaller diameter thimble? if so, that right there could restrict draft pretty good eh?

 

[Whitman]

Thanks Batten, finally an answer to my mm question…lol.

Tried fire again this evening…took about an hr. and 1 half from a cold start…still waiting to hear from chimney liner. After about three hrs. stove got up to 450…new record for me, nice secondary show.

There is a reducer going into a 6 inch thimble…chimney lined with clay tiles. Not sure of dimensions.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

On the fatwood, if memory serves me (which sometimes it doesn't) the folks at Woodstock do not like the fatwood because of the cat. Before anyone says it gets burned up before the cat gets engaged, some smoke will still get up through that cat when you start the stove, so it makes sense that the crap from the fatwood could get into the cat.

My feeling is that if it is possible to screw up the cat by using fatwood, I just won't use it. That is a very simple fix. We switched to Super Cedars and are very happy.

 

[Battenkiller]

I never heard that about Fatwoods, they are just pitchy Pine sticks right?

Exactly. I don't get it. Did Woodstock actually test for damage to the cat or is it just a hunch? Folks better stay away from burning pine in these stoves if pitch is bad for cats.

Now I wonder about the wisdom of using suberin as a firestarter. Has anyone investigated surberin regarding cat safety?