What temp. do you trust?

[pen]

I hear you, I'm gonna be up all night fo' sho'!
Pen- No joke on this one. I'm trusting your testing that the Condars read low. A side note- I closed the door, and in the space of 3-4 min., flue temp dropped from 1000 to 900. This with the T-stat on full-open. fire died a bit also.

hh: Oh sweet mother of mary. Either you are so damn far up that hill in colorado that you have oxygen deprivation (you and the stove both) or that wood needs some serious time to dry for you

pen

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Pen- you do realise these temps. are from a probe guage, about 19.5" above stove top? Not a surface guage.

 

[pen]

Pen- you do realise these temps. are from a probe guage, about 19.5" above stove top? Not a surface guage.

I surely am aware (and don't call me Shirley). I was simply giving you an out.

But still I am concerned about what you are doing.

I'll reiterate

Burning a hot fire will not dry out creosote, it will catch it on fire. Burning hot fires with every load w/ good wood will prevent creosote. There are only 2 ways to remove bad creosote, burn it out or brush it out.

pen

 

[Beetle-Kill]

BTW- closed the bypass @ 11:12. Took 5 min. to get a visible glow from the Cat across the board, but the right side got hot much quicker. Flue is @ 700, ST above 500, and the Cat is rising also.

 

[pen]

BTW- closed the bypass @ 11:12. Took 5 min. to get a visible glow from the Cat across the board, but the right side got hot much quicker. Flue is @ 700, ST above 500, and the Cat is rising also.

so this wood is well seasoned?

It sure doesn't sound it.

pen

 

[bogydave]

On my old stove , after a real hot fire, the creo would start to fall in sheets, after a few minutes, I'd get 1/2 a bucket.
My wood is 2 yrs seasoned now , not 4 months so I've learned some stuff. I think it was expansion/contraction that broke it loose.

BK; Cat should be cleaned out pretty good, inside stove too. Just watch for the creo to fall in the stack & pile up somewhere.( burns like coal, real hot.)

 

[Beetle-Kill]

I know, sounds like wet wood. I've lost my MM, so I can't re-split and verify. So consider the conditions- dead standing, dropped and stacked 2-3 years ago. Bucked and stacked in 6/09. Split and stacked in 9/09, in a windy and sunny area. Pretty low RH here, current outside is 67%, summer daytimes run @ 5% or so. The wood is dry enough.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Thanks BDave, I'll have to check on creo, separation tomorrow. Question?- When you scrub your pipe, what do you do @ the "T"? And what do you do with the int. pipe? I don't want to disconnect my pipe everytime I clean it. Thanks, JB

 

[bogydave]

What is you stack length & set up?
mine has 2 90° to go thru & from stove to cap is over 20'.
I want to do 2 45°s above the stove this summer & see if it helps
pull the clean out plug & brush

Straight up is recommended the best (but I got to go this way)

 

[bogydave]

Thanks BDave, I'll have to check on creo, separation tomorrow. Question?- When you scrub your pipe, what do you do @ the "T"? And what do you do with the int. pipe? I don't want to disconnect my pipe everytime I clean it. Thanks, JB

I brush from the top, catch in a bucket. 1/4 of a coffee can or so.
Inside I reach in from the outside "T" as far as I can, with a rag & pull it out, just was dust on bottom like the inside pipe, but never get much,
the inside single wall last I checked was 1/4 of powder laying on the bottom.

 

[pen]

that sure sounds like it's dry wood. I tend to agree w/ BD perhaps stuff has fallen in the pipe and collected to cause a blockage? Reduced draft will make even the most perfect wood not burn well.

Are there 90 degree bends in your system? Could the cat itself be the culprit and be plugged?

Cat stoves require some extra cleaning, perhaps you have fly ash built up somewhere in the stove?

pen

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Thanks BDave. I had to move the stove forward for clearance, so 2- 45's were added to create a 6" offset( both verticle). The existing flue stayed the same. I could probably use another 2-3 ft. on the exterior, couldn't hurt.

 

[bogydave]

that sure sounds like it's dry wood. I tend to agree w/ BD perhaps stuff has fallen in the pipe and collected to cause a blockage? Reduced draft will make even the most perfect wood not burn well.

Are there 90 degree bends in your system? Could the cat itself be the culprit and be plugged?

Cat stoves require some extra cleaning, perhaps you have fly ash built up somewhere in the stove?

pen

Very good point.
I vacuum about every 2 months, from the grate covering the cat inside the stove. But
if the other side is dirty with creo or ash, it wouldn't pull thru the cat honeycomb. (Vac would prop plug it worse)That would cause air blockage, reduce the draft thru the cat.
Book says if you pull the cat, have a new gasket ready cause the one in there is trash when it comes out, crumbles.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Pen- I gently vacumned the Cat about 3 weeks ago, surface looked beautiful when I got done. I looked tonight, can see through the honeycomb after it heated up, no major obstructions to see. I do have some chunks of sealant missing from the gasket at the front of the Cat, but the voids are small. No 90's in my flue, a slight 6" jog, vert., a turn to follow a 6/12 pitch, 8-9', another elbow to go vert., then 6' vert. to cap. It's minimal, but acceptable. I'll add more if I need to. I don't think this would affect my stove going cold on a 1.75 T-stat setting though.

 

[bogydave]

BK,
Mine don't like the 1.75 setting either. I thought it might be the inside 90°, & long stack, exhaust cools off before it gets to the top, colder air heavier & pushes downward air pressure.
I want to change this summer & have 2 45s, but you do & it didn't seem to help.
I'm convinced it's my 20' stack , but haven't got a solution yet.
With the cat, I can almost hold my hand on the single wall pipe above the stove. Hard to get the warm air to travel up 20' if outside air is cold.
Maybe pull the clean out plug, (i've thought that but for some reason haven't done it yet)
I have yet to successfully burn in the smolder mode, much below 2. I get good burn times but warmer days I overheat the house (learned to build small fires on days warmer than 30f)

Hoping it's a learning curve, I've tried several things so far, 2 45s this summer.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

BDave, your idea of using the double 45's is correct. those should help you quite a bit. My 45's are hooked up together vertically, end-to-end, and net me a 6" off-set while still going verticle to my existing pipe. I don't remember who it was on this forum that swapped a 90 for a pair of 45's on their BK, but the results were well worth it.

 

[bogydave]

BDave, your idea of using the double 45's is correct. those should help you quite a bit. My 45's are hooked up together vertically, end-to-end, and net me a 6" off-set while still going verticle to my existing pipe. I don't remember who it was on this forum that swapped a 90 for a pair of 45's on their BK, but the results were well worth it.

Thanks
Maybe I'll do it sooner. That would be sweet if it worked.
Sounds like you've been thru most of the learning cures of a catalytic stove.
I'm lagging behind some, but have made so many improvements since I got
in the forum. I'm still way ahead. I do like saving 3 - 4 cords per year. $$$
Almost got seasoning wood down,
Learned various burns, vertical splitting, wood shed done & 2/3 full now
lots of other stuff.

Don't forget: Check for creo tomorrow, (today there)
1100 PM here. 16 °f , gotta be close to your bed time. (I got time for 1 more cold one)

 

[Beetle-Kill]

BDave- Have one for me while your at it, and yeah, creo check tomorrow. 21 °F outside, nice and warm. Thanks, JB

 

[ecocavalier02]

B k u mentioned that after 20 min u crank it Down to 1.75. If I'm going down this low specially if the is nt as good as u think I run her pertty hard for bout 30 min. 15 or 20 min on 3 then another 10 or 15 on 2.5 the. The over the course of the next half hour I bring to the lowest setting I want which the sweet spot for me is about 1.5. This is After 12 hours or so no smoke. But it mite be unactive. Then I rake stuff forward and turn it to 1 or lower. May e try that method of burining hotter and bringing her down much slower than 20 min.

 

[SolarAndWood]

May e try that method of burining hotter and bringing her down much slower than 20 min.

+1 especially when you are reloading before the end of the burn cycle. I have seen the t-stat do strange things and stall out the burn like you describe when wood gets thrown in mid cycle and tstat turned down before running out the door. My guess is that the firebox is too warm and the tstat isn't smart enough too know that it essentially needs to start the burn cycle over again. Then, it is too late when the stove cools off and the tstat isn't at 3 or above like at the start of a typical burn cycle. I imagine when you find that stalled condition and just open the tstat all the way open the cat lights off?

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Letting her burn down now, T-stat wide open but still a lot of wood in there. I'llscrub the pipe when I get back from Denver, hopefully the stove will be cooled off by then. Weird weather, end of Jan. and I'm wearing a T-shirt outside and have windows open.

 

[Battenkiller]

Pen- I gently vacumned the Cat about 3 weeks ago, surface looked beautiful when I got done. I looked tonight, can see through the honeycomb after it heated up, no major obstructions to see. I do have some chunks of sealant missing from the gasket at the front of the Cat, but the voids are small. No 90's in my flue, a slight 6" jog, vert., a turn to follow a 6/12 pitch, 8-9', another elbow to go vert., then 6' vert. to cap. It's minimal, but acceptable. I'll add more if I need to. I don't think this would affect my stove going cold on a 1.75 T-stat setting though.

Beetle, that may be marginal at my altitude, but up above 8000' I think it is insufficient. Any further restriction in your flue from creosote buildup will make an insufficient flue nearly useless. Once those flue temps drop, no amount of opening the intake air is going to give you high enough flue temps to get that draft back in the range it belongs. It may have worked OK with the old stove, but with the low flue temps found in cat stoves, you really need a good chimney way up high where you live.

BTW, I didn't see where you mentioned it... you are running 8" pipe, correct?

 

[bogydave]

JB
I made a mistake & read the op manual last night, pages 34 & 35.
Even tried it last night. Worked lots better.

New load, door cracked till fire going good, close the door & burn on 3 for 15 - 30 min (good fire in stove, cat probe active zone),
then close bypass, then burn on 3 for 15 - 30 min,
quote "turning down the thermostat too soon may cause creosote formation in the chimney"
step down the stat to med then to lower settings over a 10 min period. (.5 increment steps)
"for burning on LOW, getting the fire well established is particularly critical"

Not turning the stat down in steps, causes the glass to creosote up

This burns off much of the woods excess moisture, important before going to the low setting.

FAN: After 30 min, fan speed should match the stat setting

Cat probe temp will increase, stat going from high to low, (more smoke produced)
Cat probe temp lags by 4 - 8 mins of changes in the stove (pg 37)

You need to load at least an hour before you have to leave to get it to burn on lower settings to
get the wood hot so it will burn well at low settings.

I know, reading the book is for rookies, it's just a fire in a stove.
I finally admitted I'm a rookie with the cat burning stove & read the darn thing.

Supposed to vac out the bypass compartment regularly too.
Gonna do mine soon, supposed to be around 40°f tomorrow.

Miller time It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

 

[ecocavalier02]

JB
I made a mistake & read the op manual last night, pages 34 & 35.
Even tried it last night. Worked lots better.

New load, door cracked till fire going good, close the door & burn on 3 for 15 - 30 min (good fire in stove, cat probe active zone),
then close bypass, then burn on 3 for 15 - 30 min,
quote "turning down the thermostat too soon may cause creosote formation in the chimney"
step down the stat to med then to lower settings over a 10 min period. (.5 increment steps)
"for burning on LOW, getting the fire well established is particularly critical"

Not turning the stat down in steps, causes the glass to creosote up

This burns off much of the woods excess moisture, important before going to the low setting.

FAN: After 30 min, fan speed should match the stat setting

Cat probe temp will increase, stat going from high to low, (more smoke produced)
Cat probe temp lags by 4 - 8 mins of changes in the stove (pg 37)

You need to load at least an hour before you have to leave to get it to burn on lower settings to
get the wood hot so it will burn well at low settings.

I know, reading the book is for rookies, it's just a fire in a stove.
I finally admitted I'm a rookie with the cat burning stove & read the darn thing.

Supposed to vac out the bypass compartment regularly too.
Gonna do mine soon, supposed to be around 40°f tomorrow.

Miller time It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

i still go back and read the manual now. just like seeing different things. and like going by what it says for the steps to turning the t stat up and down. are stoves are a little different and take a little different steps in loading and reloading. all in all its easy but doing it the right way helps.

 

[bogydave]

I just downloaded the new one, it had more than the one I got with the stove.
Parts breakdown : IPB
(broken link removed to http://blazeking.com/manuals.html)