wood condition vs stove temp

[jetmech]

2 months into learning curve with my intrepid II and im learning wood moisture has huge impact on stove temp. Some of my wood is very seasoned oak, some maple not so dry. Stove runs much hotter at same throttle position with load of dry oak as compared to maple... stove approached 700 deg this am with half load of dry wood. Am continuing to mix the two for a happy medium. Also i have 14 ft of straight up interior pipe and draft has never been a problem. Im anxious to pull my cap and check out pipe for creosote. will chime back in after that is done.

 

[bmwbj]

Jet, I burn all types of hardwoods, Ash, Maple, Red, and White oak, and I to have an Intrepid II Cat stove.
I usually try to maintain between 500, and 700 on the grittle. I have a Cat probe that tells me exactly the cat
temps during different woods and moisture contents. The cat seems to be operating between 1000 and 1800 degrees.
when the stove pipe internal temps are around 500. The more moisture in you wood the slower your wood will burn
and the lower the cat temps are, and even the cat will "turn off" if there is too much moisture. Using a cat probe is the
most valuable tool you can invest in for knowing exactly whats going on with your stove.
I have also noticed the outside air temps and wind condition play a very vital role as to every load of wood and
how each load performs. Let me tell you that no 2 loads are the same, and no 2 burn cycles are the same.

Gotta love wood burning...

 

[Backwoods Savage]

But won't that cat. have to be replaced much sooner when you burn green wood?! For sure if I had any that I was in doubt of, I would not engage the cat. on our stove for a long time after the wood got started burning. It takes a long time to evaporate that moisture from the wood.

 

[cstrail]

bmwbj - where can I get one of those CAT probes? I have a woodstock fireview - will it work with that stove? Sounds like something fun to mess around with. I have no problems operating my stove without one, just want to play around with it.

Thanks.

 

[bmwbj]

CS, Condar Combusters web page was where I got mine.
(broken link removed to http://www.condar.com/cat_meters_woodstoves.html)
I bought the electronic one for my Intrepid, I'm not sure about yours, you may need to call
for information about your installation.

Best investment I ever made...

 

[jetmech]

Thanks bmwbj, Ihad a interesting thing happen this morning... I loaded my stove up on lot of hot coals and about 20 min later heard load roaring sound. cat was engaged and all temps normal but heard load roar. opened damper and stove doors and flames were rushing up the flue collar. I removed 2 pieces of burning wood and roar stopped. I wont load it full on hot coals again. scared me a little

 

[bmwbj]

Jet, I only loaded my stove up 1 time and will never do that again.
It scared the h*ll out of me too. I only burn 2 splits at a time about 3" triangles.
I don't mind reloading my stove often because I only burn nights and weekends.