Absolute Steel doing it's thing.

So I had a couple of last-minute presents to wrap so I went down into the family room to get the wrapping done. The stove had been burning most of the day so I was a bit surprised when what I thought was just the end of a typical burn and into the coaling stage, but apparently it was still gassing off a bit. I was a tad surprised the STT was still in the 500 range.

The light show isn't always this nice, but it does happen frequently with good wood.

 

Very nice. What kind of wood are you burning?

 

It's mainly oak with a little of everything mixed in. But the oak is 80% or more of it, and it takes a solid 2 years to get it to be very dry wood. The Fv loves nice dry wood and the Hybrid stoves too.

 

That's awesome, thanks for videoing and sharing. I assume the cat was engaged? Glad there can still be a light show. Are those what you call ghost flames?

 

Yes, I believe what happens is I have a minimal draft going on, and the cat is fully (bright orange) engaged, the smoke gasses collect in the box and at a certain point the heat at the cat just ignites and "poof" ghost flames. Sometimes the ghost flames become "rolling flames" which in my stoves are what looks like just an ongoing wave (like an ocean wave) just below the cat. It's kind of cool too.

 

I like watching the secondaries dance

 

Thanks for wearing pants when you shot that.

 

Our IS does that occasionally on a low draft setting. Sometimes i get a "woof" sound too.
Do you ever get a slight smoke smell in the house from the puffing?

 

I get this often with our IS when it’s not very cold or raining and when it’s a big woof I get the smoke smell. It scared the hell out of me the first time it did it.

 

Yes, gotta give it a bit more air than usual

 

Bahahahaha! Quote of the day!

 

The pic of the Fireview upstairs.

 

Looks like it isnt running

 

You're right, it isn't! It's nothing more than a part of the whole Christmas decorations thing, for the week Xmas through New Year. It isn't a big house and the best place to put the tree is right beside the stove. So the stove goes out and I burn a little oil for the week, and just let the downstairs AS heat as best it can.

Merry Christmas! and Happy New Year!

 

Great Video Oldhippie!

I've been running three different WS Cat stoves for years and I never ever had secondaries towards the end of any burn. They only happen for the first hour or two.

Is this common in the Absolute Steel? How often does the light show typically last?

Happy New Year!

 

I may have mis-stated this, I was near the end of the gassing off part of the burn, BUT prior to the coaling and lengthy slow decrease in temps over that period. So I think our experiences are pretty much the same.

 

Ahhh thanks for the clarification. I was starting to think my stove was already antiquated!

 

Oldhippie, feel free to post vids or your AS doing its thing anytime! Love watching the flames, makes me look forward to getting mine in and running.

 

I had to go back and listen to myself. I'm usually not that incoherent! I wasn't really planning on a video, and I was just procrastinating as wrapping isn't my favorite thing. I did try to clarify later in the video that I was near the end of the gassing off period, but I realize I sounded a bit drunk or at least hungover, through the whole thing. (this is hard to do for an old codger that quit drinking 30 years ago) I really didn't have anything thought out when I started the camera, so that's what happens.

However, I have been surprised sometimes when I have gone downstairs in the middle of a cold night, just to check on it, and I'll find the secondaries lit up like a Christmas Tree! I guess depending on when one of those splits that is maybe near the back of the stove or late to gas-off just starts smoking and the secondaires just turn it into heat.

Be aware, I was nothing but frustrated my first year or two, as my wood was not as seasoned as it really needs to be to get the best performance from these stoves. I'm now on the 2-year plus plan and pretty close to 3-year plan, with 10 cord sitting C/S/S and covered in the back yard. I burn mostly oak and it's a good 2 years before oak is really fully seasoned for burning.