Production Woodstock IS

I'd say thats a great idea. I wonder why thats all that was put there?

 

The cat. will work at much lower temps. than I would have thought and lower than what I think most people think. Mine will reliably and easily work with firebox temps (internal temps: my stove has thermocouples inside to monitor actual temps) of 400F, it will typically be somewhere between 650F and 850F just above the combustor and the exhaust is perfectly clean. This shows me that the cat. is absolutely working but there is no visual indication at all- the firebox is black, there is no visible smoke in the firebox, nothing is red or glowing anywhere, and the cat. is black also. Using outside temp., magnetic thermometers, you just would not know that everything is working correctly and running clean. This is a fantastic way to run the stove when it is still mild outside and of course the stove will run many hours like this.

So no, a black firebox (and wood, and glass) does not necessarily mean the stove is not running and actually running cleanly and well.

Brian

 

If there are visible secondaries, the cat. temp is almost always less than the firebox (top of the firebox) temp. Once the draft is closed enough to shut down the secondaries (1/4 draft is usually enough to shut them down on my stove), the cat. temps. climb right on up there- this shows me that the secondaries are consuming the combustible smoke and there is not enough to feel the cat; as soon as the secondaries stop working, the smoke (visible or not) is then consumed by the cat.

And at any time, opening the draft enough to get secondaries burning steadily will again reduce the cat. temps. to right around or just under the temps. shown at the top of the firebox.

Brian

 

I normally run on the second notch for an entire load of wood in the stove. Last night with the temps. in the 20's F, I opened it up to the third notch and it was not quite enough; this am it was 70 F in the house (horror! ) and there was still wood- looking charcoal in the stove. I should have gone to #4 or a touch higher.

Brian

 

I think 4-5 is the sweet spot for a warm house in colder temps (overnight burn). Anything lower certainly will heat the house, just will not provide a comfortable warm house.

 

I agree, now that a few others have come back and joined in, I think notch 4 or 5 will work.
Tonight I will use this and see what results we get in the am.

 

The #4 mark is where I have been running mine for overnight burns. Seems to work well. Plenty of glowing coals in the morning. Good to know I can run it lower. I was tempted to try the #2 or #3 mark one night but didn't want to choke the cat.

 

Now that it's getting a little colder out for everyone, about how many splits are you adding for the overnights burns? I'm usually adding 4 average size splits to a decent bed of coals for the overnight burn which is maybe a little more than half full. I bet I could squeeze in another 3 or 4 splits without much trouble.

Are you filling the firebox completely full of wood or 3/4 to half?

My place is a little smaller than most here.

 

Good question Fanatical1 . I actually have only been filling mine 1/2 to 2/3 full for the overnights for now. I have found that I have a lot of coals and charcoal in the am, too much to put a full load in with in the mornings.
Part of my adjustments will be my setup to the overnight load. It's funny to think that way because I never did with the Oslo. If I plan for the daytime load to slowly end by around 7-8pm thats when I mentally prep for the overnight load. My wife or I will get up (depending on the day of the week) around 7 and reload the stove first thing. I never got 12 hr burns from my Oslo so this system is all new to me.

 

I loaded my firebox about 2/3 full the last two nights as the temps. have finally dropped well below freezing overnight. My house is a hair under 1600 sq. ft., two floors, all heated exclusively with the one wood stove (Ideal Steel).

I find the stove starts better, either from cold or with fresh splits on top of a hot coal bed, if the wood is stacked in the stove close to the stainless plate at the top. In other words, I find loading the stove, say, 1/4 full and only one split high makes it tough to get the new splits involved and charred. On the other hand, loading the stove 3/4 full when it is 40 F outside is a recipe for at least one open door and this stove runs exceptionally well throttled way down. Shoulder season is tough....

Brian

 

I find the reload splits engage very quickly with a decent load of coals. I also find the coals with a nearly closed damper are starving for air and when you open the door they go hog wild with fresh wood on top of them. As the reload engages with the coals and there are splits high enough towards the secondary plate, this is when a secondary show comes into play. Even in short time on a reload you can see the flames dancing in less than 10 minutes. And after you get to temp for the cat to be engaged, the show continues on notch 4,5 or 6 with minimal flaming, just the secondaries

 

No doubt our chimney's are different also with mine not really ideal for a wood stove. My chimney is masonry, two story house and the flue is 8" square, which is a bit large. The wood stove is on the first floor (ground level, more or less) but the chimney starts in the basement. It flows a LOT of air when the thimble is open for example but I do not know that it generates a strong 'pull' (negative pressure), which is more of what is required of the I.S. compared with a bottom fed, open flow wood stove type.

Brian

 

Ironic, I was talking to my wife about how the long burn times on this thing were becoming a problem.....16 hour burns are common, and at 12 hours, there is still too much wood in the firebox for a reload. Sometimes I'm dumb as a box of rocks, and never thought to run on 2/3 loads instead of a packed firebox.

 

It sounds like your stove pipe from the stove goes right into a masonry thimble and the gases exit into the masonry clay lined chimney? It seems like you don't have a S/S liner. If so and the 8" masonry is what you have those both may be affecting your draft.
Do you have a prevailing wind? What height is your masonry chimney?

 

A few of us have run into the same thing. Trying to keep two - 12 hr burns per 24 hr period and not over using any more of the wood supply. Some of the colder overnites I have filled the firebox 2/3 of the way and had a decent bed of coals in the am and before I figured this out (my box of rocks) I was filling the firebox and still having full splits in the box after 12 hrs so I would have to let that burn down and that took 4 more hrs but I lost some of the temp control by doing this.
The learning curve continues...

 

Exactly right- the stovepipe enters a clay thimble (6") and then into a 8" square clay lined, cement block chimney. Chimney height is ~28' or so. Very little wind here and no noticeable change in chimney behavior regarding wind. And yes, I suspect a S.S. lined, and especially insulated, chimney would work much better but that won't be happening this year.

Brian

 

Does anyone know what the length of the catalyst probe is for the IS?
I was just on amazon looking at probe thermometers and probe length is
something I don't know yet.

 

Condar offers two probes, one has a probe length of 2.5" and the second one is 1". The manufacturer says as long as the probe does not touch the combustor it is ok to be close.

 

Incase you haven't seen this. Doesn't give an actual length though..

http://blog.woodstove.com/2014/03/ideal-steel-hybrid-catalytic.html

 

And the probe can be cut to length.