Ideal Steel Season #2 Tips, Tricks, and Improvements.

Same here. I get the stove settled in to just slight secondaries and look for those slow easy flames. I'll adjust the air to try to maintain this kind of burn as long as I'm around to attend to the stove. I'll even through a log or two in to maintain this kind of burn as long as possible. I think it's burning at a high efficiency level at this point. For my situation this is usually starts at notch 4 or 5 and then as the logs become engaged and the off gassing increases, I'm cutting the air down between 1 - 3. I think if your around to make these adjustments it helps to keep the off gassing under check and still has good hot stove temps for a longer period of time.

 

Again, this was and is exactly me experience with this stove even down to where I set the damper.

 

It is not so much just the coals, but the rate of burn. I feel like I should be able to fire it a bit harder without the cat temp being so high I guess. And I've mentioned before that a key damper is definitely on my list, but likely a project after the burn season is over to try next season. Too much going on right now to spend time on a stove that is working pretty great I've got a pellet stove that is in need of more dire attention.

It seems it has to do with how packed I fill the box. With a typical for me daytime burn with 1/2 full to maybe 2/3 I can keep the air up higher, lots of secondaries, and keep the cat around 1200 or so. She is more or less doing that now. We got down to -1F last night, currently 18F. House been around 70 mostly. About a 2/3 load of ash. Burning on notch 4 (closed=1). Medium-medium/high secondaries. But if I pack it full I can't seem to get medium secondaries without that cat going north of 1400, even opening the air up to a few notches higher. Will be doing more experimenting for sure.

 

Do you burn with the key damper completely closed? I know that those key dampers have a hole in them to allow some draft.

 

Maybe you guys with a bit more experience with this stove can chime in.

How do you get the secondaries to show up? I've only gotten them to appear once for an extended period of time. I get my stack temp up above 3-350 and engage the cat, damper down to 1/4 open and the box goes black. What am I doing wrong? Should I let the box heat up more or does this sound right? My cat takes off just fine and cruises along at 5-600 magnetic temp. Just no flames.

 

My secondaries fires by leaving draft open a little more... I basically shut draft til I see them and 2 notches above quarter but I not most experienced

 

How dry is your wood? Good draft? Those things could contribute to secondaries or lack of.

 

Wood is 12-15% Oak, Chimney is triple wall exterior 20'+

 

Then try leaving your air open a bit more. I've also found that if you fill the stove up more you get secondaries easier.

 

Yes, the stove runs very well with the damper closed.

My damper actually has four holes in it, maybe an inch in diameter each, plus the damper plate diameter is quite a bit smaller than the stove pipe, so 'closed' is not even close to really closed. But it does a fantastic job of slowing the speed and volume of air moving through the stove (closing the damper instantly makes the flame movement inside the stove slow and lazy) and also increases the stove top temp. while dropping the flue temp. With the new (current) chimney, the flue temps. were running between 75 and 100F above the stove top before the damper; after installing the damper, stove top temps. are between 75 and 150F above the flue temps.

Today was the first time I had to leave it somewhat open, perhaps 1/2 open, to achieve and maintain the extreme output I needed; it was -9F this morning, the boiler was running and the house was pretty cool. The basement got cold enough that the water meter (located in a corner of the cellar, at least seven feet below grade) froze so lots o' heat but no running water. Hit a new record with the stove too, with sustained stove top temps. of over 700F- never saw that before.

Brian

 

That's what I'm going to do next time I fill her up. I'm suspecting that my firebox isn't actually getting hot enough to ignite the gases inside the firebox so it just stays all smoke.

 

It sounds like you are doing everything just right. A black firebox just indicates a slow burn, and the cat. temps. jumping right up when you close the bypass indicate that everything is working as it should. When the firebox does not have much or any visible flame, the wood is basically 'glowing' or pyrolysing (as a cigarette burns, glowing and producing smoke but no flame), and the cat. is burning all the smoke the wood produces. Basically, you are not running in hybrid mode but rather in a pure catalyst burn, which is the most efficient way. To get secondary flames to appear, open the draft; the firebox will burn hotter and the gasses coming from the wood will burn at the top of the firebox rather than inside the cat.

It also makes a big difference with this stove how high you fill it- if the top of the wood is within an inch or closer to the top plate, the secondaries have much more impact on the fire. Once the secondaries get really engaged, they will bore holes into the splits on the top of the load of splits- pretty cool to watch. Even with the stove turned way down but very full, there are usually bright red / orange spots under the holes in the top plate where the secondary air is hitting the splits at the top of the stove.

Brian

 

Yesterday, last night and this morning's burn: this is the hardest I have ever pushed my Ideal Steel stove. I loaded it repeatedly and chewed through a LOT of wood yesterday when the temps went below 10F. Overnight burn was just about 8 hours, with just about all the fuel consumed (though there more than enough coals in the corners to just pile fresh splits in the stove, kick the draft open and have it all engage). This morning, it was -9F, the house was cold with the oil boiler carrying the back 1/2 of the house. Stove room thermostat said 75F but near the outside walls and the floor was quite cold. So I loaded the stove and pushed it pretty hard; note the sustained flue temps of near 700F (my upper limit is 750F, which I never, ever exceed) and the sustained stove top temps. of 700+ F, with a peak value of 729.5F. At those temperatures, the stove recovered the entire house in a couple of hours, and this is an un- insulated house with an open (under construction) second floor; it is kinda' like trying to heat a tent. During the hard run this morning, I could not stand w/in 3 feet of the front of the stove for any length of time.

The flue damper was about 1/2 way open and the draft was 3/4 open or a touch more. The stove had room to safely increase the output yet more but again, I use a self- imposed flue temperature limit (actual inside exhaust gas measurement with a probe) of 700F usually and an absolute limit of 750F in an effort to eliminate the possibility of a chimney fire.

 

Maybe I missed it, but Did you have the cat engaged during this time or did you leave it open? I'm assuming open?!?

 

Cat. bypass closed for the entire time shown. Once the stove is hot and has a good bed of coals, I engage the cat. immediately after loading the stove and it only takes about 30- 45 seconds for the cat. temps. to start climbing away from the firebox temps. (which indicates the cat has achieved what they call 'light off' and is active).

Brian

 

Is running the cat too hot a concern? I don't remember reading that in the manual. I've always just thought it "will do what it will do".

 

I don't worry about it. Worse case scenario you have to buy a new one. Haha then you will know what not to do.

 

Off topic question...Is it possible to insert the cat upside down?

 

Absolutely- I do it every other time I install the cat. I do this in honor of A. Lincoln who said ".... In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time....." So I as I cannot figure out which side is up (with far more things than a woodstove, by the way) I just put it in 'the other way' each time I remove it. So while I know that is partly wrong, it is only 50% wrong..... whereas if I were to guess as to which way it should go in and be wrong, and always put it in that way, then I could be 100% wrong.

And now for the serious answer: I believe the cat. in an Ideal Steel to be symmetrical so there is no top or bottom. That said, there is weld spatter on one side while the other side is clean; I put the cat. in with the clean side down toward the gasket thinking that it will probably seal better that way because it cannot sit up on the spatter.

So there- you got the smart A$$ (meant to be humorous) answer, then a serious answer and probably neither one is useful. Good thing we are not paying for this, huh?



Brian

 

It does not seem to be much of a problem with these new- fangled stainless steel cats. With the older style ceramic cats., too high a temperature would cause the combustor to crumble and crack. Stainless steel will not crumble or crack, and it is unlikely to get hot enough to melt. That said, it might be possible that the catalysts on the surface may dislodge and go up the chimney if they get too hot- whatever temp. too hot might be. I try to limit mine to 1,500F for no particular reason other than that is really quite hot and there is no need to have it go higher with this stove IMO: in fact, as the stove is pushed harder, the cat. temperature will actually drop because a lot of its fuel (smoke) is consumed by the secondaries at the top of the firebox.

Brian