Production Woodstock IS

Yes, cat is engaged and the air at 1/4 or so. No flames, whether primary or fireback secondary in the firebox at all. In my case, on that burn I had been running the fireback secondary flame show (air intake 1/3 open) and then decided to reduce air to stop firebox flames and have the cat do the burning. Since the load was so heated from the pretty fireback flame show, it was outgassing heavily and so hot that (IMHO) the preheated cat air supply tube launched its own secondary combustion up there just beneath the top plate. I goofily also call this sled flame "tertiary combustion" and for all I know it could be expected and part of the design formula that allows IS to run clean & efficiently. Note that to try to suppress the sled flames, I turned the primary air completely closed but the sled flames continued. Refer to Beet Stix post earlier in this thread (page 29 fifth post)...

 

We saw this a few times with the beta, in similar conditions (big load onto hot coals, lots of outgassing, air cut way back). Normally we were after the heat from the secondaries so I wouldn't close the air down that far. We didn't have the stove in the fall shoulder, but in the spring shoulder we saw it like this a few times.

 

It's applesauce season, and the IS is helping out.



Just the third time I've run it. Loving the burners on top. Right now I have the applesauce finishing up, and turkey stock on one side burner, and carrots, celery and onions braising in a pot on the other side burner. Will eventually become winter squash soup, one of the kid's favorites.

It's been said before but it doesn't hurt to say it again - thanks to all the beta testers for the loads of information about this stove last heating season, and it's been great to hear from new voices this year as well. Helped me make a great choice.

 

Burndatwood, pop that center burner cover and you will get more heat and less likley to scratch the art work that makes it yours.

 

Just to share a little info about a windy day and the draft on the IS.
It really doesn't seem to be affected much. It's at least a 25 mph wind
with gusts, it's been that way since early on Saturday morning. The air
damper has some incredible control.

 

Ray, this thing is a monster!!

 

I saw something very similar. Saturday night I loaded it full on hot coals and engaged the cat. I shut the air to a 1/4 and sat on the couch. Sure enough I fell asleep.
I woke up about 2 hours later to a blazing inferno. The secondaries were wild and it was cranking heat like mad. I checked everything over with an infrared and it was not over firing so I went to bed.
I woke up to a 76 degree house . There was still plenty of fuel left in the morning. I don't think Woodstock was kidding when they said this stove would capture more btus for you.
It is borderline scary seeing a stove burn crazy like that, but I will be loving that extra heat when the single digits hit.

 

Caught some secondaries on video with my daughter's camera tonight.



Really mesmerizing. I'm going to have to get a more comfortable chair for watching this show in the kitchen.

 

I'm just impressed that this bad boy will burn overnight with tree branch rounds from my maples. I have a half a cord of that stuff laying around.

 

I had an interesting experience last night burning the stove. Started a fire, had about 1/3 of a load in the firebox and after a couple hours was burning the stove with 25% air, 450 stovetop and secondaries were going. I needed a little more heat to warm the house and the stovetop was running consistently at 450. Usually I have been choking the air down to not have too much heat using a cat only burn and stovetop temps anywhere between 450 - 600 (depending on air setting and wood load) with just the cat running at 10% air or so.

So I thought I would try cutting the air just to see what would happen.

Brought the air to 15%, stove went black and within 15 minutes I'm at 525 stovetop and climbing. You could just feel the heat
coming off the stove and could see the red glow coming from the cat plate. I later cut the air to about 7% for the night and the stovetop settled in at 450 or so.

Has anyone seen that the stove would throw more heat with just a cat burn or was this just some anomaly of some sort?

 

Me too... I put 3 average splits of cherry and one piece of oak in last night (4 splits on a bed of coals) and 10 hours later had a fairly large bed of coals and a stove top of 300. I have no idea what it would look like in the morning with all oak and the firebox full. Its a lot different than my old Vermont Castings stove and that had a cat also, but I was lucky to get 8 hours stuffed full of oak. That stove was never putting out heat in the morning.

 

burndatwood,
That's awesome! I love cooking on the stove.

I also had a 12 hour burn the other night, on 3 splits (small to med size splits). 2 were tree of heaven, the third was a hole black locust round (5 or 6" round). I was surprised in the morning to find a the stove still hot and the cat still burning... Woodstock makes a great stove.

 

Last spring we really didn't have a shoulder season in Vermont so I didn't get much time burning low, but this is what I am seeing now too. I don't have any pictures of the top of the last stove to compare but I still think the bottom of the sled is different. I think there was more of a floor beneath the cat, maybe a second layer, so you never saw that orange glow. If that is the case the cat could be getting more action. It feels like it wants to go into full cat mode much much easier than my beta. I also never saw those tertiary flames (great phrase) on the last one but I have seen them this fall already. Like I said though, it could just be that last year it went from zero degrees to forty degrees pretty quick. The other thing is that the air control may have been re calibrated since the last one, and I know the secondary manifold has changed. Maybe the redesigned air valve forces in more air (I had the old design). If these are from true changes and not just outside temps or my imagination they will probably result in even longer burn times than the pre-production stoves.

 

I knew you'd love a big firebox.

 

Amazing stove BB, you were right!

 

I was also impressed with the amazing coal bed, the coals were huge and very well sustained. In fact, the coal bed I had last week ran a couple more hours before I really needed to reload. It held at about 400 deg on the stove front and on the reload was quite hot enough to start the process over again. Amazing stove!

 

Last night the IS beat the PH hands down in the battle of the Woodstock stoves. Filled the PH to the top, 2/3 at most with the IS. Cherry in both, both loaded at the same time. The IS had a much better ash bed when I got up this morning.

This is good news, since the IS is somewhat more centrally located, so will be bearing the brunt of heating the house. With colder weather coming, will have more reports I'm sure!

I won't be posting this on a PH thread...

 

OK, I will be waiting for some new updates on the IS after this cold front comes thru. Thanks!!!!