Woodstock Absolute Steel - How to burn hot?

This is our first winter with our IS. I was having similar problems. It came down to flu-temps. I started leaving door open till flu probe started climbing and I’ve had no issues since.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

We had an issue with the IS draft plate being slightly ajar during shipping, but that gave us an uncontrollable fire. The AS is a direct, hard connection to the handle. There is nothing to go wrong mechanically.

Knowing Scarborough in the Fall, I suspect both draft and fuel.

 

Glad to hear you got it running hot! I wonder how much the relatively warm, humid weather (40s and downpour the last day or so) have been hampering my draft. Hopefully the cold weather will help me out too. Next load I'm going to try to fill it up pretty full, mix in a bunch of the sawdust bricks to lower the average moisture content, and be really patient before lowering the draft or engaging the catalyst. I think I've tried all of these things so far, but maybe not all at the same time.

 

I have found that if I leave the door cracked until the wood is charred, not just fully engulfed, before closing the door and wait a short while before engaging the bypass it works a lot better.
I am generally running around 500+* at that time

The charred part was a suggestion made by TurboDiesel on operating his IS. Still trying to tame the beast.​

 

I don’t seem to have a picture of the AS draft. Picture slightly larger than a dinner plate, with the shaft from the handle running perpendicular through the center of the plate. The plate has two sets of slots (primary and secondary air) that sit over the air inlets. Rotating the plate changes the slots relative to the stove’s fixed inlets.

Pardon the wet spots, my template came from beside the sink...

 

Yesterday was in the mid 40s and I had trouble getting a good burn. Today we are in the lower 20s and I can get a good burn. As I said, It appears like the stove performs up to the outside temp.

 

I have seen a similar drawing. That is the reason that I suspect that the connection on the air damper may be a little wrong. Maybe 45* or so out of spec. That is what my initial performance would suggest.
I thought it maybe a Woodstock problem and PMed FeelTheBurn on when his stove was made. Mine was made in May his recently.

 

I’ll pull the cover and take a closer look for you once I get some snow plowed....

 

Colder weather will definitely help on draft.

When I ordered my IS, I added an additional 3' of stack, as I contemplated needing more draft compared to our old stove.

I still get slow starts, especially in warmer temps, but once the stove is choochin along, no issues.

Definitely try dry solid wood, but if draft is the issue, there's only one cure.

I did try the bricks, was not impressed myself.

 

Thank you. I plan to see how to get into where the disc is when it warms a little and I don't have to have the stove.
I haven't contacted Woodstock on the problem yet until I have all my ducks in order.

 

The year we tested the IS, from mid winter to spring, was record breaking cold. Since most didn't go out until Jan/Feb we never tested in the fall. Next fall with production models some of us were convinced they changed the air ratio or intake channels. It felt like it needed more air. Turns out it just hadn't been cold enough. Once we hit really cold weather it started acting like the beta models.

 

I've been doing the same, though it results in my house constantly smelling like a campfire from leakage out the door.

Hmm, that's both encouraging and disappointing! ;-) I'm hopeful that it will perform better once the cold weather arrives, but I also had high hopes for this stove during shoulder season. We burned through half a tank of oil already in the month or so before the stove was delivered and hooked up, and I was hoping a slow easy burn on the AS would supplant this boiler use. We get about 3 months of real cold weather here, plus probably another 3 or 4 months where my wife insists we heat the house but I've still got the air conditioners in the windows "just in case"!

 

Make sure you don’t have anything making negative pressure. Like a gas hot water heater or furnace with no fresh air supply. When it’s not real cold I’ll crack the door or a window to help the draft get going.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

There's nothing wrong with a low cat only burn. It's perfect for the shoulder season. Only downside is a dirty window.

 

Here’s a progression from full open to closed. Note the “R”, which is probably a registration mark when welding the shaft to the plate. Also note the handle is a threaded rod. It slides through the first hole in the horizontal pipe-shaft and screws through the second and is finished off with a nut on the end of the rod.





And here’s the full back, showing the tertiary air supply flappers.

 

No pressure problems here. We had the house blower door tested after insulating the basement, and it's still plenty leaky. Plus I was hitting the low temp ceiling even the first couple days, when I was running it with the windows open to clear out the paint curing stink.

 

Agreed, except the low cat burn seems to require frequent adjustments or breaks with an open door to get the flue and cat temp back up, even when there are large chunks of carbonized log left and a deep bed of hot coals.

 

Same here.

 

While I don't have an AS - I do have an IS - I feel like this is just the natural learning curve of the Woodstock stoves. It took me about 3-4 months to get the hang of my IS, and I'm not a wood-burning newbie. I'm not sure exactly what's going on with your setup, but my advice is to just keep trying things. From a cold start, I found the best thing for my IS was to get it up to about 400 STT before engaging the cat. Leave the air fully open. Let the STT get to about 500 and then start throttling the air back until the stove settles in at about 550-600. I understand you're having a hard time getting to 400 in the first place, and I think it may be draft-related. Also, my setup got a lot more predictable when I added the outdoor air kit this year. Side benefit is I can turn the stove down even lower than before. Good luck and enjoy tinkering!

 

My first stove was a Non-EPA Rebel. A real thirsty stove but would put out a lot of heat quickly if loaded heavy.
Second stove was a Buck with reburn. Did good until the temp got to the single digits.
Still trying to learn the AS. Believe it will eventually come around. Learning more each day.
Between the 3, the AS seems to be in the middle of the three.