Absolute Steel Owners, Please Help Me Learn How To Run This damm Thing!

The single wall pipe temp rises to 350 max, not 500.

Don’t know what a catalyst temperature gauge is.

 

Thank you Backwoods Savage. Could you remind me what kind of stove you have? Is it an AS?

So far I’m finding that on a reload when I engage the cat when the pipe temp just reaches above 250, I’m okay. The cat seems to work fine and the SST rises.

So pipe temps of 350 are okay with a STT of 550-600? Or do people think I should experiment with the key damper to try to bring that pipe temp down?

 

I guess, what does the pipe damper/key damper do? When using it, the same amount of air goes into the stove. That would be controlled by the air control lever. So, does it just slow the rate that the air passes thru the stove and up the chimney?

 

Yes the cat needs the smoke to be 500 * in order to work. on single wall pipe , temp on magnet is half of smoke temp. A new fresh cat will engage a Lil early. Why a lot of us wait until 300 on smoke temp so we don’t stall the cat

 

The key damper lessens the draft of the chimney, so when its closed (or partially closed) it automatically lessens the amount of air going through the stove, because the negative pressure that cause air to be pushed into the stove is less (lower number...as in -0.04" WC, instead of -0.08" WC (for example) the -0.08" is "higher draft" and would make the stove (and chimney) run hotter) closing the key damper lowers that number (below the damper) the more you close the damper, the lower that number should get...but each chimney and stove is different, so without a manometer, or some other low (negative) pressure gauge, there is no way to know exactly what the actually numbers are...and I guess it really doesn't matter as long as the stove and pipe temps are OK and the stove is operating well.
For people that heat with modern wood fired whole house furnaces (like me) which tend to be subject to high draft (due to being in the basement and often connected to tall chimneys) most manufacturers spec that the chimney draft is controlled to within -0.04 to -0.06" WC, which often takes a barometric damper, but that opens a whole 'nother can of worms, so I'll stick to the topic, but point is they want a very specific chimney draft to affect the firebox.

 

I knew something didn’t sound right.

 

That is the problem. You need one of those I am sure. It will help you.

 

Not necessarily, I don’t have one.. I am sure it can’t hurt

I run 2 magnet thermometers. 1) 2 feet up SWP. 2) on hot spot on my stove top

 

Trout, I am right down Rt 12 from you about 12 miles..give or take, in Ashby. I have a Fireview in my main living room area and a Absolute Steel in the downstairs/basement that years gone by was my home office. I've had the AS since it's introduction as a field test stove and then I got the production stove the next year.

During the field test, I had similar issues you are describing. The glass would almost always get black, and I would need to keep the loading door cracked open quite sometime before engaging the cat actually and for my first year, I was burning at 2.5 on the draft. I never really got the burn to be clean so I could enjoy the fire. I was sure that it was the stove's fault or my chimney's fault.

In the middle of this a few of the guys here and the WS people would ask me about my wood. I buy it cut/split and green, in the Spring, from a local guy, and it comes from the woods to my house. Mainly 80% or so oak, with a small mix of ash and a little birch. I then might get it stacked and covered by end of motorcycle season, and I'd be burning it the next year, maybe halfway through the season. I was trying to get on the "2 year plan", but hadn't really ever gotten there. So instead of buying 4 cord per year, I started buying 6 or even 7 one year.

That next season I was burning truly 2 year wood that had been fully stacked and covered 2 years, and now I'm going into this season burning wood that is mainly 3 years aged. I'm convinced that this was a significant part of my issues with the AS. As my wood got better, the stove got immensely better. This oak we have around New England takes a solid 2 full years to really be "dry wood" but boy does it burn better.

For one thing, no more ugly black window. Secondly, I am pretty much burning all day long at a 1.5 or even 1.0 on the draft. On very cold weather, below 0'F I will many times have the draft completely shut down, and still get great temps and all night and much of the morning burns.

I am convinced about 2 things. 1) Even when I thought I had dry wood, I really didn't, and it makes a Huge difference. 2) I do think the AS is a bit fussy about dry wood. I didn't read every post here, so I don't know what your wood is, but getting a couple seasons ahead on your wood stash made all the difference in the world to me. The other thing to remember about this time of year, is "it''s shoulder season", and the temp difference between outside and inside, isn't all that great. This makes for a much weaker draft, which is another key ingredient in a good burn. I know we're getting a few days/nights down in the high 20s which is pretty good, but when the temps crawl up into the 40s, that's not such an easy burn.

Take a look at my video. We should get together and exchange contact info etc. I'll message you here for that. You're in the right place with these guys.

 

Can’t get a better offer than that. Great video by the way. Was watching the other night. Now I know who made it. Burning anthracite long burns are not an issue for me. Always get long burns if I want, but I still shake ash every 12 hours and sometimes every 24. Having too big a coal stove and always having a black box is an issue that I’m not the fondest of. It’s videos like that, watching those flames, that make me want a “W”ood “S”tove.

Question for you Oldhippie...
With the temps you mention in that video on the pipe and stove top...

What would your temps be on the front door f the stove and the sides?

I’m trying to gauge if the entire stove is that hot or just the top. I’m sort of hoping the rest of the stove is cooler than the top.

 

Thanks, The stove front is typically 50 to 100 degrees, less than the top reading on the upper metal, but there is a lot of steel frame there so it's pretty much close to the heat on the stovetop next to the top exhaust pipe. It's most likely even hotter STT on the front of the stove over the Cat, but the CAT has a hood scoop forward-facing to push heat forward. The top has the metal bling that isn't a good place to read heat.

The sides and back are much lower than the top and front. I haven't actually measured them much, but I do know it's quite a bit less on the non-door side. The loading door side is much warmer but still less heat than the top or front.

 

Thanks Oldhippie. That video was really helpful. Turns out I am getting temps on pipe and stove top very similar to you. That pipe temp you show in the video is what I get at peak burn. The placement of the stove top thermometer is similar to where I put it. I just place it a little bit more away from the pipe.

I think I am figuring it out slowly but surely. I was trying to burn it the way Tom from Woodstock told me to, but I’ve found I can’t or I gum up the cat and get backpuffing. Waiting on a reload for the pipe temp to get 300 is working for me. I’ve just always been worried I was doing something wrong in the past that caused my stove to damage but I don’t think I was.

The wood I’m burning now has dried for two full years and is maple, birch, and beech. It’s been in the basement for a year. I measured it this summer, fresh split, with two different moisture meters, and it read low. Below 15% (like 12-15). I’m bringing wood in now that’s been outside for at least one full year, split and stacked. This summer it measured around 18% to 20% (maple, birch). I generally don’t cut oak because it takes too long to dry. I did get a big oak that snapped in a tropical storm and I couldn’t let that go, I just plan on leaving it outside for longer. I can’t seem to get on the two year plan. I cut the trees, haul them out, split, and stack and I also cut a lot of wood for my mother-in-law, so I can’t seem to get ahead.

And Oldhippie, I work right down the road in Ashburnham. We are neighbors.

 

And that was a good point you made, Oldhippie about how it’s shoulder season and the temps aren’t too cold outside, making a good draft difficult and all.

 

Good to know you've got good wood. I think a high percentage of issues are based on less than dry wood. The puffing is a clue. It's either a downdraft, or some kind of blockage preventing a full draft. Sounds like you might not be getting the full benefit of that new chimney pipe. One of a couple of areas comes to my mind. 1) possible leaks or obstacles at a 90' bend? 2) That damper. I just have to wonder if you look into that puffing, it might resolve the other burn issues.

If you lift the top lid and take off that hood-scoop (fire out at this time) it's a straight shot back to the exhaust pipe. you should be able to light a piece of crumpled newspaper and see the draft pull the flame right up and out. Might not be a really accurate test, but it is pretty easy to do. Also, I think WS has slightly changed the way that hood-scoop anchors over the CAT. When you put it back on make sure it's placed correctly. It should completely cover the CAT. If it is out of place and pushed back it could be partially blocking the exhaust input. I just looked at my stove and it looks like it could have been easily misplaced to the rear of the stove. Just a wild thought there, but worth a look.

 

I'm also rereading your post, wondering about your outside air intake. Is there any way that it could be acting against you? I'm not real familiar with direct air intake. But I wonder if it qualifies as a suspect? Is it possible to disconnect it and just depend on basic air feed? Just to eliminate it as a culprit?

 

All good things to consider. But I think what was happening is I was just trying to run the stove like Tom from Woodstock told me, and I was engaging the cat on a reload almost right away, with pipe temp at about 200 and I think I was just clogging up the cat. Had to give it a vinegar & water bath a couple of times. I could hear the fly ash inside the cat before I gave it a bath both times. Now I’m hani g no backpuffing.