Production Woodstock IS

That is what I did, I couldn't imagine boiling that much vinegar inside! I thought it'd be quicker to boil and more efficient being enclosed in the grill but still seemed to take forever... and wow did it get hot had to be careful even with potholders. Discolored the stainless steel.

One thing I wasn't sure of, after the boil when you rinse, is it ok for the rinse water to be room temp or does that shock the catalyst?

The stove has been out for a day, I'm thinking I'll do a soak tomorrow but haven't decided if will try to boil or just cold soak.

 

Hitting a S.S. cat. with cold water while it is warm (below 212F, or boiling temp.) is fine. You really should not cool it several hundreds of degrees at one time but a S.S. cat. will probably take that OK too. But there is never a reason to take a hot cat. and hit it with water of any temp. But going from very hot to very cold water or the other way will be fine IMO.

I typically rinse mine with hot tap water very thoroughly, then shake it out two or three times and set it down on a dry towel. It usually goes into the stove the next day and if it is not 100% dry, it will be very soon after the next fire is started.

The whole problem of thermal and physical shock is much more severe for ceramic cats. because they are not malleable and cannot distort when one area is cooled too rapidly. Metals are just not that sensitive to this which is why steel is commonly quenched in water or oil, for example. And that is from nearly white- hot, often 1,800F or more but always a robust orange which is over 1,400F at the least.

Brian

 

Got the IS "Works" Package. Charcoal Gray with Metallic Blue accents. Wolf & Cabin (#ANM 024) design.My wife's choice. Got to kind of stroke them a little. May see if I can change the andirons and burner plates to a different design.

 

Sounds nice, can't wait to see some pics.
The charcoal and metallic blue sounds like a descent color combo.

 

I really do not know where to put this but.... I finally cleaned my new chimney after two years of use, using a Woodstock I.S. stove. For this to make sense, I need to explain what I have.

6" SS duravent double wall pipe with 1" of insulation between the walls- just like a lot of people, it is a pretty common chimney setup. But mine is a bit different in that instead of ending at the TEE that forms the thimble in the wall, my chimney continues down about 6 to 8 additional feet into the cellar where it is capped off. The chimney in the cellar is inside the original cement block chimney and there is an access door at about 5' from the floor, and the end of the new SS chimney is about 6" above that door. It is set up this way so that I can clean the chimney from inside the house, at any time of the year, day or night, safely. (I would really have to be pretty drunk to fall off the flat cellar concrete floor, as opposed to the snow covered roof.....) So yesterday I pulled the bottom plug and got maybe 1 quart of hard, black, crusty and stinky creosote crystals that were lying against the plug. Then put a Roto- Clean all the way to the top and started working it in and out (Boys!), one 3 ft. section at a time. I did get some brown / black powder soot but I think a moose could sneeze more than what came out of my chimney. This is really a report on the I.S. IMO because it really is a clean- burning stove, and I often use mine running so slowly that the entire inside of the firebox and glass are covered with black, sticky, liquid- y creosote but the combustor cleans it all up and makes a lot of heat doing so. My point is, a very efficient stove, in the real world, running in all manner of conditions and using <decent> but not "wonderful" or perfect firewood.

Nice stove. Nice chimney. And a pretty nice setup in my house, all by accident (the chimney setup was here when I moved in). Add to that bringing nearly a cord of wood onto a covered porch, in a trailer, at a time, which is w/in 15" of the front door (and directly opposite the wood stove) and it makes heating with wood pretty nice overall. Not effortless of course but a lot less effort than it can be and is for some situations.

Brian

 

I gotta admit BDF I haven't even cleaned our chimney yet.


But I don't expect to see much when I do.

 

I clean the connector pipe and tee and cleanout every year. Usually get about a half gallon of junk out of it. I've only cleaned the stack once in five years and it just gets a little dusty stuff on it.

 

Of course this is bad advice but honestly, it was a waste cleaning my chimney this year. I think next time I will take a better look with a mirror and strong light before I even bother.

These latest generation stoves seem to really run clean. Perhaps instead of cleaning every year, just a thorough inspection will do for several years? Again, I am not suggesting just ignoring the chimney but a good visual inspection will show the buildup of any type 2 or 3 creosote, at least in my experience.

For what it is worth, the original masonry, clay flue lined chimney always had creosote in it, especially the corners. And they corners were especially hard to clean. I think insulated SS chimneys go a long way to prevent even small or modest amounts of creosote from accumulating because they heat up so the creosote will not condense. I could never get my masonry up to temp. except for that one time it caught on fire.....

Brian

 

Does anyone burn straight pine in their IS? What is the max burn time you could expect, with a low cat burn?
I'm looking at properties for the future homestead and one that has a lot going for it with about 45 acres of woods but its all red pine. The only softwoods I've burned in mine was spruce that was very knotty and not cut to right lengths, etc so never could pack the stove fully, but IIRC I was around ~6hrs with a not so packed load of spruce. I'm wondering if 8hrs and maybe up to 12 would even be possible with red pine. I am really wanting my own woods for nearly free heat for the rest of my days, but also like only loading 2x per day, and definitely don't want to give up the ability to burn at least through the night without having to get up to reload.

 

Last winter I burned 9 month seasoned pitched pine exclusively in my Fireview in order to let my hardwood stacks season longer. I would get 5 hours of usable heat from a load. I don't burn over night though. With the IS's firebox being a lot bigger than my Fireview's I'd guess that 6 hours sounds about right, maybe even 7, but I'm sure someone w an IS will chime in. You could always scrounge or have some hardwood delivered and leave those stacks exclusively for overnight burns. If I had 45 acres of pine at my disposal I would be stoked. Good luck w your search.

 

T-Stew I can get long burn times but get less heat because of lower BTUs. In my shoulder season 40s day 20s at night.. If I load at 9pm and shut stove down, Still have bed of coals at 3pm next day.. A full load of pine and tulip popular 50/50 mix..

 

That's impressive! Id like to upgrade to a Progress Hybrid (I really like the full soapstone) for the larger firebox but in order to do so I'd have to rebuild my raised hearth to fit it.

 

BCB I am sure PH would do it also, not trying to be a fan boy.. STT at night start a 600 at night when its coldest and drop to 200 by next afternoon

 

White pine here, haven't tried burning much except for coal management in real cold, but 30-40 degrees out it will go overnight just fine. Even into the 20s if it's loaded tight. If it's real winter weather, you may struggle to get eight hours of usable heat in my limited experience. Plenty of coals left to restart, but I'd find myself playing catch-up a lot trying to sleep more than six hours and keep the house over 70 with strictly pine.

I bet one could manage, though. Chooch it up to the 80s before bed, stuff it tight right before turning in, and get up with the stove load right there waiting to go in.. You'll burn more volume, but with 45 acres i think it'll be ok.

 

What settings are you using to hit the 600 mark?
I will set it at 2 marks above the first big mark with the pipe damper approx 3/4 closed. The face above door will be 730ish while the top is 500-510ish with an IR gun. But that is with a desk fan on low, on the knee wall behind the stove blowing acrossed it in a somewhat downward direction.

 

Sconnie Burner, I top vent, my hot spot is top of stove right side, I load 2 rows front to back and couple pieces on top left to right. This year mostly ash. Single wall up and out to exterior chimney in a chase.
Magnet thermometers on stack and hot spot verified with IR
I engage cat when stack is 275 to 300. At this point stovetop is generally around four hundred. I then close to 3/4 then. About 5 minutes later 1/2 and 5 minutes after that little less than 1/4 last big mark plus a little. This generally puts my stove top 600 Degrees, if I want a little more I just close the air a little slower. It stays at 600 about 4 hours. Then slowly starts to drop as the cat has less fuel. According to Tom at Woodstock I have excellent draft..

 

A fan blowing across the top of the stove will take a fair amount of heat and temperature out of the top plate. So your readings will be lower with the fan on but that is really a good thing because the stove will transfer more heat into the building and less going up the smoke pipe.

I rarely run my I.S. at 600 F stove top, usually more in the 4XX F range. Usually the only time the stove top gets that hot is when I am trying to recover temp. inside the house, otherwise I would have to crack a window most days with the stove running that hard. A draft setting of 3/8 open (1/2 way between the 1/4 notch and the 1/2 notch) should put the stove into that range. It is also a little easier to drive the stove top temp. up if you have a stove pipe damper and partially close that- it will drive the stove top temp. up and the flue gas temp. down which is always desirable. And wood stove settings are very individual things because so much depends on the wood, the moisture content, your draft in your chimney, etc.. Even split size makes a pretty big difference in how fast and hot the stove runs with the identical draft settings and conditions- larger splits burn longer but slower.

Brian

 

Running my hot today, loaded mostly with Envirobricks, 550 on the stovetop plus pellet stove cranking away in the next room and my house is 56F. This cold spell is crazy, supposedly -35 right now with wind chill.

Thanks for the pine comments guys. I'm really hesitant to commit to pine. One of the main advantages of spending the money on a lot of acres of woods is to get that nearly free fuel for life, so if I have to buy firewood to supplement well I might as well keep looking for a place with some hardwoods. I also plan on getting a small sawmill and do various woodworking things on the side (including all my own home woodwork like cabinets and furniture), I think hardwoods would be more valuable. Then again can still make a lot of things from red pine, including pretty much the whole log home if I go that route, hmmm. Temps up that way are pretty brutal, northern Adirondacks zone 4a/4b (looking at a few different properties) but I will downsize my house by half... and it will be well insulated and not so drafty. Might even consider going all the way down to a ~400 sqft 'tiny home' but then not sure if the IS might be too much, even in that climate and with pine.

 

If by Adirondaks you mean the ones in New York, the pine is only a minor concern. New York is a great state to move FROM not TO!

 

Sconnie Burner .. Current STT pic as its cold