Woodstock Absolute Steel

I hadn't paid attention to this little video in a long time. It was taken in 2015, nine years ago. It was easy enough for some of us New England folks to get there, but others came from further away. Checking out the new stuff was pretty much secondary for the most part, getting to be in the same room with the Firewood Hoarders Club friends face to face.

To have Backwoods Savage and his lovely wife, may she RIP was just such a lucky piece of this. Dennis we all love both of you and I hope this little video doesn't cause you any pain, but maybe some reminders of wonderful times together. I've been taking photos/videos for a long time, my high school girlfriend's Dad was a professional photographer. He took me under his wing and taught me how to use a camera. That was 1966. I've got photos on my FB page that go back to those days when I really was a hippie!

Steve L, aka Oldhippie

 

I was there that day Steve; it was a good day

 

I'm glad Dennis, she is with us all in spirit. I'll be thinking of you this Thanksgiving.

 

I've got an AS, started burning it January 2023. First stove I've ever used. It's oversized for the room it's in, and due to house layout and door/window into the rest of the house (den/stove room is a previously closed in carport), there isn't good airflow (even of I use a fan to move cold air). But it's a very good stove, and I'm able to have heat if we have power issues (which was not the case in the big ice storm of Feb '21). We run it a fair bit, but it is not our primary heat (due to location in the house and heat movement).

Oldhippie's posts and videos on the AS were a big factor in me selecting this stove. I also wrote a couple other members who I knew had an AS for their input. I knew the IS would be too big, and I needed a top hookup...rear exhaust would put the stove out too far. Plus the clearances are good when using the heat shields.

Edit: I also meant to add that I need a bit more chimney for better draft. I'm working that now...

 

Thanks

We have the Indy Pass which is great for our location. For a family of four it is $1000 and we are within 2.5 hours of 13! of them so technically we can go 26 time which we wont. Plus everyone is very unique.

One AS question:

Does everyone slowly bring it down (3-2-1) or got right down to a certain number? I like the idea of going straight down to a 2 or 1 but sometimes when it snuffs out the secondary's, when they try and re-light it gets angry and the woosh is pretty loud so I give it some air then they light and I can bring it down. It is much better since I added height but still happens some times. I bet if I added more height it would go away but not sure its worth another $400.

 

I do something similar to what you call the 3-2-1. On a cold start, I don't engage the cat until the stovetop temperature is 400. This is a bit high compared to my Fireview, which I engage at 200. But they breath different is what I've found. Then after a short time at full open. Like 15 minutes or so, I bring it down to 3 or 2 depending on how cold it is outside. I'll let it stay there another 20 to 30 mins and it'll get to 500'F. Then I drop it to 1.

That's what works for me. So much still depends on the wood. Well seasoned wood makes so much difference and I've found that especially with my AS.

 

Wow. I usually engage around 300...sometimes a buit lower. Because of this stoves location (size of room and airflow), I like STT around 350. But yes it goes over that, I think the highest I've seen it is around 500. That was plenty high and made me nervous. But again this is my first stove. I got a piece of single wall 6 inch x 48 in to attach to the top of rhino rigid chimney, temporary to see if extra height helps draft and draw. Hopefully it will, and I can get some class a attached.

 

I usually have to step down. Maybe not 3-2-1, but something similar...I can't go straight down too much or it snuffs it too much like you said. And I have had the aggressive 'Wooshs' when I throttle it way down as well. I tend to get a bit of smoke smell when it does that, I guess due to my less than ideal draft. I now try to keep it from doing that, but still figuring it out.

 

Does anyone ever lower the air control if the fire is burning well, before they engage the cat, to give the stove time to heat up more (STT) to reach cat engagement temps (whatever stt you consider to be cat engagement time for your stove) I don't have a cat thermometer in since I have the side shield on....

 

If you are looking to improve the draft, check out the produce below, it helped me add 4' of height by transitioning from SS liner to class A. 15-ft vs 19-ft has made a big difference.

Transition Plate for Rock-Vent Class A Chimney Systems | Product Info - Rockford Chimney

 

RE: 400'F

Now that you mention that I should probably engage sooner. Mine is in my finished basement, which and I don't have any other heat down there, I don't run it 24X7 as I do my primary stove upstairs in the living room, which is the Fireview. I think I started doing that when my wood wasn't the 3-year seasoned wood I have today. The wood I'm burning these days just gets it up there pretty fast, and the space it's in is pretty large. The interesting thing with this stove compared to the Fireview is it's a Hybrid. So what happens is the secondary burn starts up, the heat isn't going up the chimney, that secondary plate is pushing all that heat right back down and into the basement.

I don't let it stay there long at all, once it gets there, and I drop down to 1. Usually I like the stove at somewhere between 400'F and 500'F and it drops down into cat mode and 500STT feels just fine. The flue stove temp about a foot up the flue will be 250 to 300'F. It'll go all night long like that, I'll come down in the AM like 8:00AM and it's be a nice bed of coals.

 

Yes, if you just leave it wide open in the bypass mode you just send most of the heat up the flue. I only use higher air setting to get flames established then bring it down to medium or even lower in some cases. I have done this in all my stoves whether cat or non cat. This is another good reason to monitor flue temps.

 

I have IS; AS big brother. I do opposite of Todd; my goal is to get Stack temp too 300* as fast as possible.. to engage cat. Does it send some fuel up chimney? Probably…
When I start chainsaws, weed wacker or anything with a carb to I flip gas a couple of times and rev them up so they don’t stall. I have stalled a cat

 

Sorry I'm late to reply-- I do bring it down slowly. I engage the bypass when I reach about 320. I find my stove stalls a bit more than I like if it's lower than that. Then I drop the damper to 3.5. After that it's a slow decrease a few notches at a time to keep the secondary flames moderately engaged until I'm at about 2. This can take anywhere from 15-45 minutes. If the draft is weak because it's warm out or it's super still, 2 is as low as the damper can go. If it's strong, I'll go down as low as 1, again, continuing a few notches at a time. Depending on the draft, sometimes I just keep the secondaries going the whole burn, which in general keeps the firebox super clean, but it doesn't bother me if they go out after 20-30 minutes, as long as I've paid attention and not over-snuffed them by dropping the damper too far. If you keep the secondaries on low the whole time, you never risk a whoosh, but you also put a little more smoke up your chimney. My ideal burn is 450-500 STT. Not a fan of it going higher than that.

We had the same problem, the window-rattling whoosh, and my fix is to *not drop the damper too far*. Just don't do it. Took me four years of pretty regular "tiny explosions" to stop lowering the damper too far. The AS booklet directions aren't made for low-draft chimneys. I also really like my vaccustack chimney topper-- it does help make our draft more consistent and inhibits the downdraft due to our windbreak. Haven't had a whoosh in 2 years now.

 

Yes. It's kind of an odd fire that does this, not very often, but I do sometimes drop the damper first. It's usually relative to it being super windy out. The fire is definitely going well, but kind of erratically, and I just have to slow it down to get the stove hot enough. Once the bypass is down it's usually fine.

 

Since this is a gathering of AS folks.....

I tend to get smoke smells in the house during the burn. I believe it's (mainly) coming from around the top plate. About a month or so ago in between cold spells and I cleaned out ash and blew out the cat, I removed the lid and squeezed/plumped up the gasket. I.must have done it just right in the spot, cause it totally took care of the smell. Over time it slowly started the smell back, so I did it again but evidently didn’t do it just right in the right spot.

Well, like everyone we're obviously in a cold snap and the stove is constantly running. But I've got a question, I think the answer is going to be no (or heck no), but I'll ask anyway.... If the stove has been run, and it's at the end of the burn (so below or well below 200 stt, like in the am) and the cat lever is still engaged (so the cat sled is closed)... Can I ease off the lid and plump that gasket? Or will I shock the system, or get smoke in the house (what smoke may be left...)?

 

If there isn't smoke, it's not going to hurt anything, If it is smoky you'll get a bit in the house. Nothing to worry about. It's probably the front of that top gasket, if it is you'll see some black staining on the gasket where it's leaking by. Also your door on the side. I was using too much pressure when closing it at first so I flattened that gasket, but squeezing it back to fatty worked fine.

 

Yeah it seems to be the front. I can put my nose near it and smell it. Really gets on my nerves....