Dynamics of Wiseway operation?

[Flyer 304]

Evening to all.

After my 2nd overnight burn that initially seemed fine (burning Lacretes), only to find a black lava flow that was outside of the stove the following day after work, I set about cleaning out the stove and removing the low temp burn basket (was running at 550) when I went to bed for the 2nd overnight burn, as advised by Gary.

Also I detached the incoming air so that it is within 8 - 10 inches of the stove, installed the standard burn basket. Fired the stove up using Purcell pellets ("Specially Formulated Fir product", not the newer 100% Douglas Fir product they have been shipping). Things went well for the 4 hour burn done. Stove went to 700 for the high and opening the draft slide all the way and the daisy wheel closed, the stove eventually

settled at 550 - 575 for a low. Shut down straight forward except I do not close the draft slide until the last 30 minutes of the shut down as the stove is running over 500. 

Have never had any smoke during this or any other previous shutdown, so I would have to save draft is well.

We've had a warm snap, so there has been no need to run stove, so I set about installing the A/C's

Model is the 2014, basement install and chimney is 27 feet of 6" ID double wall stainless insulated Metalbestos. Stove is connected to to the 6" Class A using 4" dia Olympia Chimney Supply Rigid Rhino 304 stainless single wall 

This was all listed previously but wanted the basics listed for this install.

The forum has provided a lot of information and experiences both good & bad, to help others learn the stove and it prepped me before firing it up. 

I'm just hoping to get most of the idiosyncrasies sorted out before the next heating season.

We know to run softwood, and are looking to run the Douglas Fir, but on the east coast here - pricey.

Have trued Vermont's (burned hot), LaCrete (hot, seemed good until out flow incident), Purcell ( burn well but wanting to try their newer 100% Douglas Fir).

The intent is to burn overnight and then clean out secondary burn plate and empty ash pa, and if necessary, refilling the hooper before leaving for work.

Particularly, in the colder months, where I can do a shut down after coming home, to allow a cool down to clean out the burn chamber and the feed tube area.

There are a few things I am not sure of and do not know the dynamics to help visualize how or when things happen.

Things I have done since the outflow incident:

Detail clean, fitted burn basket to the primary burn chamber opening so that it does slide fore & aft - pics attached.

Measured with verniers, the width of the bar spacing of the primary burn basket, which are running from .316 -.320.

Basket is not truly square,has a slight twist, but it was prorated that I should have any problem with it, in my first posting.

Things I noticed during burns and the clean up after shut downs:

Pellets not physically in the burn basket burning, but in proximity to the burn basket, such as those above in the feed tube and those that have fallen in front of or behind the burn basket, start to sweat due the heat exposure.

Those seen in the inside diameter of the primary burn chamber that are outside the basket will eventually ignite and burn, but some of these ( we are using softwood and seen is seen running at the higher temps), or if enough are together, will pool a liquid. for those in the feed tube above the burn basket, this is also seen to the point where I have seen the black liquid roll down the sides of the feed tube and onto the the burn tube walls on the sides of the primary burn chamber, much like the coffee that leaks pass the lid  and run down the outside of the cup.

It is understood that the pellets fall onto themselves as those in the burn basket get smaller while burning and pass through the rods of the burn basket and onto the secondary burn plate.

Pellets on the secondary burn plate enhance the burn as this aids the burning gases that are created by the primary burn, which is suppose to gasify the fuel present.

Typically, with a rocket stove it is seen that the air inflows from behind and in some configurations below the burn grate or fuel basket. With the Wiseway, the primary air enters from the side and through the secondary plate. When the end plate is removed from the primary burn chamber, to light the stove, this is also an air source, but once in operation at over 400, the restrictor (Daisy wheel or earlier end plates (GW1949?) with single hole)  are placed back into position.

Seen with my 2014 is that there are ledges at the bottom of the feed tube that are directly about the area where the burn basket would sit in operation. - pic attached

Under this feed tube area is spacing between those ledges seen the sides the make up the primary burn chamber as it sits in the stove body. These areas and behind the burn basket (between basket and chamber end plate (daisy wheel cover), collect pellets that are in a high heat area and are starting to breakdown (sweat) before they ignite.

The ledges also hold pellets back and being so close to the burning in the baskets are also breaking down prior to combustion.

How high up into the feed tube do the pellets typically start to breakdown due to heat exposure before they get into the burn basket?

How hot should the area of the feed hopper lid be allowed to get to? I have laid a dial thermometer  on the lid and have seen 250+ degrees from the lid near the main tube that makes up the feed tube.

It is mentioned that you need a minimum flue temp of 300 degrees so as not to form creosote, which is why we try to keep the stove at 450 to 550 range for an overnight burn as indicated on the thermometer at the exit of the Wiseway, for both the heat level we need to not roast us out of the house (will run higher when colder out) and also for the aforementioned need to not produce creosote.

Is this mention of 300 degrees related to the thermometer reading from the Wiseway or the actual chimney temp reading? 

 

I could be wrong, but theory, that rocket stoves burned off everything prior to exiting, so that only heat and moisture would travel up the flue (chimney).

Is there a way to explain why is there a black fluid running from the feed tube area at times while burning softwood pellets at temps over 400 and how did the stove outflow the black lava to the front of the stove over the daisy wheel cover, secondary cover and the ash pan, when draft and burn should be in the opposite direction and towards the burn basket?

Pellets are of various composition so it seems they would breakdown at different temps while exposed to heat prior to combustion. 

This and the other variables of Chimney, draft, fuel quality, barometric pressure, and temperature, certainly make it interesting to get things sorted out.

I am all ears (well, eyes on here) to any information as to the dynamics at work so I can better understand the stove as I learn so I can have reliable overnight burns.

Work days with my travel time are 11.5 hours, so it would be nice to run 24/7 with just the clean out of the secondary and ash pan, but the build up around the primary and above into the feed tube, would seen to remove that from probability and going 12 more the possibility.

Thanks to any and all for any input.

Also this evening I sent an email to USSC, as their updated website does not show the GW1949 being listed in their product line now. The only item seen for the Wiseway, is in the "video" section of the website and that was a video from Sept. 2016. Another web search for USSC that indicated the Wiseway, bring you to the newer website with the message that the item could not be found.

I will post what if any reply I get from USSC inquiring about the GW1949 not seen on their current website.

Sterling 

[Flyer 304]

To All,

I did have a reply from a Pamela Foster at US Stove regarding the GW1949.

Pamela did confirm they are carrying the GW1949.

It was also indicated that you have to search for GW1949 and not use a hyphen (dash as Pamela indicated).

I did try that this evening and in using upper and lower case letters, a search fusing the search box on the USStove.com home page, returned a no items found.

I sent a reply to Pamela, indicating I tried the search in the manner she advised and that there was still no return, nor was the GW1949 listed when you select the :Product" on the header of the USStove home page.

So, it appears there is a possible web page issue.

Sterling

[Greg Mann]

Hi Sterling,

1st I'm no expert...I bought my US Stove GW1949 last fall and have run 3 pallets of pellets thru it so far. I live in the foothills of Calif. near Smartsville 95977. I have a 3" x 4" converter on top of my GW1949 then 2' offset with 2 each 45 ells to the 14' up pipe that is all 4 inch single wall inside of 6' triple wall SS wood stove pipe. The main purpose of our GW1949 is to keep our 93 yr old Mom toasty and it does that well.

Here are my observations for our install, hopefully I address most of your concerns. 

1. Pellets ::: anything with more than 1/2% ash rating is junk for our device and I only get decent results with Fir pellets. Anything else won't burn clean and will create less heat and more creosote tar than I can put up with. Here in northern Calif. its about 75 cents a bag more for good Douglas Fir pellets. A coarse horse hoof rasp is pretty quick to remove creosote build up. I get my better pellets at tractor supply hopefully you can find a supplier of Douglas Fir pellets where you live.

2. I find that cold outside air and a wind both help my stove draw better and burn cleaner and hotter. If it's not less than 50 f outside I have to rake my basket more frequently.

3. I need to rake my basket as the ash builds up in the pellet basket every 4 hours or less even with the damper closed...if cracked to lower heat then basket ash builds up faster.I also rattle my secondary burn plate while I'm at it as occasionally it may have ash build up on it.  My rake is a wire (like a lightweight coat hanger) with an L bent in one end and a loop to hold onto on the other. The very few nights I've run my stove overnight I've had issues with pellets not feeding all night (they quit flowing from the hopper and were built up on the side away from the chute) or the ash build up in the pellet basket by morning had the fire down around 200 F and a mess had built up around the basket area.

4. I had to replace the gasket rope in the chute door as I was having burn back during the first week of use. The US Stove workers did a lousy job of installing the gaskets on both doors. Good gasket seals are crucial to stop burn back!!!

5. My humble opinion is that you were right to not have the cold outside air feed directly into your GW1949 and chill the fire.

6. I vac my lower two chutes every two burns or so...if not my heat output suffers...I use a Ridgid WD30500 because it works well and is not too big.

7. I'm on my 3rd or 4th round flue temperature gauge...they vary wildly in accuracy...I mean the junk I buy off ebay varies more than 100 F from each other (listed under BBQ thermometers). A fair laser gun temp tester cost me less than $25 Temperature Gun Non-contact Infrared IR Thermometer Range -58F to 1382F w/ Laser from ebay is so much more accurate and useful than a round flue temp gauge (as you can check the temp in many spots to really know whats a going on).

8. I played with the spacing between my basket  rods and I can't really draw any conclusions except mine was sent with .25" spacing and that didn't work at all...I'm currently close to .3" ::: this is something I should work with and perhaps my ash build up in the basket would go away. The US Stove GW1949 only comes with a non adjustable burn tube cover (the top spring handle thingy). Maybe that is part of the basket ash build up issue?  Any thoughts on this folks???

I like this design of Gary's: it sounds like a rocket when run full tilt and I don't have to listen to the auger and blowers like I did with my electric ones before this purchase. But it does require more tinkering and attention to run right...but I don't mind that one bit ;o)

My Best to You Sterling,

Greg in Smartsville, Ca.

P.S. Thanks Gary for sharing this pellet stove with us!!!

[Greg Mann]

Hi Sterling,

I checked online at US Stove and they used to have the GW1949 listed and showing in their product line. Not only is that missing they lost my login account too. Probably some tech rebuilt their pellet stove site and left the GW1949 out.

I have their 18 page Owners operating and installation manual but believe me Gary's is better ;o)

Greg

[Gary Wisener]

You're welcome Greg and yes you should open the spacings in the basket to just over 5/16 of an inch..320

Have a good one Gary

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[Matt Aguirre]

Hi Greg,

Love the input! The key to these stoves running at peak performance is good fuel and good draft.  Based on your descriptions and where you’re from it’s my opinion that one or both could use some improvement in your case. Don’t get me wrong though, if you’re happy with your stove then letting well enough alone is always an option. Being on the West coast you have access to the very premium of fuels and should not be having to clean your stove as often as you do, or experience smoke in the hoppers during shut down (a very small amount is normal in the small hopper which is actually a pressure regulator). You should have access to Golden Fire pellets where you live which are the pellets this stove was developed with, I recommend you find those and use those pellets even if it costs a little more. I’m in Oregon and can tell you that with good draft and Golden Fire pellets you should not have to touch that stove but once a day to refuel shake down the secondary plate and maybe dump the ashtray, that’s it. I think your draft could be a little weak based on you saying you had smoke in the hoppers during shut down that can only happen if the suction isn’t strong enough to remove the smoke. Believe it or not there was a time when these stoves were not sealed at all. It wasn’t until hard wood pellets were introduced to them that it became necessary to seal them. Your basket spacing is as wide as recommended but I do have a slight hunch that it might be even wider. Like a car engine, these stoves have a timing that must be within tolerance for overall performance. If the spacing is too wide it can cause the primary to feed into the secondary faster than the secondary can consume and feed the ashtray causing a build up like the one you described. Hope this helps!

[Greg Mann]

Thanks Mr. Gary,

I'll get my calipers out and recalibrate the spacing to .320 inch.

Thanks again,

Greg

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[Flyer 304]

Good Evening Greg, Gary & Matt,

Greg, thank you for the detailed reply in answering some of my questions and observations of my GW2014.

Unlike the West coast., 100% Douglas fir pellets here in Connecticut are far and few. What I have been using, as mentioned earlier, are the Purcell premium pellets variants which are the "Specially Formulated" "Fir" product and not the current packaging, which now lists as being a Super premium pellet listed as 100% Softwood made from Douglas Fir.

I am trying to learn the stove and the idiosyncrasies, by staying with one pellet that has been consistent and has shown the least amount of fly ash. I have tried others and as you mentioned, creosote becomes an issue as well as the ash.

 Important to me, is to be able to have an overnight burn and then before heading off to work, rake the basket, then clear the secondary, empty the ash pan, top off the hopper and then off to work. 

Right now, that is not going to happen. I have had about 4 successful overnight burns, but after a single 18 hour burn, I felt went backwards in being able to have extended burns.

By successful, I mean that I sent the stove with an indicated temp of around 600 with draft slide opened about 50% and the daisy wheel opened about 3/16" from it's minimum position.

On these burns, when I checked on the stove about 9 hours after the start, the temp had pony rolled back to 500, which I was happy to see, given earlier burns with different pellets and basket had the stove fall back to 300.

Those successful burns, where stove only lost 100 or so degrees from 9 hours of running, responded (climb back up to 600 temp) when I poked the basket, then pulled out & cleared the secondary, and then pulled the ash pan to empty. Did this to see it would recover on its own, without changing draft slide setting and only opening the daisy fully until it peaked , then put the daisy wheel back to 3"16" open.

Noticed in the ash pan, was the little square cake of ash that fell from the secondary when it was removed.

With the current pellets (part fir?) and checking the stove in the am after the overnight burn, the basket will have some areas that are dark and not glowing, so as many do I tickle the basket to drop the embers so that fresh pellets enter and the pellets in the basket are seen burning (glowing).

I have checked my basket for the spacing between the rods that make of the assembly. and currently they are running between .318 & .320. they are not running true so there is a little variation from one end to the other. 

With the stove, I leave it set at 600 with the draft slide open about 50% when I go to bed. Check the stove in the am, obviously ash has collected on the secondary to cause a reduction in the temp as well as the clinkers that have formed in the burned basket. Clear both and stove is up an running again. (not checked is the deposits collecting on the walls of the feed tube above the burn basket/chamber) 

Pellet consumption at best yielded a best of 10.9 hours, which is midpoint of the 10 to 12 hours for running on high.

Last nights burn, worked out to 4.66 lbs per hour and after shut the walls of the burn tube behind the burn basket and towards where the daisy wheel end of the chamber is, was all nice and shiny high gloss black of creosote, which I did not have with the 3 previous overnight burns using the same pellets and setting the stove at 600 indicated.  

I have not tried burning at a lower temp ( say 400 - 450 ) as I have in the past, due to the creosote issues I had and didn't want to have a repeat of the lava flow again.

 Removing the outside air  from being directly connected help in that regards, but still gun shy.

I am at a loss to trying to get a longer burn without lowering the temp and bringing in issues of heavier creosote formations and any out flow.

I do not know how much of a correlation there is, for how much the daisy wheel should be open (to allow more air through the burn basket) when the draft slide has been open to lower the temp.

I find with setting at 600 for the overnight burn by having the draft slide open about 50%, the daisy wheel does effect your temp, like fine tuning. I can see an easy 25 degree change with opening in 1/8 to 3/16 increments. 

This is where I have the Chicken and the egg discussion with myself to try and understand why the stove has a decrease in temp when checked after the overnight burn overnight.

Is it the formation of clinkers in the basket, that causes the ash to stay on the secondary plate because pellets aren't falling as quickly or in quantity to displace the ash sitting on the secondary.

And then you have the pellets that are above and on the sides of the burn basket that are sitting at the bottom of the feed tube. With things slowing down(?) they are sitting longer in those areas and are breaking down and charring before they even get into the burn basket. some of these are seen binding to one another while sitting there and you see the black flow from them. 

I do not know how far up into the feed tube pellets start to breakdown, but it appears once the lower area at the bottom of the feed tube has the carbon/creosote forming on the walls and pellets stick, this starts the temp roll back.

 

I am hoping to get some 100% Douglas fir pellets to see how much improvement it offers, as the higher consumption and not being able to tap rack and go when I need to leave for work, will present issue of a cold house when winter come back around. Thats why I trying to get it learned before the season is upon us. 

I have to agree with Matt about Draft and quality fuel. I believe my draft is fine, as even with 27' for 6" double insulated stainless pipe, I have never had any smoke issue on shutdown ,even when I have left the draft slide open 50%. Always positive on shut down.

I also believe that draft = velocity, that in order to have a good burn you have to have a good fuel and you need a minimum amount of air passing through the fuel for it to gasify and burn correctly.

So I am not sure if there is a sweet spot of a running temperature that provides a good compromise of fuel usage, temperature output and reduced formation of creosote and carbon buildup in the feed tube area near the burn basket. This is where I believe the composition of the pellets being used have an impact in the stoves' operation and burn. I believe some pellets will break down sooner with their exposure to heat while not in the combustion area of being in the burn basket. Too many of these pellets breaking down too soon above the burn basket leads to higher formation levels on the walls and will slow the stove. I could be incorrect, but it seems to be a viable thought to consider. There is also the ledge that is on both sides at the bottom of the feed tube. These hold pellets and I don't thing these can be dressed down as you may then compromise the weld in that area where the burn tubes sections were joined between the secondary burn and the main burn tube where the burn chamber sits under the feed tube. 

I had given thought and even sketched out guides to fit over these ledges to form a sort of taper above (into the feed tube) and just below these ledges , which would allow the pellets to flow into the burn basket from the bottom of the feed tube without any pellets snagging on these ledges. Not sure if this would reduce any build up, but it is possible  as well as directing pellets into the burn basket.

 Not to mention whether these should be made from 304 or 316L stainless.Installation is easy enough as they are only the length of the ledges at the bottom of the feed tube.

I do not know if Gary or Matt had tried anything similar. For production it would be an increase in expense that's for sure due to being time consuming and the additional materials.

I love the idea of the Wiseway and like my wood stove, it's not reliant on electricity for its operation.

Just need to have the fuel usage be better and more importably, burn in such a way that I can clear the basket, clear the secondary and ash pan, top off the hopper and be able to go to work and still have heat in the house.  Then when I come from work, shut it down till cool, clean and scrape the deposits in the feed tube walls, a quick vacuum in the burn tube, and start the burn again.

It should be attainable and I'm trying to learn but also trying to understand how things interact and how theses cause certain items to occur during extended burns.

Would be nice,that once the house is at a comfortable temp, to throttle back the stove to say 500 for the overnight burn, unless old man winter is knocking, then may have to leave it running at 600+ to maintain the house.

I know Paul Grant, who is also in Connecticut has been very successful with his Wiseway and I believe he have been running mostly Douglas Fir, and also I think was spruce for the shoulder parts of the heating season.  Winters 2017/2018 will be my first season with the Wiseway, and not the wood stove I have used for the last 14 years.

Again, thank you Greg for sharing your experience and it showed that there are some items we've both experienced. 

Gary & Matt, thanks for checking in on things posted here.

Respectfully,

Sterling

     

 

[Gary Wisener]

Shutting the stove down in the evening and letting all the pellets cycle through the feed tubes and basket then sliding out the secondary burn plate and empty the ashtray and then restarting it should run through the night with no problems when you wake up in the morning do the same thing before going to work by doing this your eliminating the charred pallets above the basket if you just keep running it the chard pellets in the feed to we'll slowly creep up the feed tube a few inches with Douglas fir pellets they burn fast enough you don't have a Charing problem above the basket because the Douglas fir pellets are Less dense and burn faster keeping the pellets flowing so they don't have time to char before getting into the basket

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[Flyer 304]

't want to Good Evening Gary and thank you for the reply.

Currently, I do a clearing of the secondary and empty the ash pan, prior to the stove shut down in the morning before I head to work. I do this to see how the stove recovers before I leave for work.

As mentioned on the successful overnight burns, the stove has dropped 100 - 150 degrees (when checked in the morning @ 5am) from the 600 I set it at about 9pm when the stove was started for the evening.

I have seen charred pellets fall into the burn basket during this time, and I believe this is the cause of the temp roll back that is seen by morning. Also as you mentioned, those above the burn basket, that haven't dropped into the basket, do start to breakdown (get wet) and flow some as they start to char above the basket. As you explained and I started seeing is when pellets don't fall quickly, so less on the secondary and hen the ash sitting on the secondary starts to cake a bit as it is not being disrupted. the charring goes higher in the feed tube and then the creosote runs. Depending on flue temp you're running and how much air is moving throughout a pellets in the basket and the pellets properties, the amount of creosote can vary because of these 3 variables.

It is funny how I am using a supposedly "Fir" blend (not 100% douglas fir) and I do see the burn tube get a nice shiny black finish from behind the burn basket area and back to the front of the primary burn chamber  where the Daisy wheel is located.

With regards to the daisy wheel on the GW2014, if you open the draft slide(lower the temp) should this be opened correspondingly to keep air drawing through the burn basket? Not sure I explained myself properly last night when I posted. I do see it acts like a fine adjustment when I open it slightly, when I don't want to move the draft slide to raise the temp.

With regards to the ledges seen at the base of the feed tube opening (above where the burn basket sits) on the left and right sides:

Was there any testing to see if there is any better or cleaner performance if these were dressed down so that pellets do not accumulate in these areas,  where the pellets sit, breakdown and char?

A fine line I know, so as not to compromise the welding that was done in these areas externally.

 Just curious if a viable item to look at and it gave me thought about some type of a tampered guide the would fit over these ledges to afford funnel type guide so the pellets can't accumulate.  Have a friend with a Bridgeport and I drew up an idea for him to cut out as a proof of concept.

I can see to a point, of these ledges being there to sorta help drop pellets into the basket and reduce how many would tumble between the gap on the sides of the burn tube and the side of the burn chamber where the basket sits. With taper in this area instead of the ledge, could reduce the charring effect regardless of pellet type. To a certain extent. 

Working on securing some 100% Douglas Fir pellets for my first season coming up  (no, I'm not trying to rush winter back again, lol), so some of my issue may go away when I do. This would be a good thing. And as mentioned, there are some users that are running extended periods with only tickling the burn basket , then clearing the secondary, empty the ash pan, top off the hopper and let to go.

Plan is to start an overnight, clear the burn basket , secondary & ash pan in the am (without shutdown). Then get home from work, shut down while having dinner, do the clean out and vacuum the lower burn tube area, refill the hopper and start the overnight burn.

Thanks again for the info, makes me feel better about things, though we're not quite where we need to be yet. But it's getting there.

Good to know it's not me and at least I am understanding some the the dynamics involved. Knowledge is good and the more learned related to the operations and what is happening behind the scenes, the easier to understand and apply.

Simple operation, but its the variables in the field (location, draft, fuel properties) that can  put a few speed bumps on the road to success. 

Once things get sorted , will look into running at a lower temps of 400 - 500 range when the house has been warmed up.

 Need to be able to reduce the fuel consumption and still be comfortable. Douglas Fir not inexpensive here.

Have a good evening and again thank you.

Sterling

[Greg Mann]

Hi Sterling,

My experience with draft in this house. 

I started with a 3" to 4" increaser (once I set it up inside) Then; an adjustable 45 degree 4" el, 2' of 4" pipe (were needed to line up with the existing chimney), an adjustable 45 degree el, and 2 ea. 4' sections of pipe into the existing 6" triple wall chimney at about 30" above the second el. There is a flat adapter that centers the 4" flue pipe into the 6" metalbestos chimney. I didn't have good enough draft until I added two more 4' sections of 4" pipe to my flue. All my 4" pipe is thin single wall galvanised metal pipe. 

It's too warm to run the GW1949 here these days to do some more experimenting. But once I pushed the pellet basket rods further apart closer to the .320" that Gary recommended things ran even better. I only had one or two runs with that setting. Prior to that my install wouldn't run well very long with the side draft slide open a bit. I would need to rake the ash build up from the basket every four hours or less. I have yet to try that since the basket rod adjustment. 

I did notice that on colder days the GW1949 ran better (cleaner) than on warmer days also a good wind helped too. I attribute part of that to not running 4" insulated pipe up my 6" insulated chimney.

Now that summer is here it's time to plan to roll the GW1949 outside and wash it out. Then let her dry in the sun.

Have a great summer,

Greg 

[Flyer 304]

Good Evening Greg,

Thanks for providing your experience. I'm running 27' of double wall insulated chimney. My Wiseway GW2014 is connected to the metalbestos  chimney using 4" Olympus Rigid Rhine Stainless single wall.

Stove is, I believe, drafting well. Never had any smoke during the multiple shutdowns that have been done. Have done overnight burns and shut down the stove in the morning before heading to work.

Working on getting stove to go more than the 8 to 10 hours when starting stove in the early evening. This past Thursday/Friday, ran stove for 19 hours. Started 8pm Thursday, before going to bed, checked burn basket, pulled and cleaned off the secondary burn plate and emptied the ash pan. Had stove indicating 650 when I went to bed.  Friday am, temp only fell back to 600, pulled the secondary burn plate and had the ash fall into the ash pan where a square shaped ash biscuit was seen when I pulled the pan to be emptied. Raked the burn basket as the stove was climbing through 650, removed and cleared the secondary burn plate and emptied the ash pan, before Wife & I headed out to do the day's errands. Definitely the fuel quality and air flow through dasiy wheel effect how stove burns and how long stove can be run before temps drop signifigantly and abnd how much the pellets leave deposits (black liquid) that causes other pellets to stick in the walls of these pellets breaking down that get stuck above the burn basket where they should be falling into.  Waiting for local venords to start listing Douglas Fir pellets, to bring in 3 tons for the stove and run with a 100% Doug Fir pellet. Have only tried a private labelled product that is suppose to be 100% Doug Fir, but it did show a higher burn temp and less ash present in the burn chamber/basket area when inspected after shut down.

SO I think I have things in hand now with how the stove runs in our installation. Just need to get the Doug Fir for the primary pellets. Also working on adapter plates to go over the little ledges onteh side of the feed tube that are just above  where the burn basket is located when the stove is running, These plates should do (3) things: (1)remove the ledge where pellets sit and start to breakdown above the burn chamber (where other pellets start to stick and narrow feed path), (2) fills some of the void on the sides of the burn chamber to reduce pellets tumbling and breaking down and burning on the side of the burn basket, (3) guide the pellets for a more centered fall from the feed tube and into the center of the burn basket. 

Already have on side in with good results. Now, just need to fit the the right side and run with both plates installed.  

As with you, it is now too warm here to do any burning, but plan on posting pics and  reporting burn characteristics with the plates installed once it get cools enough.

Sterling

[Claudio Guillard]

Hello dear friend. My name is Claudio Guillard and I live in Chile, I am a lover of building systems of handmade heating, I have looked at this stove on the internet but in Chile they do not arrive besides asking for it on the internet, it would make its value rise by the clouds only in the transport. And for that reason it occurred to me to make one for me, for my house, but some things of her are complex to find them on the Internet. I have built everything but I can not understand the system of the primary combustion chamber, which has an air intake and also between chamber 2 and 3 a diagonal structure with a cut. It would be great to kindly ask him to take some pictures for me. I would be eternally grateful. I do not know where else to turn. Thank you very much. My email is cgui...@hotmail.com

[heather mazzella]

Good afternoon Sterling, 

I just had my Wiseway put in and have been reading all the tips and tricks to run at peak performance. I was hoping you could help me with two other questions I have. After your overnight burn you clean top off and head to work. This is exactly what I wanted to do but I am very nervous to leave the stove going unattended for more than eight hours. Any extra precautions you took to be comfortable leaving the house for prolonged period of time? Also, do you have a hearth pad under the stove? My contractor mentioned it may not be needed as my model has the full flat pedestal but I'm thinking maybe a piece of blue stone would be beneficial. 

Thanks. 

Heather  

[flye...@yahoo.com]

Good Morning Heather and to All,

My apologies for the delay in this reply.

It took a little time before I was comfortable in leaving stove unattended or being able to sleep through the night as during my learning curve. If I did one change at a time and then watched

what if anything changed with burning temp at a determined draft setting, see if burn basket was loading up and not dropping down to the secondary, was ash dark & heavy or lighter in color and weight.  Every stove will be a sweet spot to it use in a specific environment, and from experience generally at one setting that brings the stove to an almost set it and forget it operation, which is what you hope to have. The last two seasons have been that way for me due to a fuel choice I made that has worked out very well.

In Connecticut and have been using the Woods & Sons eastern pine softwood pellets. Their average size is smaller than what most pellets brands are at. This in combination with the burn baskets I made and the burning properties of the pellet have got the stove at its best timing for burn, pellet drop to the secondary burn plate and the heat output.

I now have a stove that is running  24/7 for 3 to 4 days before I have to shut it down and do a scraping & cleaning. This is to remove the buildup that occurs above the burn basket and the walls of the stove in the lower portion of the feed hopper section that is directly above the burn basket.

Also pull my stove pipe and vacuum the pipe between the stove and the piping that connects it to the tee that makes up the base of the Class A  stainless chimney that is 30 feet to the roof line.

One thing I would recommend to everyone running any type of stove, get a good anti downdraft chimney cap, like the Vacu Stack or similar.

Recent weather events brought some weather we have never seen. With Tropical Storm Isaias crashing through, we had sustained winds that were over 65 and closer to 70mph.

Trees and limbs down and power was not restored for 4 days. Weather was warm so didn't need heat, but did have one A/C and fridge running off the portable generator.

After clean up, I went into the basement to fetch some other tools and saw that the floor around the Wiseway Stove was covered in ash. Looking at the stove, saw that the ash from inside the stove and ash pan, from the last burn in March, had been blown out of the stove due to the force of the winds from the storm. 

If this had been a Norester (during the winter), which we have seen some good winds and the stove was cooking, those winds coming down the Chimney can and have caused the stove to pulse where the flames of the burn have poked out the draft holes, as I only had a standard stainless cap topping the chimney.

For me, the stove is in the basement and is in the corner where the walls are the concrete foundation and no combustibles in the immediate area of the stove.

If there is a pulse down the chimney, then there is a chance that embers could be discharged from the draft slot openings of the stove. I've only seen this happen once, only 2-3 embers and they only travelled about a foot away from the stoves base. 

To mitigate this, an anti downdraft cap should be installed and I will be replacing my cap in the next month or so.

Hope this gives you some info you can use and hopefully is still relevant, though delayed on my part.   

Sterling