Vermont Casting 2550CE High-Efficiency Wood Burning with Catalytic Combustion

Encore Woodburning Stove

High-Efficiency Wood Burning with

Catalytic Combustion

An Encore leaves the factory with the combustor in- stalled.

In the United States, it is against the law to operate this wood heater in a manner inconsistent with operating instructions in this manual, or if the catalytic combustor is deactivated or removed. The components of the cata- lytic combustion system in your Encore work together to produce optimum conditions for secondary combustion.

When the damper is closed, smoke travels through the catalytic element, which causes ignition of smoke at temperatures of 260-315° C (500-600° F), half the temperature normally required for unaided secondary combustion.

The catalytic element is a ceramic “honeycomb” coated with the catalytic material. The element is located in the secondary combustion chamber, molded from a special high-temperature insulating refractory material. The chamber provides the correct environment necessary for secondary combustion of the fuel (smoke).

Closing the damper exposes the smoke to the combus- tor. If the combustor is at least 316° C (600° F), it will begin to burn the smoke.

Closing the stove damper may also reduce the draft, so to avoid putting out the fire or deactivating the combustor, close the damper only when a fire is well- established. When starting a fire, wait until the fire is well established and there is an ember bed of at least 76-102 mm (3-4”) before closing the damper.

Never kindle a fire with colored paper or paper that has colored ink or a glossy surface, and never burn treated wood, garbage, solvents, or trash. All of these may poison the catalyst and prevent it from operating properly. Never burn cardboard or loose paper except for kindling purposes. Never burn coal; doing so can produce soot or large flakes of char or fly ash that can coat the combustor and cause smoke to spill into the room. Coal smoke also can poison the catalyst so that it won’t operate properly.

In general, the fire must be sufficiently well-established to ensure that catalytic activity is initiated. When first starting a fire, a medium- to high- firing rate must be maintained until the stove, catalyst, and fuel are all stabilized at the proper operating temperatures.

Even though it is possible for the fire to get quite hot within a few minutes after a fire is started, the combus- tor may stop working or the fire may go out if the fire is allowed to die down immediately as a result of the damper being closed. Once the combustor starts work- ing, heat generated by burning the smoke will keep it working.

To determine whether the combustor is operating, ob- serve the amount of smoke leaving the chimney when the damper is activated and when it is not. This proce- dure is described on Page 27.

Avoid using a full charge of very dry wood in the fire- box. This may result in continuous very high tempera- tures in the secondary combustion area and damage the combustor. Wood which has been split, and stored under cover for more than 18 months may be consid- ered very dry. Also, do not use a full load of dry slab wood or scrap wood. For long burns, use a mix of dry and moderately dry wood.

Conditioning Your Stove

Cast iron is extremely strong, but it can be broken with a sharp blow from a hammer or from the thermal shock of rapid and extreme temperature change.

The cast plates expand and contract with changes in temperature. When you first begin using your Encore, minimize thermal stress by allowing the plates to adjust gradually during three or four initial break-in fires follow- ing Steps 1-3 below.

Starting and Maintaining a Wood Fire

Burn only solid wood in the Encore, and burn it directly on the grate. Do not elevate the fuel. Do not burn coal or other fuels.

The damper must be open when starting a fire or when refueling.

Do not use chemicals or fluids to start the fire. Do not burn garbage or flammable fluids such as gaso- line, naptha, or engine oil.

1.Open the stove damper, and open the primary air control fully.

2.Place several sheets of crumpled newspaper in the stove. DO NOT use glossy advertisements or col- ored paper, as they can poison the catalyst. Place on the paper six or eight pieces of dry kindling split to a finger-width size, and on the kindling lay two or three larger sticks of split dry wood approximately 25-51 mm (1-2”) in diameter.

ST263

Fig. 25 Start fire with newspaper and dry kindling.

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