Jabush,

Need your help. That heater drawing looks interesting but I cannot read the fine print even going to “print preview” & increasing the size to 200%, then using my very best pair of Walmart store bought eyeballs. 

Is there a way you can increase the size & repost the picture?

From the looks of it that heater was made to enjoy dining on 8’ poles.

How long have you been feeding it?

Dave

Dave_1 - 02 October 2006 07:34 PM

Jabush,

Need your help. That heater drawing looks interesting but I cannot read the fine print even going to “print preview” & increasing the size to 200%, then using my very best pair of Walmart store bought eyeballs. 

Is there a way you can increase the size & repost the picture?

From the looks of it that heater was made to enjoy dining on 8’ poles.

How long have you been feeding it?

Dave

Hi Dave,

Hope this image is better for you to view. 
The Huntsman was in my house when I bought.  Although I cut my wood to 18-20”, the heater will easily accomodate a 24” log.  Like I said, I’m happy to have the manual as this will be my second season with the stove.

**edit** Yea...that’s a better attachment.  I thought it was interesting that ASW was thinking about secondary air back in “the day.”

joel

Jabush,

Thanks. that is some heater.

Would like to find one like that for my niece. Gave her some heater classifieds ads last year but she & her dad sat on them.

And found out last Friday that she hasn’t got up wood for this winter.

I guess her motto to live by is: “Why wait, procrastinate!”

Do you have a Condar thermometer? If so, have you compared the heat output on the chimney, at 2’-0” above the heater flue, with the surface temp right above the flue outlet?

And how do you adjust those screws in order to tweak the heater for efficiency?

Thanks,

Dave

Dave_1 - 03 October 2006 02:18 PM

Jabush,

Thanks. that is some heater.

Would like to find one like that for my niece. Gave her some heater classifieds ads last year but she & her dad sat on them.

And found out last Friday that she hasn’t got up wood for this winter.

I guess her motto to live by is: “Why wait, procrastinate!”

Do you have a Condar thermometer? If so, have you compared the heat output on the chimney, at 2’-0” above the heater flue, with the surface temp right above the flue outlet?

And how do you adjust those screws in order to tweak the heater for effeciency?

Thanks,

Dave

Still learning about the air controls.  That’s why I’m so happy to have the manual for this beast.  Evidently, for the overnight burn I’m supposed to close the two lower screws and leave the upper screw open approx 1/8 inch.  The manual claims this stove will hold a fire for 12-17 hours.  The best I got last year was 5-6 hours, but that was with all three air controls open and lots of heat coming off the stove.  I’ll keep in touch as I progress through the season this year.
My thermo is a stovepipe model made by Rutland and it does sit approx 2’ above the Tee on the back of the stove.  I generally keep it between 300 & 400 degrees.  I don’t check surface temps as I thought the flu thermo would suffice.

I use a Rutland stove pipe thermo to keep an eye on the heat

Jabush,

... My thermo is a stovepipe model made by Rutland and it does sit approx 2’ above the Tee on the back of the stove.  I generally keep it between 300 & 400 degrees.  I don’t check surface temps as I thought the flu thermo would suffice.

Since you have the ability to control the air for the secondary burn it might benefit you to have a surface temp gauge. As I understand it the wood gases in the secondary burn add btu’s.  You might want to do a search on the topic.

Keeping a log of what were the temps, chimney & heater, what was burning, how long it burned, etc ought to speed up your learning curve in the tweaking process. 

If you want to burn 8 hours don’t put in splits, put a couple of rounds that are 8” about 15 minutes before sack time. But get comfortable with the operation prior to using it for an over-night burn. You should have some heat & coals in the morning. 

Have a good one,

Dave

Dave_1 - 03 October 2006 06:03 PM

Jabush,

... My thermo is a stovepipe model made by Rutland and it does sit approx 2’ above the Tee on the back of the stove.  I generally keep it between 300 & 400 degrees.  I don’t check surface temps as I thought the flu thermo would suffice.

Since you have the ability to control the air for the secondary burn it might benefit you to have a surface temp gauge. As I understand it the wood gases in the secondary burn add btu’s.  You might want to do a search on the topic.

Keeping a log of what were the temps, chimney & heater, what was burning, how long it burned, etc ought to speed up your learning curve in the tweaking process. 

If you want to burn 8 hours don’t put in splits, put a couple of rounds that are 8” about 15 minutes before sack time. But get comfortable with the operation prior to using it for an over-night burn. You should have some heat & coals in the morning. 

Have a good one,

Dave

Thanks for the tips.  I think I will keep a little log (no pun) of what I burn, air inlet settings, flu & stove top temps, etc… that’s a good idea.
I never thought of the upper air inlet as “secondary air” until I read the manual.  In fact...I’ve been looking at older stoves (because I have one) and most don’t have the higher air inlet on the door...just the two toward the bottom.  Maybe that gives me a “cleaner air” advantage, maybe not.  I’m surely gonna find out though as I’m now getting attached to my stove, and looking forward to this season with a little more knowledge.  I just wish I could find out more about the company, model lines, etc.  There’s not much info out there and believe me I have been looking.

Guess what I found , yup, the installation and operators manual for my gold marc, packed away in a box with old papers. Not much info though, regarding the air inlets - it says half inch open is for hottest setting, eighth inch open for longest burn, I have been opening them suckers all the way until they would come off if open any further.Nothing in the manual for operating temps, no mention at all. Also nothing in there mentions the slide damper, except that open it for starting fire
I have heard old timers say you can close it partly for longer burning and hotter stove, Well at least I found it!

It’s very cool that you found the manual for your stove!!!
There’s no mention of operation temps in my manual either.  I pretty much go by the “burn zone” on my stovepipe thermo, which is about 270 - 550 degrees.  I try to run my stove in the middle.
Even though I have some pretty dry wood to burn this year, common sense tells me that if I choke the stove down for the long burn, I’ll probably be making creosote.  I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on the chimney (for buildup) throughout the season.
I did have a stovepipe damper on my original setup, but I didn’t have it reinstalled when I had the chimney lined and replaced the stovpipe.  I haven’t missed it.

… There’s not much info out there and believe me I have been looking.

Right, as I’ve also learned that the hard way. Am of the opinion the mfgr’s did not spend much money testing their heaters to come up with optimal heater performance settings. Apparently their attitude was get it made & let the customer do the tweaking.

… Nothing in the manual for operating temps, no mention at all.

Right, that too was learned the hard way. The Condar temp gauge took speculation out of the equation by establishing the fire-up & run temps. Once that is known & practiced then the variables left are the quality of the fuel, its moisture content (mc), & the burn time of same sized splits verses rounds.

… Even though I have some pretty dry wood to burn this year, common sense tells me that if I choke the stove down for the long burn, I’ll probably be making creosote. 

Not necessarily if the mc is 10% or less. If you do not have a mc meter try this. After setting the screw(s) for a run go outside & look for chimney smoke. If there is smoke & it does not dissipate in @ 5 minutes you will have creosote.

... I did have a stovepipe damper on my original setup, but I didn’t have it reinstalled when I had the chimney lined and replaced the stovpipe.  I haven’t missed it.

Right, I removed ours because it was a creosote maker. But now after discovering the benefits of burning wood with less than 10% mc, I might be adding a Fields automatic barometric draft regulator or one of these if I can find who makes them.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/1982_September_October/Cleaning_Up_Wood_Heat_for_1982_83

Note under “PART III: A SLACK TEMPERATURE WOODSTOVE THERMOSTAT” B.V. Alvarez’s research.

According to the post at the bottom of the page this unit works, but I would like reports from tech sources. I find it odd that if this device worked so well it hasn’t been offered for older heaters nor installed on the newer models which still require manual adjusting.

Anyway, this forum is educational as to the variables in wood heating. By discussing our findings & ironing out our problems we can burn more efficiently & safely.

Dave