EPA Runaway I believe you are going through a learning stage with your stove, you must forget everything you ever knew about operating wood stoves prior to EPA stoves, you must learn how to operate these current stoves which are very different animals all together as they do require more refined mastering.
EPA stoves are designed to burn much cleaner and greatly reduce creosote build up therefore minimizing chimney fires and even more importantly house fires, to achieve this cleaner level stove manufacturers inject far greater quantities of air in current stoves than our previous old smokers and polluters and they are designed to always allow a minimal constant quantity of air in to the stoves, you cannot shut them down completely/totally and this is to promote cleaner burns, it would be counter intuitive to close the air inlet completely as we would again revert back to smokers and polluters .
1-
In a mobile home you must use double wall flue pipe, and to operate your stove correctly and efficiently you require a quality flue thermometer deigned for double-wall flue pipes, here is what I use and it is better than my previous Taylor brand flue thermometer:
http://www.condarcanada.com/index.php?id_product=32&controller=product&id_lang=1
A good thermometer will help you in using your stove properly and efficiently.
2- According to PE, your stove requires
1/2'' medium density fiberglass rope door gasket, from 20+ years of experience with mine it is almost impossible to find as high a quality aftermarket
medium density fiberglass rope door gasket online or from stove dealers, (in my area anyway) , about the only supplier I have found for high quality
medium density fiberglass rope is PE and this by ordering via a stove retailer the OEM gasket which seems to last at least twice as long vs aftermarket gasketing. Stove dealer 1/2'' gaskets do fit very well, however I have found on my stove that these gaskets become very hard and ineffective after 2 burning seasons or so requiring a new gasket change again (no big deal doing this every 2 years if required, easy job). When I spoke directly with PE in British Columbia I was told that in a pinch I could use 5/8'' but 1/2'' was preferable as the stove was engineered for
1/2'' medium density fiberglass rope. I believe that in the mid to late 2000's this stove design was changed to use much larger door gasket now.
3- Check your stove for cracked welds, poor or hard ill fitting gasketing and poor door fit that could be letting extra air in. You can hammer the door latch in a bit to close it up a little permitting the door handle to pull the door in more tightly against the stove, therefore sealing better.
4- Somehow I am detecting that you may be overloading your fuel load in your stove on initial start up pushing it in to over fire mode, I recommend you start with smaller fires and build on that, you will eventually with experience become much more proficient with it and know your stove far better. For overnight burning I load 2 very large
hardwood log splits north-south nearly covering the floor of the stove, as well I have cut large
hardwood log splits to 13'' in length of which I load one large piece east-west over the 2 initials log splits and push this last one all the way against the back of the stove with my poker, this gives plenty of overnight heat and lots of glowing coals to draw back to the front of the stove in the morning to start a new fire with.
Remember softer wood species burn significantly hotter and burn up much quicker, smaller pieces of softwood are good to help start your fires, however if thrown in to a glowing fire or on the top of your hardwoods it will lead to a overfire condition, especially if close to the baffle bottom and secondary burn outlets. Ask me how I know !
5- Experience with my Spectrum has thought me that when flue temp reaches 375°- 400° on my flue thermometer it is time to shut down my air control totally and then immediately crack it open about 1/8'' to 1/4'' or so depending on draw at that time, (
yours may be slightly different), the result is that the fire starts intensifying slowly to a higher burn rate and the rising flue temps settle between 450° and 550° or so at peak burn stage
if not overfired at start up, now depending on outdoor weather sometimes for 20 to 40 minutes flue temp reaches 600+++° and then settles back down to the 450° - 550° range after the initial wood load exterior core chars and burns down.
Good luck with your learning curve,
NOTE: Quoted from PE's new stove OWNER'S MANUAL for Super 27's and Spectrum's:
'' Smoke-free, clean burning requires small fuel loads, two or three logs at a time or 1/4 to 1/2 of fuel load and leaving the air inlet relatively wide open, especially during the first 10 to 30 minutes after each loading, when most of the smoke generating reactions are occurring. After 30 minutes or so, the air inlet can be turned down substantially without excessive smoke generation. Wood coals create very little creosote-producing smoke. ''
'' Your PACIFIC ENERGY heater is designed for maximum overall efficiency at a moderate firing rate. Overfiring is hazardous and a waste of fuel. Too slow a burn contributes to creosote buildup and lowers combustion efficiency. ''
Wood Selection
'' This heater is designed to burn natural wood only. Higher efficiency and lower emissions generally result when burning air-dried seasoned hardwoods, as compared to softwoods or to green or freshly cut hardwoods. ''
'' Wood should be properly air dried (seasoned) for six months or more. Wet or undried wood will cause the fire to smoulder and produce large amounts of creosote. Wet wood also produces very little heat and tends to go out often. ''
'' DO NOT BURN :
-Salt water wood * -Treated wood
-Wet or green wood -Coal/charcoal
-Garbage/Plastic * -Solvents
* These materials contain chlorides which will rapidly destroy metal surfaces and void warranty. ''