Hearthstone Manchester

Oldbarn70 · Jan 5, 2014

Hi. A few things you can do right away: one is get a temp gauge like you said, but place it on the pipe close to the stove if you can because the top of the Manchester actually has a convection air space under it, so it won't be accurate. Talk to your local stove shop about what temp it should be (I like to get my base pipe between at least 450-600 before I slow the burn). That stove is big, so if you don't get it going hot, it won't work efficiently (like any stove), plus it will help burn out and clean any creosote build up. Two- take a look at your wood. If there are little hissing bubbles of water coming out the ends for more than a minute or so, your wood is not fully dry. Oak will do this often even if it's over 1 year split, that's why I burn mostly maple, beech, ash. I also put a damper on my pipe 6" from the stove which I turn to 45 degrees after I turn the damper way down to get a long burn. Make sure your horizontal section of pipe has a slight rise up, it will make a much better draft.

Make sure you don't have any open dampened fireplaces, etc. a few spots with cold air coming (some sketchy building going on in the 70's and 80's) can go a long way to negate a good heater.

I actually just sold my Manchester and bought a new Jotul F45. The Manchester was just too much heat for my 1800 sq ft, well insulated new cabin. A bit smaller stove made for up to a 1500 sq' home, but it unbelievable how it heats.

Good luck

Fireshoppe · Jan 5, 2014

Congrats! The Manchester is a very nice stove. We only have a couple out there but good reviews so far, In fact the first owner came back for a Shelburn in her cabin. Can't get better praise that than that.

remy59 · Jan 6, 2014

Oldbarn70 said:
Hi. A few things you can do right away: one is get a temp gauge like you said, but place it on the pipe close to the stove if you can because the top of the Manchester actually has a convection air space under it, so it won't be accurate. Talk to your local stove shop about what temp it should be (I like to get my base pipe between at least 450-600 before I slow the burn). That stove is big, so if you don't get it going hot, it won't work efficiently (like any stove), plus it will help burn out and clean any creosote build up. Two- take a look at your wood. If there are little hissing bubbles of water coming out the ends for more than a minute or so, your wood is not fully dry. Oak will do this often even if it's over 1 year split, that's why I burn mostly maple, beech, ash. I also put a damper on my pipe 6" from the stove which I turn to 45 degrees after I turn the damper way down to get a long burn. Make sure your horizontal section of pipe has a slight rise up, it will make a much better draft.

Make sure you don't have any open dampened fireplaces, etc. a few spots with cold air coming (some sketchy building going on in the 70's and 80's) can go a long way to negate a good heater.

I actually just sold my Manchester and bought a new Jotul F45. The Manchester was just too much heat for my 1800 sq ft, well insulated new cabin. A bit smaller stove made for up to a 1500 sq' home, but it unbelievable how it heats.

Good luck

remy59 · Jan 6, 2014

Thank you for the advice. I checked the horizontal section and the rise is good to go. I also stole some wood from my brother in law(was my wood anyway since he bought my old house) and started to burn that. I think I am getting the hang of the stove. I now get the stove very hot, and judge by my hand being near the pipe. Not effective, but definitely know that it is hotter than when I just did the intervals that was advised in the manual. My old stove was steel box, so I guess it is a learning curve. I know burn several small pieces and reload the stove every 4 hours or so. I got that advise from somebody I spoke with her locally. I think I had the old logic of my steel regency and didn't think it would take so long for the soapstone/cast to heat up and throw the heat. I also placed a simple box fan to blow the heat away from the stove as I have read other users do. Last night was mild(32 degrees) and there was no chill on the upstairs like there normally is.

DMB · Jan 6, 2014

Sounds like you may have found the culprit. Which is apparently all to common...the wood is not ready to burn. This stove does take a long time to get hot, but it makes up for it on the backside of the burn given the soapstone firebox. Have you been able to keep your glass clean? I think that would also give you a good indication of the wood quality.

I will also say this. This stove is a non-cat and only has one air control to manuever, therefore it is really simple to operate...in theory. I have really good luck with it. Like everyone else on here I have learned a lot about my setup and have developed some good practices. However, my wife doesn't always have good luck. If she is at home with the kids she complains that it isn't easy to operate and she can't get the secondaires going all the time, etc. I guess I'm just saying its not quite as simple as it may seem. Doesn't surprise me that you had a little trouble in the beginning, especially since you had a previous stove that ran differently. Good luck!

remy59 · Jan 7, 2014

I have had much better luck the last several days. The wood I stole back from my brother in law was all down for at least a year, and has been split since early spring. The wood was also covered in a nice "wood crib" as I call it. The glass has been staying clean, and I have noticed that when the stove gets ripping hot, the temp actually burns away the little bit of residue on the glass. Is that a good thing or am I over firing the stove? I appreciate all the advice from you guys. The temps here in NJ have been silly cold, and the house was mildly pleasant to wake up to. I won't say that it was warm, but there was no chill in the house. I just bought the house, and since the staircase is the only way for the heat to rise, I have to see about different secondary heat for next winter. I WILL not keep the electric heat that was in the house. Way too expensive. Thanks again for all the info.

Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar · Jan 7, 2014

On a low and slow burn or if you stack your wood near or against the glass it will get a little dirty but as you noticed it'll clear up when you get it burning good and hot, that's normal. I'd get an infrared thermometer so you can measure your stove-top temps, that will help you get a good grip on how you're running the stove. I shoot my IR thermometer right down the hole just in front and to the right of the pipe, that tends to be the hot spot on mine.

DMB · Jan 8, 2014

remy59 said:
I have had much better luck the last several days. The wood I stole back from my brother in law was all down for at least a year, and has been split since early spring. The wood was also covered in a nice "wood crib" as I call it. The glass has been staying clean, and I have noticed that when the stove gets ripping hot, the temp actually burns away the little bit of residue on the glass. Is that a good thing or am I over firing the stove? I appreciate all the advice from you guys. The temps here in NJ have been silly cold, and the house was mildly pleasant to wake up to. I won't say that it was warm, but there was no chill in the house. I just bought the house, and since the staircase is the only way for the heat to rise, I have to see about different secondary heat for next winter. I WILL not keep the electric heat that was in the house. Way too expensive. Thanks again for all the info.

Burning off some of the haze on the window is a good thing. Means you have a hot clean fire and that hot air is moving across the glass. Getting an IR gun will help you a lot. I got mine at Harbor Frieght. They are inexpensive and come in handy for other things as well. You can search this forum for all the information you'd ever want to know about them.

Woody Stover · Jan 8, 2014

remy59 said:
I know burn several small pieces and reload the stove every 4 hours or so.

As a rule, you want to load the stove full and let it burn through the entire load. Once the load is established, you should be able to cut the air to where you just have lazy secondaries, and the stove top temps should remain pretty high until later in the burn. At that point you can open up the air a bit to burn down the coals and still get decent heat off the stove. Every time you open the door to add "several small pieces," you are breaking the burn cycle and losing stove temp as you get the added wood burning. Now, I don't have a tube stove but I believe the same burn-cycle principles apply to all stoves. With a tube stove, you may have to watch how much of the load you get burning at start-up, to prevent the load from taking off too much. Maybe some other Manchester folks can comment on weather this is a potential problem with this particular tube stove.
As was said, get some means of monitoring the stove top temp. You don't want to over-fire your stove or chimney with a roaring fire, even at start-up.
That stove looks like it will convect heat off the fire box very well, even without the aid of a fan. As mentioned, dry wood is the key to getting the most heat out of your stove.

olddawgsrule · Jan 8, 2014

Woody Stove is right on the point here!
I have a Shelburne and love it!
Same principles apply to the Manchester.

If you're using smaller splits, then you're probably a bit too wet..
That's where I'm at with most of my stock this year...

I have about a cord and a half of good
Supplementing with some bio-logs this year..
Saving the Good for over night logs.

I have never 'fully' loaded my stove
Just doesn't need it if the wood is dry

I may have missed some other comments here
But, main statement that Woody put forward is right

Opps, almost forgot...
Get a moisture reader and read your wood
HF has a cheap one that I use

Zemmie · Oct 30, 2014

I have been reading this forum about the Hearthstone manchester for quite sometime and have recently purchased one. Absolutely love this stove the heat output is incredible. I don't have the blower yet but I did order one just in case I need a little boost for heat output this winter. And by the sounds of it central Michigan is in for another hard winter. But I do have some questions for some of you that have had this stove longer than I have. First off my old stove was 8" and when I bought this house I put in 16' of 8" Super Vent to replace the old style triple wall. The stove seems to be burning fine being increased at the double wall to 8". Do any of you see any issues with this? My burn times are 10hrs or more on a full load and air control opened only a 1/8 to 1/4 " from closed all the way. Secondly operating temps...when I have it loaded and is cruising I have a stove pipe temp of 400 and a stove top temp using a heat gun of 550 to 660 degrees. What's the temps you guys have been running at? Let me know...Thanks!

olddawgsrule said:
Woody Stove is right on the point here!
I have a Shelburne and love it!
Same principles apply to the Manchester.

If you're using smaller splits, then you're probably a bit too wet..
That's where I'm at with most of my stock this year...

I have about a cord and a half of good
Supplementing with some bio-logs this year..
Saving the Good for over night logs.

I have never 'fully' loaded my stove
Just doesn't need it if the wood is dry

I may have missed some other comments here
But, main statement that Woody put forward is right

Opps, almost forgot...
Get a moisture reader and read your wood
HF has a cheap one that I use

Zemmie · Oct 30, 2014

Zemmie said:
I have been reading this forum about the Hearthstone manchester for quite sometime and have recently purchased one. Absolutely love this stove the heat output is incredible. I don't have the blower yet but I did order one just in case I need a little boost for heat output this winter. And by the sounds of it central Michigan is in for another hard winter. But I do have some questions for some of you that have had this stove longer than I have. First off my old stove was 8" and when I bought this house I put in 16' of 8" Super Vent to replace the old style triple wall. The stove seems to be burning fine being increased at the double wall to 8". Do any of you see any issues with this? My burn times are 10hrs or more on a full load and air control opened only a 1/8 to 1/4 " from closed all the way. Secondly operating temps...when I have it loaded and is cruising I have a stove pipe temp of 400 and a stove top temp using a heat gun of 550 to 660 degrees. What's the temps you guys have been running at? Let me know...Thanks!

DMB · Oct 31, 2014

Zemmie said:
I have been reading this forum about the Hearthstone manchester for quite sometime and have recently purchased one. Absolutely love this stove the heat output is incredible. I don't have the blower yet but I did order one just in case I need a little boost for heat output this winter. And by the sounds of it central Michigan is in for another hard winter. But I do have some questions for some of you that have had this stove longer than I have. First off my old stove was 8" and when I bought this house I put in 16' of 8" Super Vent to replace the old style triple wall. The stove seems to be burning fine being increased at the double wall to 8". Do any of you see any issues with this? My burn times are 10hrs or more on a full load and air control opened only a 1/8 to 1/4 " from closed all the way. Secondly operating temps...when I have it loaded and is cruising I have a stove pipe temp of 400 and a stove top temp using a heat gun of 550 to 660 degrees. What's the temps you guys have been running at? Let me know...Thanks!

Stove looks awesome! Your temps seem right on par; however I would say that from what I remember last year 600 or so on the stove top was about as high as I really got. I've only had mine burning for one year so I'm still learning some too. You'll see on here that the steel stoves get much hotter. Not unusual to see people recording stove top temps of 700 or 800 degrees. But on a cast stove you seem to have it figured out. Your results would indicate that you definitely have the basics down. Tweaking with a few things you may be able to get more out of it...but a burn time around 12 hours is about all the Manchester has to offer.

You'll enjoy having the fan when you need it. Moves a ton of heat. You should anticipate lesser stove top temps when you use it so take that into account.

Enjoy the stove...as you mentioned you're gonna need it!

Zemmie · Nov 5, 2014

Super impressed with the blower!! I just put it on yesterday and the extra heat it puts out is incredible definitely will help cut down on wood consumption you get so much more heat off it. With the blower on medium roughly its a rheostat dial, its fairly quiet. But when its on high it really pushes some air but it is rather noisy, but its a blower your going to have air noise. I do like that it is controlled by thermostat for when it kicks on and off set it and forget it, but you do have to set the blower speed for where you want to run it. And it conceals itself nicely sits right under the stove and doesn't hang out the back and look gaudy like some stoves. But good investment to have it even if you don't use it all the time well worth the money but it is pricey I paid $349 with tax out the door. I will post some pics soon. Hope this little bit of info helps!

Zemmie · Nov 5, 2014

Here's some pics of the blower and my dog enjoying the heat.

begreen · Nov 6, 2014

Great pup shot with the stove.

Stihl-ing Trees · Nov 6, 2014

I have had my Manchester since last November, and I really like the heat output. I think your stove looks great! My question to you would be, do you use your damper with the dial on stove? At times I feel like my stove could burn much longer than it does, but I do not have a damper installed. I ran 6" duravent piping the whole way, I still think I am getting way to much draw from the chimney. When I open the bottom lid to the ash drawer I have instant inferno in the stove.

Stihl-ing Trees · Nov 6, 2014

Tenn Dave · Nov 6, 2014

DMB said:
Moved into my house nearly two and a half years ago. The basement fireplace had an unusual setup to say the least. A three-sided open fireplace. Only had one fire in it...it was terrible as I suspected but I couldn't resist. I knew in the back of my head that I could make some changes and really take advantage of this unique fireplace. Well its finally done. Stumbled across this forum and used it extensively to get info and opinions...so for that I wanted to say thanks to everyone on here.

I decided to go with the Hearthstone Manchester for quality and good looks (wife and I both kept coming back to the cast stoves.) Had our first fire this weekend and couldn't be happier! View attachment 116746

Super nice job

Zemmie · Nov 6, 2014

Stihl-ing Trees said:
I have had my Manchester since last November, and I really like the heat output. I think your stove looks great! My question to you would be, do you use your damper with the dial on stove? At times I feel like my stove could burn much longer than it does, but I do not have a damper installed. I ran 6" duravent piping the whole way, I still think I am getting way to much draw from the chimney. When I open the bottom lid to the ash drawer I have instant inferno in the stove.

I honestly just put it in as habit because all my other stoves needed one and you were stupid to not put in a damper with those. So basically I added it just as a precautionary to have it if I ever needed it... But I have not used it cause the air control on the stove already works very well for me, and I have increaser at the double wall pipe to go to from 6"sigle wall to 8" double wall flue and I have no problems. You will get that instant inferno if you ever open the ash door I would leave that shut that is a easy way to overfire your stove. Or if you have to ever open it do so when your just down to coals.

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