Draft Question

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bcnu

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Dec 1, 2006
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I know this sort of topic has been covered but:
a. I didn't find what I needed in the archives
b. I didn't need the information until now

I have the new stove(Hearthstone Homestead) up to speed and am beginning to wonder. about this:
I put in a couple of smaller softwood splits tonight and let them get glowing. Nice flame and the stove began to warm up slowly. Then I added two more small hardwood splits about 20 minutes later. Everything was burning well and I shut the air control completely. The fire continued to burn with the flames pretty much filling the firebox - what I would call a flaming fire. The flames turned into a more gentle burn about 45 minutes later. I'll put another couple of splits on it soon and leave it for the night. Should the flames go way down when the air control is off all the way? I have excellent draft - could I have too much? I have a SS liner in the masonry flue and we added some extra liner to get about 17 feet of pipe.

Perhaps what I really want to know is :
I thought I could damp the fire down rather quickly by shutting the air control. Is it normal for the fire to continue to burn lustily for (quite) awhile before beginning to subside? I almost feel like the father of a newborn :lol:
 
Sounds normal to me. After you turn down the air the fire box fills with gas and smoke, and if the fire box is hot enough (about 1100 degrees) secondary combustion takes over and those gases will ignight and put on a great show. After a little while the gases subside and you won't see as many flames.
 
What you call a "shut down" fire is often a dirty and inefficient fire. The ideals is a "slow" dance (for a long burn), meaning that it is hot enough that the gases are still burning, but they are not "torching".

Many stoves have air controls (either primary, secondary or both) which do not shut all the way for this exact reason.
 
Yep, I gotta agree with Todd. Sounds like a pretty normal response to me. What kind of stove top and flue temps were you getting at that point? That will really tell ya if its running correct. Some wood flames more than others, some is more of a glow, lots of variables just in the wood being used. Temps don't lie.
 
Thanks for the replies. I need to get a stovetop thermometer as the manual says to keep temp there below 600. I can't measure the flue temps as the stove is completely enclosed with a metal surround. If what I'm seeing is normal then it's going to be a great winter.
 
My heritage (even my old Lopi) will do that only if I have a real good head of steam on a raging fire, fresher wood, in a hot stove, before shutting down the primary air. I can generally snuff the fire by shutting the draft down when I have a normal load of wood and the normal 400 or so stove temps. The primary air control has no effect on the wide open secondary air in these stoves which pump plenty of oxygen into the fire way up high in the box. The continuing fire that seems to rage despite the draft being shut down leads to runaway fires in my experience, nothing quite as nerve racking as trying to shut down an overheating stove and then watching the needle climb while the plume of secondary fire runs up the baffle.

I use a stove top thermometer and have only really gotten the HS to 450 or so. I know it is supposed to run at 500 on high but the manual is a bit flakey about the 600 number by saying that if you leave it there or exceed it that things will break. So is 550 fine? not specifically in the manual. At 450 we're pumping a lot of heat though.
 
Might be perfectly normal, but I would check the door gaskets, (dollar bill test) and if you have an ash door make sure everything is fitting like it should, just to be on the safe side. I just want to make sure were not confusing that wild secondary combustion with an air leak.
 
Highbeam and Smokey -
your replies were right on. This won't even be on the radar later but for now it seems like a high priority(concern)
I'll begin monitoring the stovetop temp as I also wondered what I would do to shut down an out of control fire. Keeping stovetop in the mid 400's sounds good.
I'll check for air especially on the ash grate. The door seems pretty tight. I'll wait to on the dollar bill test as all I have is a twenty.
 
Funny thing about the front doors on these Hearthstones is that both the door and frame each have a ledge that likes to catch and hold chunks of coal, ash, debris or whatever right at the gasket interface. Every time I open the front door to start a new fire (I reload from the side which seems much less sensitive about this) I need to clean out the door nad frmae to ensure a good seal. When everything is clean the door latch mechanism seems to really suck everything together tightly. My old Lopi had the large gasket roll against the plate steel stove face that really couldn't hold debris in the seal area.
 
bcnu said:
Highbeam and Smokey -
your replies were right on. This won't even be on the radar later but for now it seems like a high priority(concern)
I'll begin monitoring the stovetop temp as I also wondered what I would do to shut down an out of control fire. Keeping stovetop in the mid 400's sounds good.
I'll check for air especially on the ash grate. The door seems pretty tight. I'll wait to on the dollar bill test as all I have is a twenty.
Click to expand...

When I had my Homestead I had a run away do to the ash grate and pan not sealing properly. That ash grate can get stuck open with old coal chunks and the ash pan isn't the best sealing thing either. After that I took out the ash grate and replaced it with firebricks and just shoveled the ashes out.
 
I just checked the ash grate and it looks closed. For now I also plan to shovel out the ash. I'll keep an eye on the door also. Just starting up another fire and it looks good. Couple of sheets of newspaper, about 5 pieces of small cedar kindling and a couple of small splits. Excellent draft. I'll add some larger splits soon. Just wish the weather was colder, but I couldn't wait. I'll continue to monitor the flames and temps but all in all it looks very good.
 
Hey, what's the dollar bill test?
 
Maplegirl,
I think that's the one where you send everyone who responds to your post one dollar :cheese: Actually it's a way to test for leaks. I'll let someone else take it fom here.
 
maplegirl said:
Hey, what's the dollar bill test?
Click to expand...

Do a search on it for details, but in short you close the door you want to test on a dollar bill, then try to pull the bill out or slide it around. If the bill doesn't move the seal is good, if it moves easily there is a problem. Repeat all the way around any door being tested, until the entire sealing area has been checked.

Failing seals can cause a variety of problems from dirty glass to difficulty in controlling the stove, Cures usually involve either adjusting the latch mechanisms or replacing the gaskets.

Gooserider
 
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