Hearthstone Clydesdale

Huntindog1 · Dec 23, 2014

First pic doesnt look like very good coal bed. Doesnt look like your stove is full.
You will have to get a feel for your wood and when to close the air down.
Close the air down in 1/4 ways increments then wait for a few minutes then lower the air down again 1/4 ways like I mentioned its a feel you will learn on how long to wait between each increment you shut down the stove.

Sounds like your wood is border line usable. As in it will burn but its causing frustration. Good kindling will help and using a good bed of coals.

Rake those coals forward so you have most of your good coals in the front by the door. Load the wood in the back all the way to the bottom of the stove. In the back is where to load the big stuff and load stuff all the way up to the top as close to the baffle or tubes. Picking pieces to fit is an art form LoL. Then load a second row with a little smaller stuff then that row closest to the door load kindling that will sit on the bulk of the raked forward coal bed. The air comes in there in the front and if at first you have the dorr cracked it will get the kindling fired up fast on hot coals. You have to do all this stuff as your wood is sub par border line. Really 18% or less is what you want. I never did like 20% stuff.

Your leaning dont worry we all have been thru the learning curve.

Look at the pics in this posting.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/rake-coals-forward-and-stove-start-up-pictures.80659/

hamsey · Dec 24, 2014

HD,

Thanks! When I got home last night I decided to go back and use the stove as recommended on this site instead of what the owners manual said. Got much better burns. Very nice secondaries. Same this AM. Nice bed of coals raked forward, piled on the splits, waited around 10 min and started closing the air. No need to leave the door open to ignite the reload. I cannot wait and see what this thing can do with proper wood. Just have to muddle through this year. It is heating the home much better that the Jotul before it.

Is there anything I can do about the black glass at the bottom corners other than burning better wood? When the secondaries are going and no visible flame that must be the cold areas. All the action is on top nothing at the bottom. Actually got the stove top temp above 500 for the first time. This is where Hearthstone says to measure. When I point the IR deeper into the box it much higher.

I do love it and am glad we made the switch.

Huntindog1 · Dec 24, 2014

Nice pic and nice burn
You need to check door gasket seal
Search for dollar bill test
Could be air leaking around door gasket causing black glass at bottom corners

aansorge · Dec 24, 2014

So the Clydesdale and the Rockland are about the same size, no? If so, I find it surprising that one is much better than the other in terms of performance.

hamsey · Dec 24, 2014

Clydesdale is a little bigger. Not sure if it the radiant heat that comes off the front. I know I can load more in the Clydesdale so that will also help. Nice bed of coals in the AM so restarts are easier.

I did ask the dealer to check the seal before installation. Doubt they did based on how it was still wrapped in plastic and crated. Going to do it Friday AM. Will be disappointed if it is leaking. But if it keeps the glass clean that is all that matters.

hamsey · Dec 29, 2014

So we checked the front door gasket. No resistance what so ever along the top of the door with the dollar bill. That could explain the whistle we hear from a cold start. Got a fire going and checked with incense and we have leaks where the glass is dirty at the bottom corners. Dealer is closed until the 30th. Going to ask that it be replaced under warranty. I know I am not the only one to have this issue with a new Clydesdale. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/dirty-glass.134624/#post-1819997 post #18

hamsey · Jan 2, 2015

Update for future reference:

Tried adjusting the door by removing washers and tightening the handle. Neither of those worked. Their latest thinking is a have a warped door. Going to replace the door hopefully next week. I am getting lousy burn times and seems like the stove starts going cold once the wood is turned into coals. Not sure if this will take care of the problem but need to wait and see.

CPap · Jan 2, 2015

hamsey said:
Update for future reference:

Tried adjusting the door by removing washers and tightening the handle. Neither of those worked. Their latest thinking is a have a warped door. Going to replace the door hopefully next week. I am getting lousy burn times and seems like the stove starts going cold once the wood is turned into coals. Not sure if this will take care of the problem but need to wait and see.

Keep us posted. I just installed the same unit about three weeks ago. Love the output. I am burning 20-23% MC wood and have noticed dirty corners and black coals as well. I did the dollar bill test and the top section is looser than the bottom. It doesn't slip right out though. There is a little resistance. I think I am attributing the dirty glass and coals to the"not so great" wood. I may buy some decent wood to see. Good luck with your findings.

hamsey · Jan 3, 2015

CPap,

Curious what you are getting for burn times? I am getting about 2 to 3. Lots of coal very little heat. Hoping the door has something to do with this. My old unit would put out heat for 4 or 5 hours with less wood. I know my wood is not the best but if this is how it is I might just stop burning and save the wood for next season. With oil prices down the sting will not be so bad. It does put out a lot of heat for those few hours though. Currently burning ash that has been c/s/s for 10 months single stacked with lots of wind and some sun.

Door is in just waiting for them to install it. Also going to have them check the draft while they are there for peace of mind. Plus it would be nice to know.

CPap · Jan 3, 2015

hamsey said:
CPap,

Curious what you are getting for burn times? I am getting about 2 to 3. Lots of coal very little heat. Hoping the door has something to do with this. My old unit would put out heat for 4 or 5 hours with less wood. I know my wood is not the best but if this is how it is I might just stop burning and save the wood for next season. With oil prices down the sting will not be so bad. It does put out a lot of heat for those few hours though. Currently burning ash that has been c/s/s for 10 months single stacked with lots of wind and some sun.

View attachment 149285

Door is in just waiting for them to install it. Also going to have them check the draft while they are there for peace of mind. Plus it would be nice to know.

I am getting about 3 hours of burning log. Then it turns to real hot coals which provide heat for an additional 4 hours or so. The splits are relatively small so I may not be getting longevity out of the burn. I am mostly left with black coals in the back after 8 hours or so. I did notice that if I stir them up and pull open the damper, they start to glow. I hand picked a bunch of dry stuff 20% and less) last night and the burn was a lot cleaner. No real dirty corners in the glass. I am burning red oak and black maple.

Nice wood rack. I am finishing mine up today. Building the roof now.

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Good luck with the door and draft test. I hope all goes well. Can't they come by today and replace the door?

Huntindog1 · Jan 3, 2015

50 percent of the heat in a load of wood is during the coal stage

hamsey · Jan 4, 2015

During the coaling stage do you just leave them in a pile or do you rake them around? Use to just leave them with the old stove. This stove I find that I have to rake them around to get them to burn hot and burn down the pile.

Would this stove be considered an easy breather? Not sure what the meaning means.

Huntindog1 · Jan 4, 2015

To burn down the coals rake them forward as primary air usually comes down the inside of the window as the air wash then right into the coals towards the front of the stove.
To speed up the operation put on a couple pieces of dry thin split kindling ontop of the coals you raked forward to the front of the stove.

Easy breather I am not sure. Stoves basically work off the draw if the flue. Some flues have more draw and its hard to fix that and these stoves are made to not be able to shut them down too far to prevent smolder fires and polluting the air. With a free standingstove you could put in a pipe damper as another adjustment.

If you have enough coals for for relighting another load of wood after say 8 to 9 hours maybe 10 hours then thats all you can ask.

Keep the stove going constantly 24/7 in cycles of full wood load to coals every 8 to 9 hours a new cycle. That keeps the mass of the house heated up and helps the whole house to be warm. Letting the house cool down between loads if a major issue when its cold out as the mass of the house especially at the far ends will cool down and hard to get heated back up.

hamsey · Jan 8, 2015

Dealer came out and replaced the door. Much to my surprise it is day and night difference. Burns like its suppose to. Getting heat instead of charcoal during the coaling stage and burn hotter front to back. Glass is staying clean. Happy camper now.

CPap · Jan 9, 2015

hamsey said:
Dealer came out and replaced the door. Much to my surprise it is day and night difference. Burns like its suppose to. Getting heat instead of charcoal during the coaling stage and burn hotter front to back. Glass is staying clean. Happy camper now.

That's great news! Glad you have it worked out. What kind of burns are you getting now?

hamsey · Jan 9, 2015

With this cold I am building fires with small splits so about the same 2-3 hours but I am getting heat those 2-3 hours. Before when it got to the coaling stage I would not get much heat and had to constantly rake them forward so they did not charcoal. Last fire for the night 4 medium large splits at 10 woke up at 1 and it was still going, got up at 3:30 to lower the fan speed because I was worried that it would be cooling off the firebox, up again at 5:30 with a healthy amount of coals but not much heat. Put my hand on the stove and it was hot but not enough to warm the house in these temps.

Going to be putting the bigger splits in tonight so I can take advantage of them in the am. Will see what I get for burn times with those. I only have a few and am saving them when I can get i fire going in the am. Thinking about that now I should be burning those when I cannot get a fire in the am. So it puts out the heat longer. Still new to this. Think I will save those for during the week. I do not want to waste the wood in the am when I can only bring the house up 1 or 2 degrees for a few hours while we are away at work with these temperatures. When it is in the mid 20's we can pretty much heat the house 24/7 except maybe for a few hours in the afternoon and a couple early in the morning. If we had average temps (mid to high 30's) I think we can heat 24/7. Will have to wait a couple of years for the true test. Oak I c/s/s this fall will not be ready until then. Going to buy some more ash in the next couple of weeks and get that stacked for next season. Smaller splits when I buy it though. Once the wood shed is cleared going to put a few cords in there close the doors and have it act like a kiln. That's my plan and I am sticking to it :cool:

How did the roof come out?

Huntindog1 · Jan 9, 2015

Make sure you learn how low you can turn the input air down and still have secondaries.
I would not burn at too high of level as in leaving the input air open too much extra more than that lowest setting
of input that you know you can do and still have secondaries.
Why? Well with the input air left open further there is more air flow thru the stove. This extra air flow will
flush more of the heat up the flue.
Your most likely running the stove a little more open as your wood is sub par a little.
Getting more heat out of the stove is based on using good dry wood. Its amazing how a little too much moisture will
rob greatly the amount of heat a stove puts out.
Go buy some eco bricks and do you a test.
Using kindling and a firestarter on hot coals helps alot but using good dry wood like 15% or less you dont even need kindling
to over come the extra moisture. Its all about the heat in the box. Most people view it as how much flames they see but when
you take a view of how much heat is in the firebox. Then other factors come into play.

hamsey · Jan 9, 2015

When my friends and family saw how I was seasoning my wood they though I was crazy. Telling me it will be seasoned in time. Well they were wrong and I also was wrong. Pretty difficult getting ahead on wood. When I told my wife where I am going to set up the next seasoning stack I got an earful. I believe she is seeing the light to my madness. I am happy with the heat I am getting. Probably could be more. I will be patient (for a change) and wait it out. Going to get log lengths in February for 17/18.

I can almost damper the air all the way. Need bigger splits because of that.

Huntindog1 · Jan 9, 2015

Get you a tub and set it by your stove with your next load of wood in it. The dryness and warmth sitting near stove for 8 hours will dry out your wood a little more.

CPap · Jan 9, 2015

Hamsey - sounds like you are on track. Thanks for sharing your experiences as it's also helping me. I am going through the same growing pains right now. Especially with some of this subpar wood. I notice the same burn time with mine when loaded up at 10-11pm. By 7am, there are still coals I can make a fire with easily but not much heat left. I rake the coals around, pull foward and throw some logs on top. Within a few minutes of the door closed and damper open, I have a decent fire going.

Here's the start of my roof. Ran out of material and time - kids..
.

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Hindindog1 - Thanks for all your tips. Been utilizing the useful info.

hamsey · Jan 9, 2015

Looks good! Hate running out of material during a project.

Woody Stover · Jan 9, 2015

hamsey said:
Dealer came out and replaced the door. Much to my surprise it is day and night difference. Burns like its suppose to. Getting heat instead of charcoal during the coaling stage and burn hotter front to back. Glass is staying clean.

Great!

Yep, when your stove is leaking air, that air is not being supplied to where the stove needs it to produce max heat.

Huntindog1 said:
Make sure you learn how low you can turn the input air down and still have secondaries. I would not burn at too high of level as in leaving the input air open too much extra more than that lowest setting
of input that you know you can do and still have secondaries. Why? Well with the input air left open further there is more air flow thru the stove. This extra air flow will flush more of the heat up the flue.

Yep, all about supplying air where the stove wants it, and cutting air as much as you can while still getting secondary burn.

Your most likely running the stove a little more open as your wood is sub par a little. Getting more heat out of the stove is based on using good dry wood. Its amazing how a little too much moisture will rob greatly the amount of heat a stove puts out.

That said, you may feel like you're wasting wood, but you may need to burn the load in a little longer after you re-load the stove, to drive the extra moisture out so you can get good secondaries. BTW, "easy breather" is a stove that can run well on lower draft than the majority other stoves can.

hamsey · Jan 10, 2015

Woody, Thanks for the explanation.

Boy last night was like going back to square one. Charcoal in the back again and short burn times.Don't get me wrong it puts out nice heat and I can get the secondaries going after 10 or 20 minutes. Not sure if it an install issue because I used my existing liner and the length was very close and maybe short based on how the installers were talking and that is causing a draft issue. Might be ovalized at the block off plate due to how far this stove sticks out and my other stove was flush and the liner is not straight down but at an angle. Edit: Going to do a new test based on info from Hearthstone. I did do a draft test -.014 when the stove was cold and +.001 when I had some coals and splits were burning. Not sure where the draft is suppose to be. My cap is not clogged, liner was swept 2 days before it was installed and we did did have any fires in between. We had 3 or 4 handfuls of class 1 creosote and the sweep said to keep burning the way we are but that is proving difficult.

Maybe this thing has to run hotter but I am worried about over firing it. When doing the draft check and the top grille was off I checked the temps and they were over 600 so I got worried that maybe the door was going to warp. When I put the grille back on and waited a few minutes the temps measured in the 300 hundreds. Not sure if the grille is acting as a heat sink. Going to have an energy audit done Friday and the stove has to be free of ash maybe I will remove the baffle and take a look at the liner and see if there is anything going on.

I do know that it does not like n/s burns. But I am at a loss. Going to grab a video or a series of photos so you guys can tell me if it is a wood issue or something else. Trying to phone Hearthstone so I can talk to someone to see how I am suppose to burn is proving futile. I did get a call from someone with kiln dried wood, 20 to 25 percent. Figured that is not dry enough to rule out a wood problem. Going to do another MC test on one of the big splits I have seeing how it will not fit in the stove anyway.

Hearthstone Clydesdale

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