Too much draft in castine?

I posted earlier here regarding my concerns about a possible over fire and since then I've noticed that my surface stove temps will run up to 650+ with anything over a small load even with the draft control shut down.

I usually run the stove on high until the fire is strong then taper it back about 1/2 - 3/4 open until the surface thermometer reads 4-450. I then shut it down to just a crack open and it typically will maintain between 4 and 500 through the height of it's burn. I would never close it down all the way as the fire would starve a bit and I'd get back-puffing when the built up gasses would ignite.

Now, I'm not able to keep the temps in the that 4-500 range and anything more than a very small load will burn at 650-700 easily even with the draft control closed down all the way.
The fire itself doesn't look like it's running all that hard, but the secondaries really blast like a forge.

I am burning some very dry wood, though I wouldn't say unusually dry.

I did do a dollar bill test on the door seal and for 75% of the door I was unable to pull the bill through when the door was closed. There are several spots along the bottom where I can pull the bill through fairly easily. The gasket is the original, and this is it's third winter (the stove is my primary heater.)

My flue runs straight up from the top of the stove, no bends.

Could it be that I'm leaking enough along the bottom of the door to cause this lack of control over the burn?
Is being able to pull the bill through the door seal indicative of a bad seal?

stoveguy13 said:

what is your burn time like and what was it like before you started getting higher temps?

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Seems like it's shorter. Temps run up to 650+ and wood burns down fairly quickly to a nice hot bed of coals, and in the past the 4-500 peak burn seemed to last longer before the temps tapered off.

stoveguy13 said:

may want tocheck the ashpan gasket it would be more likely to creat what you are talking about then the front door

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I can pull a bill through along about a quarter of the top.

But that's one of my questions; should I be unable to pull a bill through? For much of the seal I can't pull it through without likely ripping the bill, and along those spots where I can pull it through there is some resistance though not much.

Ploughboy, yeah my space is small and those hotter burns make for shorts and tee-shirt conditions in here. But, more concerning is the fact that anything above a very small load will run temps up to that 650+ range regardless of where the air control is. So, it seems like there is no control to an extent.
Also if there is a medium or larger load the secondaries will cause the air deflector at the top of the door to glow a dull red. This is with the draft control shut down all the way. This is the driest wood I've burned in this stove (3 years old) but I typically burn minimum 18 months seasoned wood anyways.

The bills are sliding through with some friction though it doesn't take any effort to pull them through.

I plan on replacing the gaskets in the next day or two regardless.

kestrel said:

My Castine runs the same exact way you describe. Great heat but potential for overfire is always there. I have covered the air intake on multiple occasions this season to slow things down. The secondaries rage unbelievably, even when I've taken the time to back the air down to not let the fire get out of control. I'm in my third year with it as well and this is the first year I've had well-seasoned wood. I'll replace the gaskets before next year, they could probably stand to be replaced, but are not horrible. I see quite a few threads about Castine overfire. Seems they like to run hot. I wish there was a control for the secondary air intake.

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I've had to cover the air intake myself twice this season when closing the air control didn't slow things down enough and the deflector was aglow. I'm thinking of installing a damper if this is going to be a regular result of burning wood this dry. I don't need a 700* fire every time I want to load a few splits for a longer burn. I'm replacing the gaskets in a couple days here when the temperatures are supposed to be a bit warmer, so that should answer some questions for me.

Hardrockmaple said:

Go back to 12-18 month old wood, see if that brings the temps down.

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I'd like to but everything I have right now is either 3 years old or just under a year and three feet of snow.