Getting a Hearthstone up to 600°

oldspark: "...the flue temps drop after I start to close the draft down,"

That's a good thing. When you reduce the air supply, the heat stops going up the chimney and stays in the stove.

DanCorcoran said:

oldspark: "...the flue temps drop after I start to close the draft down,"

That's a good thing. When you reduce the air supply, the heat stops going up the chimney and stays in the stove.

Click to expand...

That was my point maybe it got lost in the mix.

Damn, I can't even stay in the room with my Heritage when it's at 500. I can't imagine 600+. Do you guys get that cast iron smell? I've got new stove pipe this year, so I guess there's still stuff burning off.

Good write up browning

Thanks Browning for this post, I believe this is how these stoves should be run if need be.

However, this practice is in sharp contrast to how Hearthstone advises me to run my stove. They told me not to ever run the stove (Homestead) above 500°.

I won't get into details here, and there are some good posts from other Hearthstone owners here on max. temps for these stoves, I just felt compelled to share this information I received straight from the company.

I realize this is my first post and I don't exude credibility, but I have been a hearth.com forum follower and have learned a lot great practices regarding EPA stove operation and wood processing. I am not out to bash Hearthstone by any means and for the most part I love my new Homestead, just wish they provided more consistency/clarity on how to run these stoves.

Thanks.

Yes, it does say 600° in the manual. I am in contact with them about having a part replaced and they are telling me that it is not a good idea to exceed 500°!
I easily reach and need 500° out of this stove, but parts should not be compromised because of it.

mtbon said:

Yes, it does say 600° in the manual. I am in contact with them about having a part replaced and they are telling me that it is not a good idea to exceed 500°!
I easily reach and need 500° out of this stove, but parts should not be compromised because of it.

Click to expand...

With most stove sticks and paper will get you to 500!

BrowningBAR said:

mtbon said:

Yes, it does say 600° in the manual. I am in contact with them about having a part replaced and they are telling me that it is not a good idea to exceed 500°!
I easily reach and need 500° out of this stove, but parts should not be compromised because of it.

Click to expand...

Who is "they". Every dealer I have spoken with and all of their manuals state 600 degrees. The only parts that will be effected by high temps are the soapstone. Everything else is cast iron. Exceeding 600 brings a risk of the stones cracking. Parts will not be compromised with temps exceeding 500 degrees.

What parts are you replacing?

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+1 and FWIW, the soapstone on the Woodstocks can go to 700 degrees so I wouldn't hesitate, if I needed the heat, to take a Hearthstone to 600 - or maybe 599....

Bill

There's a difference between the Woodstock's and Hearthstones. The top stones are thicker, 1 1/4" on the Hearthstones verses the 3/4" Woodstock top. If you put down another slab of stone on top of the Woodstocks the temp will drop 100 or so degrees.

The high temp isn't what cracks the stone, soapstone can handle any amount of heat a wood stove could give it, it's the cast iron that doesn't like temps over 1400 and the expansion of the cast can put stress on the stones. I would say any stove top temp over 600 in either stove is getting close to those 1400 internal temps.

And with the double wall construction of the woodstocks you would be less likely to crack a stone. They don't see the same temp differential that a single wall stove would see.

There are stainless steel bits and cast iron bits inside out stoves. The normal failure, other than stones cracking, is catastrophic sagging of the stove top. The cast iron grid supporting the roof is a weak link. Luckily it is relatively easy to replace.

The stone may not get too hot but if you have a super hot blast furnace type of fire going then you can overheat the castings before the stone heats up. This is why a probe meter in the flue is so beneficial. My standard condar probe meter displays temps well over 1000 regularly and I've seen 1250 degrees 15" up the flue, all when the stove top is under 400, so you know that the castings are seeing some high temps when a stone stove is being pushed hard.

You really can't compare operating a steel stove to how a stone stove runs.

BrowningBAR said:

mtbon said:

Yes, it does say 600° in the manual. I am in contact with them about having a part replaced and they are telling me that it is not a good idea to exceed 500°!
I easily reach and need 500° out of this stove, but parts should not be compromised because of it.

Click to expand...

Who is "they". Every dealer I have spoken with and all of their manuals state 600 degrees. The only parts that will be effected by high temps are the soapstone. Everything else is cast iron. Exceeding 600 brings a risk of the stones cracking. Parts will not be compromised with temps exceeding 500 degrees.

What parts are you replacing?

Click to expand...

Both the dealer and their Hearthstone rep. say not to exceed 500°. I was taken aback by that one, especially after reading the manual.
The problem I have is a warped airwash plate. On the Homestead it is a thin piece of metal. I have looked at the Heritage and the airwash plate on that stove is either cast iron or a heavier gauge steel.
I am not too happy about it since I have only used the stove one season and have been very careful to not go near the overfire temp of 600°.
So far Hearthstone is saying this is normal for this stove model, but I am saying it's a defective part.
Thanks.

Todd said:

There's a difference between the Woodstock's and Hearthstones. The top stones are thicker, 1 1/4" on the Hearthstones verses the 3/4" Woodstock top. If you put down another slab of stone on top of the Woodstocks the temp will drop 100 or so degrees.

The high temp isn't what cracks the stone, soapstone can handle any amount of heat a wood stove could give it, it's the cast iron that doesn't like temps over 1400 and the expansion of the cast can put stress on the stones. I would say any stove top temp over 600 in either stove is getting close to those 1400 internal temps.

Click to expand...

I think what I'm thinking is that regardless of the thickness or if there are one or two plates of soapstone, the hottest part of the stone is on the inside of the firebox. It may be that when the Woodstock stovetop is at 700 degrees and the Hearthstone's stovetop is 600 degrees, the interior surface of each is similar in temperature and maybe your cooking the cast iron in both at the same temp limits.

Thanks!
Bill

BrowningBAR said:

mtbon said:

BrowningBAR said:

mtbon said:

Yes, it does say 600° in the manual. I am in contact with them about having a part replaced and they are telling me that it is not a good idea to exceed 500°!
I easily reach and need 500° out of this stove, but parts should not be compromised because of it.

Click to expand...

Who is "they". Every dealer I have spoken with and all of their manuals state 600 degrees. The only parts that will be effected by high temps are the soapstone. Everything else is cast iron. Exceeding 600 brings a risk of the stones cracking. Parts will not be compromised with temps exceeding 500 degrees.

What parts are you replacing?

Click to expand...

Both the dealer and their Hearthstone rep. say not to exceed 500°. I was taken aback by that one, especially after reading the manual.
The problem I have is a warped airwash plate. On the Homestead it is a thin piece of metal. I have looked at the Heritage and the airwash plate on that stove is either cast iron or a heavier gauge steel.
I am not too happy about it since I have only used the stove one season and have been very careful to not go near the overfire temp of 600°.
So far Hearthstone is saying this is normal for this stove model, but I am saying it's a defective part.
Thanks.

Click to expand...

I think you are being fed some bad information. A warped ash plate is not normal wear. Especially after one season. Do you leave the ash pan open to boost the air during the start up of a fire?

Click to expand...

Air wash plate or ash plate? I remember my old Homestead had a pretty heavy duty cast iron plate in front that held up the baffle board and it never showed any signs of warpage. The ash pan grate was a bad design imo, I had a few overfires because it didn't seal properly, I ended up taking the grate out and replacing it with fire bricks. Also had a stone crack on the right side.

BrowningBAR said:

Todd said:

BrowningBAR said:

mtbon said:

BrowningBAR said:

mtbon" date="1322087861 said:

Yes, it does say 600° in the manual. I am in contact with them about having a part replaced and they are telling me that it is not a good idea to exceed 500°!
I easily reach and need 500° out of this stove, but parts should not be compromised because of it.

Click to expand...

Who is "they". Every dealer I have spoken with and all of their manuals state 600 degrees. The only parts that will be effected by high temps are the soapstone. Everything else is cast iron. Exceeding 600 brings a risk of the stones cracking. Parts will not be compromised with temps exceeding 500 degrees.

What parts are you replacing?

Click to expand...

Both the dealer and their Hearthstone rep. say not to exceed 500°. I was taken aback by that one, especially after reading the manual.
The problem I have is a warped airwash plate. On the Homestead it is a thin piece of metal. I have looked at the Heritage and the airwash plate on that stove is either cast iron or a heavier gauge steel.
I am not too happy about it since I have only used the stove one season and have been very careful to not go near the overfire temp of 600°.
So far Hearthstone is saying this is normal for this stove model, but I am saying it's a defective part.
Thanks.

Click to expand...

I think you are being fed some bad information. A warped ash plate is not normal wear. Especially after one season. Do you leave the ash pan open to boost the air during the start up of a fire?

Click to expand...

Air wash plate or ash plate? I remember my old Homestead had a pretty heavy duty cast iron plate in front that held up the baffle board and it never showed any signs of warpage. The ash pan grate was a bad design imo, I had a few overfires because it didn't seal properly, I ended up taking the grate out and replacing it with fire bricks. Also had a stone crack on the right side.

Click to expand...

Did it warp after one firing season?

Click to expand...

Nope, and I ran it pretty hard in the 500-600 range. I had this stove back in 2002-2003 so the design may have changed since then?

maybe should start another thread but my Keystone I generally get it to 650 on the high end for a hour or so. I hope that doesnt do anything bad to it

was really worried about that black hole thing as we are at 3200 feet here and we get sucked up much more easily then low landers........ LOL