Can I let the dog off the leash?

[dkuntz413]

I've lit 1 break in fire with my Hearthstone Heritage according to the manual. Warm to the touch, then shut down. I've lit a second fire, hot to the touch, 300 degrees on the stack,then burned down. I've done both of these with a small amount of wood, and noticed a little smell, not much. I think I'm ready to let this dog off the leash, but am wondering if it might be better to have a couple of other med. fires first. Thanks
Doug

 

[trailblaze]

i think it's all about getting the "hotter" and "hotter" after each break in fire... my first was a small, 2-3 hour fire, then a larger 4-5 hour fire and last night had had my 7-8 hour fire reaching flue temps of 400 and surface temps of about the same.... it still smelled... but i assume until i reach the highest temp (without damage) it will probably smell again...

tonight i am going to let it rip and try the ever burn...

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Yup. I was burning for weeks, and one night the blower was unplugged... oops- there's that burn-in smell, as the surface temp approached overfire conditions.

You're probably safe to let 'er rip, but a medium, near full temp fire now in the shoulder season wouldn't kill ya.

 

[Highbeam]

To be sure, you should be measuring these temps on the stove top. With this soapstone stove a flue temp of 300 does not indicate much of anything about the stove. I've run the fire at full throttle for a little too long at cold start and gotten a paint smell from my stack while my stove hasn't even broken 400. Your stove manual is somewhat vague on the actual temps for break in but they are very clear on where to measure temperature.

You don't want to crack the stone.

You need a third fire with 300 measured on the stove, and then let er rip.

Oh, and I never really got much stink from the heritage. The soapstone doesn't have paint to burn off but your chimney might if it is single wall.