precaud said:
I take it you are aware that the melting point of most aluminum alloys is below 1200ºF?
Caught a blue Leprechaun
- Thread starter precaud
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
I take it you are aware that the melting point of most aluminum alloys is below 1200ºF?
The first photo shows the holes in the back panel of the stove. Remember, we want less air from these holes. The bottom three holes are hard to see so I've circled them. I started by closing off the top hole by sticking a 1/2" bolt into it (I removed it for the photo). That helped matters greatly - there's already plenty of secondary air in the back from the holes in the baffle.
For the bottom holes, I first tried closing off just the middle one, and noted some improvement, so I then took it further. I used some leftover stove pipe, cut strips just under 1/2" wide and about 1.5" long using tin snips, bent them to form U-shaped "clips", and slipped them into the three bottom holes. The clips were already in place when the pic was taken. This blocks about half of each bottom hole. This worked very good, providing about the right amount of rear leakage air needed for it to burn cleanly in the rear, while taming it down so the fire is more controllable.
The last pic shows the modified stove burning. The stove hadn't warmed up yet so the secondary action isn't shown clearly. But you can see in this pic, and the one in the previous post, that the glass stays VERY clean. That was the one big concern of doing this mod, and not only is it not worse, but it's better than it was. And the inside of the stove burns clean all the way to the back.
As a result of these mods, the stove burns cleaner (less visible smoke out of the stack), the firebox warms up quicker, the stove now really does burn front to back. And what I like most about it, the fire is now very controllable. I can put in two 4-5" dia. logs, throttle back the air, and it will give a nice, lazy 2 hour flaming burn, and burn cleanly doing it - something it could not do before the mods.
So, success all around. It's been fun sussing this one out and getting it to burn better. I've only got a couple days' supply of 14" wood left and then it will come down and get stored until it's needed.
For the bottom holes, I first tried closing off just the middle one, and noted some improvement, so I then took it further. I used some leftover stove pipe, cut strips just under 1/2" wide and about 1.5" long using tin snips, bent them to form U-shaped "clips", and slipped them into the three bottom holes. The clips were already in place when the pic was taken. This blocks about half of each bottom hole. This worked very good, providing about the right amount of rear leakage air needed for it to burn cleanly in the rear, while taming it down so the fire is more controllable.
The last pic shows the modified stove burning. The stove hadn't warmed up yet so the secondary action isn't shown clearly. But you can see in this pic, and the one in the previous post, that the glass stays VERY clean. That was the one big concern of doing this mod, and not only is it not worse, but it's better than it was. And the inside of the stove burns clean all the way to the back.
As a result of these mods, the stove burns cleaner (less visible smoke out of the stack), the firebox warms up quicker, the stove now really does burn front to back. And what I like most about it, the fire is now very controllable. I can put in two 4-5" dia. logs, throttle back the air, and it will give a nice, lazy 2 hour flaming burn, and burn cleanly doing it - something it could not do before the mods.
So, success all around. It's been fun sussing this one out and getting it to burn better. I've only got a couple days' supply of 14" wood left and then it will come down and get stored until it's needed.
Attachments
Aluminum is a much easier material to work with when experimenting. And melting is unlikely to be an issue since there's air passing over it, but I'll let you know if it proves to be a problem.Battenkiller said:
Nice work, Precaud! Great looking burn you've got going in there.
By decreasing the air openings you have increased the velocity as well. Providing bit less air at maximum draw - but at higher velocity - there will be better mixing of air and wood gases, raising internal temps and burning cleaner. And I'm sure, it's more controllable.
I always found that I got better burns in my old Scandia box stove by continuing to close the air down once the fire was well established until there was about a 3/8" opening at the widest part. On that stove, that reduced the total area of the intake to about 1/2 sq.in. You could hear the air getting drawn in hard and fast, and some ash or sawdust sprinkled a few inches in front of the intake would get sucked right in. No glass in that one, but you could peek directly into the intake and see the near white-hot coals.
By decreasing the air openings you have increased the velocity as well. Providing bit less air at maximum draw - but at higher velocity - there will be better mixing of air and wood gases, raising internal temps and burning cleaner. And I'm sure, it's more controllable.
I always found that I got better burns in my old Scandia box stove by continuing to close the air down once the fire was well established until there was about a 3/8" opening at the widest part. On that stove, that reduced the total area of the intake to about 1/2 sq.in. You could hear the air getting drawn in hard and fast, and some ash or sawdust sprinkled a few inches in front of the intake would get sucked right in. No glass in that one, but you could peek directly into the intake and see the near white-hot coals.
I haven't seen that stove in quite a while!! You mention coals in your posts? I thought that it was designed as a woodburner and not a coal stove and that was why such little primary air under the grate?
Could be wrong
Could be wrong
"Coals" are what is left after the flames die out.
The version that was sold in the USA didn't have a grate like the multi-fuel version you got at home did.
The version that was sold in the USA didn't have a grate like the multi-fuel version you got at home did.
Thanks for the terminology update!!
I was wondering, wouldn't burn coal very well at all as there is a completely different grate arrangment as you point out.
I was wondering, wouldn't burn coal very well at all as there is a completely different grate arrangment as you point out.
rover47
Member
Great thread. I enjoy seeing box stoves. When I burn the 602 in the kitchen I'm still in love with it. Now that I've had it a few years I may try to "modify" it stightly. Reading this thread gave me some ideas. Someone else on the forum has do some tuning on the 602. Was it you Precaud?
BTW, I wrote last week that "I can’t think of a single way in which the Leprechaun is a better stove than the X33." Well, I can think of one. It burns north/south, as BB says, "the way god intended wood to be burned." 
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
