Baffle boards arrived and installed:
And from the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success
And from the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success
Have your burn times improved? I suspect they have
I suspect also, but this is my first lighting since I got the boards installed. Will fill it up just before bed and see what surprises await in the morning. I've heard it's best not to use the keyhole damper with this stove but just let it do its own thing? Any opinions?
I'm more concerned with improving the heat output than lengthening burn times. These stoves are made to put out lots of clean heat and burn times are sort of secondary.
I've got to admit, I would not have just stuffed it full and went to bed. You're dealing with a new stove now and it might get really hot on you. Expect it to behave differently than ever before.
The boards are required and it is very easy to damage them. Even if you don't hit them they will warp and fail over time so I'm intersted in the source of your new boards. How much $?
Get some ### paint on that thing! Rustoleum makes some decent high heat paint and sells it at home depot.
Well, I had already tested it earlier in the evening to make sure setting the intake on low would work to get the fire under control. Did that when it hit 500F and rising for the first time. My stovetop thermometer has above that range marked "overfire," so I figured it was best to level off there. Besides, it was really a bit warm for a wood stove last night; I just couldn't wait to test it!
When I went to bed I had three large 20" splits in the stove, which was all I could fit (probably 20-30 pounds of dry wood), and it was running with lazy flames right around 300F. I checked it four hours later and found some wood still remaining, with the temperature down only slightly. In another five hours, when I got up for the day, the wood was all gone, there were just a few glowing coals, and the stovetop temperature was back to its lowest notch.
So that meter with 500 as the max temp is for single wall stovepipe. If you use a stove top meter the "normal" range usually runs between 400 up to 650 and the NC30 really runs good at 700+. If you were running the stove at 300 it was too cool and likely producing creosote. You can keep using the stove pipe meter but the low/normal/hot ranges will be different.
You can only fit three splits?! I can put 10 in there. Mine are maybe smaller but still 5-6" across. I've actually weighed this to be around 50#. You must be only partially filling this thing. That will effect your burn times.
I'm using big, rough wood. By volume a lot more would fit, but the shape prevents it in reality.