Englander 30 over fire ??

[IndianaTech]

Hey there everybody, I had some things I wanted to run by you all to see if you can help pin point what has been going on with my new stove. This is our first year burning with the Englander 30, and in the begining of the season our stove top temps never really went above 650, but now when I load the stove for the night or for the day before I leave for work I have seen tempatures as high as 750. I have a Condar "inferno" thermometer that is about 3" from the flue collar right before the step on top of my stove. I do not reload unless the unit is cooler then 275 degrees, and use the "zipper" method when I fill her up for the night. I usually put about 7 splits into the stove with the biggest ones on the bottom. I try to keep about a 2"-3" layer of ash in the stove at all times. I start shutting down the primary air as soon as I get a good fire going, usually around 325 or so or about 15 minuets into the burn. Other then the thermometer reading theres not any other indication (besides the heat) that the unit is over firing. Right now I have been burning mostly maple that has a moisture reading of around 18%. Once the stove temps get that high they tend to stay there for close to an hour even with the primary air shut completely down. I have looked at the door gasket very closely to see if maybe I had an air leak, but it doesn't seem to show any signs. This morning I put in less wood thinking maybe I was just putting in to much, and it still hit the 700 mark. I am going to go out this weekend to buy an IR thermometer to check to see if maybe my current thermometer is reading incorrectly. Anybody out there have a suggestion to whats going on or any ideas ?

 

[begreen]

Has it become very cold outside or strong winds? Could be there is strong draft. What is the flue/chimney setup for the stove?

 

[IndianaTech]

We do tend to have stronger winds out here then down in the city, but the ambient temps have been actually slightly milder then they were a few weeks ago. My chimney is a straight shot 15' metal chimney with about 6' of single wall stove pipe, and 9' of stainless chimney pipe.

 

[begreen]

Nothing unusual there. The chimney is right at spec. Perhaps this is an extra dry batch of wood or the splits are a bit small? 750F is hot, but not overfire. Maybe try packing it tighter?

PS: There was a fellow with a 30NC on youtube that could benefit from your "problem"

 

[IndianaTech]

Well if thats the case then I'm just being paranoid. My only real concern here is shortening the longevity of my stove. The wood I am using has been seasoned for about a year, and the splits are of average size for the most part. If I'm not hurting the stove running it at the kind of temps I stated above for a short while, then I guess I don't really have a problem ? Also, which 30 video on youtube are you refering to

 

[jeff_t]

Is it silver or red maple? A full load of dry soft maple can get hot pretty quick. Do you have any other wood to try? Maybe some ash or oak, or try to mix it.

 

[IndianaTech]

Yes it is silver maple. I do have a bunch of hickory, and oak but it is not seasoned yet since I just split it a few months ago. I have now actually finished the rack I had been pulling my wood from, and I am currently getting ready to start burning some elm so I guess we will see if it was just the soft maple. That would make sense since I started the season of burning mostly beech, and birch

 

[jeff_t]

I like to use a couple maple splits on the coals before I load up with oak. Also use it to make kindling, to coax a fire back from a few coals, and on cold starts. It ignites easily, burns hot and coals quickly. Pretty handy stuff to gave around.

 

[BrotherBart]

The big boy likes to head up to that seven fifty mark. Especially if you have the air coming out of that little "doghouse" in the front aimed at hot coals between two splits under a stack. It becomes a perpetual motion machine pumping hot gases out the back of those two splits and they go straight up into the path of the secondary air tubes. Between those two splits on the bottom looks like the pics of a gassification boiler at full tilt.

 

[IndianaTech]

I was hopeing you would chime in BrotherBart..... So, normal or what ?? Do I need to be worried when she's running that warm ?

 

[BrotherBart]

Since the stove was not designed with N/S burning in mind, the best way to keep that from happening is burning E/W. Which is a pain in the butt for me. Either that or make sure the air from that thing is blowing into the blunt end of a split. You can also cut off the air to it by blocking the open holes behind each front leg but after you do that you can no longer close the primary air control all the way. You have to give it combustion air manually with the air control.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Mine runs all the time at 750. It seems to be the sweet spot for my installation.

Matt

 

[stoveguy2esw]

PM answered Indy,

short version , 750 isnt gonna hurt that beast especially with it not sustaining there, she's fine cruising at the temps you are describing to me.

 

[Bugboy]

Good to hear that Mike! Mine was at 750 awhile back and had me worried enough to call work and tell them I'd be late so I could get the temp down.

I'm not on the Hearth all the time, but it seems like StoveGuy hasn't been around much.

My NC30 is probably the best money I've ever spent! It really throws the heat. I went from buying propane 3 times a year to buying it once every 14 to 18 months!

 

[IndianaTech]

Ok good so everything is working as it should. It was makeing me a little nervous since I had not seen temps like that earlier in the season. I'm guessing it was the wood that I happend to be burning for the last few weeks because last night I loaded her up with elm, and she never went above 650. Bugboy....... I have been telling my wife all winter that buying the stove was one of the smartest moves we ever made !! We have not once had to touch our thermostat to turn on the heat. Our 30 keeps our 2700' sq house toasty warm all day long at around 75 degrees. My wife works with our neighbor, and they were comparing electric bills last month..... ours barely hit $100, and hers was just shy of $300

 

[forvols]

I usually hit 650 or so with a load of poplar(only wood type I have right now that is fully seasoned). Cant hate on the poplar especially since I have about 4cords of it, just keep loading.

I echo the NC-30 being a good purchase. I like the stove alot, easy to run, puts out the heat, gets my unfinished basement up to 80* in no time. I am still using electric heat in the house. But with the 30 going in the basement the furnace cycles instead a constant run, so thats a good thing.