Englander 30NC questions

[mlasko]

Well I ran a test burn last night after installing the chimney and everything....Wow, I was really impressed....what impressed me the most was how much the blower cooled the stove and flue....a couple of questions though that I have are as follows:

1. What is the desired surface temperature I should be shooting for? It doesn't say in the manual.

2. Do you shut the damper completely closed after you reach that temperature or slightly open or what? Confused on that part especially...

3. We have a blower however for those of you that have a temperature controlled kickon-kickoff (not sure what you call this) does it really help and could you elaborate on how it works, good one, cost, etc....

4. What kind of burn time can I achieve with this stove?

5. Should I always see a flame (even with the damper closed)?

Thanks for all your help...I love this stove and burning it last night was a thrill....

 

[SlyFerret]

My 30 usually cruises between 500 and 600.

I never shut the air control all the way. I usually close it to about 25%.

I don't have a blower, so I don't have an answer for you on that one.

You should be able to load the stove up before bed, get it fired up, damp the air down and wake up 8 hours later with some heat left in the stove and some coals left over to relight with. This of course assumes you're burning some sort of hardwood.

No exactly. There is a burn cycle that you'll go through. It's come up in a few threads. You'll light the stove with the air open. As the fire establishes itself and your wood is charred, start reducing the air. The secondary will kick in when your stove top reaches somewhere around 350. It's funny, but you'll find that as you're reducing the air, the secondaries will get stronger. Your exact position for the air control for cruising will be determined by your setup (mine closes down so that the tip of the air control is about even with the front edge of the ash lip). The stove will cruise for a while. The secondaries will start to fade out as the volatile gasses finish burning off and the wood reaches the charcoal stage. You'll still have some flames on the logs themselves for a while longer, and then the flames will go out as the charcoal that is left continues to burn. There is still a lot of heat left in those coals. Let the stove cool back down under 300 before you reload on a good bed of coals. If you don't wait long enough, the temp spike from the out-gasing of the fresh load can push you up into the 700's or more.

That 30 is a serious heater. It's going to want to run the way it was built to run. Control your heat output by varying the type of wood, the size of the load, and finding the optimal time to reload.

-SF

 

[BrotherBart]

I am beginning to think that I am SlyFerret's evil twin. Everything he said there is exactly how I run my 30-NCL.

 

[fossil]

I am beginning to think that I am SlyFerret's evil twin. Everything he said there is exactly how I run my 30-NCL.

No idea whether or not the two of you are related, but in your case, I'll certainly buy the evil part. %-P Rick

 

[SlyFerret]

I think it has less to do with us and, and how well Englander did designing a solid unit that is very predictable/consistent in it's operation.

-SF

 

[Jags]

I think it has less to do with us and, and how well Englander did designing a solid unit that is very predictable/consistent in it's operation.

-SF

Naaa...I'm going with the evil part also. :coolsmirk:

 

[blel]

Maybe a little off topic, but can I assume the previously mentioned burn cycle applies to a Eng 13 as well? I'm still trying to find the ideal position of the air control. Burning mostly seasoned oak.

 

[SlyFerret]

Yup, should apply to the 13, and just about any other stove that uses tubes for secondary combustion.

I can't speak for cat stoves.

-SF