Heritage First Burn-Intake Air Control Question

[BrowningBAR]

Hearthstone should really make the Heritage a side load only stove like the Fireview. Add some well-placed removable andirons and a better ash lip and that would really be sweet.


Better yet, finally update the Mansfield with a current design to match the rest of the Hearthstone line. If the Mansfield looked like the Heritage, that would be a really nice look stove.

 

[Stump_Branch]

Woodmiser, couldnt stand lurking for long?

 

[woodmiser]

Lots of questions.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Lots of questions.

During some of the cold spells we've had, how well have the stoves heated the house? What type of burn times (actual heat production) have you gotten out of the Equinox?

 

[woodmiser]

I haven't been loading to the gills but they both will give an easy overnighter with plenty of coals for a reload. If I reload at 10 or 11 at night there are hot coals at 7 in the morning. All depends on what I loaded and how hot the stoves are running.

The Clydesdale does a good job when kept running. The room it's in has 12 foot a ceiling. It will heat the room and the rest of the house gets comfortable but not overly warm.. not including the addition (den). But it has to be burning non stop. I don't like loading it packed as it can run away and it takes a while to get it at just the right simmer without going up.

On the longer cold spells I get the Equinox up to temp (400-500) and it just all out completes the job. If I run at 500 it will start getting the house too warm. I have a fan sitting on the floor blowing air over it towards the kitchen just to help strip heat off of it. It is amazing the amount of radiant heat that comes off of it when it's cruising.

 

[Calef]

Landrand, you mentioned you were going to try the "dollar bill test"... how did that go?

I spoke with a Hearthstone tech this morning regarding my new-to-me Heritage (first warm up burn was last night!) and they said the dollar bill test will often report an issue when there is none and may miss other issues. Instead Hearthstone recommends using a stick of incense, or anything else that makes smoke, and running it around the outside of the stove while you have a fire going. If she sucks the smoke in you have an issue, otherwise don't worry.

Why was I talking to tech support?... being a dumb chit and still half asleep I lit it and forgot to open the air. Shortly after, I opened the air but it was too late. She smoked like a bastard... went out and continued to smoke, then smoke started billowing out BETWEEN the stones in several places. That had me worried so I called Hearthstone and asked if I should be concerned. They said that smoke coming out from between the stones is not necessarily indicative of an issue, especially if it happens outside of normal operations (and my dumb move just that was) and if it passes the smoke test, don't worry. So I relit the fire and she passed the test.

 

[landrand]

I did the dollar bill test and the results vary...and I'm not sure what to make of it. In some areas of the doors, I can't pull out the dollar whereas in others it slides out rather easy. I need to use incense to see if there is a leak.

Anyway, I've been burning this stove for about a week now. I noticed that my door handle seemed to work better with use, until I figured out why. The set screw in the handle was lose so when I would turn it, it would be easy and I no longer heard/felt the cast iron "grinding". I did more investigating and as I turned the handle, the set screw would go across the "threaded part" of the inner rod and, more or less, just striped off the threads. So in essence, I think my side door handle may need to be replaced sooner than later as the threads are all stripped. I'm not really happy about that. The door handle on the Heritage is definitely a weak point. Actually, if I would've known about the the crappy handle design, I probably wouldn't have bought this stove nor would I recommend it to others. Its amazing how Hearthstone couldn't come up with a better door handle design for such a beautiful stove.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I did the dollar bill test and the results vary...and I'm not sure what to make of it. In some areas of the doors, I can't pull out the dollar whereas in others it slides out rather easy. I need to use incense to see if there is a leak.

Anyway, I've been burning this stove for about a week now. I noticed that my door handle seemed to work better with use, until I figured out why. The set screw in the handle was lose so when I would turn it, it would be easy and I no longer heard/felt the cast iron "grinding". I did more investigating and as I turned the handle, the set screw would go across the "threaded part" of the inner rod and, more or less, just striped off the threads. So in essence, I think my side door handle may need to be replaced sooner than later as the threads are all stripped. I'm not really happy about that. The door handle on the Heritage is definitely a weak point. Actually, if I would've known about the the crappy handle design, I probably wouldn't have bought this stove nor would I recommend it to others. Its amazing how Hearthstone couldn't come up with a better door handle design for such a beautiful stove.

Why are your threads stripped?
You should not be able to pull out the dollar bill.
What wrong with the handle? The handle isn't the weak point. The thin cast iron lip that it latches to is.

Is this a new stove? If so, call the dealer.

 

[landrand]

The little set screw in the side door handle keeps working itself loose. When I would turn the handle to close, I noticed one day that it was much easier. I no longer heard/felt that grinding noise of metal to metal. When I would turn the handle, the loose screw moved across the threaded rod/latch inside and stripped away the threads. The scary part was, although the door seemed like it was securely latched closed, I believe that the latch was just barely hooked to the cast frame and probably not fully latched. When I took the handle off to inspect, all those metal thread shavings dropped out. The handle still works with the stripped threads, but its certainly not ideal for a new stove with one weeks of use.

I bought the stove 4 years ago, but ever since its been sitting in my garage. I travel a lot for my job and I was gone for two years. This year (a week or two ago) I finally installed the stove. I don’t know if the stove is still under warranty even though its only been used for little over a week.

Like I mentioned earlier, my stove runs at the upper temps when cruising with the air control valve off. The last few days when using hardwood, my Rutland thermometer is reading 550 to 575 degrees right on the “overtiring†range on the thermometer. So far it hasn’t reach 600 degrees, but it sure keeps me on my toes when I have a good load of wood burning. Actually, tonight I stuffed some tinfoil in the air intake (back of stove) to get the stove temp down. I’ve decided not to completely fill my stove chuck full of wood anymore until I figure out why its running at these upper temps.

Although it’s a new stove, I wonder if my door gaskets are bad from sitting idle for 4 years with the doors closed. With the dollar bill test, I am able to pull it out in some areas with little resistance. Tomorrow, I’m going to pick up some incense/punk sticks and do a smoke test.

I have 20’ of ss liner connected directly to the stove with a coupler. I don’t have any 90 degree bends or Tees in the liner/flue, but rather a few gently sweeping arcs as it goes through the fireplace damper area then curves directly into the stove back which is sitting on the floor. Maybe my efficient chimney setup is causing too much draft.

 

[Highbeam]

The set screw on the door handle is meant to dig into the operating shaft and needs to be tight. You should only tighten the set screw when you are sure that it will land on the flat part of the operating shaft. It is very easy to tighten that set screw onto a slightly twisted shaft and then over time the set screw will appear to loosen when really it is just that you didn't clamp it down onto the flat spot. As that set screw moves back and forth it will groove out the shaft and make shavings. Keep checking and tightening it and you will discover that it finds the flat spot automatically and will suddenly stop loosening. It is not the door handle's fault that you ran the loose set screw back and forth over the shaft and caused the wear. If it ever feels loose, tighten it right away.

The door handle really isn't the problem. It is dainty and small but it is fully replacable without taking the stove apart. As pointed out above, you should really be disappointed with the latch side on the stove body. When that piss poor design wears out you will need to do a major tear down to replace a very large cast iron section of the stove. That cast iron on cast iron grinding you speak of is wearing out the latch. You should keep things clean and lubed to reduce this wear as much as possible. Just last night I smeared on a touch of hi temp grease.

The overfiring you have is described as a borderline runaway. If you can't keep the stove under the max temp with a completely full firebox and closed air supply then you really are not running the stove, it is running you. Your problem is an overheight chimney with high draft. The owner's manual tells you to install a damper in the flue if your draft exceeds a certain strength. Spec on the chimney is 14' as I recall.