Well after 2 months of telling my mom she is doing somthing wrong ive com to the conclusion , the nc 30 does not live up to the reviews. We are both burnin the same 1.5yr seasoned wood, me in my napoleon 1400 and her in a newly installed summers heat. This stove does not hold a 600degree stovetop for anymore than two hours,then its nothing but a pile of coals. Spring tip to ash lip on the draft. smokepipe is 72" then ceiling support from there stainless up through 2ndstory which is closed off from the rest of house. does anybody that lives up in a northern climate have any input . thankyou
Nc30 dissapointment
- Thread starter sawzall
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I don't have any experience at all with that stove but I would be delighted if my stove could hold anything close to 600 for 2 hrs. I can get there and beyound very easy but it doesn't last long. I go from 800-500 in less than an hr.
I'm sure BB will be along to give you his scoop.
I think 600 for 2 hours sounds close to right, after 2-3 hours the wood should have let the gasses out and temps will drop from there. It should hold a 400-500 temp for a long time though.
When you're asking about a Northern climate are you speaking of a Northern climate similar to Alaska, NY or etc?
When you're asking about a Northern climate are you speaking of a Northern climate similar to Alaska, NY or etc?
After getting the the fire going and stove up to temp if I left the draft a as you say spring tip to ash lip my NC30 would over heat, and flue temps too hot.I do have an OAK.
Open up the air just a touch and let her climb to 700 and see if that makes a difference. When it's really cold I'll get the center of my stovetop up to 700-750 and it will keep the whole stove over 600 for another 1 to 1.5 hours.
If I don't take it this high when it's really cold then it will take 12-14 hours before my coal bed is ready for another load. By getting it a bit warmer, I can reload in the 8-11 hour range and not get an excessive buildup of coals and find a get much more heat out of the stove and into the house by doing this as compared to keeping it under 600 then opening up the air later in the burn.
pen
If I don't take it this high when it's really cold then it will take 12-14 hours before my coal bed is ready for another load. By getting it a bit warmer, I can reload in the 8-11 hour range and not get an excessive buildup of coals and find a get much more heat out of the stove and into the house by doing this as compared to keeping it under 600 then opening up the air later in the burn.
pen
wkpoor said:
I am not in a "northern climate". We have different thermometers on our stove tops below the Mason Dixon Line. ;-) Pen can give him good info.
I'll try to get pictures of the setup tomorrow, Im beginning to wonder if it may not have weak draft. Now i know all stoves dont operate the same but i did expect a similarity to my napoleon or should i say all epa stoves running similar. This thing is a bugger to get rollin good, draft open door cracked it seems to take forever. Oh and again 1.5yr seasoned hard maple and beech. Also do you nc owners load that big ole box up to the reburn tubes for overnite burns, that is somthing i know she wont do because she is having issues with coal buildup. I knew it would be totaly differentl than the old smoke dragon and i forewarned her it would take some learning. We are at the tip of the mitt michigan and I didnt mean to offend anybody south of us thanks for the replies.
Either get a photo of the chimney, above the roof, or give us some idea of the layout. It is supposed to be a minimum of three feet above the point where it comes through the roof AND a minimum of two feet above any point on the roof that is within a ten-foot radius horizontally.
Are you burning N/S or E/W in the stove? I find E/W to be a pain in the butt in that deep firebox. Hard to get started and a coaling nightmare. After the first split burns it sits there and blocks the air to the rest of the load. A tightly packed N/S load with the coal bed under just the front third of the splits will make that puppy walk and talk. And cigar burn the load all the way to the back wall with few coals.
And no, I don't pack it up to the baffle. Give the gases some combustion space up there to make some heat for ya. If they don't have that space up there to burn they are headed right up the flue.
And no, I don't pack it up to the baffle. Give the gases some combustion space up there to make some heat for ya. If they don't have that space up there to burn they are headed right up the flue.
sawzall, I'm going to take a different approach here, just to clarify. I know you're saying your stoves are using the same wood, and it sounds like yours is doing fine.
How exactly was the wood "seasoned"? How recently was the wood split? Perhaps the 30, in your mom's setup, would prefer a little drier wood.
How exactly was the wood "seasoned"? How recently was the wood split? Perhaps the 30, in your mom's setup, would prefer a little drier wood.
Brother bart we are loading n/s, I tried e/w my first year burning and realised that was not the way to go, pita as far as I'm conserned. Thanks for the tip on coal placement on a reload I'll try that tomorrow when i go there. Papa dave, that thought occured to me to but there is absolutly no moisture boilin out of the wood. I dont think anybody could have a better place for seasoning wood, cut split and stacked in an open feild. Next years was done this summer I'll try to take pics of that too. thanks
Sounds like you have quite a bit of draft, and are burning faster than what's ideal.
I'd say cut the air back a bit farther and try to cruise it at 500-550 instead of 600.
What type of wood are you burning?
-SF
I'd say cut the air back a bit farther and try to cruise it at 500-550 instead of 600.
What type of wood are you burning?
-SF
I don't have that stove, but do you have a baffle board and insulating wool on top of it?
Maybe it is out of position.
With the replacement baffle I just got, Quadrafire put in a special printed insert on the proper positioning.
Maybe it is out of position.
With the replacement baffle I just got, Quadrafire put in a special printed insert on the proper positioning.
Not sure the 30 is supposed to have the insulating wool on top of the baffles. Mine didn't come with it.
-MG
-MG
Well after two days of periodicaly tending to my moms stove this is the best way to describe the issue. After getting the stove rolling at 650-700 and pushing draft in increments,I cant seem to mantain a steady burn or a good cruise at any temperature. Its up then on its way back down with spring tip to ash lip, any less draft than that and its no more than a smolder with no real heat producing. Spring tip to ash lip is a good fire but were left with nothing but coals within 3 hours. Total chimney height is 19' 15 of which are interior 4' is external and exit near the peak of the roof. The last 2 days i've forgoten to bring my camera but maybe that is descriptive enough for to get steered in the right direction. After alot of reading on this site i told her this stove was the best bang for the buck , I'm more dissapointed for her than the quality of the stove i'm sure it will do it I just have to figure out why its not. T
Yes I did say it was hard maple and beech. I dont know if it makes a difference but I forgot to mention there are two 15 degree elbows within the 13' of stainless chimney.
No its not I thought of putting another section of pipe on to see if it made a difference. I have one sitting here doing nothing
Exactly, get that chimney taller and I bet you'll see improvement. Once the fire starts dying back just a bit I bet you are losing enough draft to keep those coals producing good heat for you.
pen
pen
6' is single wall to ceiling support, from there on up its class a through the second story and exiting the roof.
So far its a paperweight for a lot of paper, or if someone needs coals to start a fire she's got them within 2.5 hrs
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