New Mansfield damper question

[smileti]

This morning it was nice and cold up here in the Litchfield Hills and a good time to fill up my new Mansfield's wood box and get a real fire going. I'm about 2 hours into it and wondering whether the stove has an air leak, or I just need to get used to a bigger stove (my other stove is a Phoenix). I'm hoping one of you more experienced burners can sort this out.

I got a good fire going around 7 and filled the wood box with 9 or so splits of very dry wood. It didn't take long for the secondary burners to really get going and as soon as they did I shut the stove damper all the way down. For an hour or so there was a quiet whistling sound coming from the stove; the whistling has stopped but the stove isn't totally quiet - there is a faint noise which I can only guess is air moving. There is a slight breeze outside.

Now, at around 9:30, the stove temp is 350 degrees and there are still very active flames. The splits have burned to about half their previous size. Under the same conditions the Phoenix (which was installed in the same fireplace, with the same chimney) wouldn't have any active flames, just glowing coals. I've attached a picture which may or not be helpful.

So - what do you all think? Normal for a Mansfield? Normal for a new Mansfield? Or completely out of the ordinary?

 

[wellbuilt home]

I'm .wondering the same thing . I had my first real fire last night .I have a equinox. I could always here the air sucking sound from my old dutch west stove it about 7 feet from my chair. I think the flame is really nice but it seems like it would be burning lots of wood. I'm kind of scared to really charge up the stove and let her rip . I don't want to melt the paint off the ceiling . I need to get the OK from my wife to lite it up .( I tried to cook her last week ) They say in my manual the stove could need a damper if there is to much draft . I have a 32 ' 8, ss chimney. If you close your damper and use a match around the doors you would see the flame sucking in to the air leak. My stove looks about the same as yours with the damper closed down . Last night i went to bed with 3 splits burning a 1100 at 800 the house was still around 75o the stove was to hot to touch and there was about 3 coffee can full of coals . I think you are OK just check your burn times.

 

[doug60]

I have 25 foot 8 inch lined outside masonry chimney.
I put in a flew damper but I haven't needed it yet.
I got the Equinox up to 500 (center stone) last night.
Nice bed of coals & 4 splits.
I was able to choke the flames almost out with the primary air control.
I left it open about 10 percent for the over night burn.
I do have a outside air kit it pulls air out of my fireplace clean-out door outside.
3 inch dryer vent pipe .
Maybe that makes a difference.

 

[rdrcr56]

When you start hearing that whistling sound move the air control open a hair, I bet the noise stops. our homestead does the same thing, my guess is that the fire is pulling air so hard that the plate that closes off the air inlet is setting up a small vibration, causing a whistling vibrating sound.

 

[Todd]

My old Homestead also had a whistle when I had the air setting at a certain low spot. If I moved the air a smidge it would stop. Must be a Hearthstone thing?

 

[struggle]

MIne would make the whistling air sucking sound if the control is just shy of completely closed. You will find with a dampener you can extend your burn times and slow the stove down.

I put one in (dampener) and it was the best thing I have done next to putting in a flue probe thermometer to see what the flue temps are. It really help to dial in the operation of this stove.

Here is a secondary burn on mine. This would have been cruising at 5-550 degrees on the top

 

[smileti]

Hi Struggle -
Did you install a barometric damper?

 

[FireWalker]

I have 25 foot 8 inch lined outside masonry chimney.
I put in a flew damper but I haven't needed it yet.
I got the Equinox up to 500 (center stone) last night.
Nice bed of coals & 4 splits.
I was able to choke the flames almost out with the primary air control.
I left it open about 10 percent for the over night burn.
I do have a outside air kit it pulls air out of my fireplace clean-out door outside.
3 inch dryer vent pipe .
Maybe that makes a difference.

Same here. With a full load of fuel on a good hot fire and the damper wide open, I can shut the damper all the way down and get the fire to calm down in just a couple of minutes. Within 30 minutes there is a single column of fire rising from the middle of the wood load and the ceiling of the fire box is completely engulfed in secondary flames. No whistling here.

 

[relax]

what do you think highbeam.install or do not install a damper on our heritage? I dont recall reading anything in the manual either way..whats your 12 cents...ZZZim

 

[struggle]

Hi Struggle -
Did you install a barometric damper?

No it is the disk shaped style that you just pierce the pipe and install. It made huge difference in how the stove behaved. It heats up faster and maintains a much longer burn with it in place.

The manual in the Mansfield page 10 states that the stove will benefit from having a dampener installed which I agree with completely. I have a strong drafting chimney that is increased more so due to the 5.5" liner mine is hooked to. My chimney run from stove top to the chimney cap is 30'.

 

[Marty]

... Last night i went to bed with 3 splits burning a 1100 at 800 the house was still around 75o the stove was to hot to touch and there was about 3 coffee can full of coals . I...

Dam you.


:-D

 

[Highbeam]

what do you think highbeam.install or do not install a damper on our heritage? I dont recall reading anything in the manual either way..whats your 12 cents...ZZZim

Our manual says not to do it unless it is required. Something about measuring the draft. I am considering adding one since it is so dang easy and reversible with double wall stove pipe. You just buy the damper equipped adapter and put it on the stove collar and then hook the first piece of chimney to that. Cleaning the chimney will be harder but slowing down the burn rate is a problem that we all face.

Who wouldn't want a longer burn time?

Nice photo of the secondaries.

 

[Heat Miser]

Sounds normal to me. My Mansfield will run on cruise control with an almost closed damper and keep active flames until the last couple hours of the burn cycle. Stove top temp is 4-500 degrees or so and flue temp stays in the same range. A mid-open damper will run the stove 600+ degrees. A fully opened damper is only used by me for starting the stove and will easily over fire if left unattended.

With damper almost closed I'll get a 10+ hour burn with good coals left over. I run my stove into a 30ft. stainless chimney with a good draft and no flue damper.

 

[smileti]

An update:

Last night I got a good fire going and measured the draft - the reading was 0.19. The Hearthstone Mansfield manual says to install a damper for readings over 0.1.

The Mansfield is connected to the chimney liner with a 45 degree elbow fitting - where would a damper go? I'm guessing that the pipe configuration rules out a barometric damper as there doesn't seem to be enough room.

I'd like to know why the Mansfield is over-drafting when the Phoenix that was installed in the same place didn't. Is it because the Phoenix stove pipe came out of the back of the stove into a 90 degree tee while the Mansfield stove pipe comes out of the top of the stove into a 45 degree elbow?

 

[relax]

how do you take a draft reading? what instrament do you use ..and where do you buy one.

 

[smileti]

A manometer that measures inches of water is used. I've read that many stove retailers / installers have them and will loan / rent them out. I used my husband's (who, lucky for me, has a meter for metering everything that can be metered.)

I removed one of the metal screws in the stove pipe just above the stove and inserted the manometer probe in the hole.

 

[struggle]

I measured ours (do not recall the numbers) and it was over .1 as well. My neighbor had a fancy electronic one for checking draft on appliances as they run a commercial business selling stuff to restaurants etc.

You will not regret putting in a dampener.

My dampener is install 18" above the stove in single wall pipe. Not really sure if matters where it is.

The reason for the stove over drafting is most likely because of the large firebox being able to consume so much more air therefor it can burn at a faster rate since it can take in more air across the secondary tubes.

 

[smileti]

The next challenge will be where to put a damper - the Mansfield sits on the large hearthstone in front of an antique cooking fireplace with a granite lintel. There's a 45 elbow attached to the collar on the top of the stove and that angles up and into the very top part of the fireplace where it connects to the chimney liner. It just clears the lower edge of the lintel - so other I really don't have any accessible straight run of stove pipe to work with.

 

[Highbeam]

Looks like you'll need a 90 on top of the stove, then a chunk of pipe with damper and then into a tee which attaches to the liner. The damper does not need to be in a vertical section of pipe but I would be sure to orient its axle horizontally.