Quad castile door gasket(s) and combustion air

[BradH70]

I have a used Castile to assist in heating the upstairs of our house. It runs good and I have been slowly verifying that all of the blower, fans and sensors are working properly.

At this point I want to verify that the glass door and ash pan door are correctly sealing so I have a few questions.....

1. The glass door has what appears to be a pretty fresh gasket but it has been left open along the top edge of the door. Is this correct?

2. The ash pan door has a gasket all the way around, however if I look through the opening were the latch handle comes through (must lay of floor and risk singing of eyebrows), I can actually see the flames in the fire pot. This does not seem like it is presenting a good seal, is this correct?

3. I've heard of the dollar bill test but what exactly is this and what does it prove?

4. Is there a way to measure the vacuum draw in the burn chamber?

Thanks in advance for any help with these questions.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

First the dollar bill test is the use of a piece of paper about the size of a dollar bill to test the gasket seal.

You place a dollar bill between the door gasket and stove, close and latch the door then pull the bill out, it should come out and present resistance when you pull on it. This is done on at least two separated points on each side of the door. If there is no resistance at any test point the gasket is considered bad and needs to be replaced or the door is in need of adjustment.

That gasket gap on the upper portion of the glass is the air wash, the combustion blower was sized taking that into account.

Now about that ash pan drawer gasket situation due to the construction of the quad you have, the ash pan drawer area can act as an air intake and unlike a lot of stoves it doesn't cause a burn pot air bypass and loss of vacuum in the stove.

I'm of the opinion that where there is a gasket the intention is to prevent what is on either side of it from seeing what is on the other side, so I would attempt to seal it so that flame wasn't visible, however that it isn't needed here unless you have a negative air pressure situation.

If you have the tech manual there should be information on where to measure the vacuum, I don't know where that would be.

 

[BradH70]

I'm wondering if I would get the correct vacuum reading if I "T-eed" into the vacuum line that goes to the vacuum switch.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Is the barb for that line actually into the firebox?

 

[pip3398]

As far as the ash pan, you can adjust the latch by taking apart the assembly and removing a washer to make it latch tighter. The missing gasket area is for the air wash and is correct like that. How does the stove burn? If clean and efficient, then you probably don't need to test the air flow. The ash pan leaking will not effect the burn conditions on a castile.

 

[pip3398]

The correct way to check vacuum is to pinch a copper tube in the front door. No need to connect anything. Just squish it with the door gasket. I am not sure what the readings would be on that stove though. On a Castile and other Quads, you just adjust the feed to match the air flow.

 

[BradH70]

As far as the ash pan, you can adjust the latch by taking apart the assembly and removing a washer to make it latch tighter. The missing gasket area is for the air wash and is correct like that. How does the stove burn? If clean and efficient, then you probably don't need to test the air flow. The ash pan leaking will not effect the burn conditions on a castile.

Thanks Pip, the stove seems to burn clean or at least the glass stays pretty clean. Because I bought the stove used, I'm just verifying that all the system are in check.

I have a piece of aluminum tube that I use to check the vacuum in my M55 and I should be able to capture it in the door gasket without pinching it shut. I will give it a try. The correct vacuum level for the Castile is .08" to .1" on the High heat setting.

 

[DMKNLD]

I have a used Castile to assist in heating the upstairs of our house. It runs good and I have been slowly verifying that all of the blower, fans and sensors are working properly.

At this point I want to verify that the glass door and ash pan door are correctly sealing so I have a few questions.....

1. The glass door has what appears to be a pretty fresh gasket but it has been left open along the top edge of the door. Is this correct?

2. The ash pan door has a gasket all the way around, however if I look through the opening were the latch handle comes through (must lay of floor and risk singing of eyebrows), I can actually see the flames in the fire pot. This does not seem like it is presenting a good seal, is this correct?

3. I've heard of the dollar bill test but what exactly is this and what does it prove?

4. Is there a way to measure the vacuum draw in the burn chamber?

Thanks in advance for any help with these questions.

If your airwash is on the top edge of the door then you must have the older generation Castile like I do, as I believe the newer models have the airwash on the botom edge of the door. Having it on the top edge makes for an easy modification to get more heat output, though, as several regulars who post on this forum have suggested. I covered the airwash with a piece of round 3/8" stove gasket rope, which pulls more air through the burnpot instead of pulling air in through the airwash, which makes a hotter and more intense fire pot burn and consequently more heat output. I have to clean my door glass more often, but the increased heat output was noticeable. My convection blower stays on all the time now instead of cycling on and off as it did before this mod when the firebox temp would drop off.

 

[BradH70]

If your airwash is on the top edge of the door then you must have the older generation Castile like I do, as I believe the newer models have the airwash on the botom edge of the door. Having it on the top edge makes for an easy modification to get more heat output, though, as several regulars who post on this forum have suggested. I covered the airwash with a piece of round 3/8" stove gasket rope, which pulls more air through the burnpot instead of pulling air in through the airwash, which makes a hotter and more intense fire pot burn and consequently more heat output. I have to clean my door glass more often, but the increased heat output was noticeable. My convection blower stays on all the time now instead of cycling on and off as it did before this mod when the firebox temp would drop off.

Excellent suggestion, I might just give it a try. I wonder if anyone has experimented with just partially closing off the top of the glass, say 50%, to keep the air wash system somewhat functional but still reducing the air flow through it.

Did you notice a difference in flame height when you did this mod? I would think that more air through the burn pot would cause the pellets to burn up quicker as well.

 

[DMKNLD]

Excellent suggestion, I might just give it a try. I wonder if anyone has experimented with just partially closing off the top of the glass, say 50%, to keep the air wash system somewhat functional but still reducing the air flow through it.

Did you notice a difference in flame height when you did this mod? I would think that more air through the burn pot would cause the pellets to burn up quicker as well.

I found that it actually lowered my flame height with more air being pulled through the burn pot, but it burned alot more intensely. Unless I was burning crappy pellets I never really had a 'lazy' flame in my Quad even pre-modification of the airwash, but it definitely burns a lower but hotter flame now. Last year was a pretty mild winter in Maine comparatively, but I burned just over three tons last winter vs 4 tons or more in the previous three winters that I've had my Quad in the main part of our farmhouse, and the room it is in was a good 5 - 8 degrees warmer after this mod. I don't have an infrared temp thermometer to confirm the heat output difference, but I'm sure the more tech savy folks on this forum who have done this mod have the hard data on it.

You could certainly just partially cover the air wash if you wanted to. I didn't do anything high tech or glue anything permanent to seal mine off. I just bought a short piece of stove gasket rope at my local hardware store that was about a foot or so longer than the width of the door, and I just layed it over the airwash gap and tucked the extra length on each side around the door hinges and frame to help hold it in place. You could do this and either tuck the rope tight to the airwash or leave a small gap to allow some air to enter the airwash. Let us know how this works for you if you try it.