Questions with my Mt Vernon e2 (possibly general questions)

[Maxxnas]

So I purchased my mve2 in October and I've gone through about 2.5 tons so far. No problems...everything seems to be working great. Woke up this morning to a nice amount of snow falling. Went to clean my stove and noticed a 4" crack on my baffle plate. Called my stove place and they said they had no stock but would order one right away to replace. Thank goodness for the 5 year warranty on the cast iron.

My first question...I am running this unit on high and need every ounce of BTUs produced. What are your opinions on the cracked baffle? Am I running it too hot or was it perhaps just a bad casting?

My second question... I noticed some surface rust inside my firepot but nowhere else on the stove. Is it normal to get a little rust in the firepot?

My intentions would be to pull the firepot out at the end of the season and give it a good cleaning/oiling. Is this
a difficult thing since it's connected to a manual lever?

Ok....sorry...more than two questions.

 

[bags]

A little rust is normal from what I've read and will have zero bearing on the pots integrity. It's surface rust and can be expected. I have also seen you are not the only one with the cracked baffle. Seems fairly common also and not surprising to your dealer. As for disconnecting your pot I am not sure but many of these stoves are pretty simple to work on and stuff. I do know high heat and cold can stress steel and metals. Let someone else go out on the limb here.

They guy you need to talk to is kappell15 Kap. He is a tech and very helpful and knowledgeable on your particular stove. Rona and others here have a lot of knowledge on these too. Let them chime in to give you the real good advice and answer specifics. Tjnamiw is another who has Quads and knows quite a bit. Hang tight and Good Luck. These guys mentioned are usually quick to respond but it is a holiday weekend so they may be busy.

 

[kappel15]

The question to whether you are over firing your stove or not depends on your flame height. If it is set per owners manual, then it was just bad cast. If you are over firing your stove, then this can happen. A little rust where you are having intense heat is normal. A little sanding and then painting or spraying with some pam will keep it nice. Some also use fogging oil. Best thing to do is in spring when you are done with the stove and have cleaned it all up, stuff a rag in the end of the exhaust and oak if you have it, to keep moist air from coming in in the off season. I also put a pc. of masking tape over thermostat with "exhaust plugged" wrote on it to remind me in the fall when I go to use it again. You shouldn't have to take pot out to clean, but it is simple. You will need another pot gasket if you do. And even if you don't take it out, I would pull the pot bolts and put some high temp anti-seize grease on them and put them back in. Will save real issues down the road. kap

 

[Maxxnas]

The question to whether you are over firing your stove or not depends on your flame height. If it is set per owners manual, then it was just bad cast. If you are over firing your stove, then this can happen. A little rust where you are having intense heat is normal. A little sanding and then painting or spraying with some pam will keep it nice. Some also use fogging oil. Best thing to do is in spring when you are done with the stove and have cleaned it all up, stuff a rag in the end of the exhaust and oak if you have it, to keep moist air from coming in in the off season. I also put a pc. of masking tape over thermostat with "exhaust plugged" wrote on it to remind me in the fall when I go to use it again. You shouldn't have to take pot out to clean, but it is simple. You will need another pot gasket if you do. And even if you don't take it out, I would pull the pot bolts and put some high temp anti-seize grease on them and put them back in. Will save real issues down the road. kap

I looked over my manual and I cannot find where it says about what the flame height should be. I realize there are many factors involved in this. I currently have my trim set to -3 and my output set on high. The flame itself still rises above the diamond on the baffle plate. Anything below that and the heat output isn't that great. As far as the firepot goes...my biggest concern is the floor of the pot. There is carbon build up which I feel is better remove on my workshop table.

 

[kappel15]

The manual does not state what the flame height should be, but you can try -4. Usually on the AE, the flame is suppose to be 8 to 10" above the pot. I usually recommend touching the top of the diamond, but a little further isn't bad. From the picture I cannot say if you are over firing or not. I had one that was very noticeable that he had been over firing his stove. But this was on an AE. Best option on pot floor is to scrape it clean from above. If you remove to clean, you will need a new pot gasket. If you burn a mix of corn, it will clean itself, but corn costs more. When floor is clean, some have used a coating of pam, high temp anti-seize grease, or graphite on it periodically to try and keep it clean. Some of this is flammable, so use with caution, and clean up any overspray. kap

 

[Maxxnas]

Thanks Kap. I set it from -3 to -4. It still goes a good 2" over the diamond but doesn't seem too bad. Once I replace the baffle plate I will keep an eye on it to see how it fairs. My heat output still seems to be the same. Maybe I will save on pellets since it was dialed less fuel/more air. Sadly I cannot burn corn since this is a Mt Vernon E2. I'm just going to have to find a better tool to scrape out the pot floor.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Top of page 24 left column of the AE manual discusses flame height it says approx 8" on high (I don't know if I was reading the manual that goes with your stove or not.)

ETA: On page 9 right hand column in the October 2014 manual.

 

[kappel15]

You can get some angled gasket scrapers at local auto stores. Hard part will be you can't put too much pressure on the pot floor due the springs. kap

 

[kramerica72]

You can scrape fairly hard on the pot floor--it's not the automated pot like the AE. I use both a small 1.25" putty knife (little flex to the blade) as well as a gasket scraper. Sometimes one works better than the other.

 

[kappel15]

Ya, it's the same dump system with springs, just not automated. kap