Trouble controlling the Isle Royale, Still failing dollar bill test

[karri0n]

Hi all,

I finally replaced the gaskets on my IR. First real burn started this morning. I used a quarter of a Super Cedar free sample, and filled the firebox to probably 1/3 capacity, right in the center, North/South. I used full air, let it get good draft going, and cut it to half. Still kept burning strong. I jumped in the shower for 20-30 minutes, came down and checked. Stove had taken off just fine, and it was at about 650 stovetop temp and rising. I cut back the air to about 1/4, and temps kept going up. I closed it off to *almost* 100% closed, and the temp kept rising. I finally fully closed it, and the fire started to die and smolder. Is there some kind of "sweet spot" that I'm just not hitting with the air control, or what?

On a side note, with brand new door gaskets, it takes a decent amount of force to get the door closed, but the dollar bill still slides on the DBT. Granted, there is far more resistance on the bill now, but it's far from impossible to slide it out. I also noticed my air leak problem previously was more than likely due to the fact that one of the glass gasket seals wasn't seated at all. There was a 1/4 inch wide, 3 inch long gap that air could pass right through. That has been fixed.

 

[Jags]

First of all, the IR is not a N-S burner. It is designed for E-W. If there is resistance with the dollar bill test, that should be good enough. It really doesn't need to clamp it like a vise. And a gap in the glass like you were saying is baaaaad. Make it right.

Make SURE your startup air control is pulled all the way out (forwards, towards you) after the first few minutes of lighting. IF this is anywhere but closed (forwards) you will have a heck of a time controlling it.

So...load your wood E-W, push start up air in...light fire. After initial startup, close the startup air. Allow full primary air to stay open until you start getting to the 400+F on stove top. At 400+ (I wait for 550F) knock the primary air down 50%. At 500+ (or about 100 deg before your intended temp) close the primary to 80-90% closed. This number will change from setup to setup, so experiment. Let the fire settle in and adjust the primary in small increments. Once you have the fire like you want, take a mental note of the primary air lever. You will be returning to this position the next time, and next time, and well...you get the picture. This stove is pretty easy to control, but with the available controls on this stove, you gotta watch how much air the fire is getting.

I believe that with all air controls wide open, you could probably turn this sucker into a forge.

Let me know how this works for you.

 

[karri0n]

I believe that with all air controls wide open, you could probably turn this sucker into a forge.

Haha, I had this idea already! Probably the bottom door rather than the air controls, but yeah.



Thanks for the N/S E/W tip, it just seemed easier to get a nice load in there loading n/s. I'll definitely try this for the next burn. It does seem like 90%+ closed is what is getting proper burn, it just seems there's a really small window between going crazy and shutting down. I'll fool with it and try to find the spot.


Thanks.

Rob


p.s. I don't like the startup air control. I like the fire to start in the front and move back. I make sure it's quite closed and only use it when I am having trouble getting it started. I have roughly 30 feet of pipe going up, so I usually get plenty of draft to start it up without using the startup control. It also still has the little tag that says not to use it more than 5 mins. Thanks for verifying that it wasn't open, though, as on mine, if it's wide open, there's a good chance you won't see it all the way back there.

 

[Jags]

If you have any question about the ash pan door, then look at it again. That thing needs to seal tightly. I get ya on the start up air control. I do use it, but only if I am sitting in front of the stove. I get a very good draft with a lot less pipe then you have. I can imagine you simply don't need the startup air.

Get that sucker sealed up and you will have a great stove at your fingertips. I have a tendency to believe that air leaks are still the evil you are battling. Once those are corrected, you should be able to easily control that stove.

 

[karri0n]

I bought the gasket for the ash pan door, because it "feels" loose, as in I can push it and it moves. However, I closed it with a piece of paper in there(can't actually afford the dollar bill test ), and that sucker didn't move when I yanked on it. I just might replace the gasket anyway, since I have it.

I also might go ahead and get a brand new gasket for the glass that was leaking this saturday. I live less than 10 miles from the Preston Trading post, so it's not difficult for me to do.

 

[northwinds]

I have a bunch of shorter wood that fits better n/s so I've been burning that way quite a bit--especially during the day if I'm
going to be around the house. The stove burns hotter and goes through more wood that way, but I haven't found it any more
difficult to control. For overnight burns, I always load e/w.

I do think that you will find sweet spots for top running temps, and just a slight adjustment one way or another gets you into the
mode that you can leave it for the rest of the burn. If I'm running the stove between 650 and 700, I do have to watch to make
sure that I hit the sweet spot before it gets to 700. If I hit 700 too soon, the secondaries are going nuts, and the fire wants to
go hotter. Those are the times I've sometimes used the inline damper to get control, As a result, I try braking gradually way in
advance of the stop sign so to speak and coast in to that 625 to 700 happy zone on my IR. For overnight burns, I like to stabilize
right at 700, and it coasts through the night.

Wood also is an important variable. I've been running through a lot of birch, poplar, and box elder this fall. I'm moving into my
oak and hickory, which is easier for me to control.

 

[karri0n]

700 just seemed a bit high for me to be running it at. If you guys consistently run yours at 650-700, that's about where it wanted to stay. I was just thinking I should be more in the 500-600 range. I found another slightly damaged gasket in one spot on the glass, but I'm not sure if that's leaking at all. The other was a quite obvious leak. I plan on doing the ash pan gasket as it won't take long at all. I'm still in the process of taping/sealing windows, so I should be able to take care of that soon. I'll also try doing e/w if n/s leads to a hotter more consuming burn. I'm really into saving wood since I haven't gotten a good cord delivery yet and I'm scavenging and getting grocery store wood. I did the calc, and I'm paying $1024.00 a cord if I buy wood at the grocery store. Just waiting on that big fat check so I can get my cords delivered.

Do you guys recommend installing a flue damper? I have quite a bit of draft even with a cold chimney in the rain, so maybe that's something I should look into?

 

[Jags]

I don't have a flue damper and yes my stove top hits 700F regularly. Of course I am clamping it down hard at that point.

 

[karri0n]

700 is well into the overfire range on my thermo, but I think it's for flue pipe and not stove top. Seems counter-intuitive to me, I would think the flue pipe is a LOT hotter than the stovetop temp.

 

[Jags]

Those thermos are designed for single wall pipe. Surface temp of a single wall pipe is roughly half the temp of internal, hence the painted on "overfire". For stove top temp, ignore the painted "ranges".

 

[karri0n]

My pipe is single wall coming off the stove, but to be honest I'm not sure what it does after that point. There's a big rectangular "funnel" like thing it goes into, which measures about 2' x 3'. That thing connects to the masonry stack, but I don't know if there's a liner that goes up, or if the rectangular thing just leads to the stack and is open to the masonry after that point. I get really strong draft, so that leads me to think that I have a liner.

 

[northwinds]

I'm really into saving wood since I haven't gotten a good cord delivery yet and I'm scavenging and getting grocery store wood. I did the calc, and I'm paying $1024.00 a cord if I buy wood at the grocery store. Just waiting on that big fat check so I can get my cords delivered.

Do you guys recommend installing a flue damper? I have quite a bit of draft even with a cold chimney in the rain, so maybe that's something I should look into?

Not necessarily. I was told that I didn't need it by the installer, and I asked to have it put on anyway. I have about 30 feet of chimney
straight up the middle of the house. I was worried I would have overdraft problems. As I understand it, just having the damper in the
pipe restricts draft to a degree. I've used the damper maybe 3-4 times since installation last winter.

This probably goes without saying but make sure that your cords to be delivered are well seasoned. Ask lots of questions about
when split. Hopefully, last year and not this year.

 

[karri0n]

Just finished ordering, and I've been burned before(or maybe NOT burned? ) when ordering wood. This was a guy on Craigs list, but also that happens to live down the street from me. I grilled him on the dryness before agreeing, and he told me he'd expect a moist log to come through his windshield if he sold me some crappy wood. He also said he's served several people this year who had gotten some crappy wood, and it pisses him off that he loses business and customer trust because of it. I had also seen some reviews of his wood listed on Craigslist. I can only hope there's some honest people left, and this is one of them. We'll see how it turns out.

 

[northwinds]

Just finished ordering, and I've been burned before(or maybe NOT burned? ) when ordering wood. This was a guy on Craigs list, but also that happens to live down the street from me. I grilled him on the dryness before agreeing, and he told me he'd expect a moist log to come through his windshield if he sold me some crappy wood.

Nice. That's my kind of warranty.