Combustion

[Dave1967]

I have a 2022 Hearthstone Heritage, my oak is 3 years seasoned, then it comes in my heated shop for 3 weeks before it go's into the house. with the stove up to temp, when I go to bed and load it up, shut the air damper way down, move the output damper to closed. I get a smoke combustion in the middle of the night that blow the seal of the top soap stones and it leaks smoke after that until I cool it down pull all the soap stone off and re-seal it. has anyone else had this problem?

 

[bigealta]

Yes, various mini explosions for various reasons,

i believe for your "explosion" the unburned gasses from the low draft setting start to go un burnt up the chimney until, after a while, the firebox gets hot enough to ignite them. Then the big mass of unburnt gasses finally gets just hot enough to light them off and Boom. This is not super uncommon but usually on a less dramatic scale.

It would be better to let the fire burn in the beginning to establish a solid burn before you shut the air down to far to fast. With the goal of not letting unburned gasses go thru the stove unburnt.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

One thing I have found is after my initial turn down procedure there are times I need to bump the air back up a tiny bit an hour or so after startup. If I dont things can get a little stalled.

 

[Todd]

Are you saying a strong back puff broke the cement seals between the soapstone top panels? I’ve had bad backpuffs but never did any damage. Turning the air down too soon causes this for me. Usually just give it more air when it happens.

 

[Dave1967]

Are you saying a strong back puff broke the cement seals between the soapstone top panels? I’ve had bad backpuffs but never did any damage. Turning the air down too soon causes this for me. Usually just give it more air when it happens.

Yes it has had small gas explosions that break the concert seal of the upper soap stones, then it leaks until I re-seal it. I have never had this with my other 2 Hearthstone stoves, but I bought this one from the dealer as is scratch and dent. because it fell off the truck when they were unloading it and broke one of the top stones. it has been a problem child LOL

 

[Dave1967]

Yes, various mini explosions for various reasons,

i believe for your "explosion" the unburned gasses from the low draft setting start to go un burnt up the chimney until, after a while, the firebox gets hot enough to ignite them. Then the big mass of unburnt gasses finally gets just hot enough to light them off and Boom. This is not super uncommon but usually on a less dramatic scale.

It would be better to let the fire burn in the beginning to establish a solid burn before you shut the air down to far to fast. With the goal of not letting unburned gasses go thru the stove unburnt.

I have found a fix, It took a lot of playing around. I used a coat hanger and made a pull for the Output damper/Catalyst lever. it keeps the upper damper cracked open just enough so I have no explosions and the catalyst still fire. One end hooks to the stove leg the other to the handle. it dos not take much just enough so the upper damper dos not completely close. the next time I re-seal the top I think I may try to put some kind of spacer on the damper door. 1 or 2 washers would probably do it.

 

[Todd]

Yes it has had small gas explosions that break the concert seal of the upper soap stones, then it leaks until I re-seal it. I have never had this with my other 2 Hearthstone stoves, but I bought this one from the dealer as is scratch and dent. because it fell off the truck when they were unloading it and broke one of the top stones. it has been a problem child LOL

Ah ok. Maybe you can remove the top, replace the broken stones and reseal with Hearthstones soapstone cement. Dealer should be able to hook you up on instructions and parts.

 

[Dave1967]

I replaced the broken stone when I bought it, yes the dealer has been very good at getting me the Hearthstone soapstone cement. I have had it apart 3 times already. it is not a fun task, time consuming and tedious.