The earlier burns in my old VC Defiant had the ability to overheat the stove, at least by the flu thermometer. I had to monitor the air inlet and keep it somewhere South of wide open. A month later, I had a couple of warm days in a row, and a gasket kit for the doors, so away I went cleaning and replacing the 3 door gaskets. Now I find the air inlet is wide open all the time and the burns are on the cooler side. Best I can figure is the stove has bad seals where the walls meet the top (I know this is true by seeing smoke coming from those spots when the door is wide open) and those points are drawing air into the stove where it is added to exhaust and going up the pipe. I believe if I seal those spots the additional draw through the air inlet will turn to combustion and thus heat. Right track or not?