Dovre Sunburst Stove Question

[oilspot]

Greetings!

Sorry for the long post.

We recently purchased a new-to-us home near Saint Louis. The main level of the house has a Dovre Sunburst (model 2100?) wood stove installed in a stone fireplace. The gasket was falling off so I replaced it and fired it up this winter. To my surprise, I had no control over combustion and a full bank of logs lasted maybe two hours at most. Even after studying the stove and owners manual (which was very little help) I was stumped. Then a saw an odd pattern in the ashes above the ash pan grate and realized air was being drawn in through the ash pan area and up through the grate uncontrolled.

So this past weekend I re-installed the gasket, so that it went around the ash pan area too. The fire burns much more controlled, but actually seems to not get enough air now and frequently goes out. The ash pan area is covered by the firebox door on this model (no seperate door) so I am wondering if I should remove part of the gasket between the two areas. I've tried to sketch the gasket design below.

________________________________
|..............................................................|
|..............................................................|
|..............................................................|
|............firebox window .........................|
|..............................................................|
|..............................................................|
| .............................................................|
|..............[section in question]................|
|______^_________________^_____ |
\ ................................ /
\ ....ash pan area .... /
\ ______________/

The sketch is a little crude (formatting was a challenge), but hopefully it makes sense. There appears to be a gasket groove in the door in the pattern I drew so all areas are currently gasketed. I have carefully cleaned and checked for any additional airflow pathes which may be blocked and also adjusted the air wash on the window. The only air flow I can see is from the air control above the door, which is includes the air wash for the glass.

I know I can continue to experiment, but was hoping someone else may have some experience with this old insert. I really like the design (non-catalyst) and 60,000 btu rating. However, it just doesn't seem to burn well.

Any advice you might offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

If the stove and gasket are now in good shape, it might be the wood. Can you describe the size of the wood pieces and the start up procedure? If you split a piece in half? Do you leave the door slightly ajar when starting the fire? The manual makes is sound like there is an upper and lower air slider. How are the air control sliders set?

 

[oilspot]

Hi,

Only one air slider I can locate, above door for air wash.

Right now I think I'm burning some old oak and cherry mix. It was standing dead wood and cut down two weeks ago. I figured standing dead wood would have low moisture content, but maybe not. I've split the pieces into maybe 4x6-inch logs (roughly). During start up I must keep the door open (unlike before I put the gasket around the ash pan area).

With air control wide open, it is a steady burn, but not a hot burn (sorry no thermometer). Closing the air slider (which restricts air flow 50%) eventually kills the fire but it will take a few hours. There is unburned wood in the morning if I do this.

There is a fresh air intake which allows outside air into the house, just outside the fire box. There is also a damper for the flue. So there are three slide controls counting the air slider (fresh air, combustion air, damper).

Thanks!