Drolet frustration-review

[realstihl]

This is going to be a two week review of the new Drolet Baltic I installed. First of all I really like this stove and want to somehow make it work for me. The fit and finish is great and the break in fires are over (no paint smell).
1. Like the large view of the fire but glass stays dirty or cloudy most of the time.
2. The secondary burn works if you get a roaring fire (500+)the shut the air off. this lasts for couple of minutes the flames out. The owners manual says the air control should be closed after fire is established. So far I find this is not the case. When it flames out chimney smokes. I even went out back to my wood pile and brought up some 3 year old oak to confirm this.
3. Even with the bypass open smoke will spill out the door stink up basement. If your going to add wood to the fire in midstream you must do it quick. I'm going to try to reseal joints in the pipe for the third time. I know I have a leak. I am making creosote so am watching it closely. I'm probably going to sweep chimney again to make sure of no blockage.


I want to make this thing work somehow. I like the large firebox and it makes things easy when you don't have to worry about ash buildup. It puts off some serious heat. Also I'm not bashing the stove but I think something is not right with the chimney or me (operator error). I've been burning wood for a long time so I know when wood is seasoned so that being said I'm sure it's not a wood problem. I really need some ideas or someone with first hand experience with this or similar model. I'm thinking i'm not burning the stove hot enough and it's just too big for my basement install. Thanks for reading.

 

[smokeater]

I had the same trouble when I first purchased my Drolet.I was ready to take it back, after contacting the company I was fortunate enough to talk to someone that actually knew what they were talking about.On the initial start up you need to get a real hot fire going which means lots of kindling and leaving the door slightly ajar for a few minutes.They are very touchy this way especially if it is a bit milder out.Once you get a good fire going run the air where ever it will work for you.
One nice thing I have yet to have a runaway with the stove where I had a couple with my old stove,

 

[begreen]

Every flue varies. Try not cutting the air back all the way, but just until the flames start getting lazier. Then let the fire regain strength and then repeat closing it a bit more until the flames get lazy but not out. .

 

[Hardrockmaple]

This is what works for me. After hours and hours of watching the stove/fire, reading and rereading the manual, talking to Drolet.........

As you say, get that stove top hot!! Cut your air a third, wait 'til the flames recover (2-5 mins.), cut another third/wait 'til the flames recover, now start cutting back 'til as begreen says, flames are lazy and you still have secondaries. I cannot close my air off (as the manual says) entirely and I have a 42 ft. straight up chimney. My flue system btw. meets and exceeds Drolets manuals requirements. My draft actually exceeds their recommended upper limits and I still had the same frustrations as you. I've found that with the primary air open a tiny bit, that I can get 5-7 hrs. of useful heat (300 stove top), the window never gets darkened up, it does get a little cloudy but that's normal for all stoves I think.

When reloading, open the primary air all the way AND open the stove bypass, leave the stove this way for a few minutes, open door slowly, load 'er up and close down as above.

Hope this helps.