England 30 - Honeymoon is over :(

[slinger646]

So I bought an England Stove Works (Summer's Heat) NC30 from Lowes.

Built a hearth and hooked her up. 16" vertical, 24 Horozontal + the 90 degree coupling.

This thing is a PITA to get started and an even bigger PITA to keep going.

There is little to no flame, and the inside of the firebox is gloss black.

The window was cool the first day or so, but now its blackened, too.

Im lucky if I can get over 350* on the side of the firebox, its even "cooler" on the pipes.

I've used the driest wood I have (3+ years) and the chimney was squeaky clean

I dont think it should be like this. If it is, its back to the Vogelzang Death-Box that burns live trees with pleasure, and at 700*

What am I doing wrong?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Sounds like the wood would be dry, so tell me about the chimney.

Are you sure the air intake is open? What happens when the door is cracked open?

Matt

 

[EatenByLimestone]

What are your temperatures outside?

Matt

 

[slinger646]

When I open the door The fire burns like a fire should.

The air intake is open, I pinched and burned my finger experimenting.

Outside temps are high 20's - 40's

Chimney is some super ninja stainless liner with some kind of equally special insulating cement around it. Installed by a licensed, bonded and certified company in 2008.

 

[Todd]

Splits may be too large?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

How tall is the ninja liner? What diameter?

Matt

 

[slinger646]

Splits may be too large?

Normal size splits, I can pick them up on the end with one hand.

How tall is the ninja liner? What diameter?

Matt

I don't know the height of the liner, but I think its around 5-6" in diameter.

 

[n3pro]

Is there something blocking the air intake, some companies put stuff in moving parts to keep them from moving during shipping, I'm thinking maybe something got push into the air intake.

Just a thought.

 

[minnow19]

show me a picture. I need to see the leg lamp...I mean the outside liner

 

[ratkillingdog]

I bought the 50 and thought the same thing first 6 or 8 fires. Now I love the stove. It isn't going to be like what you are used to, I think the stove trained me. Also it seems to like having an inch of ash or so in it. Hang with it. Leave the door cracked and get it ripping before you close it. Try a bunch of small stuff to build up some coals and get the inside temp up..It's got to get good and hot inside before you shut the door. Give it a chance. Now I wouldn't trade back for nothing.

 

[slinger646]

Is there something blocking the air intake, some companies put stuff in moving parts to keep them from moving during shipping, I'm thinking maybe something got push into the air intake.

Just a thought.

Ive already pinched then burned my fingers checking for it....

show me a picture. I need to see the leg lamp...I mean the outside liner

Its a Ventinox 316ti liner.


Stove is running at 350-360 right now....should it take 3hrs to get going?



What do I need to expect and more importantly, not expect with this new-fangled stove?

 

[ratkillingdog]

Do you have a good load in the stove, up to the top of the bricks? The inside of the stove has to get hot enough to off gas the wood. The wood doesn't burn, it is the gases that burn.

 

[dondude]

I've had the opposite experience. Stove starts fast and heats like a banshee. My problem is learning how much wood to load so my house stays below 85 degrees. 2200 sq ft ranch. My wife says this stove is much easier to start. Music to my ears.

 

[BrotherBart]

Burn the stove with the wood turned North/South, front to back placement of the splits, for a while. Easier to get the burn established and up to temp that way.

 

[moosetrek]

Burn the stove with the wood turned North/South, front to back placement of the splits, for a while. Easier to get the burn established and up to temp that way.

+1. We've had no probs with ours at all. But, we burn almost entirely pine; throw a little elm on at night. One time we tried to start it with the hardwood it took a lot longer to get going, but that's to be expected I think. Ours will hit 500 in about 20 minutes with dry kindling, some small splits, and start it with the door open. Definitely no problems with it not heating enough. However, my wife is still perfecting wood stove heating, and sometimes will throw on just any old split - if they're too large and not enough coal, it will smolder like that forever.

Based on the low heat, and black glass, it sounds like one of two things if you've eliminated wet or green wood.
- Air intake, as mentioned
- Too large wood too fast

Bet is on #2. Any faults that Englander might have, lack of heat from an NC-30 is not one I've seen...!

 

[slinger646]

Burn the stove with the wood turned North/South, front to back placement of the splits, for a while. Easier to get the burn established and up to temp that way.

+1. We've had no probs with ours at all. But, we burn almost entirely pine; throw a little elm on at night. One time we tried to start it with the hardwood it took a lot longer to get going, but that's to be expected I think. Ours will hit 500 in about 20 minutes with dry kindling, some small splits, and start it with the door open. Definitely no problems with it not heating enough. However, my wife is still perfecting wood stove heating, and sometimes will throw on just any old split - if they're too large and not enough coal, it will smolder like that forever.

Based on the low heat, and black glass, it sounds like one of two things if you've eliminated wet or green wood.
- Air intake, as mentioned
- Too large wood too fast

Bet is on #2. Any faults that Englander might have, lack of heat from an NC-30 is not one I've seen...!

Im thinking my chimney may be too tall causing a poor draft. Although I live in a home with 6.5' ceilings, the floors/walls are 2' thick in some places, and I can do jumping jacks in my attic...

Im going to call Englander tomorrow....Im 99% sure its some form of operator error.

 

[burntime]

Too tall would only increase the draft and really get the fire going...

 

[lexybird]

....Im 99% sure its some form of operator error.

agreed.......

 

[BrotherBart]

The stove is evil. No human can heat with it. I am four hours away and if you will put it on the curb I will be down tomorrow to save you from that thing.

No charge. I do these things to help others.

 

[PapaDave]

The stove is evil. No human can heat with it. I am four hours away and if you will put it on the curb I will be down tomorrow to save you from that thing.

No charge. I do these things to help others.

I was thinking the same thing. More than happy to provide humanitarian relief from this evil appliance.
If only I lived closer, you would already be free from that albatross.
I think I would begin by attempting to melt it with fire from within.

j/k, of course. ;-P

 

[BrotherBart]

j/k, of course. ;-P

I'm not. The Suburban is gassed up and ready to roll. I want another one for the basement. :cheese:

 

[PapaDave]

LOL.
Yeah, I'd beat 'ya to it if I didn't live in northern mi.
My '85 Ashley is pretty unruly at times. It may be time for an upgrade soon.
The 30 is on my short list.

Dave

 

[EL DRIFTO]

use smaller splits to get it going, like way smaller
if i fill mine with small enough splits, it'll burn 400 w the air control @ 0

 

[Bigg_Redd]

So I bought an England Stove Works (Summer's Heat) NC30 from Lowes.

Built a hearth and hooked her up. 16" vertical, 24 Horozontal + the 90 degree coupling.

This thing is a PITA to get started and an even bigger PITA to keep going.

There is little to no flame, and the inside of the firebox is gloss black.

The window was cool the first day or so, but now its blackened, too.

Im lucky if I can get over 350* on the side of the firebox, its even "cooler" on the pipes.

I've used the driest wood I have (3+ years) and the chimney was squeaky clean

I dont think it should be like this. If it is, its back to the Vogelzang Death-Box that burns live trees with pleasure, and at 700*

What am I doing wrong?

Listen, no one on this board loves running down non Pacific Energy stoves like me, and I was prepared to cackle and heap on the abuse when I click on this thread. But it sounds to me like operator error. Try burning dry wood.

 

[drizler]

Just make sure you make a habit of checking yourself when you light that puppy with the door open. A fella I know put in a 50 a couple years back and one day forgot and walked away with the door cracked. She got pretty cherry and though it didn't do any damage he got his pipes cleaned the hard way with a chimney fire. Woops