England 30-NC
- Thread starter Lv2trav
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
MAD MARK
Feeling the Heat
Yea I saved it back when you were first running that. Notice your wavy air wash plate?
You and Dexter were the ones that convinced the 30NC were the way I wanted to go.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Yeah, that wavy air wash plate has not moved since it happened many years ago and I am not shy about running this thing hot. To be fair, my much more expensive bk stove had an internal melt failure as well but after I bent it straight it hasn't moved either.
The dang nc30 stove is pretty bulletproof. The door latch mechanism is brilliantly simple. I am tempted to upgrade to a furnace during the rebate but this nc30 does everything I need.
HIghbeam – Yes, N/S, but not to the roof. I am trying that technique today.
Yes, I closed the intake shut before I touched the key damper. Again, intake doesn’t appear to do anything, open or closed makes no difference.
Spacebus – Yes and no to the key damper causing the draft to come in. Yes, it causes it if I close it too much, but I still get a good amount of smoke in the house if I open the door to load the stove with it wide open.
At what stove top temperature do you put in a second full load? Do you wait until it just embers remaining?
Draft is harder to reverse on warmer days that is for sure! It is 54 and raining today and I just started the fire. Whole room was filled with smoke before it reversed. Smoke coming out of every pore.
Jsab9191 – Yes, I had it all inspected last year before I used it for the first time. Second inspection is next month, from a different company.
It is sounding more and more like the clay liner is a major issue. Is that true? I know I am looking at least a couple thousand, if not more, but I will be in this house for at least a decade so it may be worth the spend.
Yes, I closed the intake shut before I touched the key damper. Again, intake doesn’t appear to do anything, open or closed makes no difference.
Spacebus – Yes and no to the key damper causing the draft to come in. Yes, it causes it if I close it too much, but I still get a good amount of smoke in the house if I open the door to load the stove with it wide open.
At what stove top temperature do you put in a second full load? Do you wait until it just embers remaining?
Draft is harder to reverse on warmer days that is for sure! It is 54 and raining today and I just started the fire. Whole room was filled with smoke before it reversed. Smoke coming out of every pore.
Jsab9191 – Yes, I had it all inspected last year before I used it for the first time. Second inspection is next month, from a different company.
It is sounding more and more like the clay liner is a major issue. Is that true? I know I am looking at least a couple thousand, if not more, but I will be in this house for at least a decade so it may be worth the spend.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Generally we refer to it as a draft reversal when the smoke is coming into a room, not the other way around. I think your oversized chimney liner is making this a lot harder for you. See if you can get a 6" insulated liner, it will make your wood burning experience much more enjoyable. The next time you are getting smoke in the house, try starting a fire with little pencil sized kindling. That's what I do when the draft is balky. Another trick is to open a nearby window or door and put a fan drawing air into the house. This will create a pressurization and force the air up through the chimney. I use a fan when lighting my cookstove in mild weather. Even with my ultra dry slab firewood I can get a balky draft on a mild day.
The insulated liner and having firewood that has air dried for one to two years will make your wood burning experience very easy and relaxing. Our first winter marginally dry firewood was very difficult and mixing bio bricks with our wood make it workable.
The insulated liner and having firewood that has air dried for one to two years will make your wood burning experience very easy and relaxing. Our first winter marginally dry firewood was very difficult and mixing bio bricks with our wood make it workable.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
This is weird. My NC30 has a very responsive intake control. I can almost snuff any fire. When you move the intake control can you hear and feel the shudder sliding inside the stove? It's a flat plate that rides horizontally over a big hole to close off the air.
If you can get down there behind the stove you are able to look into that 3" round outdoor air connection in the back and actually can see the inlet hole being closed as you push in the air control. You can see it to verify that this plate is installed correctly though I don't know what to do if it is not correctly installed. Look in and up with a flashlight. The hole in there being covered by the movable plate is kind of triangle shaped.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
If the primary air is always closed it would definitely tend to want to reverse draft from cold. I know if I forget to open the primary air on my cook stove or Morso I have a hard time getting the fire going!
Most people that say that don't know how to run them and don't understand secondary combustion. That's understandable if they got the 30-NC as a smoke dragon replacement.
As a reminder, I have a large masonry exterior chimney,.
That said, let me run this scenario by you. I just started my fire this morning. Stove was still luke warm with coals from last night, thermometer read 150. I loaded it up like the picture earlier in the post and started it. The draft was absolutely amazing. I could see the smoke being sucked up through the top front section with the door wide open. I have never seen this before. As soon as it started to heat up smoke billowed out, like I lost the draft as it got hotter. Last night, at 650 degrees, smoke piled out once the flames went out on my last load. I had to open the windows upstairs to air the house out it was so bad, and the door was only open for less than 5 seconds. It was my fault for letting the flames go out, but it was still reading 650...
My question is, shouldn't this be the reverse? Shouldn't the draft be amazing once it gets hot, not when its cool/cold? Not sure if it matters, but outside temp is 30. I wasn't sure if this info would help diagnose my issue.
That said, let me run this scenario by you. I just started my fire this morning. Stove was still luke warm with coals from last night, thermometer read 150. I loaded it up like the picture earlier in the post and started it. The draft was absolutely amazing. I could see the smoke being sucked up through the top front section with the door wide open. I have never seen this before. As soon as it started to heat up smoke billowed out, like I lost the draft as it got hotter. Last night, at 650 degrees, smoke piled out once the flames went out on my last load. I had to open the windows upstairs to air the house out it was so bad, and the door was only open for less than 5 seconds. It was my fault for letting the flames go out, but it was still reading 650...
My question is, shouldn't this be the reverse? Shouldn't the draft be amazing once it gets hot, not when its cool/cold? Not sure if it matters, but outside temp is 30. I wasn't sure if this info would help diagnose my issue.
Can we assume that nothing else in the house was happening that might affect draft. No big exhaust fan turned on? If not, it sounds like the chimney would benefit by putting in an insulated 6" stainless liner.
There is one other remote possibility. Does the house have warm air furnace or a hot water boiler system?
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Marginally dry wood can do this with an oversized flue. If you put a load of wood in the stove that's over 20% water it will quickly cool the flue and firebox. Is your house construction particularly tight?
Hi All. I did the moisture test on the firewood and most of the medium to large splits were over 20%. Called the kiln dried seller and he said they kiln dry for an hour, but they don't get it as dry as store bought kiln dried. I am sure this is one of my problems!
I started to watch that video and noticed he could keep the stove open and no smoke came out. That is not mine. I will get back with everyone in a few weeks when the chimney sweep comes to see what they have to say. My guess is a steel liner is needed.
Can anyone confirm if the third (from the front) burn tube is supposed to be bowed? Mine is definitely bowed, and I will replace it if isn't supposed to be bowed (maybe from heat?). Also, I replaced the baffle boards last winter with OEM boards, and they are bowed up as well. Not a ton, but is that normal?
Thanks, and Happy Holidays to everyone!
I started to watch that video and noticed he could keep the stove open and no smoke came out. That is not mine. I will get back with everyone in a few weeks when the chimney sweep comes to see what they have to say. My guess is a steel liner is needed.
Can anyone confirm if the third (from the front) burn tube is supposed to be bowed? Mine is definitely bowed, and I will replace it if isn't supposed to be bowed (maybe from heat?). Also, I replaced the baffle boards last winter with OEM boards, and they are bowed up as well. Not a ton, but is that normal?
Thanks, and Happy Holidays to everyone!
No, the tubes should be straight. I would try taking it out and straightening (gently) by hand before replacing it. My original boards also bowed front to back. It ran better when I flipped them over so they were touching front and back and off the middle tubes. Note that the tubes are each slightly different by the angle of the holes.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
My boards are bowed up too, hunched up about 1/4" and touching only the front and back tubes. Those tubes should be straight. I've run the stove HOT since day one and mine are straight. The previous owner must have slammed or wedged a chunk of wood into it.
Just had my fireplace inspected and cleaned yesterday. They said the chimney is in good condition, with proper clearances from the roofline. They said I was sold double wall pipe by last years inspector (who I didn't trust and almost had to call the police on as the two workers were fighting with each other) and didn't need it. I have a 7 inch clay liner that is in good shape, but he believes it is the main cause of my problems. He is quoting me a 25' insulated steel liner (still waiting on that). He also said the thimble is loose and may be letting air in. He checked my wood and said he didn't think that was the main cause because only a few pieces were too wet.
The one thing he didn't understand is why the air intake handle did not control the fire. He felt it from the back and said it appeared to be working, but concurred it was not controlling airflow as it should. He thought it may be time to invest in a new stove given the credits, plus the credit will come off the liner as well. Which brands/models compare to the output of this stove? It is a huge investment, but if I am going to do it, now is the time with the credit.
Hope everyone had a great New Year!
The one thing he didn't understand is why the air intake handle did not control the fire. He felt it from the back and said it appeared to be working, but concurred it was not controlling airflow as it should. He thought it may be time to invest in a new stove given the credits, plus the credit will come off the liner as well. Which brands/models compare to the output of this stove? It is a huge investment, but if I am going to do it, now is the time with the credit.
Hope everyone had a great New Year!
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
This installer sounds like a decent person, one of the reasons why you may or may not be noticing the air control working is because its not a lightning quick operation, especially when the fire is in the incipient stage of growth or full growth and the firebox is over 1100 deg f, thats when secondary combustion takes over and there's no controlling that air take.
You should see better results with dry wood, a 6" liner with no leaks, remember the chimney is the engine that drives the stove, and yes it can be like goldilocks until you figure out how to dial it in.
Similar threads
- Locked
