Englander NC30 questions

[larryjbjr]

On my my NC30, which I run hard, the plume is totally clear after a brief startup plume of say 10 minutes.

That's what I got today, starting totally cold.

I have a 15° offset that goes around the eve of the roof, so I can't see past that, but down to that it is all black and looks tarry, though I didn't actually feel it. But only brown and gooey on the outside of the cap and a little down the outside of the chimney.

I first put in an older smaller stove back in early January. The chimney was put in new at that time as well. I ran that stove a couple weeks then bought the 30 cause I was tired of stoking every couple hours.

I also am burning inferior wood. Some is fresh cut dead elm that has a MC in the low to mid 20s, the rest is some mixed, mostly softwood, that I bought from a man that said he didn't need it. Being my first purchase I never thought to check it too close. It turned out to be very dirty wood, then got worse when we moved it on a very muddy day. Lesson learned.








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[brenndatomu]

Would you mind elaborating a little? There are times when I'm getting just enough smoke to see it, is that what you mean? Or should there be no visible smoke at all?

Don't confuse steam with smoke. You'll always get some steam after loading. White steam dissipates after just a few feet away from the chimney. Smoke tends to trail off a longer...sometimes depending on the smoke/steam and the weather, you really have to study it a bit to tell the difference.

 

[larryjbjr]

Now, even though my wood is poor quality, I'm keeping flue temps around 400° throughout. So, I should be fine huh?

I'm thinking the black tarry and brown gooey stuff is from my first junk stove...

Also when I switched stoves I looked in the stove pipe from that end and had only brown crunchy stuff, again about 1/16 of an inch thick.


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[Woody Stover]

That's what I got today, starting totally cold.......it is all black and looks tarry, though I didn't actually feel it. But only brown and gooey on the outside of the cap and a little down the outside of the chimney....Some is fresh cut dead elm that has a MC in the low to mid 20s, the rest is some mixed, mostly softwood, that I bought from a man that said he didn't need it. It turned out to be very dirty wood, then got worse when we moved it on a very muddy day.

If you got a clean start today, that's a good sign. I was gonna ask if you had touched those deposits, because they can be shiny and black, and look gooey, but if you touch it, it's flaky and will crumble. That black, flaky stuff is not as bad as goo, but not as good as powder. Low 20s is passable, and some dirt on the wood won't hurt I don't think. Get to work stacking some quick-drying wood now, like soft Maple, Black Cherry or borer-killed dead Ash. Or get more of that dead Elm....split and stacked now, it will be good by fall.

 

[Woody Stover]

when I switched stoves I looked in the stove pipe from that end and had only brown crunchy stuff, again about 1/16 of an inch thick.

You'll probably never have any gooey stuff at the bottom of the pipe, only at the top where the gasses cool down enough to condense.
I forgot to mention, that brown stuff on the outside of the cap and running down the outside of the chimney could just be steam that condensed...it will be a bit brown and will drip off the cap.

 

[blades]

With The Nc 30 and marginal wood You might not see as much secondary action as is described- the higher moisture content of your fuel will cool off the firebox some sorta snuffing out the secondaries. The manual does recommend leaving apx 2" gap above the fuel below the tubes. Like most I just scoop ash out. With 12-15% or so moisture content fuel the 30 is a fantastic performer for its price point. Discoloration and maybe some build up on the out side of the exposed flue at the cap area a a bit below is about normal, never noticed mine to be sticky. 400 deg on the out side of a double walled pipe is pretty hot . Center of the step on top of the stove is where I monitor mine- 700 degF on up is considered the over fire range at that point.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I heated a 2000 sqft house in a cold region with very marginal wood for an entire year...only heat source. I had 6-12 month wood.
4 strokes with the bristle brush at the end of the season and it was clean.

Don't over think this. Get your fires hot FREQUENTLY..as it every load. Don't constantly burn low and slow with bad wood.

 

[Highbeam]

400 deg on the out side of a double walled pipe is pretty hot . Center of the step on top of the stove is where I monitor mine- 700 degF on up is considered the over fire range at that point.

400 on the outside of double wall? That's a weird thing to measure and not very helpful. With double wall you must use a probe meter to measure internal flue temperatures. Single wall pipe surface temperatures are useful. If your 400 is actually internal pipe temps measured with a probe then that is about the lowest you want to go after warmup. Any lower and you risk accumulation of tar due to condensation.

700 degrees on top of the NC30 is not considered overfire. I cruise at 700-750 all the time. That's where it starts making some heat! I don't recall Englander specifying a temperature and if they did it would probably be 800. More likely they say the typical "when stove parts glow" is the overfire temp.

 

[larryjbjr]

No, it's single wall pipe. 400° on the outside of single wall pipe.


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[Highbeam]

No, it's single wall pipe. 400° on the outside of single wall pipe.


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Whoa, that's plenty hot. I only see that surface temp on my single wall during warm up and when stove top temps are up over 700. Holding 400 surface temp should keep your chimney above the tar forming condensing point.

For reference, 500 is the max you should go since that corresponds with 1000 degree internal temps which is the maximum continuous rating for class a pipe.