Fireview Burning Hot!!

[Chief Ryan]

I've been getting high temps in my Fireview lately, 600 and over. It hasn't been that cold yet and i've been keeping the OSA just about shut and she's still running hot.

This is my second year burning this stove and i am comparing temps to last year at this time. I didn't get those temps until it got real cold last year.

What's the best way to test for air leaks??

 

[Chief Ryan]

Right now it's about 700 with the damper closed??????

 

[smokinj]

what kind of wood you running?

 

[ROBERT F]

Its a fireview, so view the fire. look for areas that seem to be burning like a torch when the air is cut all the way down. the fire will seek out the air, and show you the leak. unless the leak is in a secondary burn chamber not visible then I dunno.

 

[Todd]

If your at 0 and there is still flame and red coals you must have a leak somewhere. I had this problem my first year with the stove and found that the air slide mechanism was off track so it wasn't closing. I bumped it with a screwdriver and it fell back in place. I wonder if the stove got knocked over during shipping? Also check your door gasket.

 

[Chief Ryan]

I'm burning a combination of Yellow Birch, Locust and Oak.

The air is shut all the way down right now and i still see bright red coals on the bottom across the front as is the damper is leaking air but no flame. I'll let the stove cool tomorrow and take a look around.

What can i use to check for a leak that wont smoke my house out?

 

[drakave]

heres a thought if you are removing the entire assembly. Cover the stove pipe with something to prevent leaks up the pipe (try painters tape, works great and easy to remove once its done, just make sure to clean the area well where the tape will be sticking to.)and throw a few sticks of inscense in there. The smoke should be thick enough after time to start seeping out of any cracks or such. Plus next time you burn it would smell really nice this works great when you are trying to ID drafts in your home as well by putting the stick next to where you think the draft is and seeing if smoke moves indicating a draft

 

[Vic99]

All good advice.

I've tried in a Hearthstone what pineburner has done. By cutting the air as much as possible you really get a good feel for the leak location. Mine ended up being a gasket that needed replacing. Good luck.

 

[fire_man]

If you are getting high stovetop temperatures with no flames in the firebox with a low draft setting - try Increasing the draft until you do get flames. I know this is counterintuitive but I think what is happening is that the cat is being stuffed with smoke and all of the secondary burn happens in the cat. When there are flames in the firebox, some of the secondary cumbustion happens in the firebox and the cat has less smoke to burn and the stovetop temp drops but the firebox temp actually goes up.

 

[3fordasho]

If your at 0 and there is still flame and red coals you must have a leak somewhere. I had this problem my first year with the stove and found that the air slide mechanism was off track so it wasn't closing. I bumped it with a screwdriver and it fell back in place. I wonder if the stove got knocked over during shipping? Also check your door gasket.

Ditto on the air slide mechanism being off track. It should appear to completely close off the opening when set at "0".
When mine was off there was an angular opening visible.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Chief, 600 is nothing to worry about for sure, but when it gets to 700 you do need to worry. One thing you can remember is if it is getting too hot, you can bypass the cat for a few minutes (I had to do that recently). Also, even with the draft closed, the firebox will still get some air.

If you do bypass the cat, usually it takes only a couple minutes; as soon as you see the temperature gauge start to fall, you should be able to engage the cat right then. Our stove hit 700 a few days ago, I bypassed the cat and when the temperature gauge dropped 10 degrees, I turned the cat on and when the gauge settled, it was at 620 and stayed there for some time. No problem at that temperature.

Please let us know how you turn out with your draft check and don't forget that you can call Woodstock too.