First fire in new Manchester

[rpwalton]

First fire last night in my new Hearthstone Manchester, first stove I ever owned.
I am really pleased so far.
Last night was a small fire, this morning still had enough hot coals to just throw some logs on and crank it back up.
Pic is from this morning just now.

 

[joop]

did you burn in the paint?

 

[joop]

nice stove by the way

 

[Woody Stover]

I've always liked the Manchester, styling and some of the features like front or side loading, the fins on top of the firebox to extract heat, etc. Not sure how much the new model has changed from when I saw them several years back at a local stove shop. I'm thinking it still has the cast iron ash grate in the floor of, possibly the best feature any stove can have. 😏
The other question I'd have is, how well is the new hybrid design designed? Is the cat protected well from flame impingement (direct flame hitting the face of the cat?) Reason I ask is because I run my straight cat stove by closing the bypass as soon as possible, once I have enough flame to throw heat to the cat, light it off, and get the stove burning clean. I keep moderate flame in the box until the stove heats up to the point that I can cut the air and maintain a cat-only burn if I want.
I recently installed an Auber AT200 digital thermometer with thermocouple cat probe, given to me by generous hearth.com member Todd, who's now burning a different stove than mine and no longer uses that setup...what a guy! 🤗 I'd highly recommend this setup, or at least put in an analog Condar cat meter with temp numbers on the face. But digital/thermocouple is the way to go for instant feedback on whether the cat is burning. It's changed the way I run my stove. 👍
In the Manchester manual, it describes how I run the stove in the following excerpt (never closed the bypass "within 2 to 3 minutes," but this gives the general idea:

"Even though it is possible to have gas temperatures
reach 500 °F (260⁰C) within 2 to 3 minutes after a fire
is started, if the fire is allowed to die down
immediately, it may go out or the combustor may stop
working. Once the stove and catalytic combustor heat
up, heat generated from burning smoke keeps the
catalysts warm and active as long as fuel remains in
the stove. You stove will burn the cleanest and most
efficiently when the catalysts are in the active range.
There should be little to no visible smoke from your
chimney when the catalysts are in the active zone and
fully functional."

 

[rpwalton]

did you burn in the paint?

Yes, we did a small kindling fire first to condition the soapstone, then we did a larger fire with several regular pieces of firewood which activated the catalyst and created some fumes from the paint, then after adding a few splits several times the fumes subsided and don't seem bad at all today.

 

[TomMcDonald]

Beauty. Love that slate slab.

 

[rpwalton]

Not sure how much the new model has changed

Has all the same features you mentioned...
I heard somewhere that the doghouse air inlet has been raised higher than the older Manchesters.
The cat is well protected from flames I think, above the baffle in the back, flames would have to come over the baffle in the front and then go to the back of the stove to reach the 2 cats.
Temp numbers on the cat thermometer would be nice.