Fisher Goldilocks won't shut down! Help

[JoshColorado]

Recently moved into a mobile home. Have a fisher Goldilocks, downloaded the manual, replaced some brick, cleaned out out and started running it. I can not get this stove to shut down. I wouldn't say it goes full bore all the time but with the 'bear o matic' flap closed it is for sure still getting quite a bit of air somehow. Got up in the middle of the night and it's glowing red!

I am absolutely sure the flap in front is fully closing. The air has to be coming in through the doors correct? This is my first Fisher, I was under the impression they didn't use a door gasket, or am I wrong. I like the stove, but I really need to get this figured out, thanks in advance

 

[coaly]

Look under the stove, under air intake flap. There is a ash clean out for what falls through the intake air screen inside. Make sure it is closed and seals. ( this prevents it from pulling any air out of the home)

Some had 2 wing nuts on studs to hold closed at ends, some have only one stud front and center. Open door with a catch tray under it, clean edge of stove bottom and flap. Reach up into clean out area and clean the sealing area where the air intake flap closes. Ash build up there can prevent intake flap closing fully. I do that with a gloved finger every time I clean the intake clean out.

Be sure back of doors where they contact door seal on stove front are clean. Wire wheel if necessary. ( both doors and seal) It should go down to a glow with little to no flame when closed.

You can go around it with an incense stick watching for smoke to be pulled in at any leaks.

 

[JoshColorado]

Look under the stove, under air intake flap. There is a ash clean out for what falls through the intake air screen inside. Make sure it is closed and seals.

Some had 2 wing nuts on studs to hold closed at ends, some have only one stud front and center. Open door with a catch tray under it, clean edge of stove bottom and flap. Packed ash or a small stick could have gotten on it when closed and may not be closing fully. Reach up into clean out area and clean the sealing area where the air intake flap closes. Ash build up there can prevent closing fully. I do that with a gloved finger every time I clean the intake clean out.

Be sure back of doors where they contact door seal on stove front are clean. Wire wheel if necessary. It should go down to a glow with little to no flame when closed.

You can go around it with an incense stick watching for smoke to be pulled in at any leaks.

I'll double check all that, but I did a thorough cleaning before lighting, including the air flap and ash clean out.

I was able to slide a piece of paper around between the door channel after it was shut, so I'm still thinking it's the doors

 

[coaly]

The door seal is the 1 inch channel iron on stove front. It should make contact on the back of doors all the way around in places. The doors have a raised area that contacts the center of the channel iron web. The edges of channel iron contact the back of doors. That should be good enough without gasket.

When door hinges or pins wear, doors can become loose. Keeping hinge pins greased decreases any wear. Same as the threaded bolt on left draft cap. Silver anti-seize or high temp greases prevents wear of threads on cap or door.

You can see by opening right door, close left, close air. The air adjusting bolt should close flap fully and start to open door. If the bolt end wears, or flap tang sticking up is bent, a cap nut on the threaded rod lengthens the bolt and gives the end a round top. This radius of the cap prevents wear of the bolt end.

 

[JoshColorado]

Yeah, I have a pretty good understanding of how the stove and door seal work. The air flap is absolutely for sure closing all the way, and the stove still ripped through my wood.

I'll try a small fire and the incense trick, in my mind there is no other possible way the air is getting in other than the doors. Even if the flap wasn't completely closed(it is) my fire should have at least gone down to a low/low-medium. Last night my fire was a medium-high. Burned through a fully loaded firebox in about 2 hours

 

[coaly]

Put a strip of cardboard in the seal channel. See if doors close with no problem. Add another until tight, or will not close properly. Then you know the clearance available for a crushed gasket. Flat gasket for glass cemented in door channel, not round is the thinnest.

It prevents the doors from making any noise when closing in the middle of the night when you get your significant other trained to tend the fire while you sleep too.

 

[Donna1724]

Yeah, I have a pretty good understanding of how the stove and door seal work. The air flap is absolutely for sure closing all the way, and the stove still ripped through my wood.

I'll try a small fire and the incense trick, in my mind there is no other possible way the air is getting in other than the doors. Even if the flap wasn't completely closed(it is) my fire should have at least gone down to a low/low-medium. Last night my fire was a medium-high. Burned through a fully loaded firebox in about 2 hours

Hi Josh, I am hoping to make my Goldilocks more efficient this winter, and have the same exact problem as you - with it burning so hot when I load it up before bed and shut all the air. It goes through wood like crazy. I was wondering if you resolved this problem? And also curious if you tried a gasket? My doors appear to be pretty tight when I try to pull out a piece of paper in between. I called a "stove guy" to come look at it, but he said in general, the Fishers aren't very efficient, he recommended that I buy a new $3600 stove for him to install - no thanks!

 

[bholler]

Hi Josh, I am hoping to make my Goldilocks more efficient this winter, and have the same exact problem as you - with it burning so hot when I load it up before bed and shut all the air. It goes through wood like crazy. I was wondering if you resolved this problem? And also curious if you tried a gasket? My doors appear to be pretty tight when I try to pull out a piece of paper in between. I called a "stove guy" to come look at it, but he said in general, the Fishers aren't very efficient, he recommended that I buy a new $3600 stove for him to install - no thanks!

Well he is right they aren't efficient at all. But it should absolutely be more controllable. Have you checked the glass gasket?

 

[coaly]

Well he is right they aren't efficient at all. But it should absolutely be more controllable. Have you checked the glass gasket?

Goldilocks didn’t have glass, but it sounds like this one would benefit from a flat door gasket in the iron channel.

 

[coaly]

Hi Josh, I am hoping to make my Goldilocks more efficient this winter, and have the same exact problem as you - with it burning so hot when I load it up before bed and shut all the air. It goes through wood like crazy. I was wondering if you resolved this problem? And also curious if you tried a gasket? My doors appear to be pretty tight when I try to pull out a piece of paper in between. I called a "stove guy" to come look at it, but he said in general, the Fishers aren't very efficient, he recommended that I buy a new $3600 stove for him to install - no thanks!

Try a incense stick, or shake out a match around the door seal area with it going to see if the smoke rushes into the stove anywhere around the door seal.

If there is any rust or debris on seal or back of doors remove it with a wire brush or wire wheel. Both surfaces need to be clean and smooth.

Next make sure there is absolutely no packed ash or debris around the opening where the air intake flap contacts the stove opening. It must close tightly. Opening the ash clean out under the stove front gives you access to clean the flap and sealing area.

If you open left door the air flap will be hanging free. Push shut hard and listen to the metal to metal clack, or if it sounds and feels like a dull clunk. Does it sound muffled, like it has a cushion between the steel flap and stove? It should click like metal to metal, not a thud like packed ash under the seal. Listen to it after cleaning, it should feel different as well.

I should probably state the obvious as well, always burn on an inch of ash. This prevents excessive oxygen from getting under the wood. I heated with a Goldilocks for many years. It would have a bed of coals in the morning after 8 hours, but not be heating much. If someone got up at 3 or 4 to load it, no problem with heat in the morning as our only heat source during colder weather. Burning too much oak always coaled too much leaving a pile of coals to burn down, encroaching on loading space. I learned a good mix prevents too many coals. You should be able to close the air, without cranking the air damper so tight it forces door open, and let fire die to little to no flame when you crack door open to peek in quickly.

 

[bholler]

Goldilocks didn’t have glass, but it sounds like this one would benefit from a flat door gasket in the iron channel.

Oh oops I thought they did thankyou

 

[coaly]

Oh oops I thought they did thankyou

That would be the Honey Bear pedestal.

 

[bholler]

I should learn to let you answer these lol.

But yes I have had to put flat gasket on plenty of Fishers that were just worn and I couldn't get the doors tight any other way. I don't like to but sometimes there isn't any other choice

 

[coaly]

I should learn to let you answer these lol.

But yes I have had to put flat gasket on plenty of Fishers that were just worn and I couldn't get the doors tight any other way. I don't like to but sometimes there isn't any other choice

This model has an opening all the way across the front on the bottom. It has a screen over the opening, and a hinged flap all the way across the stove. It drops down in the wide open position when opening the left door. There is a welded tab like a lever sticking up through a slot in the screen. The right damper knob is fake, and doesn’t turn. The left one is threaded with a 3 inch threaded rod extending into the firebox. This rod end contacts the welded tab adjusting the flap as knob is turned in and out of door. This way the adjustment goes back to where it was when closing the door after loading.

So pushing the tab in closes the flap under the opening. As ash falls through the screen, it lands on the flap and can stick to the underside of the opening when closed if it doesn’t fall through into the clean out area below flap. The flap then packs it against the bottom of opening, and as missing pieces fall out, leaks air through the gaps in the packed ash when closed. If it doesn’t clank loud like metal to metal when slapping flap closed, it has a layer of packed ash on it.

The air intake system was patented as the Bear-O-Matic since it automatically returns to the pre set position after closing doors.