Hearthstone Heritage 8021 question

[Randy Acton]

Does anyone have any experience with this stove?

My wife and I purchased a house three years ago that had a Hearthstone Heritage. After heavy burning for the last three winters I finally did a thorough cleaning of the flue, secondary burn tubes and baffle. One of the baffle bricks was cracked so I replaced them all with full brick (the originals are 1/2 bricks and of a different width than what I can pick up locally).

Question 1: I will order the baffle kit from Hearthstone but in the meantime will the full brick pose any problems? So far the stove seems to operate equally as well if not a bit better.

Question 2:The secondary burn tubes are now clean and in good shape but I never seem to get any decent burn from them, now or before I replaced the baffle bricks. Does anyone else have the same issue? The only time they seem to really work is in an overfire condition when the ash door is cracked open. As soon as the ash door is closed and the flames die down even slightly the secondary burn also disappears. Can anyone help with this?

Thank You

 

[rudysmallfry]

How tall is the chimney? I have that stove and seems to need a lot of height for god draft. I think the recommended is 18'. Also, are there any elbows in the setup or is it straight up? My stove is 10 years old and I have had no problems with the tubes so I am no help there.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like poorly season wood, but weak draft can make the situation worse. Weak draft can be from a poor flue setup or mild outside temps, or a combo of both.

 

[Randy Acton]

Total run of the pipe is about 13'. Odd thing is that it is 6" single wall until it goes through ceiling then goes into 8" double wall.

Wood is well seasoned. Nothing but ash that has been standing dead for at least 4 years.

 

[bholler]

But how long has it been cut and split? Get a moisture meter and test it. You are going to have weak draft with that short over sized chimney i think with this setup you will be fighting to get good secondary burns. And you need to clean way more often especially if you are not getting good secondary combustion

 

[mark cline]

Did you clean where the secondary air enters the tubes under the stove? My Mansfield has 2 holes underneath at the back of the stove where the secondary air enters, I can see spiders and what not living in there in the off season.

 

[Randy Acton]

I pulled the entie secondary air system apart and cleaned everything.

Couple of additional notes on my system. The flue is a straight shot from the stove up, no 90's. Doing a little more research it looks like I have what is called an air cooled flue from the ceiling thru the roof. It also has a vacustack cap.

Considering I live in a bit of a valley (we are on a creek and about 60' below road surface) and don't get the same wind conditions they do "up top", I think the vacustack could be making my problems worse. Any thoughts on this? Would a different cap or possibly a cap with a fan help out?

As far as how long the wood has been split, it doesnt seem to matter. Fresh split dead ash compared to dead ash that was split two seasons ago seem to burn the same.

 

[Highbeam]

Does anyone have any experience with this stove?

My wife and I purchased a house three years ago that had a Hearthstone Heritage. After heavy burning for the last three winters I finally did a thorough cleaning of the flue, secondary burn tubes and baffle. One of the baffle bricks was cracked so I replaced them all with full brick (the originals are 1/2 bricks and of a different width than what I can pick up locally).

Question 1: I will order the baffle kit from Hearthstone but in the meantime will the full brick pose any problems? So far the stove seems to operate equally as well if not a bit better.

Question 2:The secondary burn tubes are now clean and in good shape but I never seem to get any decent burn from them, now or before I replaced the baffle bricks. Does anyone else have the same issue? The only time they seem to really work is in an overfire condition when the ash door is cracked open. As soon as the ash door is closed and the flames die down even slightly the secondary burn also disappears. Can anyone help with this?

Thank You

You've got a problem. The 8021 has no bricks. It's all soapstone and a ceramic fiber baffle on the top of the burn tubes. If you found bricks in that stove then it has been hacked. Get the OEM baffle board and see if that improves the burn.

Are you sure it is an 8021? There were some really old hearthstones that were called heritage too.

 

[Fsappo]

Just a side note, not sure if not seeing reburn equates reburn not happening. If your on a nice low burn and up to temp, see whats coming out of the chimney.

 

[Randy Acton]

This is the info I have

 

[begreen]

I'd get the proper baffle in as Highbeam suggests. And I would get a 3-4' section of 8" duct, pull the chimney cap and temporarily stick it in the chimney as a test extension. If it makes a notable difference, add a length of chimney and brace it.

 

[rudysmallfry]

Mine came with those bricks in your picture, but they go along the bottom, not up over the baffle at least that's how I understand it.

 

[Highbeam]

This is an 8021

http://www.hearthstoneparts.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=8021

That thing you have there is older. The 8021 has two soapstone blocks/bricks cemented to the floor beside the ash chute on top of the cast iron base.

 

[Dairyman]

Duck feet! Most likely a 8020. It has baffle fire brick and a ceramic blanket.

http://www.hearthstoneparts.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=8020

I'd try BG's chimney extension. 13' is this stoves minimum with a 6" flue and that 8" isn't helping.

 

[rudysmallfry]

Dumb question. What exactly is the purpose of those bricks? My stove had 3 and they were just laying in there loose when I got the stove new.

 

[Randy Acton]

Thanks for the help and advice! Definitely need to get to the bottom of the baffle issue.

As far as the flue is concerned, I have been reading that the type I have should have a 6" liner, insulated between the 6" and 8" with the air cooled properties running between the 8" and the outer pipe. Does that make any sense?