Hi all- running out of ideas and looking for some help. We have had our Kozy Z42CD for roughly 10 years and have been happy with it so far. I haven’t had to replace anything until recently. I’ve noticed that my burn times are terrible now (along with other quirks that have started) and am hoping someone can help. Up to this point I have replaced the door gasket where the cast iron doors meet (original gasket finally broke in half) and the dollar bill test failed on the right door so I replaced that gasket as well. I just replaced the refractory panel above the burn tubes too.
When we initially got the Kozy I could load it before bed around 11 (roughly 3 splits) and in the morning there were plenty of coals to throw a split in and get going again. Now with the same 3 splits I barely have enough coals after 3-4 hours to get it going and have to baby it when I try. I was hoping that the right door gasket replacement was my problem but it doesn’t seem to be the case. It feels that I’m still getting too much air, even though dollar bill test feels good now, however I’m struggling when trying to relight after 4 hours and what seems to be enough coals.
My wood is primo (3 year oak, not sure of moisture content but it’s plenty dry)- I did try some newer white oak that was split 1.5 years ago but didn’t seem quite ready as I really struggled to get it going. My chimney is around 14 feet and doesn’t appear to be pulling excessively Chimney was cleaned around 2 years ago (never get more than a cup of flakey stuff). At this point I’m not sure what else to look at. I didn’t replace the left door gasket since dollar bill test had plenty of tug of it, plus Kozy uses a silicone caulk to hold the gasket and is a royal pain to remove. I used Rutland for both the right door seal and seal where doors meet in the middle. I’m waving the white flag now so any ideas are appreciated!
When we initially got the Kozy I could load it before bed around 11 (roughly 3 splits) and in the morning there were plenty of coals to throw a split in and get going again. Now with the same 3 splits I barely have enough coals after 3-4 hours to get it going and have to baby it when I try. I was hoping that the right door gasket replacement was my problem but it doesn’t seem to be the case. It feels that I’m still getting too much air, even though dollar bill test feels good now, however I’m struggling when trying to relight after 4 hours and what seems to be enough coals.
My wood is primo (3 year oak, not sure of moisture content but it’s plenty dry)- I did try some newer white oak that was split 1.5 years ago but didn’t seem quite ready as I really struggled to get it going. My chimney is around 14 feet and doesn’t appear to be pulling excessively Chimney was cleaned around 2 years ago (never get more than a cup of flakey stuff). At this point I’m not sure what else to look at. I didn’t replace the left door gasket since dollar bill test had plenty of tug of it, plus Kozy uses a silicone caulk to hold the gasket and is a royal pain to remove. I used Rutland for both the right door seal and seal where doors meet in the middle. I’m waving the white flag now so any ideas are appreciated!
