Holy crap, HOT F602

[nola mike]

Been having some trouble controlling my f602 n. Last year I rebuilt it. I didn't have the correct size door gasket at the time, so I improvised. I also gasketed I good portion of the upper edge of the glass door (which is the uncontrollable primary air intake on this model). This year it's still burning a bit hotter than I'd like. I had the right sized gasket and decided to replace it. This time I left the top open like I was supposed to. I also noticed that I had stuffed the void at the top of the glass with gasket previously. Hmm. Now, with the adjustable air all the way closed, the burn plate temp promptly shot to 1050', and the rest of the top was mid/upper 800s. Tried stuffing the upper glass with foil but it didn't do much. It's calming down now, but I'm going to close it back up before the next burn. Haven't (really ever) had much secondary burn from this thing. Wondering if a gap between the manifold and upper burn plate could let in way too much air from the secondary intake. I might put some forced air through the secondary intake to see if there are significant leaks...

 

[Lake Girl]

Dix had a run-away with her PE due to weak gaskets ... Might want to keep the procedure in mind until you get the stove sorted out as it is counter intuitive to what you would expect. Good luck on finding the source...

 

[nola mike]

Weird. Repositioned gasket, and added enough to basically close the air wash. Same thing happened. I may have shut it down too late, but still. Going to throw some oak in next go round and shut it much earlier.

 

[Lake Girl]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pe-pacific-insert-scaring-me-the-moment.157121/

 

[nola mike]

Ok, peaked at the same temp but started cooling off much quicker.

 

[nola mike]

Think I figured it out part way at least. Primary air slide loose enough to separate a bit from the door, so even closed was letting in a bunch of air--I could hear the difference when I pulled the slide forward. I'll try to adjust when it cools down...

 

[nola mike]

Yup, the springs that press the slide tight against the door were weak. Stretched them out and was able to keep it much cooler. I may take the gasket back off the top and see how it runs again with the stock design.

 

[Dustin]

I had the f602cb. I had to partially block the upper air let above the glass for my tall chimney. After I did that it ran well.

I didn't measure the temp on the cook top, but placed thermo a little forward and to the right, so, right corner of the stove top if that makes sense.

I usually ran the stove at about 700 with no problems.

I did learn however, that you have to shut the air down on that stove EARLY. If you don't, they seem to run away constantly

 

[nola mike]

Well, still having issues. Shutting down air early enough that it's almost smouldering. It still is getting to a cooktop temp of 1050, with the rest of the top peaking at the upper 800's. This is with the upper air wash 1/3 occluded, the primary air all the way off, and using @precaud 's secondary air shutoff once it got going (that did seem to cool it a bit, but strangely was still getting secondary burn, so not sure how well it sealed the intake). I put in a new chimney damper, which I didn't close yet. I also replaced both the door gasket and another gasket on the front glass that was never present on mine, but I noticed on a floor model when I was buying pipe. I'm using drier wood than ever before with some bricks mixed in, but I don't know that it should be this hard to control, should it? Blowing a fan over the stove reduces temps by 100-200', and really heats up the room nicely, but I don't know if that's good for the stove either...

 

[nola mike]

 

[begreen]

Closing off the damper should make a notable difference.

 

[rwhite]

Is your elbow rotted through?

 

[nola mike]

Is your elbow rotted through?

Sure looks like it on that pic! I think it's just schmutz. I'm positive that I would have noticed that, but now I'm going to double check...

 

[nola mike]

Shutting the damper made some difference, but not as much as I thought it would. But I think I (finally) figured out the difference between this year and last. The gasket on the window wraps around the glass. The glass is held in place by a metal "hood". When the gasket is wrapped around the glass, it holds the hood off the glass, creating a gap the width of the gasket allowing air in. I replaced the gasket with the correct one this year and wrapped it around the glass, allowing in quite a bit of unregulated air. Moving that gasket out of the way completely solved the problem. Going forward I might experiment with different thickness spacers to let in a bit of air through the top. Aside from glass cleanliness, I'm not sure that it matters whether the air comes in from the top or the bottom of the glass?

 

[nola mike]

I gotta say, this is really confusing me. I thought I figured it out, but am still having problems. I've now pretty much completely eliminated the air wash gap, changed out all gaskets, am running the damper 1/2 way closed, and am still peaking out at those high temps. I can still hear air going through the primary intake when it's really hot, but it certainly appears all the way closed. I don't see any gaps in the seams when I'm looking with a strong light or with a fire going at night. The secondary air closure doesn't seem to do much. So if I close the damper all the way and shut the stove way early it isn't as bad, but at that point it isn't operating anywhere near a stock condition. Any ideas from here? I might cover the whole door with foil to take any of that out of the equation...

 

[Babaganoosh]

I'd try calling the manufacturer at this point. I'm all for experimenting because I do it myself but at this point I think a phone call is in order.

 

[Dustin]

I may call as well. Mine ran hot as well. I had to completely close the damper to keep temps where they should be. I also used a gasket and placed it inside the "hood"' above the glass, closing that off totally.

Make sure you are not measuring your temp at the cooktop as it's not an accurate reading, the cook top I found is about 200 degrees hotter then the rest of the stove

 

[Corey]

Guess your temp gauge is accurate? 1050F would be glowing red heat, probably visible in normal lighting, but definitely visible any any sort of dim light. Are you actually seeing glowing red metal in combination with the 1050F reading?

 

[nola mike]

Guess your temp gauge is accurate? 1050F would be glowing red heat, probably visible in normal lighting, but definitely visible any any sort of dim light. Are you actually seeing glowing red metal in combination with the 1050F reading?

Yeah, at the cook plate. It's hot. Flue temps right at the exit are around 500' fwiw

 

[nola mike]

Well, let's see if that did it. Noticed that I was able to slide a playing card around my window gasket. Found a gasket that I had ordered online. It was thicker than what the guys at the stove store gave me last month. Installed it. Took forever to get the fire going, and the stove top maxed out at 725 (850 cook plate), and not for long. of course it was in the 50's today, let's see how it goes with a stronger draft.

 

[nola mike]

Well, new year, same problems (although *maybe* improved? always the optimist), but tell me if this sounds plausible. I took down the secondary air baffle, which has been jacked up since I bought the stove, and never really fit flush against the cast plate above it. I've been jamming stove cement along the sides and back to try to limit leaks through those gaps. Figured that the worst that would happen would be a loss of some secondary burn efficiency if that leaked into the main chamber. Looking at the secondary air intake on the back of the stove, it's a good sized hole. I'm wondering if the tight seal + small holes on a good part might be the limiting factor on inlet air, rather than the intake on the back of the stove. So leaks around the baffle might let more air into the stove, rather than just having misdirected air. I'm talking about #23 and #20 above it.

 

[webby3650]

Almost every 602 I’ve seen had loose glass. Right of box with a major air leak.. see if your glass moves up and down freely.

 

[nola mike]

Almost every 602 I’ve seen had loose glass. Right of box with a major air leak.. see if your glass moves up and down freely.

Nah webby, I've messed with that glass and gaskets so many times I can't tell you. I've blocked off that air wash completely, but it seems to burn funny and the glass blackens.

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

 

[webby3650]

Hmm, weird.

 

[nola mike]

Just ordered a new air chamber. Looks like it's going to be a huge pita to replace, but we'll see if it does anything.