Insulation blanket on top of isle royale?

[Johnpolk]

hello. In our home we have an isle royale that we have been pretty happy with. In our cabin we just installed a Yosemite which seems like a very similar stove only smaller and without the top load feature. The first thing I noticed with the Yosemite is that the secondary flames are way more common and easier to establish and maintain. The thing just cruises along and is super easy to control. Our isle royale on the other hand is very hard to get secondary flames in and if we do, the stove gets very hot and threatens to get too run away. My question is regarding the insulation blanket on top of the burn tubes on the Yosemite. I believe the blanket keeps the inner temps up and makes the secondaries easier to achieve. Can I put an insulation blanket above my burn tubes on the isle royale since I never use the top load feature?

 

[begreen]

The Yosemite has a very different construction than the Isle Royale. It is a steel stove with fixed secondary tubes and with a cast iron jacket. The Isle Royale is a radiant cast iron stove. It breathes easier which can lead to a robust fire if draft is strong. How tall is the flue system on the Isle Royale? It's larger firebox may take longer to start due to the larger volume of wood and mass of the stove. One thing to check is to make sure that the start up air control is off and actually not providing air when closed.

 

[Johnpolk]

The flue on the royale is about 15' tall. It just doesnt get the secondaries like the Yosemite. Same fuel is used so I can rule that out. I just wondered if the thermal blanket on the Yosemite made a difference by increasing internal temps. I'm very pleased with the way the Yosemite burns and wish my isle royale burned as nice

 

[Ash]

Maybe not the best pic but this is what my isle royale looks like 2 1/2 hours into the burn. Secondaries have been going the whole time and usually continue for a couple more hours.

 

[Johnpolk]

My isle royale almost never gets secondaries like that. The Yosemite does. Where the flames are shooting out of the tubes but the wood is almost dark

 

[Ash]

My isle royale almost never gets secondaries like that. The Yosemite does. Where the flames are shooting out of the tubes but the wood is almost dark

What stove top temps are you running your IR at?

 

[Johnpolk]

What stove top temps are you running your IR at?

I try to keep it in the 600s. It will occasionally get up towards 700 but I try to keep it around 650. What do you run yours at?

 

[Ash]

I try to keep it in the 600s. It will occasionally get up towards 700 but I try to keep it around 650. What do you run yours at?

About the same. I have the air shut all the way down around 625 and it will usually creep up to 700 or a bit over then come back down and settle around 600-650