Just received my Englander 32-NC, any advice?

[Hexa Fox]

Hey guys,

So the trucking company just dropped off my new wood stove. It is calling for a chance of rain tomorrow and I was planning on trying to burn in the stove to cure the paint some before bringing it into the house. I have never done this before. If I remove all other shipping material can I burn in the stove outside sitting on the pallet the way it is or is that a hazard?

I was a little disappointed to see one of the firebricks inside the stove is cracked and looks burnt as you can see from the picture.

 

[brenndatomu]

If I remove all other shipping material can I burn in the stove outside sitting on the pallet the way it is or is that a hazard?

I would...just plop a piece of cheap stove pipe in the hole to get some draft, let er rip.
That brick just has paint overspray on it...and they'll likely send you a new brick...if not, those are cheap.

 

[Woodcutter Tom]

Looks like you have a couple of damaged bricks. The tops of the two inside bricks against the back wall look damaged. I would check them all out before initial burning. Take photos for manufacture before burn.

 

[begreen]

The front right side brick is cut at an angle. That is the one with the paint overspray on it.

 

[mellow]

You can usually get firebricks at Tractor Supply if you have one nearby.

 

[Hexa Fox]

The front right side brick is cut at an angle. That is the one with the paint overspray on it.

I probably would have figured this out if I looked through the manual first. So as you can see I got my first fire going. I was expecting smoke but man this is crazy. I closed the door and locked it down pretty tight to see how air tight the stove was and there is still a considerable amount of smoke coming from the lower part of the stove, I'm guessing it is the door. The ash pan is fully close.

So how many burns would you guys do if you were me? I see some people do one and other people do several. I would say that I have had the stove pretty hot know for around an hour and the wood is probably going to burn for at least a couple more. I also got a delivery while I was out there.

 

[begreen]

The chimney pipe should have go straight up. There is not enough draft to exhaust all the smoke. Even then the draft will be very weak.

 

[Hexa Fox]

The chimney pipe should have go straight up. There is not enough draft to exhaust all the smoke. Even then the draft will be very weak.

It is from the old wood stove and all I had on hand. It seems to be burning pretty well but there is no shortage of smoke in my face lol. The entire thing is one piece that can be adjusted in the middle. So should one burn for a few hours take care of most of the curing process? I am reading in the manual now.

EDIT:
Sure enough there it is, "three break in fires each slightly hotter than the last with the first fire being a kindling fire". Well my first fire was definitely not just a kindling fire lol. If anyone has advice for me let me know. The chance of rain overnight looks very slim but not sure if I should risk it. I am trying to let the stove cool down now and might start another one later tonight and allow it to burn through the night and call it done. It may also die down enough tonight for me to scoop the remaining coals onto my ask pile and then cover the stove. Guessing rain could pretty quickly ruin this stove.

 

[Caw]

I would certainly not leave my brand new stove outside with any chance of rain.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I would certainly not leave my brand new stove outside with any chance of rain.

Yeah tell me about it. Unfortunately I do not really have a choice. I just went out there to scoop the ash and what was left of the hot coals into a can. The stove is very cool and almost no warmth is coming from the stove exit so hopefully this will not turn into a disaster with a fire but I put the shipping box back over it and one of these billboard vinyl tarps I am always talking about now.

The stove has been lit for a good 8-10 hours so not sure if I should try to get another hotter fire going in it or just plan to get it inside and installed. I may call England Stove Works tomorrow and ask. The weekend is supposed to be nice so we will see. The chance of rain seems to be slim but all day tomorrow so may just leave it where it is.

 

[mellow]

The initial offgasing is the worst part, you should be past that by now. I would just install and be done with it.

 

[Hexa Fox]

The initial offgasing is the worst part, you should be past that by now. I would just install and be done with it.

I woke up today to it already raining. The cardboard is a little exposed on the sides but luckily the rain isn't violent yet and it looks dry. Tomorrow is suppose to be nice so I will plan on bringing it inside then. It isn't an easy task for me. It has to come down about four concrete stairs.

I removed the firebrick from the old stove and I was able to get it out of here with just my girlfriend and I. I also got it loaded onto the back of my truck. I then made the horrible mistake of posting it to Facebook Marketplace first for $300 offering to drop it off. The amount of messages and requests I got from people was absolutely insane. Anyway I haven't decided if I will remove the firebrick from this one yet. I had several from the old stove break on me. Good news is the old stove brick is exactly the same as most of the firebrick in the Englander.

 

[weee123]

I only did one break in fire on mine with a 7’ piece of pipe outside and let it cool then installed it. Get a good handtruck and ratchet strap the stove to it and youll be fine. Get another set of hands to help getting it down the stairs.

Getting mine in the house was the same situation as yours. I had it installed in less than 10 minutes but my stove pipe was already in place.

Be sure to check the clearance on the airwash plate to the door. On some of these stoves, including mine, it was sticking out too far causing the fire to die down when the door was shut.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I only did one break in fire on mine with a 7’ piece of pipe outside and let it cool then installed it. Get a good handtruck and ratchet strap the stove to it and youll be fine. Get another set of hands to help getting it down the stairs.

Getting mine in the house was the same situation as yours. I had it installed in less than 10 minutes but my stove pipe was already in place.

Be sure to check the clearance on the airwash plate to the door. On some of these stoves, including mine, it was sticking out too far causing the fire to die down when the door was shut.

Yeah I already saw a post about that and made note of it in case I have the issue with mine. I saw people saying you can use a pipe wrench(s) to "persuade" it though. That may have even been you, sorry I cannot recall. Do you know what the measurement is suppose to be by chance? Regardless thanks.

So I have a set of aluminum ramps that go over my steps perfectly. I did exactly what you said and strapped the old woodstove to a hand truck. I had a little trouble getting it up the steepness of the steps so I made it easy. That is, 20' of tow chain connected to my truck and to the hand truck. It came up the ramps very easy without the chain touching the ramps too badly. This is what I am planning to do with the Englander just more carefully. I may even use the chain to slowly lower it down my steps on the ramps.

 

[brenndatomu]

The initial offgasing is the worst part, you should be past that by now. I would just install and be done with it.

X2

 

[weee123]

I believe the measurement was an 1/8”. You could also use a come along hooked to the truck to better control the load. That’s how I load and unload heavy objects out of my truck bed with bed ramps

 

[Hexa Fox]

I believe the measurement was an 1/8”. You could also use a come along hooked to the truck to better control the load. That’s how I load and unload heavy objects out of my truck bed with bed ramps

Thanks for the responses. I noticed the stove on your profile picture has two 45's elbows. I ordered two off of Lowes from Selkirk and I am going to try to figure out the stove pipe situation using those and my local hardware store. I don't think offsetting the stove is going to be an option although I could move it out some.

 

[Highbeam]

I replaced that front angle cut brick with a full brick and there is no interference with the latch on my nc30. Old, used bricks are more fragile than new ones. I suspect you could remove these if you wanted to lighten it up but I wouldn’t bother. It’s heavy, it’s a stove, being slightly lighter doesn’t actually matter.

 

[30WCF]

I took the door off, and the brick out when I moved mine. From the truck, to the porch, inside, and set it in place , by myself. Being hernia heavy, to just under hernia heavy does matter.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I took the door off, and the brick out when I moved mine. From the truck, to the porch, inside, and set it in place , by myself. Being hernia heavy, to just under hernia heavy does matter.

Agreed, taking the firebrick out of the old Huntsman definitely made a difference for the girl friend and I. The most trouble I had was getting it on the back of my truck and I decided to put the truck going down a hill. So not only did I have to push it up, I also had to stop it from busting out the glass from my headboard lol.

 

[brenndatomu]

I was expecting smoke but man this is crazy. I closed the door and locked it down pretty tight to see how air tight the stove was and there is still a considerable amount of smoke coming from the lower part of the stove, I'm guessing it is the door. The ash pan is fully close.

Not to beat a dead horse, but just FYI, that horizontal section on top there pretty much negates any draft that the vertical section would have made. Not that it matters now, but you could have swiveled that elbow around in the middle and made the whole thing straight up (with a minor offset)

 

[Hexa Fox]

Okay so with a lot of work and a little help from friends I was able to get the stove in position. I also received the two 45 'elbows' I ordered in the mail, you can see one of them on the stove now. As you can see I did decide to take the firebrick out. It makes a considerable difference. I used the same ramps and tow chain to slowly lower it back down the steps to my basement. It works incredibly well. I had to lift the stove onto the hand truck by myself though and that was not fun. I also used two straps to secure it to the hand truck.

So I may try to do the install of the liner myself. One of the neighbors had a good idea, which is to take a rope, run it through the pipe and use that to hold it up while I am working on it. Not a bad idea. So the 45's are Selkirk double wall pipe. The one you see on there now is pretty loose and I am guessing I cannot run the stove like this? This pipe has two lips that fit very nicely over the top of the stove but it is by no means tight.

 

[Hexa Fox]

Can you guys tell me if it is normal for a stove on a pedestal like this to wobble badly? I can very easily take my hand on the front right side and wobble the whole stove back and forth pretty violently. It is concerning.

 

[brenndatomu]

Can you guys tell me if it is normal for a stove on a pedestal like this to wobble badly? I can very easily take my hand on the front right side and wobble the whole stove back and forth pretty violently. It is concerning.

On brick like that...seems pretty normal...shims my friend, shims.

 

[Hexa Fox]

On brick like that...seems pretty normal...shims my friend, shims.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/leveling-a-wood-stove-on-stone.55214/

Thanks Googled “shims + wood stove” and found this.