Madison, too much heat.

[Ksracer]

This is my second season on my Summers Heat Madison. Does this look like a normal amount of flame with the damper completely closed? I had just thrown 1 chunk of oak and two elm's on 25 min before I took the vid. When it was new I had trouble getting a good fire going, but I blamed it on the wood. Towards the end of last season I remember having some real scorchers I couldn't slow down that pushed the thermostat into the red.
The door gasket looks fine, but I guess I need to do the "dollar bill test". Any other suggestions?

 

[lsucet]

It does look like secondary burn to me but I will be sure that the ash plug is in place correctly. Another thing to check is that the AAS is not stuck opened letting too much air in.

 

[Ksracer]

It does look like secondary burn to me but I will be sure that the ash plug is in place correctly. Another thing to check is that the AAS is not stuck opened letting too much air in.

Yes, some of the flame is secondary, but it looks pretty active down lower also. This is my first new stove, so I'm not sure what to really expect.
I played with the AAS a few nights ago wondering the same thing. It's never released properly since new actually. It will only close if you shove it all the way in. I may just have to pull the back off to double check.
I'll check the ash plug also, good idea.

 

[lsucet]

The AAS works good from initial fire. Like the stove is cold, you start a fire and one it catches and you lock the door, everything going well, you can set it and it will work fine.

On reload the stove should be almost out to it works again. On hot reloads if doesn't work cause it is already to the right temperature where it closes. If you force it to the left with a hot stove it will get stuck and not shut itself.

I have the madison and the big brother w02. Not in use at the time but in storage. I do like the madison. It has nice features. Adjustable hinges, good/nice secondary and put out a lot of heat. It is a decent stove in my opinion.

 

[Ksracer]

The AAS works good from initial fire. Like the stove is cold, you start a fire and one it catches and you lock the door, everything going well, you can set it and it will work fine.

On reload the stove should be almost out to it works again. On hot reloads if doesn't work cause it is already to the right temperature where it closes. If you force it to the left with a hot stove it will get stuck and not shut itself.

I have the madison and the big brother w02. Not in use at the time but in storage. I do like the madison. It has nice features. Adjustable hinges, good/nice secondary and put out a lot of heat. It is a decent stove in my opinion.

My AAS won't close from a cold start either, no matter how hot it gets. You have to manually close it by pushing the control in until you hear it drop, then pulling it back out to your setting.
I'm glad you brought up the hinges. I may need to look at adjusting them.

 

[lsucet]

I know what you are saying about the AAS. I use to do the same thing on mines. I use to pull the rod all the way out, go in about 1/8 of a inch and set it. If I set it with the rod all the way out it got stuck. You are right. Once I get the hang out of it it looks like it works every time .

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Thats too much action for a closed damper. The low air setting should have stove top temps on the 400s . You may have air leaks, possibly around the door. Mine was OK when i got it but quickly got worse with each fire as the door warped and the gasket flattened. Once it started going over 600 stovetop on low i had to use less and less wood to keep it from overheating. 600 or higher is over-firing according to the owners manual. Englander replaced the stove already but , same problem. Here is the link.

Summers Heat 2400-sq ft 50-SHSSW02 Door Problems.

Iv only used the new stove a few times and have discovered that lately its been very hard to maintain steady temps. I started checking the door gasket and discovered the stove surface around the door itself is bowed slightly top and bottom . Not that much though, possibly 1/32 to 1/16 in,a good...

www.hearth.com

 

[Hogwildz]

There is nothing wrong with what is showing in the video. You're getting secondaries which is as designed. The right baffle board looks a little off. Make sure there baffle boards are touching tight together & laying flatly on the secondary tubes.

 

[Nigel459]

If the stove is sound per all the good suggestions above, then it sounds to me like towards the end of the season, after your wood dried out to a reasonable level, things started acting “normally”. If this is the case then your draft may be too strong and a flue damper could help. Too-strong draft has been the culprit (with all else good) in a couple of my installs over the years.

This is my second season on my Summers Heat Madison. Does this look like a normal amount of flame with the damper completely closed? I had just thrown 1 chunk of oak and two elm's on 25 min before I took the vid. When it was new I had trouble getting a good fire going, but I blamed it on the wood. Towards the end of last season I remember having some real scorchers I couldn't slow down that pushed the thermostat into the red.
The door gasket looks fine, but I guess I need to do the "dollar bill test". Any other suggestions?

 

[begreen]

The fire looks normal with good secondary combustion. The air control does not cut off the secondary air supply. 600º is not an uncommon stove top temp.

 

[kennyp2339]

The fire box flames look good, to see full function go outside during the day and look at the chimney, do you have smoke or just heat vapors? If its smokey then you might have either air leaks causing the fire to keep itself stoked, or an excessive draft, but if you have just heat vapor then the stove is cruising along fine, it just maybe a hot burner with your particular setup.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I have a 30 ft new chimney on mine and very dry wood. When the door sealed up good initially id get 400s stove top temps on low air, 500s on half air and 600+= on full air. Now that its getting too much air due to leaky door im getting the same 600 and up operating temp with the air all the way closed , same as Ksracer on the same stove. Stove shouldnt be right on the edge of over heating with a completely closed air. Manual states operating at 600 and up may cause unit damage. Also states stove top should read 350 on low 450 on med and 550 on high as a guide.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Im not sure if Englander made any improvements to this stove ,but they did change the Model Number . That move did however get rid of all the bad reviews on my local lowes website. Right now, Zero reviews.

 

[Ksracer]

Ok, thanks for the suggestions guys. I just did the dollar bill thing and it held it pretty snug all the way around. I'll check my ash plug next time I clean it.
1 of the baffle boards was indeed slid over and stuck on top of it's neighbor. Could that cause it to run hot?
I guess I'm wondering what's going to happen if I try to put a full load in if I'm already hitting 600 with only 3 chunks and the damper fully closed?

 

[begreen]

It would be good to check the start air to make that is not stuck open too.

 

[Hogwildz]

Technically the manual states 650 as overfire which is ridiculous, but their way of not having to replace stoves for free. When manufacturers start having massive issues, they cut back on the warrnty first. PE did the same.

 

[Hogwildz]

Ok, thanks for the suggestions guys. I just did the dollar bill thing and it held it pretty snug all the way around. I'll check my ash plug next time I clean it.
1 of the baffle boards was indeed slid over and stuck on top of it's neighbor. Could that cause it to run hot?
I guess I'm wondering what's going to happen if I try to put a full load in if I'm already hitting 600 with only 3 chunks and the damper fully closed?

You don't want a clear path between the boards for the exhaust to exit freely and quickly. If I remember correctly, a major member here has the gap on the wall side of the baffle board, and filled it with rope gasket stiffened with a rof through it, to close off the side gap.

Get into the habit of splitting and drying larger splits, they make for managing temps & reloads better & easier. Less air channels between the splits and in the firebox in general, makes for less volatile burns, and make for lower temps & longer burns.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I just did the dollar bill thing and it held it pretty snug all the way around. I'll check my ash plug next time I clean it.
1 of the baffle boards was indeed slid over and stuck on top of it's neighbor. Could that cause it to run hot?
I guess I'm wondering what's going to happen if I try to put a full load in if I'm already hitting 600 with only 3 chunks and the damper fully closed?

Check your Glass gasket too. Mine was falling out right out of the shipping crate and was letting a good deal of air past it until i disassembled and reinstalled the whole thing. That corrected some of the excess air getting into my stove. I,ve also found larger splits as hogwildz suggested and a few not so dry splits allows me to add a little more wood. I wouldn't go near a full load of dry wood until you figure this out and correct it.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

If I remember correctly, a major member here has the gap on the wall side of the baffle board, and filled it with rope gasket stiffened with a rof through it, to close off the side gap.

I had to do that with both of my NC-30s . Just the rod, no gasket. It made a big difference in the burn. But the Madison boards are tight.

 

[Jason721]

Keep us posted on your fix ..if you figure it out .. i had (still have just not using) an englander nc13 that had about the same issue as yours.. I got tired if fighting it and installed something else. The only thing I can think of is the gasket/rope between the door and your glass... check it for leaks....