Mansfield draft questions with Pictures

[Flame]

I was reading some earlier posts (learning) and I was surprised that some close their flu damper all the way. I thought that that would close the flue pipe off completely. I always had mine 1/2 to maybe 3/4 closed at times to bring down the flu temp but was afraid to close it any further thinking I would lose the fire and smoke up the stove etc. Now I tried nearly closed and wow what a big difference. Now I wake to at least five degrees warmer and am using less wood. Is there a hole in the flu damper to still let draft through when shut ?
Another question I have is under the front of my stove is the primary air intake slots. I noticed that when I close the primary air damper all the way, air still gets through the slots (but restricted of course). I noticed that the primary air cover on the left and right sides are slightly bowed out. I can take my finger on each bowed cover and push them inward against the slot to completely shut off all primary air. Is this the normal ? just the design ? or are my primary air covers warped outward.

It's been a few weeks now and I am just loving this stove and wood burning 24/7. Boy will the oil guy be in for a surprise for his next delivery. My cat lays on the chair and doesn't move all day. I have to check him every once and a while to be sure he's still with us If you look closely you will see him in his sual spot. And I thought the Mansfield didn't have a CAT !!

 

[rydaddy]

Wish I could help, but I am real close to joining you and upgrading my Heritage to a Mansfield. I have read all you have put out there her for us to read and thought there was a lot of great input. Good Luck, I'm sure someone here can help you.

 

[Flame]

Thanks rydaddy,
The Heritage is a real nice looking stove also. I sure considered that one but went for slightly overkill. After reading about a few needing new tubes etc in a few years (will never know the full story), I figured if I keep it burning a little cooler the inside parts won't have to be replaced as often. You will love the change though. That additional cubic foot in the firebox and added soapstone will go a long way. I am very pleased with my Mansfield. The only thing not the greatest is the ash clean out. Maybe the Heritage is the same. The coals get stuck in the grate. I just use the shovel most of the time. Good luck to you. This is a great site to learn on.

 

[Flame]

Paging any Mansfield owners for Info. help ???
I have discovers that there is quite a bit of slop in the two front Primary air covers. Some restricted air still gets past when completly shut. Are others like this ?
Thanks
Flame

18*F outside 72*F inside

 

[begreen]

I don't have a Mansfield, but it is correct that modern EPA stoves don't allow full shutoff of the air supply. No more smoldering beasts. I suspect that there is a secondary air intake on the stove feeding the secondary air plenum that is not user controllable.

 

[struggle]

Flame what you are describing is exactly the way mine is as well. I can close the dampner all the way down and it still goes and goes. The dampner in the pipe does have some holes in it so you cannot close the chimney all the way down.

My little closing flaps on the back slot for primary air are exactly the same as yours. I think this has to do with the EPA aspect of these stoves.

You will be jumping around next year to start it back up after this season

 

[bebopin]

I also have the Mansfield.And as for the air intakes for the secondary tubes they are in the back bottom and are oval holes.And also if you gently push the lever for the primary air it will close them all the way and will give you a longer burn.I love this stove also. Phil

 

[swestall]

Hey to the Mansfield Team. Yes, the primary damper is slightly bowed and prior poster is correct that it is EPA that says no new stove can have the air shut all the way off. There was a post some time back that talked about modifying stoves to be able to close the air off all the way. I don't think it is needed.
The secondary holes in the rear, bottom back are always open. I haven't installed the damper in my pipe yet, but am going to when I clean this year. I need to add some burn time to my overnight burn and I hear from those of you that have it, that it also gives a bit more heat.
I know I need it because I've had a couple of runaways where I have to plug one or both of the oval secondary air holes (used tinfoil stuffed in) to stop it.
Mansfield is a great stove. Did you guys read the post about baffle replacement? That guy has an interesting idea and I am going to keep it in mind if I ever have to replace it. (I hope not)
I wish the Mansfield firebox was bigger; if you can believe that; not that I am not getting enough heat, I would just like a longer burn time. (8 hours is no problem, 10 hours with coals left to start fire). I think that is the big thing an Equinox could offer is just a bit more space for wood volume.
As far as the ash pan, it is a problem, eyh! I stopped using it right away, because the small coals would get stuck in the grate and make it hard to close. I didn't want to leave the grate open and just trust the gasket on the ash door. So, I just scoop out ashes into a small galvanized garbage pail that I keep in the basement; you do have to be careful where you put it when you are doing it because the pail gets hot and could burn you or your floor. I empty the pail once a week; that way all the coals are cold and I don't have to go to the woods too often. By doing it this way, I am not getting all fine ash, there are some small black coals mixed in, but so what its not that much more waste and it will go back to the earth eventually.

 

[Flame]

Thanks for the responses. That puts my mind at ease to know that that is the EPA design with the primary dampers and not a flaw with the stove. I agree with you swestall on the ash pan. I really plan on trying to modify that whole grate system during the off season. I recall you expressing how great the system was on a VC you had earlier. Can you possibly describe that. I am thinking since I have access to a torch, grinder and solid steal plating, that I might just cut out a square to fit in the space that the grate now sits in. I could then have a slide with a hole or some other design that is proven to work well with other stoves. As for now I too use the shovel method (not a big deal). Like someone described, the ash can (with lid) sits on the hearth and puts out a little more heat when some hot coals are in it. I try to keep most hot coals in the stove. Some times though after building the Little trough in the middle and stacking the wood on top of the hot coals on the left and right (the way I found works great). I end up with not enough height room in the fire box to put a good thick second layer of wood on top of the first for the long burn. A larger fire box like the Equinox would be nice, although once used to it I would probably want larger I read that post on the baffle. It's on my back burner too. Hopefully mine will hold up. Sometimes I notice that some wood is shaped just right and if not paying attention it can pop right between the baffles. I am paying particularly close attention to that now when stacking up the wood. I started playing around with a night log. I mixed one of those in with some wood that was a bit wet. That night log really did the trick getting the wood going and brought the temp up to 600 quick. I started to sweat but that was as far as it went with everything closed whew !

 

[swestall]

ON the ash grate. The only real difference between the VC stoves and the Hearthstone is that the VC stoves do not have a grate that opens and closes. Instead, the VC grate is a thick cast plate that lays into the bottom. When you want to work the ashes, you simply move the Ash/Coal back and forth across the grate and the ash falls while the coal stays up. I have used the Mansfield grate like this but come to a problem when I try to close the grate; that is that the small coals get stuck in the grate and you can't slide it to the closed position. And, I really don't know that you have to.
I didn't try to just leave the grate open (not that you couldn't do so). ON the VC stoves the ash door is a tight seal, I haven't tried running the stove with the grate open to see if the ash door seal is airtight on the Mansfield. I figured that the Hearthstone folks had to have the grate close for a reason, but perhaps they didn't and someone was just being fancy.
The other thing VC does is to make the ash pan(which has a cover with a handle you can easily slide onto it) come out with the ash door opening. That makes it easy for one to get hold of the ash pan and dump it. I always had two ash pans and would put the empty one in, let the other cool and dump it. On the Mansfield and other Hearthstone stoves, that doesn't happen, so to improve the ash pan design you'd have to make a handle and mount to make it easier. A cover seems not to be an option with this design.
But, the Hearthstone is such a better stove that this is a small deal, and I'll most likely just stay with the shovel/bucket technique; after all that's the way we did it on the Farm way back when....

 

[Flame]

Wow swestall ! VC has it together when it comes to the ash pan. That sounds nice to have a handle and a cover. That would take some engineering and after cleaning out the stove today I don't know if it would all be worth doing. I wait a while between cleanings because I really like to take advantage of all those hot coals built up. When I went to use the ash pan today I just removed the top grate. Then I swished the coals back and forth. I found that I had to empty the shallow ash Pan three times and still use the shovel inside to really get it all. That ash pan is just plain messy and you have to be real careful with it being full. Then it's too wide to dump it cleanly in to my ash bucket. If I am able to catch up to all the "Honey Do's" in the spring and summer I may get the hankering to tinker. Otherwise I'll stick with the trusty shovel. That's the only way I had done it the past anyway.

Just a side note: After having the stove all cleaned out I decided to get a Night Log, a BIO Log / Brick and start it all off with a quarter chunk of the Super Cedar sample. It worked great for getting a cold stove started up in no time. After a while I went back and tossed some heavy splits in to get him cruising. I still was pleasantly surprised though at how the stones continued to keep the chill out of the house while I was cleaning out the stove

 

[swestall]

AMEN...I concluded to just use the shovel too.
As far as the SuperCedars is concerned, you might want to try just using them with med splits, that's what I've been doing if I let the coals burn down too much. A few pieces of crumpled news paper, 1/2 a super cedar broken in four and four splits (2x2 log cabin) on top. It all takes off and no problems.
Read the other post on burn times, good info/discussion there too.
Another thing I'd share with you and all. I bought one of those eco fans this year. Mostly because I wanted to move air across the stone to improve heat output. But, there is an additional benefit. When the stove burns down the fan slows down and when it is operating at temp the fan is going nice and fast. So, I can tell from anywhere in the house where I can see the fan, how the stove is doing. I've found that I have become accustomed to how it looks at different stove temps. Not only is it moving air, but it tells me how it is burning.
I can't recall if I bought it on EBAY or just did a search on Google to find the best price. I got the 3 blade for $129. plus shipping.