Montpelier vermont castings insert

[Fod01]

Cool - I've never seen the stove with the extension kit. Looks nice.

I recommend an IR thermometer. I had a Rutland shoved in one of the hot air outlets, but it didn't work too well. Sticking it on the door or face of the insert didn't help either.
The hotspot seems to be above the door, just left or right of center (but below that ledge you have there). I'm keeping the blower off until I'm hitting 300° or so. This lets the stove really heat up initially, and you'll notice a big increase in heat output.

Enjoy the stove, and best of luck with it.

Gabe

 

[SolarBrian]

Yeah, I do like the extension. The faux stove top is a nice touch.

I did invest in an IR thermometer and confirmed your advice that the hottest cast iron is the top of the door. That point peaked at just over 200F on the first fire. Paint curing smell wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Maybe the next hotter fire will really outgas.

 

[Fod01]

Maybe the next hotter fire will really outgas.

Oh man...we got ours in October '08. Must've been fresh from the shop. Smoked like oil dripping on an exhaust!

 

[SolarBrian]

Does anyone do "top down" fire starts in their Montpelier? If so could you post a photo of how you load it. I'd like to try it.

PS - Even after some medium fires with 550F door temps, no significant outgassing of the paint!

 

[Fod01]

Used to top down, but it seemed like it took too long to get the stove up to temp. Now I do something like this from Hearth member Cleanburnin
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/31393/

Gabe

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

aaarrrrrrggghhhhhhhhh…..captain jack has spoken…....fact of the matter is wood is stacked and seasoning, is but a mere fix to get me through the end of the year as i gather cut and stack, and the wife will tend tot eh fire with bricks but woun’t touch “buggy, dirty woodâ€.....only me second year burning capt jack, still catching up

Welcome aboard! You'll get along just fine around here! I'm glad you could roll with it. After some time I reread my own post and wondered, "who is this jerk making fun of people who might not be so lucky as to have a stash of seasoned wood?"

Not the first time I stuck my foot in my mouth, won't be the last.

Oh, and the Black Jaque character is supposed to be a French Canadian villain from a Bugs Bunny Cartoon, not a pirate.

 

[Oldhippie]

So the Monty was finally installed and we had the first break in fire this afternoon. I couldn't find photos of the extension kit we needed anyway prior to the install, but I was pleasantly surprised. The 3" extension kit looks great!

Before:

After / Break-in fire 1:

Montpelier 3" extension kit:

Real nice!

Stay warm!

 

[wprecanico]

Hello!

We bought a used Montepelier - mostly because we found what we liked (and our fireplace was small) online and then happened to peruse Craigslist. Lady had one for a couple of years and decided to go with pellet. We got the stove and the 3" kit - which we needed and it fits perfectly.

As noted here though, we do have issues with darkened glass and slow starting. I will say that my wood hasn't been stacked the best so I'm not going to blame the stove just yet!

I was curious though, has anyone found that the fan speed has a correlation to the amount of fire in the box? The way I read the manual (which the lady had - bonus!) it seems that it does. I've read all the posts and I don't see any mention of it so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

 

[Fod01]

I was curious though, has anyone found that the fan speed has a correlation to the amount of fire in the box? The way I read the manual (which the lady had - bonus!) it seems that it does. I've read all the posts and I don't see any mention of it so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

Hi and welcome. Not sure how much you know about your stove, so pardon the 'bottom up' approach:

This stove has reburn tubes at the top. Once the stove is hot enough, and if the wood is still out-gassing, you'll get additional flame in the firebox due to the introduction of heated air from these tubes (secondary combustion)....once the stove is hot enough. The blower effectively cools the stove by pulling heat off it. If the stove isnt hot, no secondary combustion. This is the only true correlation between fan speed and the amount of flame.

EDIT: Unless you're asking, 'If there's more flame, do I turn the fan up?' Depends...how hot is the stove?
I think most owners run the fan between 6 and 3 o'clock....so kind of on the low side. This keeps the firebox up to temp.
I run mine at 5 or 6 regardless of whats going on inside the firebox.

Gabe

 

[SolarBrian]

Hello!
I was curious though, has anyone found that the fan speed has a correlation to the amount of fire in the box? The way I read the manual (which the lady had - bonus!) it seems that it does. I've read all the posts and I don't see any mention of it so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

I don't fully understand your question, but let me answer differently than the previous poster. Varying the fan speed won't make the fire larger or smaller. The fan doesn't force feed the air into the firebox. If someone was talking about varying fan speed on the Montpelier, I would think they were talking about how there is a controller in the Monty that automatically controls the fan speed based on stove temperature. You can set an approximate fan speed manually, but then the Monty will vary the fan speed + or - a certain % from where you set it based on the temperature of the stove. I've noticed that the manual control has a much larger influence over fans speed than the automatic control does. Automatic control only changes the fan speed a little.

 

[Fod01]

Hello!
I was curious though, has anyone found that the fan speed has a correlation to the amount of fire in the box? The way I read the manual (which the lady had - bonus!) it seems that it does. I've read all the posts and I don't see any mention of it so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

I would think they were talking about how there is a controller in the Monty that automatically controls the fan speed based on stove temperature.

Automatic fan control? That must be new. My '08 has only the manual speed control, and the snapdisc for on/off based on firebox temp.

Gabe

 

[SolarBrian]

You may have me there. I went back and looked at the manual and brochure and they mention "variable" fan speed control. I guess variable is referring to the knob I'm my line of work variable implies automatic control. That's my fault for assuming that. I did think I heard the fan speed changing on its own, but I guess that explains why it was changing so little!

 

[wprecanico]

Thanks for the replies. I'm a bit new to this whole 'insert' thing - not that I was an expert on my Jotul free standing stove that I had originally. I know the Jotul really kicked out some heat and could get the whole house toasty, where the Montepelier doesn't.

The fan is definitely not variable speed. As mentioned, I saw the blurb in the manual about how to have the air control in relation to fan speed but noticed not much was mentioned in the forum.

I'm going to work on the wood supply this year. Make sure I stack and cut it correctly. I had cut it for the Jotul, so I have a small 'lectric chain saw in my wood shed to cut up the splits into shorter lengths. Stove does heat up my living room to around 72, so not bad.

I'm a-learnin'

 

[lindyhistory]

Hi guys,
My Montpelier glass gets dirty no matter what. I saw someone on another forum say they have a problem with not getting enough air intake from under the front brick. He said the dealer put washers under the brick to get more air intake. Does anyone know anything about this? I have a ranch house so the liner is not very long so maybe the problem is draft. I don't know but cleaning the glass is getting to be a pain in the ass. I'll take whatever advice anyone has. This is my first winter.
Thanks,
Chris

 

[Jagtec1]

Hi guys,
My Montpelier glass gets dirty no matter what. I saw someone on another forum say they have a problem with not getting enough air intake from under the front brick. He said the dealer put washers under the brick to get more air intake. Does anyone know anything about this? I have a ranch house so the liner is not very long so maybe the problem is draft. I don't know but cleaning the glass is getting to be a pain in the ass. I'll take whatever advice anyone has. This is my first winter.
Thanks,
Chris

Tell us about the wood you are burning, and how you are burning it.

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

CC,

You may want to check that connection between the liner pipe and the stove collar. I know the liner adapter that I got had a very long crimp and would bottom out on that cross-bar in the flue-collar before the adapter sealed the gap. So when the draft got going the liner would suck cold air in through that gap and on up the flue. I imagine the net effect was just a weak draft. I tucked some fiberglass rope in the gap and my Monte seems to burn "crisp and clean".