More newbie questions

[Skooter]

Hi everyone,
I have been using our Napolean 1400 for a few weeks now and things seem to be going ok but I have a few concerns/questions. Please bear with me as I feel kinda like a dummy.

1- When everyone talks about pulling the coals to the front, what does that do exactly and why is it a good thing to do?

2- Is it a good thing to get a blazing hot fire going at least once a day? I am assuming it burns any creasote (sp) in the chimney or am I wrong?

3- Do I have to keep a hot (500 degree) fire going all day even if I have to open doors and windows because I am baking my family out or is it ok to be just above creasote level on the thermometer?

4- How can I tell if I am getting dangerous levels of creasote buildup? What can I do about it other than putting my hubby up on our 12/12 roof (with snow) to check it out? We don't have a screen on our cap, just a cap.

5- Do we need a screen on our cap?

6- I have noticed I have to run the stove with the air know all the way out more and more and not getting as high of stove temps. Am I doing something wrong? The stove has only been in use for about 3 weeks now.

7- Are you tired of my questions yet? :red:

 

[savageactor7]

1 this helps manage any coal build up since most of the newer stoves do not have ash pans. Coals turn to ash and they are easier to remove by the door as the air wash system helps promote coals into ash.

2 Not so important anymore since the newer EPA stoves burn way cleaner...no smoke = no creosote but if you are a fan of extended burns maybe burning hot/hot for a short time each day isn't a bad idea.

3. That stove serves you so no you don't have to burn it hot all the time as long as you know the cause and effect relationship of smoldering...refer to #2.

4. you probably have a clean out in the basement occasionally when you're not burning stick a hand mirror in there and angle it up ...you'll see pretty clearly.

5. No but some local codes require them.

6. Hummmm are you saying you're cutting off the primary air for longer burns? You can still do that and burn hot just wait a little longer so the newer splits have a chance to catch fire...some woods can take 15 min or so. You'll get the hang of it ...just takes some stick time.

7 No not at all.

 

[Skooter]

Thank you...

1-I have an ash pan. Should I still move the coals to the front for the air wash to work? I have been just moving them around and smoothing them out over the bottom.

2- So as long as I am not getting alot of smoke, and I am getting small flames, I am not getting crosote? See I thought if I wasn't up to temps on my 2 thermometers, I was getting crosote.

3- ok

4- Our stove is on the first floor with no access from the basement. As fas as I can tell the only way to look up the chimney is to take off the pipe on the top of the stove.

5- The inspector never said anything.

6- Well I have new contacts but apparently still cannot spell. I meant air knob but thankfully you were able to see that. My manual says not to run the stove with it on full for more than 30 minutes, so I try not to, but when I start to push it in to like a 4 the fire starts to die down and the temp evens out and either stays there or goes down. It takes longer than a half an hour to get to temps that make it get up into the "safe zone". I am trying to make sure to use only dry wood however my hubby sometimes sneaks some really heavy stuff into the wood pile to burn it up.

7- Thank you

 

[edthedawg]

How much chimney is on the back end of this stove? i.e. what is drafting it? 30+ feet of insulated stainless liner? or 16 feet of 8x8 unlined masonry? If you have a 12/12 roof (I do, too) I'm guessing you have a lot of chimney. It sounds like you may be drafting too much - pulling your heat right out of the firebox, as opposed to letting it heat up the stove.

Do you get a real pronounced *WHOOSH* of airflow while you have the knob full open?

Do you have a chimney damper of any kind? Have you tried closing it down 1/2 or 3/4 of the way to see if it improves the burn?

 

[Skooter]

Ok from the stove to the chimney is a 5' approx of double wall black pipe. Then it connects to a Supervent chimney that is about 13 foot to the shingles of the roof and about 4 foot above the collar outside. We do not have a damper because Napolean told us not to use one. We only have the one on the stove. We do notice a semi loud whoosh as it is heating up. Kind of like a train passing by far away I guess. Once the stove is heated up and we open the door, it makes a whoosh yes.