Nc-30 is terrible right now

[tjcole50]

I'm sure it is a great heater . But for me right now it is a 500 lb paperweight. Have had fire going for awhile now. Currently 36 degrees outside house is 67 degrees..... How much can I realistically expect by scooting this thing out another 4" onto hearth? My old broken down insert with zero block off plate and no liner kills thing thing in the heating department old insert would have us sitting at 73-74 degrees right now. Got a guy who may do a custom sheet metal enclosure for inside firebox . I would insulate first then slide the metal box in to prevent heat loss to the brick is it worth it?

 

[tjcole50]

Currently kicking myself for not doing 8" liner and the big buck insert ... Just wonder what to expect with a flush block off plate right at lintel height and having the nc30 out 4 more inches into room is realistically going to do

 

[BrotherBart]

With the primary air all the way open you are sending most of the heat up the chimney. Close it down to even with the front of the ash lip.

 

[mol1jb]

How long have you had it up and running? I've had mine for 2 months before I really got the hang of how it burns. A little more info if you would. Stove top temp? Pipe temp? How dry is your wood?

 

[brenndatomu]

I can't figure out what going on here, something is hinky! There is NO WAY that that old burnt out relic is gonna out heat your new stove! Something is not right. Have you checked your stove top temps? Should be...dunno...600* range? Get a magnetic stove thermometer to stick on there if you don't have one. Are you getting a good secondary burn? Are you letting the stove stove get up to temp before cutting the air back to minimum, in several slow increments? Is the baffle in properly in place?
Edit: the fire in your picture looks like a really aggressive burn, are you cutting the primary are control back at all? These EPA burners make the best heat when up to temp, then air control shut down (screaming hot secondary burn)

 

[BrotherBart]

In the pic the primary air is wide open and the door isn't latched.

 

[tjcole50]

I can't figure out what going on here, something is hinky! There is NO WAY that that old burnt out relic is gonna out heat your new stove! Something is not right. You check your stove top temps? Should be...dunno...600* range? Are you getting a good secondary burn? Are you letting the stove stove get up to temp before cutting the air back to minimum in several slow increments? Is the baffle in properly in place?

Been playing with it all day ... Wood is good secondaries are lighting which I think is cool as hell. But it does seen something is wrong. I really really hope that when we put the 30 degree elbow in that we gain the full 4" to edge of lintel. We are also going to leave our piece of junk block plate in place but we are going to make a flush block plate directly attaching to the bottom of lintel straight back to where my masonry bricks stair step . I think there is a lot of turbulence which is really killing the blower strength. It doesn't feel like the air flow hits it but I have no other explanation. Just sucks when u put in this much money and time to see no payback except a colder home
Stove top thermo should be here tomm

 

[tjcole50]

In the pic the primary air is wide open and the door isn't latched.

Pic from earlier it is at full burn right now air closed
I want this thing to work for us ... We both really like the way it looks!

 

[tjcole50]

As you can see a lot of stove is in there is 4" out on hearth really going to be a game changer?

 

[tjcole50]

Current block plate on top to stay in place new one will go flush with lintel and brick shown giving that heat zero chance of going up in that crevice and also giving the blower a smooth flat surface to move air across. Will these changes turn this thing Into what I had hoped?

 

[tjcole50]

Dogs are even looking at me like what the hell is wrong? Lol

 

[BrotherBart]

Mine is the same distance out on the hearth and it is 37 degrees outside and 76 on the first floor and 71 upstairs in this 2,500 sq. ft. barn. With no blower running. And the stove had been cold for two days until sundown today. Cruising at 550 stove top with three large oak splits.

The stove will heat. Every time somebody buys a new stove we go through this drill until they figure out how to burn in it. Year after year after year...

 

[BrotherBart]

And you still have the primary open too much. We be looking at wood that isn't dry enough here.

 

[tjcole50]

Mine is the same distance out on the hearth and it is 37 degrees outside and 76 on the first floor and 71 upstairs in this 2,500 sq. ft. barn. With no blower running. And the stove had been cold for two days until sundown today. Cruising at 550 stove top with three large oak splits.

The stove will heat. Every time somebody buys a new stove we go through this drill until they figure out how to burn in it. Year after year after year...

That is reassuring bb. I hope it is true! Is ur fireplace interior or exterior chimney? Does your stove stick out as much as mine right now or after I do a 30 degree elbow? Or will mine be out even further than yours when I gain the extra 3-4 inches?

 

[BrotherBart]

Exterior chimney and the stove is sitting exactly like yours. What I see in that pic is large rounds that are not dry enough and are taking too much air to burn. And cooking off the moisture is eating the heat.

 

[Charles1981]

My stove has 4 feet of rear exit almost horizontal run before going up the chimney. Drafts just great. Your setup will be slightly different but draft wise i would expect it to be ok.

 

[tjcole50]

The more I just leave air alone in the more closed position the more I see my thermostat rising. I probably jumped the gun in panic mode again after money and time I have put in. Well that is good news brother Bart. Also did you get my message that mike said hi? Nice guy at englander. I guess I get to look forward to that added heat of it sticking out 4 more inches here soon. Do you think blocking the sides and preventing bricks to soak in heat is worth it? Basically my stove is currently almost 3/4 of the way in fireplace and the elbow should get me to 1/2 wY

 

[Huntindog1]

You will need to get the masonry mass you have install it in up to temps. It will be absorbing some of your heat. But once all that mass is heated up it will work for you.
Once you get a hot bed of coals and load the stove with dry seasoned wood the stove will maintain a good amount of secondaries. But do not load on too hot of bed of coals as the stove can get too hot on you. Plus these stoves work best from full loads of wood. You need to load in cycles on a bed of coals. Like BB said you cant have the air wide open or the door cracked open as all your heat will flush up the flue. The way these stoves work with the insulated fire boxes is that once the heat is built up in the stove this extra heat in the firebox allows these stove to have very small amount of air going into the stove and this low air flow thru the stove keeps the heat from flushing up the flue. If your having issues , next time you do a reload push your coal bed back to the back of the stove then rake it forward and spread it out to expose the bigger chunks of coals so as to get air to get them glowing again. Hope you have a tool to do this. I bought a cheap wood stove shovel and flattened it then put a 90 degree bend in it to push coals around with. So now once you get the coals bed leveled out load a full load of wood up to top of the fire brick. Leave some wood in the front of the stove to put some small split kindling of some good hardwood like Oak. This small dry stuff will ignite on the hot coals and gets to burning hot and fast bringing the temps up in the stove fast. The smaller stuff will let you get this going with the door shut meaning less of that heat is flushed up the flue. Then when the stove top temps gets to around 400 deg f start turning down the input air in 1/4 ways increments. Give the stove some time to balance out then reduce the air another 1/4 ways. Each time you close the input air the stove will be flushing less heat of the flue and allows the stove to keep burning and building heat. Keep doing this till you are left with the stove staying open around 1/4 ways. You will learn your stove and these adjustments may change for you as each stove is a little different. In these stoves its all about building the heat up in them. If your starting a cold stove for sure use small split kindling the more the better. Fill most of the stove full with medium splits and then leave space for the kindling, reduce the amount of open space in the stove and the stove will start up better for you as reduce open space heats up faster then large open spaces. Use some kind of fire starter like super cedars to help build the heat quicker. As its all about building the heat. Dont get fooled by thinking its all about flames. Flames yes but heat is what the stove needs and dont be flushing it all up the flue with the door cracked open. If your still having trouble, your wood could be a little too much moisture as these stoves works best in my opinion 18% moisture content or less. If your wood is just a little too much moisture the small split kindling will help you over come this.

 

[BrotherBart]

Fix your burning. Not the install. I have an infrared thermometer and have never measured the bricks in that fireplace at over 225 degrees. With the stove at 700+. Just like me, my wife reminded me, it took a while before I learned how to heat with the old one too.

 

[begreen]

tjcole, could you post thumbnails instead of full sized images? Big pics are painful on slow connections.

 

[tjcole50]

sorry begreen will do . and thank you for the detailed description for working the nc30. Very well laid out i guess there is more a curve to it than i thought. Nothing like the broken insert just throw and go ha! but longer and more efficiency is what i was after. So maybe making that sheet metal block off on the sides is a bad idea then! i will keep the sides open to the brick. Figured the brick was soaking heat but didnt really think about it also helping. Also makes sense that once the brick reaches a mass temperature it shouldnt do anything but help from that point on. but we are still going to add the 30 degree elbow to have the stove stick out a bit more and the new flush block off plate. I figure those two things will do nothing but help us! were also looking into upgrading our one and only ceiling fan as it is to small to handle the job of circulating our space. Thank you all again for calming my million mile an hour head. Will report back once future tweaks are done

 

[BobUrban]

I would try to add something but BBart is a crafty vet of 30 performance and has pretty much walked many of us through the learning curve. I will say mine(with my set up) runs best with the air completely closed off. Not everyone can do this based on draft but the point is: less is best.

It will not be long before you are posting how damn hot it is and asking for tips on how to run that beast without windows open. Happens every season when someone upgrades from a dragon to a tube stove. Keep tinkering to find your sweet spot and stop overthinking the process - these stoves were designed perfectly to hammer out tons of heat and yours is no different.

Stove in or out a few inches will make little difference but having a well made block off will - don't let all that heat go up!

 

[MishMouse]

What is the moisture level on your wood? Having the door open and the air on high to get it going points to unseasoned wood.

 

[PLAYS WITH FIRE]

I bet wood too...My buddy has the same issue with this 30. I told him its the wood and he says no way. I gave him a description of the way I run mine and that's how he runs his. He is still in the mind set of running this one the same as his old 2 door Buck with wood that has be down for a year and then split 5 months ago. I tell him the 30 is precisely controlled air intake and the Buck is Swiss cheese, literally. You could walk down into his basement with the lights off and see a wonderful glow from the Buck. The bad thing is the Buck didn't have glass doors!

 

[tjcole50]

I have a load from a tree trimming service that is seasoned 2+ years they have a ton of wood they also sell . But loaded it up in the 30 last night and noticed I worked the air all the way closed and raised 3 degrees all while that one load lasted till 830 am. That is a feat that the old insert could never do ... Maintain temperature on one load over 8-9 hrs. Must say I was very impressed this morning