New Clydesdale 8491 breakin fire and couple of questions

[Jfree]

So they just installed our new Clydesdale today and I have a couple of questions:

How many break-in fires do you need to do before going full throttle? I did one today and got the stove up to about 300 I believe—I put a stove top thermometer next to the leveling bolt under the grill—we have a cast iron version of the Clydesdale (left off the grill for the first one). Si I'm guessing that the temperature from that spot should be somewhat accurate. Hearthstone just mentions the one and getting the stove warm to the touch. I saw that Jotul suggests three break-in fires with each getting slightly warmer.

Two: is the bolt under the top grill a leveling bolt or really the draft sampling port? The installers said it was just for leveling the grill? mine just looks like a screw with a hole in the top. I thought I saw some references here that it is the draft sample port but also is used to level the grill.

Three. Don't think the guys who did the install leveled the insert using the rear leveling bolt at all, as before I started the fire I put a small level on the soapstone bottom and it was much lower in the back. They had a bit of a hard time getting the flue pipe in due to the height of the stove to the fireplace so not sure if they left it like that on purpose. It does seem to have a bit of a tilt to the back as when the door is open half way, it will just about close itself. Is this bad? I haven't paid for the installation yet, so I do have some leverage to have them come back.

With regard to the front leveling bolts, are they supposed to be extended to reach the hearth/floor? both were above the ground. I adjusted one and noticed that it shifts the protruding part up or down a bit, even though the bolt still doesn't touch the ground. I adjusted it a bit to make the appearance of the firebox to the surround look a bit more even.

Four: fan came on and I guess I had it all the way up. It was loud, but more concerning was a whistling noise. What might that be? When I turned it down, the whistle stopped and it did get quieter. There was one setting in between where it did sound like a bit of a aluminum vibration.

Thanks for any feedback. New to the fireplace insert experience. We had an old (1985) Vermont Castings Resolute in front of the fireplace previously, so am more used to wood stoves than inserts (got rid of it as we have a small living room and my wife didn't like that it stuck much more into the living room.)

Jeff

 

[begreen]

The rear leveling bolts should have been set. It may be the camera angle but the surround looks slightly lower on the left side too. I'm comparing it to the grout lines in the bricks.

 

[Jfree]

When I spoke to the dealer/installer, they said that our fireplace floor was quite uneven and so they claim they let it have more tip to the back than the front so the door wouldn't swing open— although I'm not fully sure that's the case.

As far as left and right, I agree that the surround looks slightly lower on the left as well. However, if I place a level on the top of the surround and the extension part it does appear to be straight according to the level.

 

[webby3650]

The only reason I could see not leveling this insert is if the face of your fireplace is not plumb. The cast iron surround should sit flat on the brick face, if the stove is level and the fireplace is way out of level you’d be able to see behind the surround panel. It definitely looks off left to right..

 

[Jfree]

Using a level the surround shows it is level. The surround sits tight to the fireplace bricks and floor. I measured the horizontal grout line that is just above the left and right sides (from the floor up) and they are not horizontally equal. I think that is why from my photo the left side appears lower—the grout lines are off.

 

[Jfree]

For those Clydesdale owners who have placed a stove thermometer under the grill. How exactly did you do that and still able to read it? Is the grill sitting right on the thermometer? What kind are you using. I have a condor one and if leave it on the stove under the grill, the grill doesn't sit flat and I can't really see it through the grill openings

 

[Geoff C]

You can tuck it up on the left or the right where the air from the blower comes out. The only thing is you have to put it backwards so you can see the numbers, like the 3-4-500 numbers are facing you upside down.

 

[Jfree]

So did a series of three break-in burns and tonight went for the gusto and loaded it up. Everything seemed to go fine. Got the temp up to 500-550. Couple of issues however. The fan started to vibrate even on its lowest setting. At first I thought it was due to the aluminum shroud that sits just below the fan dial. I wedged in some pipe insulation between the hearth floor and the aluminum and that seem to work at first. However, I then noticed that as the temps cooled a bit the rattle would come back. After some experimentation, i realized that the whole insert had a slight wobble to it.

As I had mentioned above, the installers didn't level the stove from front to back--just left to right. I think since the front sits about a half inch higher than the back, they also didn't really adjust the front leveling bolts. I noticed that neither of the front leveling bolts touch the floor—I assume they should, correct?

Anyway, I noticed that I could stop what seems like the fan rattle by either pushing in on the door handle or placing my foot against the ash tray. Plan to stop by the dealer tomorrow and get them to fix this. Not pleased to say the least.

Did get some nice heat from the stove, although also have one other question. When I had the stove up to around 500, with a lot of nice red coals, I put in some more wood and shut the air all the way down. The logs continued to burn quite robustly. the pieces I put in were quite dry, but was wondering if the continued hot burn was due to wood dryness or an air leak. I had done the dollar test and couldn't pull the bill out in most spots except on the handle side—there was resistance there, but I could pull out the bill.

So If I can get the stove leveled and the rattle/fan noise to go away I will be much happier

 

[begreen]

I would expect all leveling bolts to be lowered enough to take some of the weight.

 

[Jfree]

Thanks for confirming that.

Now one more issue. Opened the door to put some more logs on and the gasket detached in the top middle. Is this what I get for buying a floor model? Yiikes.

 

[weatherguy]

That's an easy fix, get them to do that while you have them leveling your stove.

 

[Jfree]

Spoke to the dealer today. They are going to try and get someone to come over, hopefully tomorrow (Saturday). In the meantime, they gave me a tube of cement for the gasket since I was in the 20's today and supposed to snow tomorrow. I re-attached the gasket and went ahead and lowered the front leveling bolts so they touch the hearth. The stove is much less wobbly by doing that.

I started up another fire after letting the re-cemented gasket dry for a few hours. Got the stove up to about 550 and things were good—no rattle or noise from the fan. Also left off the top grill so I could get a more accurate temp reading. Wondering if some of the rattle could be from the gill??

Anyway, after have the insert closed down completely from about 525-550, one of the few logs in the stove started burning hotter (more flames) and the temp kept going up to around 575-590 or so. To keep it from going up more, I turned the fans to high. I only had about 3 logs in the box. That helped, but took awhile to calm the fire down. (see photo below--this is with air intake fully closed)

I've been using some of my drier wood to start. Last piece read about 15% on my moisture meter (General MMD4E). So can't tell if I have too much draft or just using too dry wood. When I re-sealed the gasket, I did the dollar bill test. I could pull the bill out in all places, There was some resistance, but I could pull it out with not too much effort. I know I've read that some other Clydesdale owners have experienced difficulty in controlling the burn. I know in my old wood stove if I shut everything down, I could pretty much extinguish the fire. So far, I haven't been able to do that with this insert. it doesn't seem to need much wood to get the temperature over 550. If I want to do an overnight burn, I'm concerned that the temperature might easily go over 600.

Am still going to have the dealer come to check things out.

If anyone has any other thoughts/comments, please reply.

Thanks everyone who has responded. the input has been helpful and I'm still learning and still getting used to this beast.

Jeff

 

[Jfree]

Sorry for all these posts, but as a newbie, just trying to understand my insert. Anyway, right after I posted my previous post, the stove cooled down to about 500 so I put one small log on, kept things shut down, turned the fan to a normal setting and went to take shower. When I got out of the shower the stove was up to almost 700 —have a condor Inferno Stove Top Thermometer on top next to the draft bolt. This is what the fire looked when the thermometer was reading close to 700. Not much wood, but a good amount of coals. Again the fan is helping to bring down the temp.

 

[Geoff C]

My Clydesdale used to be out of control. After Less than 1 season it failed the dollar bill test. I replaced the gasket with a Rutland from Home Depot and I packed the flue collar with furnace cement and it instantly ran a lot better. Not what you want to hear after dropping 3 grand on a stove...

Also try and not add wood when it’s at 500. Let it burn down to around 250-300 before adding wood.