New guy with new stove

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negative1

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Oct 21, 2009
11
MI
This looks like a great fourm loaded with info. I have an old Heatilator gas insert that is serving well. Now I decided to step up to wood burning. I had a United States Stove Magnolia freestanding stove installed this yesterday.

On the first burn I started some Ash and some Oak. After leaving the stove door cracked to get a good burn going I went ahead and closed the door. With the door closed and intake fully open the burn slowed and started to stifle. I did have a window and door open in the house to get plenty of air to the stove.

I decided to call U.S. Stove to ask them about it. The kind lady said to remove the 2 fire bricks from the upper back corners inside the stove and that would help with air flow. The bricks appear to be permanently held in place.

I will be calling back for clarification.

Anyway here’s a pic of my Magnolia…

[Hearth.com] New guy with new stove


Sorry the walls are bare and ugly in paint prep.
 
Welcome! No apologies needed, the stove looks good.
You may have a draft problem or a wood problem, or you may just need to get used to the ins and outs of the new stove. Sometimes there's a bit of a learning curve to get the hang of how an EPA stove likes to burn.
Have you had a few fires or just the one, and did you have plenty of kindling to get it established?
Did the fire just slow, or really die?
When was your wood cut and split?
How tall is your chimney?
 
Welcome to the forum. Nothin but good peeps and good info around here. Nice looking stove. One thought is make sure your splits are smaller (thinner) if not seasoned fully. Seasoned wood should sound like "bowling pins" when smacked together. If you here a thud, then they are not seasoned. :) Good luck and post some pics when you the stove area finished. That is a real nice hearth. Did you do the tile work?
 
Try burning just small splits of the Ash. Not sure what part of Mi you are in but it has been a little bit of a job to get a good fire going in this Weather. When it gets colder it will help. You can also tell if you are getting a good burn by your glass. It should not be dark like it is.
Don
 
I would suggest that with your first couple fires, get some crispy dry scrap construction lumber. You should have no problems establishing nice hot clean fires with this stuff. Then once you get the feel of it, try some of your splits. If you can't get the construction lumber to burn right, then you know for sure the stove or installation has a problem.

Always remember that you first must establish a nice hot coalbed, then put your splits in on top of that.
 
Thanks For the ideas guys. I ended up taking 1 fire brick out as recommended by everyone that I talked to at United States Stove.

After doing this I made sure that I also only used dry wood. WOW! This thing sings now! The glass still gets a bit dirty but not near as bad as before.

Thanks for the help.
 
Oh I about forgot the new pic...

[Hearth.com] New guy with new stove


I decided to put the painting off until spring. Arlo, it's a 48" x 52" store bought hearth pad. I hate tile work and for the $345 it was definitely worth it.
 
Glad to hear that things are working out better for you!
 
negative1 said:
This looks like a great fourm loaded with info. I have an old Heatilator gas insert that is serving well. Now I decided to step up to wood burning. I had a United States Stove Magnolia freestanding stove installed this yesterday.

On the first burn I started some Ash and some Oak. After leaving the stove door cracked to get a good burn going I went ahead and closed the door. With the door closed and intake fully open the burn slowed and started to stifle. I did have a window and door open in the house to get plenty of air to the stove.

I decided to call U.S. Stove to ask them about it. The kind lady said to remove the 2 fire bricks from the upper back corners inside the stove and that would help with air flow. The bricks appear to be permanently held in place.

I will be calling back for clarification.

Anyway here’s a pic of my Magnolia…

[Hearth.com] New guy with new stove


Sorry the walls are bare and ugly in paint prep.

I think you might want to move your thermometer up from the collar of the stove about 18 inches.

Zap
 
If the glass is still getting dirty, that says the wood may not be as dry as you thought.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.
 
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