New Hearthstone Mansfield

[Fuut Master]

So I am the new proud owner of a Mansfield. I have went back through about all of the old threads about the stove and read most of them. I have read some of the problems associated with the stove (hinges and such). I guess I would just like to know if I can prevent any of the common problems with this model before they rear their ugly head. Any advice from Mansfield owners would be greatly appreciated. Any advice from anyone would be appreciated. Also I would like to hear people's experiences as far as best way they have found to load and operate the stove in general. Thanks!

 

[stovelark]

Hi FM, Congrats on your new stove- she is a beaut. One of HS's best IMO. Give her dry wood, she will perform. Good luck

 

[Fuut Master]

Thanks Stovelark. Any advice on making the door last? I have heard that the pins will wear out and the door will sag. I have put some high temp anti-seize on the pins already. Any hearthstone owners or previous hearthstone owners(Hibeam) have any advice?

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks Stovelark. Any advice on making the door last? I have heard that the pins will wear out and the door will sag. I have put some high temp anti-seize on the pins already. Any hearthstone owners or previous hearthstone owners(Hibeam) have any advice?

I lubed the pins as well. It makes the door swing smoother but be sure that the lube doesn't get contaminated with grit since it will then become an abrasive mud that will be worse than no lube!

The manny has a front door only and on my old heritage that front door frame was "easily" replaced which means the hinges and pins could be replaced. If your manny front door frame is bolted in in the same way then this whole issue is less catastrophic.

Oh and for lube, antiseize will cake up and dry to a powder. I had the best results with 90 weight gear oil but it has a stink at first. I never tried dry graphite powder lube but some folks seem to like it.

 

[webby3650]

The only trouble we've really had with a Mansfield was cracked stones. Which is a possible concern with all Hearthstone stoves. Don't throw wood into it, or wedge it in! Fill it up, but don't force any wood in.

 

[Fuut Master]

Thanks guys for the advice. I didn't think about the antiseize drying up or becoming a nasty abrasive. I have put it on spark plugs and it never dried up. But just to be safe I might just clean it off before I use it this winter. Possibly graphite or some type dry lube would be a better idea. How often would you need to reapply the gear oil? Seems it would burn off pretty fast. I will definitely be placing wood in this thing very carefully. Too much money spent on the thing to abuse it. Webby can you tell me if it is as easy to replace the front door frame on the Mansfield as it is on the heritage as Hibeam suggested?

 

[begreen]

I'd use graphite. Maybe twice a season. Other than that just enjoy the beautiful big hunk of stone.

 

[Fuut Master]

Wilco begreen. I am looking forward to cooler weather

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks guys for the advice. I didn't think about the antiseize drying up or becoming a nasty abrasive. I have put it on spark plugs and it never dried up. But just to be safe I might just clean it off before I use it this winter. Possibly graphite or some type dry lube would be a better idea. How often would you need to reapply the gear oil? Seems it would burn off pretty fast. I will definitely be placing wood in this thing very carefully. Too much money spent on the thing to abuse it. Webby can you tell me if it is as easy to replace the front door frame on the Mansfield as it is on the heritage as Hibeam suggested?

The life of the gear oil depended on lots of factors but you really can't apply it too often. If the hinge gets squeaky or feels rough, drop a little on. I burn more than most folks so I was using the door quite a bit.

As far as life with a stone stove you will need to know the maximum temperature allowed and have a good surface thermometer on the stove to make sure that you don't exceed it. This max temperature is specified by hearthstone and is really low like 550 or 600. For comparison, I routinely run my non-cat at 750 for extended periods, load after load.

You'll also notice that it takes forever to heat up due to that thermal mass. During this heat up period you will tend to use high fire which can easily overtemp your flue system. You must monitor your flue system as well. If you have double wall stove pipe add a condar probe meter and make sure that you don't get that thing over 1000 degrees. If you have single wall then a nice matching surface meter like on your stove can be stuck onto the pipe to make sure that you don't exceed 500. I like condar meters myself.

The hearthstones make a really nice fireshow when they are fully up to temp and cruising. They really are an attractive stove. Note that you will often be running with the intake air control completely shut off. Don't be afraid to stuff this stove to the roof. Be careful not to break the ceramic baffle that sits on the tubes.

 

[Fuut Master]

Thanks Hibeam for the info. The looks of the stove is why we have it. I had a hard time convincing the better half to go along with wood heat. She wanted something that was easy to look at since it sits in the main area of the house all year. Our house is about 1900 square feet so I think the stove will handle it.(Hopefully) I plan on heating with the Mansfield primarily. That's really why I'm trying to get all the info about burning the right way I can. I have two condar thermostats. One is a Stonegaurd and the other is the Chim guard. I have single wall pipe. How did you (Hibeam) go about firing up your heritage from a cold start. What was the difference in that versus starting from coals. I guess I'm asking when and how did you start choking it down to get a long burn? Sorry to be long winded. Alot to learn I guess.

 

[webby3650]

Thanks Hibeam for the info. The looks of the stove is why we have it. I had a hard time convincing the better half to go along with wood heat. She wanted something that was easy to look at since it sits in the main area of the house all year. Our house is about 1900 square feet so I think the stove will handle it.(Hopefully) I plan on heating with the Mansfield primarily. That's really why I'm trying to get all the info about burning the right way I can. I have two condar thermostats. One is a Stonegaurd and the other is the Chim guard. I have single wall pipe. How did you (Hibeam) go about firing up your heritage from a cold start. What was the difference in that versus starting from coals. I guess I'm asking when and how did you start choking it down to get a long burn? Sorry to be long winded. Alot to learn I guess.

It might heat the whole place if it's newer construction with good insulation. Or if you have milder winters. I used a Mansfield for 1 season to heat 2200 square feet, it struggled once winter set in. It was a 70's ranch with decent insulation. Like most, it had a cracked stone in the back when I bought it.

 

[Fuut Master]

The house is a newer construction. Built in 2010. Insulated well with good windows. I live in East Tennessee so the winters are not too bad. Usually we can expect 30s and 20s. Teens and single digits don't really happen regularly. I have seen negative temps but that is rare. Bought the stove new so no cracked stone(yet). I plan on babying this thing so I hope I can avoid cracking anything. Thanks for the response.

 

[ridemgis]

Going on five years now with my Heritage. The hinges are holding up really well and I think the key is to not over tighten the latch mechanism. The doors have a knife edge seal with the gasket meaning they don't need a lot pressure to seal well. I do lube the hinges a couple of times over the season with dry graphite powder.

My one experience with a cracked stone came, I believe, from not heeding the manufacturer's instruction to have a small fire or two in the fall to drive out moisture the stones absorb over the humid summer months.

Other than that it has been a good heater. The only real downside is that it dumps a tremendous amount of heat into the flue when I'd prefer to keep it in the house. On the other hand, that heat means a clean chimney. My annual cleanings (remove the baffle, sweep from the bottom up with my Soot Eater) have never amounted to more than a coffee can of fine grained creosote. And do be careful about whacking the baffle when tending to the fire. The only abuse it will take in stride is flame.

EDIT - Fire Starting:
I've had great luck doing a top down start with good dry kindling and a chunk of fire starter. No smoke!

Good luck with the stove - it's a beauty

 

[webby3650]

Going on five years now with my Heritage. The hinges are holding up really well and I think the key is to not over tighten the latch mechanism. The doors have a knife edge seal with the gasket meaning they don't need a lot pressure to seal well. I do lube the hinges a couple of times over the season with dry graphite powder.

My one experience with a cracked stone came, I believe, from not heeding the manufacturer's instruction to have a small fire or two in the fall to drive out moisture the stones absorb over the humid summer months.

Other than that it has been a good heater. The only real downside is that it dumps a tremendous amount of heat into the flue when I'd prefer to keep it in the house. On the other hand, that heat means a clean chimney. My annual cleanings (remove the baffle, sweep from the bottom up with my Soot Eater) have never amounted to more than a coffee can of fine grained creosote. And do be careful about whacking the baffle when tending to the fire. The only abuse it will take in stride is flame.

EDIT - Fire Starting:
I've had great luck doing a top down start with good dry kindling and a chunk of fire starter. No smoke!

Good luck with the stove - it's a beauty

I'm convinced that even if you are overly careful, some stones will just crack. I clean a dozen or more Hearthstones a year, most of them have a crack somewhere..

 

[Fuut Master]

Thanks for the advice ridemgis. When the stove is dampened all the way down does it still dump a lot of heat out the chimney? How are our stoves different from any other non cat? Can this be remedied without an inline damper?

 

[webby3650]

Thanks for the advice ridemgis. When the stove is dampened all the way down does it still dump a lot of heat out the chimney? How are our stoves different from any other non cat? Can this be remedied without an inline damper?

In short: the stones can only release X amount of heat, no matter the burn rate. It's the nature of the stone,slow to heat up, slow to cool down. In turn, it can only release a fraction of the heat the fire is producing. The rest just goes up the flue. Once the stove is up to temp and the primary air is reduced, things level off and less heat is going up the flue. Less, but still a large amount. Remember, stone is an insulator not a conductor like steel or iron..

 

[Fuut Master]

Makes perfect sense webby. Why did they ever decide to make a stove out of an insulator?
One of the complaints my wife had about wood stoves was that they would run you out of the room they were in. Too hot she said. That is also one of the reasons we got the Hearthstone. The gentleman at the retailer said that the soapstone was a gentler heat. Makes sense now why it is gentle. A lot is not making it into the home I suppose.

 

[webby3650]

Makes perfect sense webby. Why did they ever decide to make a stove out of an insulator?
One of the complaints my wife had about wood stoves was that they would run you out of the room they were in. Too hot she said. That is also one of the reasons we got the Hearthstone. The gentleman at the retailer said that the soapstone was a gentler heat. Makes sense now why it is gentle. A lot is not making it into the home I suppose.

Your wife is correct! Most often stoves pump too much heat into the room. The heat is a good problem to have, the lack of control is the issue at hand though. Most non-cat stoves offer little control over the burn rate, and it's
Gonna get much worse with EPA regulations. Cat stoves are more controllable, Blaze King being the leader in controllability.

 

[Fuut Master]

If I buy another wood stove in the future it will be a cat I think. I was afraid of the expense to replace parts on a cat. I am more informed now. Also my wife and I didn't like the appearance of any cat stoves we seen. It was not until after we purchased the Mansfield that I seen the Ashford by Blaze King. I think it is a nice looking stove. Oh well I think I will enjoy the Hearthstone. Down the road several years from now if we buy another it might be an Ashford, who knows. Thanks for the info webby. Hearth.com has been very helpful so far. I'm sure it will be even more helpful this winter when I actually get to start burning.

 

[webby3650]

From the way you described your house, the Mansfield will do fine. You will likely need to open a window at times until really cold weather sets in.

 

[Highbeam]

The gentleman at the retailer said that the soapstone was a gentler heat. Makes sense now why it is gentle. A lot is not making it into the home I suppose.

Well to be fair, most steel stoves are lined with insulating firebrick. I think the main reason that soapstone makes a "softer heat" is that the dange stove is cold. A 500 degree stove feels cold whether it is made of steel or stone. You can't tell the difference if you close your eyes. The stone stove will not burn your eyes like a steel stove at 750.

I heated 1700 SF of 1963 built single story home in single digit temps with my smaller heritage burning softwood. No problem. Burn times could make 10 hours on a good load. I predict that you will have no problem at all heating the 1900 SF. Also, I never had a single stone crack but unlike most woodburners I monitored both stove temps and flue temps to be sure to operate things per the directions. If a stone cracks, no big deal. If it leaks creosote out or air in, big deal and you need to fix.

Other than the first fire of each season, I ran the stove hard at each start. Up to temp as quickly as possible but almost always cruised with the intake closed to keep burn times long and stove temps under control. My 12' chimney is all vertical and stayed very clean with the heritage due to all of the wasted heat going up the stack.

Window stayed very clean too.

Since everybody likes pics....

 

[Highbeam]

Oh and the stone will darken with age. More rust type colors will come out too. Do NOT listen to folks that tell you to clean off stuff with steel wool as hearthstones are polished to a mirror shine unlike the other stone stove brand where the finish is rougher.

 

[webby3650]

Oh and the stone will darken with age. More rust type colors will come out too. Do NOT listen to folks that tell you to clean off stuff with steel wool as hearthstones are polished to a mirror shine unlike the other stone stove brand where the finish is rougher.

The new ones have had less shine lately. Especially the castleton, on some you can feel the unevenness and see sander marks.

 

[begreen]

Your wife is correct! Most often stoves pump too much heat into the room. The heat is a good problem to have, the lack of control is the issue at hand though. Most non-cat stoves offer little control over the burn rate, and it's
Gonna get much worse with EPA regulations. Cat stoves are more controllable, Blaze King being the leader in controllability.

Cast iron clad stoves offer the best of both worlds. The cast iron jacket softens and stores the heat while the inner steel stove is able to quickly come up to temp. In almost a decade our T6 has never driven us out of the room. The difference was notable from the first day we ran the stove. When we had the Castine it was much easier to overheat the space if one got too ambitious with the fire. With the jacketed stove there is no worry about cracked stones, but you still get an even soft heat that continues even after the fire has died down.

 

[Fuut Master]

My chimney is 18 feet straight up. Hopefully no draft problems. As far as the steel wool goes, no way. I have seen pictures of older soapstone stoves and like the way the color starts to change. As far as the type of wood I will be burning, I have white oak, red oak, hickory, red maple, cherry, walnut, and some black locust. Definitely will be burning the maple and the cherry when it's not too cold out. Anyway thanks guys for the information.