Problems with Hearthstone

[lauras]

Last summer we purchased and installed a Hearthstone wood stove. We have had a lot of difficulties. The first problem we noticed was a knocking noise that was coming from the tubes in the top of the stove. The faster it is heating up, the faster it knocks.

Also, when we get the stove really hot, fumes come off the black stove pipe and have set off our smoke detector several times. Eventually the paint began peeling off the stove pipe. We were given a new pipe and we bought a thermometer for the stove pipe. If we get the stove pipe temperature into the right zone, the fumes began again. The smell was awful and the detector kep going off. Less than a week later, the paint practically exploded off the bottom of the stovepipe.

We are very frustrated. Does anyone have advice?

-Laura

 

[Todd]

Sound like an overfiring problem. The paint on stove pipe always gives off some smelly fumes for the first few fires as it cures, but if it gets too hot the paint can peel. Check your ash pan gasket, or glass gasket, it could be leaking in air and causing an overdraft. Tall chimneys can create overfires also and pipe dampers help slow it down.

 

[lauras]

Thanks for your answer. Can it be over firing and still show the proper temperature on the stove pipe thermometer? We haven't seen the thermometer go out of the safe range on the thermometer.

-Laura

 

[Todd]

Pipe temps don't always tell the whole story. What are your stove top temps? The Heritage overfire temps are measured on the top middle stone and not to exceed 600.

 

[lauras]

The stove top temps are pretty low. It rarely gets to 250 degrees. When it is that warm, the fumes from the pipe set off the smoke detector.

-Laura

 

[RonB]

The black stove pipe needs to "cure". For each higher temp that you reach it will smell/smoke but eventually eventually cure. Follow your stove manual for highest stove temp and take it to that temp with all the doors/windows open, and if necessary a fan going for a couple of hours. Not sure why the paint is falling off. Change brand/store and try again?

 

[begreen]

Laura, what you are seeing is most unusual. It sounds like either a bad paint job or batch of pipe that is defective. Can you describe the pipe? Is this single-wall or double wall connector pipe? Where was it purchased? Also, where are is the thermometer located and what are the readings you are seeing at the peak of the burn cycle? Have you placed the thermometer on the stove surface and measured the temperatures there? That would also be helpful information to understand what is happening.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Laura.

Can you also describe what you are doing while operating the stove? That is, how are you setting the draft, when are you starting to close the draft, etc.

 

[BroadCove]

The other folks are heading you in the right direction with regard to the stove pipe, but no one has commented on the "knocking" from the secondary burn tubes at the top of the stove. This is normal; it's just the tubes expanding as the burn chamber heats up.

Good luck!

 

[lauras]

To answer some questions... The pipe is single wall painted black and from American Metal Products. The thermometer was placed at 12 inches from the base and did not go over 450 degrees.

We start the fire with newspaper and about ten 1" or smaller diameter sticks and a chunk of wood that is a few inches across. The damper is wide open. When that gets going, I add in a bigger log or two and keep the door open until it catches well, then shut the door and close the damper down halfway or a quarter open. Sometimes I have left the damper wide open when the wood box was full of wood that was not burning well. A few times, the wood has caught well and burned very hot with a wide open damper before I got to it to close the damper. (In other words, I forgot about it) On these occasions, the smell from the stove pipe was strong but the temperature of the stove pipe was still around 450 degrees and the stove top was 250 degrees.

I will have to pay more attention to the stove top temperature but I have not seen it get over 250 degrees even when the smoke detectors are going off.

-Laura

 

[lauras]

The other folks are heading you in the right direction with regard to the stove pipe, but no one has commented on the "knocking" from the secondary burn tubes at the top of the stove. This is normal; it's just the tubes expanding as the burn chamber heats up.

Good luck!

Thanks for the answer. I am disappointed about this. The knocking is really annoying. It often changes tempo and volume and it's difficult to nap or hold a conversation. Also, the people at the place where I purchased the stove, Heat n Sweep, claim that this is not normal. The have called the Hearthstone company and claim they say we should hit the tube with a wooden mallet :0 to loosen it or something. Heat n Sweep also claims that the Hearthstone company does not talk to customers.

We also have an antique cook stove that came with the house and that one does not knock. The stove pipe on it does make some heating up noises and random ticks but the Hearthstone just gets going and doesn't stop the noise for a while.

-Laura

 

[Highbeam]

I'll second broadcove's comment that these stoves (most all modern stoves that is) make all sorts of popping and ticking noises as they heat up. That upper manifold that holds all the tubes is made of several different pieces with different expansion rates and goes from cold to 1000 degrees so will be making some noise on heat up and cool down.

Yes, Hearthstone talks to customers. They are quite nice actually. If they recommend bonking the tubes I suspect that it is to be sure that they are not bonded to the cast iron manifold on the sides. I do not believe that the purpose is to bend the tubes.

 

[gpcollen1]

The other folks are heading you in the right direction with regard to the stove pipe, but no one has commented on the "knocking" from the secondary burn tubes at the top of the stove. This is normal; it's just the tubes expanding as the burn chamber heats up.

Good luck!

Thanks for the answer. I am disappointed about this. The knocking is really annoying. It often changes tempo and volume and it's difficult to nap or hold a conversation. Also, the people at the place where I purchased the stove, Heat n Sweep, claim that this is not normal. The have called the Hearthstone company and claim they say we should hit the tube with a wooden mallet :0 to loosen it or something. Heat n Sweep also claims that the Hearthstone company does not talk to customers.
-Laura

I agree with others in that the ticking would be normal while heating up but it does not make sense that it does this often unless you are keeping the stove at lower temps. From what I have seen, there is a temperature range where this happens - and that range is relatively low. I only get some creaking and noise when heating the stove up after it has been burned down a bit - like overnight sometimes or when we get home from work. Only then is the stove cool enough to have to pass through that 'range' when getting it fired back up.

If you are going from cold starts often, this is definitely going to happen.

 

[karri0n]

If you are only getting stove top temps of 250, and you say the fire sometimes doesn't burn well, then chances are your wood is not seasoned enough. That stovetop should be easily getting to 500+ if you have good wood and a good chimney installation. Head to Lowe's or Home Depot and get some new stove pipe, as there's something wrong with this one if it is making that much smoke and the paint is peeling off. I've glowed mine red and never got any smoke at all, and certainly never experienced peeling paint. If you haven't gotten the stove top past 250, chances are there's still quite a bit of paint curing that needs to be done on the stove and the pipe. While you're at the Home Depot/Lowes, pick up some of their kiln dried firewood(2-3 bundles) and load her up with this stuff. You shouldn't even need any kindling with this, just load the box full, and use the included starter, or buy a couple of the fire starter sticks. I think with this wood, you will notice a MAJOR difference.

As far as the knocking noises go, that's certainly not normal if it's so loud that it's difficult to hold a conversation or nap. A bit of ticking is normal, and possibly a couple hard knocks here and there, but not even loud enough to be startling really. You might want to make sure your baffle is in place. It should be pushed all the way to the back of the firebox with no gaps.


Can we have a bit more info about your setup such as the length of your chimney? Does the chimney have a 6 inch liner going all the way to the top? I suppose another thing to make sure of is that there are no obstructions in the chimney or on the chimney cap. The knocking could possibly be debris/creo falling from the chimney and landing on top of the baffle, making the noise you hear.

 

[Highbeam]

You say the stove pipe was 450. Is that measured on the surface with one of those magnetic stick on type meters? I have heard that the internal temps are double what the external temps are and if so, then internal temps would be getting close to 1000 degrees which is way too hot.

How long is the chimney?

 

[BroadCove]

I agree that if the knocking in the stove is so loud that you can't hold a conversation or take a nap that something is wrong, and I have no idea what that might be. Sorry!

 

[Rob From Wisconsin]

If you are only getting stove top temps of 250, and you say the fire sometimes doesn't burn well, then chances are your wood is not seasoned enough. That stovetop should be easily getting to 500+ if you have good wood and a good chimney installation.

We also own a Hearthstone, and even when it is "raging" for an extended period of time, it rarely gets
above 400 degrees. Most of the time, it seems to "cruise" right around 300 degrees on the stovetop,
with clear emissions coming out of the flue.

We have owned a variety of stoves in the past, and we are most impressed w/ our Hearthstone.