I have a hearthstone clydesdale and had posted about problems I was having at the end of last season. Short burn times etc. I had posted about the rear strap warping after a fire and asked if anyone had the same problem. I feared I had overfired it. I was told by the dealer that it was a "common occurence" according to hearthstone but they wouldn't replace the strap because it wouldn't affect the performance of the unit. I thought that to be odd but figured if hearthstone said so than it wasn't uncommon. I removed the strap before this season to remove the soapstone bricks so I could clean the liner. It looked the same as last year so I didn't give it a second thought. I had been told by the dealer after my problems last season that most of the problems are caused by a faulty door seal so I changed it for this season in hopes it would help with the burn times. It hadn't so far and I just figured the burn times were what they are and I would have to live with them. Today I decided to move the unit out into the room as far as I could having read about the blower channels losing some affectiveness when this particular unit wasn't extended as far into the room as possible. With that I needed to get to the leveling bolt under the soapstone bricks on the bottom of the unit. This is when I found the rust. After removing the rear strap I found it to be rusted and flaking on the under side between the strap and the soapstone. I also found one of the bricks to be cracked in half and some rust under the bricks on the unit itself. None of this rust was there at the beginning of the season. I have been burning regular just about 24/7 since the middle of November with an occasional day off here and there. Can this be a sign of overfiring? Also my burn times are short compared to others with the same unit and I can have good flame with the air down 100% and using my blower to control temps, which have risen to just over 500 on occasion. Usually temps go to high 400s and then drop. These temps are of the so called stove top which is an outer shroud on the clydesdale. Last seasons problems were little heat, hard starting fires and short burn times. The first two problems I credited to unseasoned wood. But never pinned down the short burn times. My wood is better than last year but probably still not seasoned fully but still I have short burns and now rust. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Thanks.
rust in fire box of my clydesdale
- Thread starter archer292
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Hi archer I remember you and sorry to hear about the stove. As far as a burn times go ya have to stick with usable heat time.
Of course a stove holding hot coals for 10-12 hrs is important if your away and out of the house. This saves you burning fossil fuel to heat an empty house. Also we all know that hot coals are the absolute best way to get a stove up to warp speed again. So in essence a stove that can hold coals for 10/12 hrs is very good.
It's my unprofessional opinion that you haven't over fired the insert. 600 is nothing but I have free standing stove and it not uncommon to see temps of 800* before I lock it down for the night. If you want a hotter fire while you in an about the house I would advise to use smaller splits loaded N to S and keep the primary air opened more than usual. Also for a few days or so as a test try not turning the blower on until the fire is well established and just run it on low only. Running a blower affects the natural way a wood fire burns imo but I'm of the opinion that inserts need blowers.
Those cracked stones, from what I've read here, do not affect the stove. Stones will crack, that's the nature of the beast but the heat sink properties still work.
As long as the rust doesn't show I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably that LI summer humidity working it way down the chimney...just a guess.
It sounds like you understand the value of seasoned wood so 'nuff said.
I think that's a nice insert you have there but you might be expecting too much out of it...and that's really not uncommon. Lets hope with the New Year you find how to make that stove work for you and find contentment with it.
Of course a stove holding hot coals for 10-12 hrs is important if your away and out of the house. This saves you burning fossil fuel to heat an empty house. Also we all know that hot coals are the absolute best way to get a stove up to warp speed again. So in essence a stove that can hold coals for 10/12 hrs is very good.
It's my unprofessional opinion that you haven't over fired the insert. 600 is nothing but I have free standing stove and it not uncommon to see temps of 800* before I lock it down for the night. If you want a hotter fire while you in an about the house I would advise to use smaller splits loaded N to S and keep the primary air opened more than usual. Also for a few days or so as a test try not turning the blower on until the fire is well established and just run it on low only. Running a blower affects the natural way a wood fire burns imo but I'm of the opinion that inserts need blowers.
Those cracked stones, from what I've read here, do not affect the stove. Stones will crack, that's the nature of the beast but the heat sink properties still work.
As long as the rust doesn't show I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably that LI summer humidity working it way down the chimney...just a guess.
It sounds like you understand the value of seasoned wood so 'nuff said.
I think that's a nice insert you have there but you might be expecting too much out of it...and that's really not uncommon. Lets hope with the New Year you find how to make that stove work for you and find contentment with it.
Thanks for the reply and I think you might be right about expecting too much. I didn't only move the insert out yesterday but also changed the door seal again. I can see the difference in control of the flame much more now than earlier. I can also see how NOT seasoned my wood is. Temp readings I have been taking are from the top of the shroud, which is kind of like a cover on the front of the insert. I can see a big difference just in the extra inch or so I moved it out. My temp readings are much higher. I think the spot to take them from might be on top of the door between the shroud and the door itself. This is my first full year and I'm still working out the bugs.
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