Side and Back walls seem too hot--Napoleon 1400 pedestal

[sstauffer3]

Hi Everyone,

We have a Napoleon 1400 that we installed with 2 inches more clearance (side and back) than was recommended by the manufacturer. Today we burnt it for the second time. The instructions say to keep the fire between 300 and 400 degrees for the first couple of burns. We attempted to do this by placing a stove thermometer on the top of the stove and keeping the reading on the thermometer between 300 and 400 degrees. We were not running the blower.

The problem is that the both walls got too hot to touch in some areas. These areas correspond to where there are studs. Also the pattern of the hottest areas is vertical, which seems also to indicate to us that the studs are heating up.

The hearth pad was built by my husband and has 1 layer of durarock under the ceramic tile.

Also, or double-wall stove pipe got hot enough to sizzle a squirt of water. We thought that double-wall stove pipe would remain cool enough to touch.

Thanks for any advice.
Sandy

 

[begreen]

Hi Sandy. I'm wondering if the temperature readings were incorrect. Where was the thermometer? On the enameled stove top, the trivet or on the stove body with the trivet removed?

FWIW, I don't think our double wall pipe has ever been sizzling hot. Very warm to the touch, yes, but it sounds like yours was much hotter.

 

[sstauffer3]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. The thermometer was on the stove top, but not on the trivet. We do not have an enameled 1400 but just the plain black one with a gold door.

I went through the literature on the stove and it says that the stove pipe should be between 250 and 400 degrees. We are intending to call the dealer or Napoleon on Monday. Meanwhile the instructions have generated new questions.

We have seen a stove pipe thermometer that requires you to drill a hole in the stove pipe and insert a metal rod on the back of the thermometer into the stove pipe. Will this make a smoke problem? Is there a difference between the temperature needed for double or single wall stove pipe, or does the inserted thermometer fix this problem? The literature says you can use a surface thermometer, but does this change for double-walled stove pipe?

The fire that was going in the firebox had lots of glowing coals and lots of flames. The room that the stove is in was 93 degrees and the rest of the house was comfortable enough to wear a light summer dress.

We got all our supplies at Lowes and installed everything strictly according to the instructions, or with even greater clearances. Our stove pipe goes straight up through the roof on a one story house.

We have heated with wood before, but we always inherited the wood burner from the previous owner. Also, we are now older and more cautious. Funny how that happens.

Thanks,
Sandy

 

[begreen]

I'm guessing that you have been reading the stove top jacket temps and not the actual stove top temps which sound like they were considerably higher. If so, you don't want to burn the stove this hot. Napoleons are reported to like to take off and burn hot. You'll need to control this or it will overfire the stove. Remove the trivet and put the surface thermometer right on the stove body to get a better understanding of how hot it's burning.

When they refer to stove pipe temps, that is for single wall pipe with a surface thermometer. You will likely see double those temps with a probe thermometer. Don't go higher than 800 in the flue and you should be ok. And don't worry, there won't be a smoke problem with the tiny hole made for the thermometer. The probe body fills most of the hole and the magnet surrounds it.

Keep us posted on your progress. And feel free to ask questions as they arise. Put Napoleon 1400 in the title so that you attract the attention of other Napoleon owners and can share experiences.

 

[nailbender]

I'm not quite experienced enough to help you out but i can give you my tempeturer readings on my 1400 leg model.
Stove top-400, rt side-113, left side-117, back- 96, stove pipe(dbl wall) 205 at collar to 118 at ceiling support, back
wall-100. All areas are warm to the touch except for the flue collar of course. This is my fourth burn with this stove,
I'm a newb and a lurker of this site, one word describes it, informative. Seems to be a great bunch of people willing
to help us rookies. I'm sure I'll be asking my fare share of questions. By the way, 6'' from rear wall to back of stove.
sorry if this dbl posts


Jason

 

[acesover]

i also have the 1400 and you need to put the gauge under the trivit. and do you have side heat shields on yours? make sure. my stove is caddy corner walls stay cool and heat sheild i can place my hand on when running at 500-600deg. can you post some pics ?

 

[DrivenByDemons]

Every time I read these threads with temp readings I get paranoid. Tonight with my PE Spectrum in full on secondary burn with air cranked all the way down I had 700F stove top temp and the double wall pipe was 482F about 4" above the stove, 300F around 18" above the stove, and 180F at the ceiling collar (9 foot ceilings). My walls (just painted drywall) were 150F at the hottest point. Is this too much?

 

[sstauffer3]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the answers. I checked the Napoleon website and I am pretty sure we have side shields. These would be the side panels with the cutouts running horizontally across the top of the sides--about 5/8 of an inch down from the top. We did not purchase the optional rear heat shield.

We moved the thermometer to under the trivet. A small to medium fire brings the top of the stove to 300-350 degrees. My husband did not think that the stove was hot enough to heat the house at those temperatures. We have just under 2000 square feet. Our previous inserts always chased us to the opposite end of the house with the heat.

About 2.5 hours ago my husband filled the stove fairly full, but not extremely full (not as full as we used to fill our old Buck Stove inserts) and shut the damper down as far as it would go. When I checked it, a log had fallen against the glass door and the stove top temperature was 500 degrees. I shoved the wood away from the door and the temperature fell to 400 degrees. I took the temperatures of the side stove walls and they were 140 degrees-for both sides. I can touch the sides, but not keep my hand on them. The stove pipe will no longer sizzle water and I can touch it briefly. Our room walls are warm but not hot. I can touch them for an indefinite period of time. The fire has plenty of hot coals? embers? and a few flames. The flames are difficult to see because they are blue.

I tried to post pictures with my original post, but the forum kept telling me that my file sizes were to large.

We are currently burning wood bought from a local guy that is 2- 3 years old and was stored in a roofed building with fewer that 4 side walls. I didn't see that building, that is how my husband described it. We are also burning pallets that my husband is getting for free. They are supposed to be either oak or ash. I don't like the idea of burning pallets-but try to stop a man from burning free wood. We are soon getting a delivery of hardwood from a local mill. These are the edges of the logs that are cut off before they make the boards.

Again thanks for the help. I love this website.
Sandy

 

[acesover]

ive noticed that when its 30deg out stove has to be above 450 before it starts to put off a good amount of heat. and yes that is what the heat sheild looks like. did you buy the blower with it, im considering it.

 

[sstauffer3]

Hi,

Yes, we bought the blower and the thermostat. We installed the blower ourselves. You can buy the blower online cheaper than at a stove dealer. The instructions for installing the blower on a 1400 are not in the directions, so you have to figure it out for yourself. Don't knock out the back panel like it shows for the 1150. We did that and had to bolt a new steel panel to the back of the stove.

The blower puts out a decent amount of breeze, but you can't feel it across the room. It is pretty quiet and the thermostat seems to switch the blower on just as the thermometer on the top on the stove reaches around 375 degrees.

Thanks for the input.

Sandy

 

[HittinSteel]

Here is what I have learned in my month of burning for my situation:

1. Burn well seasoned wood
2. Keep flue temp. in recommended range per manual
3. Damper down once the light show begins
4. Enjoy the heat

 

[bayshorecs]

I have also noticed the back wall temps drop alot with a blower going. Helps move that hot air around behind the stove. I have seen about a 50* wall temp drop in my setup.

 

[SlyFerret]

My stove is in a corner installation. When the stove has been burning for a while, the walls on either side of the stove can reach 130-150 degrees. Yes, it is hot to the touch, but not hot enough to be alarmed. I suppose it's possible that the life of the latex paint on that wall might be shortened by being regularly subjected to those temperatures, but beyond that, I'm not concerned of it being a fire hazard. To our skin, 150 is hot, but as far as combustion is concerned... not so much. I bet the dash of your car gets that hot on a sunny day in the summer time.

-SF