Stove won't get hot; ok to close damper?

[bdl]

We bought a house over the summer with a wood stove, and this is our first year burning. The manual says to close the damper at 500. We've had a fire going for almost two hours now, but the magnetic Rutland thermometer won't get above 350 or so. Things seem to be burning quickly when we put in a split. Is there a reason the fire is not getting hotter? Should I assume the thermometer is broken and go ahead and close the damper anyways?

The wood we are burning is kiln dried from a grocery store, as the wood we got delivered was still a little bit wet when I measured it (after struggling to get anything going on my first try).

 

[begreen]

Stovetop temps are not always the best guide. What stove make and model is this? How much wood are you putting in the stove for the fire?

Sorry about the wet wood. One has to be very selective when buying wood and assume it is not fully seasoned. There are a few wood sellers that actually do season wood for a year and some kiln dry it, but that wood will sell at a high premium if available. It's best to learn how to correctly test for wood moisture and test a few splits before it is dumped off the truck. Or buy 2 yrs in advance and store it stacked and top covered.

 

[bdl]

Stovetop temps are not always the best guide. What stove make and model is this? How much wood are you putting in the stove for the fire?

Sorry about the wet wood. One has to be very selective when buying wood and assume it is not fully seasoned. There are a few wood sellers that actually do season wood for a year and some kiln dry it, but that wood will sell at a high premium if available. It's best to learn how to correctly test for wood moisture and test a few splits before it is dumped off the truck. Or buy 2 yrs in advance and store it stacked and top covered.

Thank you! I should say that it has now gotten up to 500 (the manual actually said 450 for closing the damper), but it did seem to take a really long time (2.5 hours) to get there. Perhaps I should have been putting in more wood at a time?

It's a Vermont Castings Defiant stove. We built the fire slowly with kindling and small pieces and were then putting one or two splits (the size that typically comes in a grocery store bought bag) in at a time.

I have the wood we ordered stacked and covered from the top. The moisture levels seem to generally come in between 20–25%, so it's not super wet. But from what I've read, perhaps a bit too wet to burn? I couldn't get it to light at least...

 

[ajayabb]

For efficient operation it’s best to go by the temp of the Catalytic Element to determine when
To close damper. Have you inspected the Cat recently. Is this a newer stove ?


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[bdl]

For efficient operation it’s best to go by the temp of the Catalytic Element to determine when
To close damper. Have you inspected the Cat recently. Is this a newer stove ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you. It's a non-catalytic type.

 

[webby3650]

If you do a little research you’ll find very quickly that the stove is very finicky, high maintenance and rather fragile.
Is it running ok after the damper is shut?

 

[Woody Stover]

The moisture levels seem to generally come in between 20–25%, so it's not super wet. But from what I've read, perhaps a bit too wet to burn? I couldn't get it to light at least...

Starts getting good below 20%. Even buying store wood is no guarantee. I was at a guy's house that got gas station wood for an outside fire. That stuff was hissing like a mad cat and bubbling water out the ends of the splits. It wouldn't flame, it would only smolder.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yep, bigger loads generally put out more heat but with wet wood you have to leave the air open more and a lot of the heat heads up the flue.

 

[Jags]

Load that sucker up. A couple splits at a time is gonna take quite awhile to heat up 500 pounds of steel.

 

[webby3650]

Starts getting good below 20%. Even buying store wood is no guarantee. I was at a guy's house that got gas station wood for an outside fire. That stuff was hissing like a mad cat and bubbling water out the ends of the splits. It wouldn't flame, it would only smolder.

In the past store bought bundles were a go to for dry wood. Not anymore! At least in this area, the state properties don’t allow you to bring firewood in, I think bundle firewood suppliers can’t keep up. We used to carry bundle wood at the store, but our supplier never can deliver and we quit trying.

 

[bdl]

Thanks everyone! We've had it going pretty good all day, and I'll load it up more in the future to keep the temperatures higher/get them higher faster. It's amazing how much it warms up the house.

 

[Kevin Weis]

It's really hard to get those griddle temps to 500 on VC stoves. Typically the coal bed will be ready way before the top gets to or above 500. As long as you have a decent 3" coal bed close the damper, the cat should activate with no problem. My griddle is usually around 350.

 

[webby3650]

I found the griddle temps to soar! This is a non cat being discussed here anyway.

 

[begreen]

Thank you. It's a non-catalytic type.

Is this an original Defiant from the late 70s-80s or a newer one? Does it have glass in the door? Is there a model number?

 

[webby3650]

Is this an original Defiant from the late 70s-80s or a newer one? Does it have glass in the door? Is there a model number?

Good point, I rarely even think about the old defiant.

 

[bdl]

Is this an original Defiant from the late 70s-80s or a newer one? Does it have glass in the door? Is there a model number?

I don't now the date. It's a model 1610 non-catalytic. It does have glass in the door.

 

[begreen]

Ok, that helps. I didn't want folks going off on a tangent if this was the first model Defiant. The 1610 NC is a very different stove.