Upgraded from Franklin to Napoleon...burn temp question

[Bryan53]

We decided that we should stick with the historical names since we live in a historical house (built 1780). J/K we just both liked the Napoleon.

I did learn to love burning wood in that Franklin but it is not a good home heater. I never had a stove pipe thermometer since there wasn't much controlling the Franklin you just fired it up and let it roar. It would keep it fairly comfortable throughout our house but my wood pile was disappearing fast. It is much colder this year than last.

I got the Napoleon 1100C installed last night (finished around 10pm) with a new stove pipe also. I stayed up till 3am burning the paint smell out. I got the stove pipe 12inches up, up to 525 today. That seemed to burn the pipe smell out completely.

I have had a large coal bed since getting the stove up over 500*F. The house is nice and warm but both the pipe and the stove top are around 200*. Even if I throw some wood in there the temp doesn't go above 300* then once the wood is mostly coals the temp will return to around 200*. This EPA stove is new to me and having a stove pipe thermometer is new to me. Is all of this normal?

I don't have a flue damper. Do I need one? Why?

 

[Bryan53]

Oh not sure how much it matters but thought I should include the chimney info.

The stove has 10 inches of straight single wall black stove pipe then a 90* through a brick wall then up a masonry chimney with a clay flue liner. Chimney drafts great once warm.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like things might be ok. Where are you measuring on the stove top? The thermometer needs to be directly on the stove surface, under the trivet.

 

[Bryan53]

The top is cast and is one solid piece there isn't a way I can put a thermometer on the stove surface body itself. There isn't a "trivet" on my stove.

 

[begreen]

Doh, sorry, wrong stove top. :red: At what stage is the fire when you are getting the low stove top readings? After feeding the stove and getting the fresh load burning, the stove top temps should rise as secondary burning kicks in and the air supply is reduced via the air control. Are you not seeing this?

 

[Bryan53]

The temp does rise as secondary kicks up around 300* on the stove pipe but that doesn't seem to last very long then I get temps down back under 250*. I thought that it was normal to see the stove run much hotter than that. Right now there is some nice secondary burn going with a full stove and the draft control on low. Stove pipe 12inches up from stove top reads 290*F the stop reads 275*F.


I am just wondering if this is normal operation or if it is still breaking in. The manual says "The first fires are difficult to get going...this is a result of moisture being driven out of brick. Allow 30 to 40 hours of hot fires (temperatures in excess of 500*F - 600*F) before your unit will perform normally.

 

[Burd]

Bryan does that have a blower on it. You might want to move your thermomitor to the door and you'll get your reading at a higher temp as the stove pulls the cool air in and around the box it cools that top plate quicker and you'll get false readings
I have the napleon 1200 insert and I love it and with dry wood the temps can climb up past 700
Every nice looking stove

 

[Bryan53]

I do not have a blower. I will move the thermometer to the door.

 

[begreen]

The readings are low. With the solid cast top, the temps on it should be higher. I would experiment, maybe try the thermometer in different locations like a few inches to the side and in front of the flue.

After a few fires the bricks should be dry. However, the same symptoms will occur if the wood is not fully seasoned. If it's damp on the interior of the splits, the stove will not get hot. If you can try a bundle or two of store bought wood that would give you a comparison.

PS: Is there a hearth extension in front of the stove? It needs to be protected 18" in front of the stove.

 

[Bryan53]

I am very aware of the 18" hearth that is needed. The floor is vinyl and there is one of those hearth rugs down there right now. Under the vinyl is concrete. The vinyl is coming up asap and tile is going down.


I think I have some wood that is not fully seasoned and that is the problem although I am not completely sold on that because I stuck some 2x4 scraps in there and was having the same problems. Even with the 2x4's in there it wouldn't go above 310.

 

[begreen]

Have you confirmed that a) the baffle is in place above the secondary tubes and b) the thermometer is relatively accurate?

 

[Bryan53]

Don't know about the baffle. My wife put the bricks and stuff in the stove and I really haven't looked in there other than to look at the fire. I will check on that.

Thermometer being accurate is not something I had considered. I just bought both of them brand new yesterday. I let the coals burn down and are mostly out right now. I am going to build a fire up using only wood I KNOW is fully seasoned and very dry.

Then I will post back with the results.

 

[begreen]

If you can, check the baffle first. Make sure it's correctly installed.

 

[Bryan53]

Baffle was not right. I have the pipe up to 425* and the stove to 265* right now as I type. If the time stamp is right on the forum then I think this is pretty good considering I started the fire 50 minutes ago. It is burning very nice.


The baffle were centered and there wasn't much room in the front for the gases to exit and I am sure the secondary burn wasn't working right. I guess it was like we were heating the air meant for secondary burning then letting it right up the chimney.


It is a relief to know my wood is seasoned.

I stacked most of the wood around 10 months ago. I know that is not perfect but I don't have the space to have multiple years of wood on my 24x56 lot size.

 

[Bryan53]

Stove pipe 450* stove door 290* both are still rising. I am going to turn the draft down to 1.

 

[ControlFreak]

You have to be careful with the refractory baffles at the top of the stove. They can drift forward over time and it starts to mess up. When I load my stove, I generally reach in with my welding gloves and tap the front edge to make sure they're pushed all the way back. Just one of those things that you learn as you aclimate to your stove.

 

[begreen]

That's good news. I'm guessing that a portion of the fire and gases were heading right up the flue in the gap created at the back of the stove. Once the gap is filled by the baffle being in correct position, this should be a whole different stove.

 

[Bryan53]

You have to be careful with the refractory baffles at the top of the stove. They can drift forward over time and it starts to mess up. When I load my stove, I generally reach in with my welding gloves and tap the front edge to make sure they're pushed all the way back. Just one of those things that you learn as you aclimate to your stove.

Thanks I will keep an eye on them.


Kinda funny that you use welding gloves for the stove. I use my stove gloves when I want to weld. I think these are the "barbecue gloves" from lowes. I can't remember. The ones I have now are better than the ones I used last year. The ones from last year ended up loosing the thumb. The stitching caught fire and the thumb opened up. I like to pick up burning logs.

 

[Bryan53]

That's good news. I'm guessing that a portion of the fire and gases were heading right up the flue in the gap created at the back of the stove. Once the gap is filled by the baffle being in correct position, this should be a whole different stove.

The stove is now functioning like I hoped it would. I have a dog that loves to lay in front of the stove. The stove is too hot for him right now. He was laying there and then moved slightly farther away and started panting. Then he got up and moved to the other side of the kitchen.


A picture of him in front of the old Franklin.

 

[begreen]

Hot Dog! It's a good heater. You should be a lot warmer now.

 

[Bryan53]

The house is much warmer than yesterday and today it is colder and raining so it feels colder than it really is. I am not adding more wood to the fire for a long while because it is too hot in here.

 

[n3pro]

You have to be careful with the refractory baffles at the top of the stove. They can drift forward over time and it starts to mess up. When I load my stove, I generally reach in with my welding gloves and tap the front edge to make sure they're pushed all the way back. Just one of those things that you learn as you aclimate to your stove.

Ditto I have found this with my Napoleon 1100, although I don't check mine often enough but when the burn don't seem right that's has been the problem most of the time maybe the baffle drifts to find cooler spot, the other is my overzealousness to put to big of splits in too soon.