VC Aspen C3 (2023) Can’t Heat Small Room

[30WCF]

11:45 Im sitting at 70 in the hall, 580 STT and the pine is chewing the coals up. By the time this pine is ready for a reload I’ll just have nice ash in the bottom.
Outside them is 34 at the moment.

 

[30WCF]

Get some pine for next year. I know you have plenty of it in SC.
I got busy doing my work and phone calls and forgot about the stove till I heard the furnace kick on. So, in about the last 5 hrs, the rest of the hardwood coals and those two pine splits disappeared. Granted, it’s probably not been pushing much heat for the last couple hours either, but I raked it around and it lit right off with a piece of pine and a half a holly log. Pulled the coals up in a pile up front, and there is a flat bed of ash in the back.

Point being in my area, if I only ever collected pine from here on out, it wouldn’t bother me. Pine will heat hot and fast, and reduce coals to nothing. The C3 is not a passive stove. You have to tend it every 3-5 hrs for best results. I can put a beast of a log in for an overnight burn, but you’ll wake up to 120 STT if you sleep 8 hrs.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[meagloth]

Someone mentioned cleaning the front air vent stack right by the door. I actually checked that before all this and it was very clean. I don’t have any pine or softwood to burn right now but that is a good tip to help with the ash.
I think I will have to wait till the season is over to pull it out of the brick alcove and screw around with the inner workings. It’s not great but it’s better than nothing and I don’t want to put it out of commission on the middle of winter. It’s sounds like no one has a good video/picture/diagram of how the innards are meant to go together, so when I do that I will try to make a quick YouTube video and post an update.

 

[meagloth]

Pine loaded up, I gave it a few minutes of air to get it going good, then I closed the door. The thermostat around the corner in the hall is 68*F a 30 minutes in.

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Pictures and descriptions you have posted here look and sound very similar to how I would run it. Seems like yours just gets a good bit hotter than mine.

 

[meagloth]

Well it was 16 outside over night last night and we woke up to a 57 degree house. The fire has burned all the way down from the big log we put in at 10pm. If it’s gonna stay cold this week I might have to get up in the night and stoke it. Curious if keeping it running will actually warm the house at all. Was 68 when we went to bed at 11.

 

[stoveliker]

But you can't really expect to have one big split keep your home warm enough over a night...?
Only do many BTUs in a volume of wood.

 

[bigealta]

I fully loaded my f400 with 3 year oak and 4 year locust about 3 times in that same time frame. When it's this cold that's the deal.

 

[30WCF]

95% of the winter this stove is fine for the house. Very short reloads, but the output is fine. It just doesn’t keep up in the frigid cold temps. My house leaks so bad, there is no way it will keep us at 70+ when it’s 15* outside. But from cool October nights to chilly May mornings it hits the spot all but a few weeks out of that timeframe. Overall, I’m happy with mine. Last year I had more seasoned pine and it kept up with the cold a little better, but the kick in the pants with this stove is the crazy short burn time with good heat output. It’s 3-4 hrs of real heat, then fine heat if you had an insulated space that’s sealed off good, but I can stand at the doors and feel cold air hit my toes. Thats a problem in itself that needs to be addressed that may make the stove more favorable if it wasn’t contending with the heat loss in the same room.

 

[30WCF]

It’s sounds like no one has a good video/picture/diagram of how the innards are meant to go together, so when I do that I will try to make a quick YouTube video and post an update.

it’s really just a metal coil on the end of a probe that has a ceiling fan chain hanging off of it. The lower end of the chain hooks to the flap that is the primary and secondary air damper.
I have adjusted my chain by moving the connection to the flap a link or two shorter. I’m not sure what happens if you go too far.

 

[30WCF]

Post 53 shows the stove without the rear shield.

Thread 'Did I buy the wrong stove?'

Feb 10, 2022

The situation: I live in North MS in a 1500sq.ft. ranch style home. We are on our first season with the Vermont Castings Aspen C3. We bought the stove with the intention of supplementing our 3ton heat pump central unit when the temps get below freezing. We really like the stove. It looks great, doesn't take up too much space, and I think it performs as designed.

The dilemma: We really had no idea how much we would like wood heat! We have really enjoyed the absence of continually circulating lukewarm air from the heat pump. We have attempted to make wood primary and not...

• bikeshopguy345
• ashford aspen c3 blaze king sirocco vermont castings
• Replies: 86
• Forum: The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces

 

[bigealta]

Post 53 shows the stove without the rear shield.

Thread 'Did I buy the wrong stove?'

Feb 10, 2022

The situation: I live in North MS in a 1500sq.ft. ranch style home. We are on our first season with the Vermont Castings Aspen C3. We bought the stove with the intention of supplementing our 3ton heat pump central unit when the temps get below freezing. We really like the stove. It looks great, doesn't take up too much space, and I think it performs as designed.

The dilemma: We really had no idea how much we would like wood heat! We have really enjoyed the absence of continually circulating lukewarm air from the heat pump. We have attempted to make wood primary and not...

• bikeshopguy345
• ashford aspen c3 blaze king sirocco vermont castings
• Replies: 86
• Forum: The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces

Yes that is one of the threads i was thinking about. The added chain length got the stove dialed in. The pics show the chain to the air adjuster.
Nice.

 

[bigealta]

interesting that 30WCF shortened his chain 2 links and The OP in the linked thread above lengthened his by a link.
Both guys got better performance.

 

[30WCF]

I could really probably shorten mine even more. I’m curious if I shortened it some more if I could get it to open the air faster when I get to the coals and I’m only on 200-300 flue gasses instead of staying clamped down so long.
Flip side of that is this thing loves to hit 800-900 STT, so I don’t want to Shorten it too much and hold the air open.

 

[meagloth]

But you can't really expect to have one big split keep your home warm enough over a night...?
Only do many BTUs in a volume of wood.

No, I didn’t and didn’t mean to imply that. Just wanted to give an update on how it was running since it was our first night under 20. Also, this is with the 1 ton heat pump running all night as well (it is useless under 30F outside)

 

[bigealta]

No, I didn’t and didn’t mean to imply that. Just wanted to give an update on how it was running since it was our first night under 20. Also, this is with the 1 ton heat pump running all night as well (it is useless under 30F outside)

Ok did you check the thread "Did i buy the wrong stove?" linked above. It has just what you were asking for. Pics of the draft control. And what they did to adjust the draft.

 

[meagloth]

Post 53 shows the stove without the rear shield.

Thread 'Did I buy the wrong stove?'

Feb 10, 2022

The situation: I live in North MS in a 1500sq.ft. ranch style home. We are on our first season with the Vermont Castings Aspen C3. We bought the stove with the intention of supplementing our 3ton heat pump central unit when the temps get below freezing. We really like the stove. It looks great, doesn't take up too much space, and I think it performs as designed.

The dilemma: We really had no idea how much we would like wood heat! We have really enjoyed the absence of continually circulating lukewarm air from the heat pump. We have attempted to make wood primary and not...

• bikeshopguy345
• ashford aspen c3 blaze king sirocco vermont castings
• Replies: 86
• Forum: The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t want to pull the stove about of the alcove without knowing if it could be adjusted. In the alcove it’s impossible to poke around.
I will probably pull it out this weekend and adjust the chain a little bit, try to get it to burn a little hotter.

 

[meagloth]

Ok did you check the thread "Did i buy the wrong stove?" linked above. It has just what you were asking for. Pics of the draft control. And what they did to adjust the draft.

Yes I did I wrote out above post earlier but didn’t hit send. It’s very helpful.

Also another update:
Got home today to a few coals. Scooped out ash and put in a normal load of smallish 3” branches, hackberry and maple I think. For whatever reason today the stove took off. I can’t recall I’ve ever felt so much heat come off it. Took the stove top temp and it’s 770F. Noticeably much hotter kneeling in front of it. Not sure why though because it’s a pretty typical load from the same wood pile.

 

[30WCF]

I adjusted mine tighter just through the OA intake without removing the back plate. If you want to let it out, you might need to find the slack in the top to extend the chain, but i suspect you just want to shorten it base off your concerns, which can be done if you just move it enough to get three fingers and a pair of pliers in the OA intake.

 

[30WCF]

I’ve mentioned the idea of a mod in my thread a few times…

 

[wjohn]

Yes I did I wrote out above post earlier but didn’t hit send. It’s very helpful.

Also another update:
Got home today to a few coals. Scooped out ash and put in a normal load of smallish 3” branches, hackberry and maple I think. For whatever reason today the stove took off. I can’t recall I’ve ever felt so much heat come off it. Took the stove top temp and it’s 770F. Noticeably much hotter kneeling in front of it. Not sure why though because it’s a pretty typical load from the same wood pile.

You've been burning the same size ~3" branches previously with the same results?

 

[bigealta]

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t want to pull the stove about of the alcove without knowing if it could be adjusted. In the alcove it’s impossible to poke around.
I will probably pull it out this weekend and adjust the chain a little bit, try to get it to burn a little hotter.

If you do pull it out, while you are at it figure out what you would need to do to rear vent it. Just in case you decide to do that down the road.

 

[bigealta]

Yes I did I wrote out above post earlier but didn’t hit send. It’s very helpful.

Also another update:
Got home today to a few coals. Scooped out ash and put in a normal load of smallish 3” branches, hackberry and maple I think. For whatever reason today the stove took off. I can’t recall I’ve ever felt so much heat come off it. Took the stove top temp and it’s 770F. Noticeably much hotter kneeling in front of it. Not sure why though because it’s a pretty typical load from the same wood pile.

I wonder if ash was blocking your primary air slot in the front?
Not sure if the C3 has the same air slot setup as this older Aspen but i'd bet it's similar.

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[meagloth]

I pulled the stove out with some effort just now and took the back plate off. It is not cogged with and and the stove pipe is clear, as you can see in the pictures.
However when I moved the chain up and down gentry with my fingers to verify the plate opened and closed freely is BROKE IN MY HAND
The little ball chain is somehow mangled and cracked. You can see the ball below the broken one is cracked.
I am contemplating how to proceed. I am sick of this stupid POS and I wish I had gotten a Jotul with a normal manual air control

 

[stovelark]

Understand the frustration, but at least hopefully you can get that fixed, and it will work correctly in future. Your tenacity and persistence has seemed to find the issue at least. Good luck.

 

[meagloth]

Here I the pictures I forgot to add them