VERY short burn

[Jfigliuolo]

I installed a Heartstone phoenix this weekend that is not working correctly.

Mechanical details.
Stove - Phoenix
stove pipe - 6" Single wall, 10 ft.
Chimney - 6" Class A 12 ft.

Problem.

The stove will NOT damper down to a satisfactory level. When I load the stove with wood 3-4 large pieces of wood (oak, ash, cherry mix) , It only burns for around 2 hours fully dampered. It burns at between 350-400 degrees F at the stack FULLY DAMPENED. This stove is brand new. It was seasoned correctly. It did not fully load it until the third day of burning. Needless to say, I am very dissatisfied. The stove is burning too hot, for too short a period in the FULLY dampened setting. The damper does appear to work. But NOT completely. According to theliterature I should get a 12 hour burn from a fully loaded stove at around 200 degrees fully dampened.


Any Ideas?

 

[Rhone]

I don't have the Phoenix, I have a Hearthstone Clydesdale. I had the exact OPPOSITE problem with mine. With my air fully open, it took forever for my fire to get going (an hour). But, at max air the fire lasted 10 hours, fans stayed on for 13. I wondered if it's burning for 10 hours on max air, what does it burn on minimum? The answer was 14 hours, and fans stayed on for 16 1/2 hours. It was awful though, that 14 hour fire was certainly not EPA approved, it was nothing but smoke coming out my chimney the entire time and air starved and smoldering.

I knew my air control was not in the correct position (bent). With it positioned at max the handle was bent to give minimum air, and at minimum setting it was able to damper down to illegal levels I wasn't supposed to have access to. I took off my fan cover to investigate and saw sure enough it was bent. Then remembered my installers putting the cover back on, something was in the way and they heaved, pushed, and shoved. Then later noticed, where'd the air control go? I heard them say during the installation "Oh, that's what was in the way." They removed the cover, moved the air control to fit in the slot, and put it back on without bending it back into position. You may have the opposite problem. After I bent my air handle where it should be, what a difference. I don't know how your air handle is, maybe it got bent during shipping but your issue sure sounds like your air handle is either bent, or on my insert it's just a hook that fits into a hole of the air lever. If your hook somehow came out, your air handle is doing nothing. You need to put the hook back into the hole of your air handle.

 

[Jfigliuolo]

Thanks... But already checked that. My air intakes damper correctly. I must be sucking air from somewhere. I know it's NOt the air intake though.

 

[begreen]

Check door gaskets carefully. With the door open, insert a dollar bill halfway, then close the door. It should pull out snugly. Try at multiple locations around the door. Also check the ashpan door for a tight seal.

 

[Jfigliuolo]

Check door gaskets carefully. With the door open, insert a dollar bill halfway, then close the door. It should pull out snugly. Try at multiple locations around the door. Also check the ashpan door for a tight seal.

Done, and done...

 

[Rhone]

Hmm...

The ash pan drawer then is most likely the culprit. Many posters with stoves/inserts with ash pan drawers from nearly all makers say their ash pan leaks and causes uncontrollable fires. That's the area I would really look at and I think is your problem.

The other is the door, which is really easy to test but honestly Hearthstone makes some of the tightest sealing doors so unlikely your cause. Even with my door gasket full of ashes, coals, pieces of wood and debris I get a fantastic seal everytime. Sometimes I shut my door with burning embers on the gasket, no problem. It's easy to test if it is the door, close & latch the door on a dollar bill and pull it out. If it comes out without any friction you have a leaky gasket and it should be replaced. You need to repeat that all around your door to make sure it isn't leaky.

Put your main focus on the ash pan drawer.

 

[Jfigliuolo]

Hmm...

The ash pan drawer then is most likely the culprit. Many posters with stoves/inserts with ash pan drawers from nearly all makers say their ash pan leaks and causes uncontrollable fires. That's the area I would really look at and I think is your problem.

The other is the door, which is really easy to test but honestly Hearthstone makes some of the tightest sealing doors so unlikely your cause. Even with my door gasket full of ashes, coals, pieces of wood and debris I get a fantastic seal everytime. Sometimes I shut my door with burning embers on the gasket, no problem. It's easy to test if it is the door, close & latch the door on a dollar bill and pull it out. If it comes out without any friction you have a leaky gasket and it should be replaced. You need to repeat that all around your door to make sure it isn't leaky.

Put your main focus on the ash pan drawer.

What would I check? The seal between the drawer and the bottom of the unit?

 

[begreen]

I installed a Heartstone phoenix this weekend that is not working correctly.

Mechanical details.
Stove - Phoenix
stove pipe - 6" Single wall, 10 ft.
Chimney - 6" Class A 12 ft.
According to theliterature I should get a 12 hour burn from a fully loaded stove at around 200 degrees fully dampened.


Any Ideas?

Do you have a damper on the stovepipe itself? It is possible to have too much draft. You may need to add a butterfly damper on the pipe. I had to do this on my Jotul.

 

[Jfigliuolo]

I installed a Heartstone phoenix this weekend that is not working correctly.

Mechanical details.
Stove - Phoenix
stove pipe - 6" Single wall, 10 ft.
Chimney - 6" Class A 12 ft.
According to theliterature I should get a 12 hour burn from a fully loaded stove at around 200 degrees fully dampened.


Any Ideas?

Do you have a damper on the stovepipe itself? If not, you may need to add a butterfly damper there. I had to do this on my Jotul.

No damper. My sweep, doesn't THINK that is the problem since my chiney's not excessively tall. He will try the damper as a last resort... But he thinks there is another problem somewhere that we'd both rather get resolved.

 

[begreen]

OK, my stack is 7 feet shorter and I had to add one to get a proper burn, but by all means, check for air leaks first.

 

[Rhone]

I agree with your sweep.

I can't help you much with the ash pan drawer as I've never had one. I've seen posts of people who have them and tried to work with them. Since Hearthstone has fantastic door seals, it is most likely the culprit and should be the target of your efforts. There's a poster Mo Heat that I know has discussed his leaky ash-pan drawer but on a Vermont Castings brand. Hearthstone and Vermont Castings are different companies.

 

[elkimmeg]

This is the second poster having problem with the Heartstone phoenix wood stove this week. Neither one could get them to run correctly? Hummm! The prior post dealer, was claiming it to be a quality control issue with that stove and manufacturer. It is hard to deciper when this guy was telling the truth. Could he have been right on the quality issue?

 

[joedec]

I just installed my Phoenix this past week and did the break-in thing. I ran it this weeked for a couple of days and it seems to perform well enough but I need to get to know the stove and its reaction to my environment. I think all stoves draft differently according to various conditions. Mine seems to draft well. When I damper down completely it shows 225 ish on the flue outlet. At full open I got to 400+ so it seems to operating in that respect. It takes getting used to. My past stoves were cast iron and got hot to the point of blowing you out of the room. The soapstone is comfortable and heats the large room fine after it heats up and I'm experimenting with a fan or two to move the heat around the house. Thus far I think I like it but I need to play with it more and see how it provides in below freezing conditions. I'll keep the board posted on the performance. I have not encountered any problems that the other two posters experienced. I would be glad to answer any questions from the users. No burning tonight, 60 degrees in CT.

 

[Todd]

I remmember one time I had a runaway fire in my Homestead. I couldn't find out what was going on until I pulled out the ash pan and saw all the crap between the gasket and stove. It was sucking air from there. I dont use the ash pan anymore. I just shovel the ashes out of the firebox. Check the ash pan.

 

[rudysmallfry]

I just fired up my new Hearthstone Heritage today and was suprised by how much the flames shot straight up even with just a small amount of wood. It does seem to be getting either a lot of draft or some air is getting in. My front door didn't do too well on the gasket seal test. The dollar bill came out rather easily. I don't know how to check the ash pan. I could use some help on that one.

Logic tells me that, assuming all seals are adequate, won't shutting the air intake lever smother the fire regardless of the draft up the flue? Then if that doesn't work, it points to a leaky seal somewhere in the stove?

 

[Jfigliuolo]

WTF?!?!?!?!?

That's about all I can say. After the advice on here I went home and checked the ash pan. It was fine BUT...

The screws fastening it to the stove were loose. NOT a little loose either. Half of them needed to be tightened. TWO WERE BACKED OUT ABOUT 1/8 "! WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!


Anyway, stove runs like a champ now. Calling Hearthstone this AM. This is unacceptable.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[elkimmeg]

Just an observation: but it seems Hearthstone is having QC issues not just one isolated incident but more and more posters are experiencing problems?

 

[Todd]

I bet Hearthstone is getting sloppy due to the high volume of orders. All Hearthstone stoves are made by a single craftsman who signs their name on the stove. If you call Hearthstone give them the persons name that's on the stove. Hold the person accountable for their mistakes!

 

[Todd]

Rudysmallfry,

Maybe you can tighten the door seal by tightening the door latch. There should be a couple of allen type screws on the handle.

Turning the air intake all the way down won't kill the air. You will still have some air going through for a low burn.