In usual fashion I've made the wrong move and purchased a Master Forge from Lowe's. I thought I'd save some money and get the cheapy. I'm trying to understand the outside air. This is a pedestal stove and the outside air comes in via a 3" stub port on the back of the pedestal. If I remove the ash pan I can clearly see through the port from the inside. The thing is there is no entry into the firebox that I can see. It's like it's a fake port. I hooked up a draft inducer to it and this has absolutely no effect on the flame in the firebox. What am I missing here. So if you're wondering "why's this idiot hooking a draft inducer to it" it's a long story but boils down to unseasoned wood and trying to get this thing going faster in the morning. You see I don't have access to unseasoned wood I am at the mercy of buying Facebook marketplace seasoned wood from the local crackheads. I burned with coal up until this year and can't afford it. I guess I should have just bought a ton of coal instead of an EPA stove and I could have stayed warm for just one month at least. Anyway ... If anyone knows how the outside air on an EPA pedestal stove is routed that might help me understand how I can introduce more air in start up. Thanks guys.
It goes up the back of the stove and across the sides at the top feeding the secondary tubes. There is also a small hole in the front above the ash drawer that feeds the igniter.
Scrounge old pallets from the local stores, many will just give them away...you can turn one into firewood sized pieces with a simple circular saw in about 3 minutes...then you can mix that in with the wet firewood to help get things going. Get to work on stacking wood up for next year now too...and then the year after that, and the year after that...once 3 years out, you will no longer be at the mercy of said crackheads...
I've heard pallet wood has preservatives in it that can damage stainless chimneys. I have a big stack rotting away outside because I was afraid to burn them in anything. I'm about to pull this stove out. I don't think I'm using any less wood by the time I get the fire lined out I have to reload three hours later. I just bought a clapped out Earth stove. It's huge. The fire box looks bigger then a Clayton furnace fire box. It was cheap. Mostly surface rust. I spent 16 hours wire wheeling it, hit it with Meecos stove paint and it looks like they just wheeled it out of the showroom floor. I was pretty surprised. I'm waiting for some 1" door gasket to arrive then it's out with the new and in with the old. LET'S GO EPA!!!
Thanks for that. Makes sense. Maybe I could open up the ignitor airway some and get this to burn better. This thing is just so dammed choked down that air won't hardly move through it.
I rarely see treated pallets...almost never. They are not made to last, they are basically disposable, why would they go to the expense to treat them?
I have the same stove and can get all night burns out of mine. How is your chimney setup? Mine goes through the ceiling straight up. I do not have issues starting a fire using kindling to get the chimney hot and get a good bed of coals before I try loading any splits. It does not like to light if you have a fan running in the room. I have been using mine since last winter to heat my house and it will run you out of the living room once its burning if you open the air control up. I do not have the outside air kit, I suppose it would help keep from pulling a draft from outside through the windows and doors but it puts off more heat than I need. I burned unseasoned wood last year and it was more work to start the stove get the longer burns but now that I have seasoned wood I can load it before bed and it still has a hot bed of coals in the morning. It has a ceramic fire blanket on top of the baffles that may be restricting your air flow. You can take the front burn tube out and tilt the baffles down to look.
Yes this stove seems to have some kind of issue. I tried calling them but was on hold for 20 minutes and had to leave. My chimney is 6" single to insulated double wall beginning at the ceiling. It extends about 4 feet from the roof line. Ive always had very good draft, so much to the point I had to put two mpd's on my old stove to control the draft. I've had a few stoves hooked up to this and draft has never been an issue. Last night I had to leave the door open all the way for an hour and a half to get the fire stable enough to stay lit with the door shut. I tried leaving it cracked on the door lever and it would kill the flame. I had a mix of bio logs and oak that had been split about 5 months. I let it go out tonight so I'll check that blanket. Someone else who has one said they took the blanket out of theirs out and all was good. I'm going to wait until I see if they'll let me return this before I start pulling things out of it, drilling and cutting it up. I doubt they will but it's worth a shot. I'm pretty pizzed that I spent $750 for a stove that won't burn right. Especially since I don't have a gas or electric furnace. I e heated my house with solid fuel for the last 20 years. I'm glad you are having good luck with yours. I'm not as fortunate. Apparently I have a lemon.
Yeh I ran a USSC 1269e that had a blanket on the baffle and it wouldn't run either so I pulled the blanket out. Ran fine after that. There is hardly any gap between the blanket and the top of the stove on these things and I think that's where all the air resistance is.
All the stoves I've ever messed with that had a blanket have a weight on them that is supposed to keep it from getting sucked up the flue...with a 6" flue that is an area of 28.26 sq inches...so take the width of the stove (at the baffle) times the gap height, as long as it equals 28.26 or more total, there is no restriction there...
EPA stove is gone. Lowes actually accepted it back. Thank you Jesus. I'll be putting that monster Earth stove in tomorrow. I'll see how it goes. If it's a bust I'm putting the coal stove back in.
