My jotul castine is a non-cat epa stove. I have noticed over the years, if it is dialed down in perfect increments, the secondaries are insane. (moreso than normal) Tonight, I loaded the stove with ash, hard maple , and pear. I dialed it down as I saw fit, didn't wait until it was going nuts, just dialed down correctly. The outdoor temps are 28F with wind. I has to close it down completely, but the secondaries kept going insane. Flue temps were at 800F, stovetop at 700F. This kept up for a solid 10 minutes, but the temps stayed put. Any longer, I would have did the aluminum foil trick. Luckily, the crazy secondaries subsided, allowing me to open the air a tad bit. Anyone else experience this ever? It can get alittle nail biting for awhile.
I have. The trick is to open the side door if you have one wide open. Let it burn like a fireplace and it will cool.
Yes...Open it all the way so that it gets the maximum air flow up the stack. Much of the heat will be sucked up the chimney or radiated out. I'm not sure if it would kill much of the secondary air. If the stove works on negative air pressure, it will be drawing the air through the front and not through the secondary air intake.
One thing that caused this situation for me was loading small splits on a really hot coal bed. These took off like crazy and pushed my stone upwards of 700 which is more than I ever want to see. Stove pipe was pinging like crazy too.
I'm pretty sure. I checked the door during the beginning of the season with the dollar bill. This happens maybe twice a season. Perhaps it was the wind? There was a sustained wind with 40mph gusts.
Ash pan gasket? Also, how tall is the chimney? A key damper might be something to look in to. I used one on the Vigilant and the Heritage. For the Heritage I used it to keep heat in the firebox. But, on the Vigilant, I used to to calm the stove down on cold windy nights. Some times that bastard would roar. Closing the damper, or partially closing it, settled the stove down.
I will inspect the ashpan gasket next time its open. The chimney, hmmm, let me think, if I remember correctly, its around 18ft
I've had a similar overdraft problem with my Isle Royale. I have thoroughly inspected for air leaks or bad seals but everything checks out. It's doesn't seem to matter what type of wood or how full the stove is, once the secondary's really light off it just takes off! I've had 750F stovetop temps and even hit 1000F on the flue probe once!! I only have 15' of flue from stove top to cap. Mine oddly enough seems to be due to extreme over drafting. I'm getting ready to. Over the stove to my new house this weekend where I will be hooking it up with a damper. I'll keep you posted on what I find.
As long as its only for brief periods that doesn't bother me too much.... I allmost always hit 950 on a full load. Occasionally if I'm not paying close enough attention I've seen it at 1050-1100.
When I first read this, I thought you drove away to go shopping on something when suddenly you remembered you had to shut down the stove. I thought to my self, not backwoods! Upon re-reading, I get it!
That makes me feel a little better. Not to say that those temps are good but on occasion it may work. I'd just love to be able to control mine more
