Low Overnight Burns

Exactly...or maybe a marketing gimmick, kind of a "woodstove for dummies".
It definitely won't extend the burn out any...
Also, there is a big thread on that "other site" about all the problems people have had with this feature...I'd just continue to run it manually as you have been

 

My old Earth stove had a damper on a thermostatic spring that you could adjust manually so that it would damp down when the room gets hotter. Start the fire, it heats the room, damper is closed down. 40 years ahead of its time.

 

This does not read like my manual.

 

It is suppose to make it simpler to start your long slow burns; the idea is that you set the control for low burn rate but rotate the control to temporary open the damper full so that the fire burns hot and makes sure the stove is at ready for a slow burn and then shuts the air back down to the normal damper setting. I am trying it but not sure if it is working or if the stove was too cool. Flue temp is around 200F, stove top around 300F; good hot bed of coals before loading the wood. I am going to send an email to ESW and ask them them; could be that it was never fully tested. I am still getting smoke spillage and that may be due to design.

 

brenndatomu can you PM me that thread?

 

Sent...

 

I just played with the control. It is designed to work with a cold stove; now that the temps are back up, it will not latch into place.

 

Thanks, I read through a few of the comments. I need to check the manf date of the stove and then talk to ESW. This may be a feature that I won't use if it is buggy; ESW was proud of this feature, they are calling the Madison a Smartstove and have trademarked the term.

 

I did some research on that stove when you got it ,cuz I was curious and read some info on the other site.
If I were you , I would go to the other site and ask questions for info, from people that own that stove and have experience with it .
I wouldn't try it for the first time and go to bed, try it several times while you monitor it

 

Either way, I am sure you will find it will be a good stove for you.

 

I see it as a safety function, it takes care of the first adjustment for you.

That makes sense, it senses that the stove is alreay hot enough for a continued burn.

 

It's a "space feature", when you space out and forget the stove it drops back to the desired setting by itself.

 

What you described sounds like what is printed unless I am missing something.

 

Here is the manual for my stove. It also has a drawing under replacement parts that shows the mechanism.

 

Yep same thing more or less.
"air control damper to allow the unit to heat up and get a good burn going before the air is closed
off to the Low position. Simply pull the rod out to Low and turn it counter‐clockwise until
you hear a slight “click” (about a quarter of a turn). When it is ready the damper will shut itself.
This will work for low and medium low settings. This ensures good combustion at the Lowest
burn rate (or even the Medium burn rate, if set to Medium)."

 

I have tried this out some more and I am liking it. Earlier I had a good hot bed of coals and the stove had cooled down to the lower end. I added wood, pull the control all the way out, rotated, and left it. It dropped back down as it should and the stove was cruising in the midrange; I did not fully load but will try it tonight before going to bed; it is going to be cold here tonight, getting some snow but not a lot at this time, just a dusting. I prepared for six inches and we may not even get an inch.

 

I was thinking again; hee hee; that can be dangerous. Has anyone tried putting a thermostatic controlled damper on the OAK?

 

I have a follow up with photos but too tired to post them tonight.

 

I have been using the new Smartstove feature of the Madison and it appears to work quite well. I loaded the stove with some oak in a NS load, pulled the damper all the way out and rotated to set the auto setback feature.


By morning when I woke up the wood had burned down to coals. I stirred the coals and added some poplar for a quick start. The glass was clean. I did the same last night with the same results. I am really liking this auto setback feature of the Madison.


While we are here, I noticed in the photos that the gasket at the top of the door is "down"; is that OK or do I need to examine it further?