Adjusting the NC30

You buried the doghouse.

 

Good, bad......does it impede airflow? My biggest complaint is how that doghouse air bl
What were you burning in that load? Pretty fluffy looking. I got up to a lot of coals.
I pulled the tape off the 2ndary inlet, and also pulled the magnet off the doghouse air.
I actually had small chunks of partially burned wood toward the back/sides this morning.

 

Since I don't have a strong draft, I haven't experimented with controlling the air flow on my 30. The only mod I've done to the stove (besides the blower) was to place an eighth inch rod on both sides of the baffle to keep from getting a gap in the middle. Don't know if it helped, but don't see how it could hurt.
I did get my longest hottest burn on new year's eve though. Temps were forecast for 14F, so I loaded 3 huge splits of Osage and filled in the spaces with ash at 11pm. Got up to check it at 1am and it was doing a nice slow cruise, stove room was at 87. Got up at 8am and there was a larger than usual coal bed, still putting out heat, stove room was at 72 and OT was 14.
New year's night was the same forecast and I loaded up with ash. The results weren't nearly as good. Coal bed was sparse, but enough to get a fire going. Stove room was at 68.
I don't really need super long burns, just long enough that the house is comfortable when I get up. It's nice to know that the 30 will cook this place on a cold night though.
Supposed to get down in the single digits next week, I'll see if I can cook it again.

 

With cold temps forecast, the dv heater will be running overnight to help the 30.

 

Thought I'd dredge up this thread since I'm hoping to pick up a NC30 when they go on sale this spring How's it treating you so far this year Dave? What mod's have you done so far? I read someplace about the 1/4" rod that you purchased but I didn't catch what purpose that served. I read through your other thread from last year when you just picked it up and it got my gears turning, thinking that this might be a good stove to attempt to setup some automation on; what do you think? It sounds like everyone is tinkering with the right combination of primary and secondary air based on stove top and flue temps and to me (an admitted tech geek and ardent problem-solver) it seems like this would be a good job for a microprocessor.

 

Well, it's a very capable heater, except in my house with this below zero weather.
The house holds heat better since I redid the insulation in the stove room and added an attic stair insulated cover, though.
Problem is that it won't hold enough heat overnight. The stove ends up around 250-300 when I get up after 8-9 hours, but without the DV running in the back of the house, the place would be close to 60 when I get up.
The stove is not at fault for that, and would work very well in a larger house with better insulation and fewer leaks than mine. I joke that I live in a collander.
This place would benefit greatly from a stove able to run at a consistent 3-500 deg for an extended period of time.....maybe 8-10 hours. More would be gooder.
Hence, my desire for a cat stove. I have the IS, and the BK Ashford in my sights, but I'm always on the lookout, including CL for a lightly used Princess Ultra.
I've completely and partially close the "doghouse" air holes with magnets, and that just messed up the later part of the burn cycle.
I've also covered part of the secondary intake with aluminum tape, and that didn't seem to help much either, although I may revisit that intake again.
The 1/4" rod is placed between the two baffle boards above the tubes to close that gap, and I could probably fit at least a 5/16" rod in there. Better fitting baffles would be better, I think. It's quite easy to take those out by removing the front tube only.
If this stove could be retrofit with a thermostatic air control, it might help some toward the end of the burn.
Any other questions, feel free to ask. Lots of folks have these.

 

Need help with that myself.

 

What would that do?..by adding ceramic insulation on top of the baffle?

 

That's the main concept of these stoves is the insulated firebox. Keeping the heat easier up by the secondary air tubed and just making it easier to build heat in the firebox makes for easier to operate stove and the biggest is you can lower the input air lower and still maintain secondary flame action at that lower setting

 

Mine has the ceramic board over the burn tubes..so the 30 just has the board too? How much does the insulation help when placed over the baffle?

 

DexterDay , where did you get the 1/2" blanket?
If it helps, I'd be interested in the source.

 

I will add that alot of other stove manufacturers already use the baffle board plus the blanket on top of the baffle board.

 

If it works well for someone (like Dex) with this stove, I'm in.
Thanks for the suggestion Huntindog1.

 

So it would help keep more heat in the firebox..

 

It helps on start ups and helps when trying to dial the stove down to a new lower input air setting.

As its the heat built up in the stove that keeps the secondary burning of smoke going.

As the burn cycle goes thru its stages if your keeping the heat up higher then the stove burns more efficiently getting more heat out of the wood.

Think about this too if your able to lower the input air setting then a little less heat is flushing up the flue as thre is air flow thru the stove.