Picked up an Englander NC30 today...

I finally got around to upgrading the blower. I ordered it on Monday, along with 2 door gaskets and a glass gasket. They showed up in the mail today. I think that's pretty dang impressive considering this is probably their busy time of year and it was a holiday week.



Now if it will just get cold enough to need it I'll be set.

Anyone have a recommendation for a thermostat I can hook into it? I would like to set it up to kick on at 650 and turn off at 600.

 

I added an adjustable snap disc in line between the plug and the blower and placed that snap disc against the stove in a location to provide on/off control at a pretty high temperature to maintain a clean burn but to strip off maximum heat. It works great but kind of DIY looking!

 

I'm okay with "diy looking." Its in the basement. I guess its time to go shopping

Thanks Highbeam!

 

I have bought them on ebay...they make different heat ranges, so once you pick where you are going to put it, you can figure out what heat range you need...they also have different span ranges (on to off temp) 10-20-50 etc.
Grainger Adjustable Limit Snap Disc Switch 6UDY4, 115°F - 175°F, Differential 20 190735544327 | eBay
In the past I've seen people mount them to magnets so that it could be mounted in different spots according to what worked the best.

 

Thank you sir

That is great info!

 

Here’s my sorta DIY looking adjustable blower control .

 

That looks pretty good!

 

Honestly, that's pretty good. Very clean install.

 

What does that little doohickey do?

 

It's a thermal switch. Simply; it turns the fan on when it gets hot.
They are in quite a few devices, some working the opposite way, turning off when hot.

 

Highbeam, can you explain this please? Does this mean that running the blower at lower temps causes a less desirable (potentially dirty) burn?

 

Some people think so...I disagree (unless, maybe, on a old stove with no firebrick liner)
My Kuuma wood furnace has a thermocouple inside the firebox...I have a temp gauge wired inline on it, it does not flinch one bit if the blower kicks on/off.

 

I doubt you're gonna impact the burn inside the stove too.
I also however doubt that at low temps there's very little (worthwhile) heat extraction happening with the fan, so why waste the electricity ?

 

It’s a way oversized blower and with the convection deck plus additional fins under the deck I was worried about overcooling. My design is not as well engineered as an actual furnace that has been tested. A lot more heat is stripped from the stove with the blowers, I need to turn it up when they are running. Furnaces like the kuma do this automatically.

The biggest reason for me is the automatic on and off at the beginning and end of the burn. This stove is in an outbuilding and I tend to leave while the stove is hot. I don’t want to run the fan 24/7 or futz with turning the thing on and off manually.

 

Do any of you guys have issues with coals falling in front of the doghouse and blocking it? Sometimes when I load, after the burn goes for a bit, the wood in front of the doghouse falls apart and blocks the doghouse air. This seems to kill the heat and the STT drops rapidly. I will also end up with large charcoal pieces on the edges of the firebox when I go to reload.

I load n/s forming a tunnel out of 3 pieces directly in front of the doghouse. I experimented with leaving a gap the whole way to the top (think more of a wall on each side of the doghouse) but that didn't seem to change much. I thought of loading e/w but some of my pieces are a bit too long.

Any thoughts?

 

These days I usually load "log cabin" style. First layer N-S, second E-W, and then if I get a third in, N-S again. I don't have the problem of coals blocking the doghouse, anything that drops there is quickly consumed by the blast from it.

 

That was my impression from reading about these NC 30s in the past... anything that gets in front of the doghouse gets blowtorched...

 

For whatever reason mine won't torch its way through. If I leave the air open more then my flue gets way too hot.

I'll keep experimenting.

 

If the chunk of wood falling down in front of the doghouse is ignited and burned so well to actually fall from the mother log then it’s so hot that the air blast from the doghouse usually just melts it away like a blast furnace. I do make an effort to clear ash and clinkers from that area on reloads.

My bigger “problem” is the middle of the load burns out leaving side logs covered in ash.