Englander 13-NC Questions

[Blazzinghot]

I just picked up a Englander 13-NC I did not know what it was until I got home and looked it up on the internet. I was very excited to see the secondary burn tubes with the insulator board.
It is missing the ash drawer and the bricks but other than some rust the stove is in very good condition. When I install the bricks I naturally would cut them to fit around the hold for the ash clean out. But is there anything else that sets in the stove to keep the ash from falling in the hole when the stove is in use? And what keeps the stove from drawing air into the fire box from this ash clean out hole? Again thanks

 

[NickW]

I installed an 30-NC in January, so I assume the floor layout is similar. FYI - I love it.The hole should have a hole plug that plugs the hole and flushes out with the bricks that are cut to fit around it. You should be able to order the ash drawer and a new plug from Englander. Print an owners manual from Englanders website.

 

[blades]

A lot of us do not even bother trying to scrape ashes into the ash pan- we just shovel them out. imo it is to much fiddling as you have to jiggle the ash pan around to get any meaningfull amount in to it. Some even just cut off the the plug pull ring. Each to his own though. me NC30 here also big brother to the13.

 

[NickW]

I probably go half and half using the ash pan versus just shoveling it out... the plug is important to give it a fairly airtight seal.

 

[Blazzinghot]

Thanks for taking time to send a picture it was very helpful. This forum is great. I did find the manual for this stove but it did not show the ash clean out. From the pictures I have some ideas on what to make to cover that hole. Ah yes, I read some of the older post about the one inch ash pan on this forum. I have to agree it seems like a joke but I am going to see if I have room to make the ash pan deeper. I have not measured the opening but will try to keep everyone posted. I just finished taking the base off and sanding and cleaning and painting the stove it looks like new. It was a great find for $100.00 Just had to show off my new toy. Hard to image this little stove will heat 1600 to 1800 sq. ft.

 

[NickW]

No problem. That looks very nice! Sounds like you're handy, so here's a picture of the drawer just so you have an idea what they supply...

If you are not experienced with EPA stoves and best practices, search previous posts, then ask questions. These guys helped me a ton getting switched over from my old smoke dragon...

 

[Blazzinghot]

Thanks again it looks like you went the extra mile sending me pictures of the pan. The NC-13 is just a little different as the metal box around the air intake rod comes down into the top of the ash door area. but I can notch around it and still have a 2 inch pan. The knob on the front looks just a cabinet knob so will be easy to get. I guess you can say I am handy as I am a retired handy man. But when I was younger worked in a go kart factory for a couple of years. I enjoy working on wood stoves.

I have been reading the different posts on the NC-13 on this forum. Also watched several videos about it. I am anxious to fire up this stove.

 

[kennyp2339]

@Blazzinghot before installing the stove please take the time to inspect the stove and the stoves door, there have been issues with this stove for the past 2 years and you might have a bad one that someone couldn't fix / handle, (the good stoves are absolutely awesome, the bad ones from the factory are very dangerous)
First - open the door and inspect the stove's internal metal, check for cracks, next take a big framing square, or yard stick and hold it on the outside of the stove jacket above the loading door, check to see if the stove is bowed in (this is a manufacturing defect from the stamp press they were using)
Next close the door with a dollar bill in the middle of the top of the door between the door and the inside of the stove, pull the dollar out, if very little resistence then, use this test on all sides of the door, you may need a new stove door gasket.

 

[kennyp2339]

Here are some pics of a nc13 I was picking up for a friend, heard of the defects, and checked the stove before accepting it at homedepot

This is the gap along the top of the stove where when the door is shut the gasket is suppose to compress against, the gap was so wide that I had to fold the dollar (shown for size representation) to illustrate the gap, when the door was closed with the dollar between the stove body and gasket, there was still a gap, which means once you have fire in the box, there is no controlling it and you could have a dangerous over-fire / runaway. FYI the stove door had shown the factory modification of thicker gasket and the sloppy amazing amount of rtv glue to hold the gasket in place.

 

[Blazzinghot]

Thanks for sharing your concern. I just went out and tested my stove door with a $20.00 bill hoping it work better than a one dollar. It seems OK. It is not real tight in the middle but does seal and checks out with a square. I tested both the door and the stove and they are flat to my specs. I could also test it with a match when the stove is going to see if it sucks in the flame around the door. But hoping all will be well. To bad you friend had to go through the trouble of changing the gasket. I am sure this is an older stove as I notice my sticker on the front plate is very different than what is in the picture you sent. But am glad that the design has not changed. How much did your friend pay for his stove do you remember? Some one this forum got this stove on sale for around $350.00 which I think is a real good deal. I think they normally are priced for about $700.00.

I am not wanting the stove to over fire so thanks for having me check. But I do have a few tricks to fix the gasket it if starts to wear.

 

[kennyp2339]

I called him up and told him it was crap and not to accept it, hd manager understood the issues when I pointed them out and did not charge him for anything, he’s still shopping around

 

[Blazzinghot]

Kennyp2339, I think I would have given similar advise.

For those who are following this thread I am going to send a picture of the ash pan area under the Englander 13-NC model which explains why the ash pan is not very deep. At least I think some were saying on some of the older posts about this stove. I will send my new design of the ash pan which still needs paint. This ash pan is 2 inches deep except for the cut out slot for the air intake box. I also made a plug for the ash clean out hole which I think will have a tight seal.

I am thankful that I found a place in Boise Idaho that sells the good fire bricks for $2.00 each. So today I will be making my trip to Boise along with getting some more black heart resistant paint.