I wouldn’t cut it. The air wash goes down the face of the glass, so I would assume it is needed to direct the air downward. It bends easily, it’s not case hardened or the like, so just bending it works, plus you don’t ruin anything by cutting. Looking at mine, you can’t tell anything was done to fix it.
England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior
- Thread starter lebrunmn
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I gotta take a look at one of these new 32s. I can’t imagine they made the air wash plate even thicker, mine on the 30 is 3/16 and the top plate is 1/4” but I think you all are saying it would be 1/4” now. Maybe I’ll take a look at one at Home Depot.
I wonder if you can install a blower if you made the right cuts?
I wonder if you can install a blower if you made the right cuts?
Up until two days ago I would have said don't bother, but @grog18b 's tip on bending the air wash sorted me out. Overnight, it's like a different stove! Burning really well now.
![[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291527-f186b91a2bae028aae642f68cc23e4aa.jpg?hash=Ugc3LMhhlt "[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior")
My nc30 from 2013 is not built with steel as thick as you describe. I have a fancy digital caliper and the top is exactly 1/4” but the air wash is super thin. The stove is really hot right now but this morning I was eyeballing it at 1/8”. I wish it was 1/4”. It might not have melted.
My BK has what looks like a 1/4” air wash plate and it hasn’t melted.
Another example where innovation saved the day....and stove! Stove was tested and approved, certified and in many cases installed by the "pros" and all that good stuff but then mass production steps in and .....LOL.
I will definitely take a closer look at my new "Peasant" Hearth stove while its still near my workshop.
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A real shame you have to modify a new stove so it will work properly. What a joke!
QC slipped. That should never had made it out of the factory. I hate to see this, but it has been more frequent in the past few years. I'm glad you could get it sorted out. It's a good value stove.
Just to follow up, got my calipers on the cold stove. The air wash plate in 2013 on the Englander nc30 was just .170 inches. That’s thicker than 1/8” but not 3/16” . It should be 1/4”! and good for Englander for making it thicker if they did.
So I figured I'd better compare my 32NC. And yup, it's different too, it sticks out almost a half inch (camera angle isn't totally straight so it looks like it's less), BUT only on the side with the latch. The hinge side is a lot closer, maybe 1/4".
I think they probably need a better jig for when they weld the air wash plate in.
Should I mess with it or leave it alone?
![[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291637-6f7137bc11e478256f743ef97c14406a.jpg?hash=mhuaOIwtPg "[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior")
I think they probably need a better jig for when they weld the air wash plate in.
Should I mess with it or leave it alone?
Just took a closer look at my Peasant Hearth 2200. My air wash and intake control are directly above the door, no mystery there.
But it is very similar to your Englander stove in relationship to the glass.
My clearance between the angled lip and glass looks to be about 1/4" with the door closed.
![[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291661-501e66ee80fa56aa837092a8643cea77.jpg?hash=h0xpLSV-ib "[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior")
![[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291662-8356b9c6a593a6552c2517ae57998ad3.jpg?hash=nMHJF9ackN "[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior")
But it is very similar to your Englander stove in relationship to the glass.
My clearance between the angled lip and glass looks to be about 1/4" with the door closed.
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How about a comparison of your new englander vs the old Fisher. Pros/cons etc. I’ll bet we have similar outcomes.
You're probably correct... We really did love our Mama Bear--it was a wonderful-burning stove. It's only real flaw was our inability to really control the fire to get long burn times. Of course, it always had enough coals for a rekindle in the morning, but it just seemed to really chew through a load of wood--even when choked to the max... Come to find out that we had a major crack in that stove, and that may have contributed to that issue. The old Mama Bear is welded up tight, now, and is on her way to being installed in my son's cabin on the upper part of our property. He's very anxious to get the stove, and I'm anxious to see how she burns--especially with the baffle plate installed in the back. The idea was from an @coaly thread on this site.
Based on @grog18b 's advice, the Englander has been burning properly for three days, now, and we love it. It doesn't require much "fiddling with." Just load the fuel onto the hot coals, let it catch, choke the primary air to secondary burn, and come back hours later to "rinse and repeat." Overnights are good for 9 or 10 hours depending on how much we stuff into it--getting best overnights with unsplit, seasoned logs. Lots of hot coals in the morning for rekindling. Plus, my wife loves being able to see the fire--I think we'll keep her--the stove, that is.
It's a good heater and the fire view is a major plus along with the wood savings and longer burns.
The thing I dislike the most is the massive amount of coals that are left over after a full load of wood. They get in the way when it’s really cold outside and you want to get another load in. I usually use a pine split on top of the pile of coals to try to burn them down faster but I’m out of pine.
Also my englander has cracks forming on the top right and left of the door opening.
Also my englander has cracks forming on the top right and left of the door opening.
What's your chimney exhaust looking like with the logs and slow and low overnight burn?
So the Englander doesn't have a grate on the bottom and a sealed ash pan beneath for your burnt ash to fall into?
No grate, just a plug in the bottom of it that you can pull up to push the ash into the pan. At least that's how it is on the 32NC.
I don't see the point and just shovel the ash out and directly into my bucket when the time comes. I only do that every couple of weeks, but I'm guessing I have slightly different results because I'm burning a lot of dry SPF. Coal buildup isn't something that's an issue.
As @2drx4 mentioned the England does have an ashpan, @Enplater and I were just having a sidebar about our Fishers stoves.
It looks pretty much like any stove when you just add fuel--lots o' smoke until it catches. At about 275° to 300°, once I close down my primary air, and the blue secondary flames start, above the fire--it's just a heat shimmer from the chimney. I try to refill the stove when I've got a good bed of coals and the temp is still between 250° - 300°.
I have lots of pine, so I'm pretty lucky in that sense. I just mix a few pieces of pine into my hardwoods when I need a quick jolt--usually just for startup, though. I also bought an ash scoop that seems custom made, (although I know it's not), for the old Mama Bear. One complete scoop with this, and the Fisher has just enough ash remaining to burn well. Plus, it'll pick up hot coals too, if you have too many.
Even though it was a perfect fit for my Fisher's firebox, I can use it on my Englander for a quick clean up, if I don't want to wait for the ashes to cool. You just need to maneuver around that ash cleanout plug. Here's where I got mine: https://www.efireplacestore.com
![[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291679-c19ff93dc71dba2a8297a8a14c776626.jpg?hash=l-kXnD-m9Y "[Hearth.com] England's Stove Works / Englander 32-NC strange behavior")
No one burns pine/fir around here except for an outdoor rec fire. You can't give it away
But if that is all you have....
But if that is all you have....
I like that ash clean out tool, maybe I’ll order one.
Around where I live the oak doesn’t seem to produce much ash but we also have a lot of soft maple and that seems to make a lot of ash. The oak just leaves a massive amount of coals to deal with. Like I’m doing right now, putting a small maple split on a mountain of oak coals to try to make some room for the next load. Oh well, not big deal. Anyways maybe I’ll look for a used englander 32 that the customer says “won’t heat” and pick that up for cheap and bend the air wash thing to replace my cracked 30.
Around where I live the oak doesn’t seem to produce much ash but we also have a lot of soft maple and that seems to make a lot of ash. The oak just leaves a massive amount of coals to deal with. Like I’m doing right now, putting a small maple split on a mountain of oak coals to try to make some room for the next load. Oh well, not big deal. Anyways maybe I’ll look for a used englander 32 that the customer says “won’t heat” and pick that up for cheap and bend the air wash thing to replace my cracked 30.
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