hearthstone heritage - Fire won’t stay lit

[edthedawg]

Alex,

I strongly encourage you to open a new thread on this so we can discuss your issues you are having. It sounds like you are having a terrible time w/ a stove a lot of us here really love.

Is your installer a dealer? Someone w/ a lot of experience working on Hearthstones? have you talked to Hearthstone direct yet?

Checking primary feed supply oughta be really simple - maybe yours sat in a warehouse and had a mouse nest built up in the primary manifold? It's just a 3" dia port on the back. You should be able to shoot a shopvac up in there and suck any debris out, or reverse it (leafblower mode) and blow aire visibly into the stove thru the doghouse port.

There's about a dozen questions Highbeam and I would enjoy asking you to work thru this

It's a great stove - we're here to help any way we can. Hope you can stick with it.

(ps: don't burn w/ any doors open for long periods of time! That will overfire the stove and then you're REALLY screwed. you ain't there yet, i hope.)

 

[AlexNY]

Thanks for your help. I will get some pictures of the back of the stove and post them on a new thread.

My guess is, either the installation was done wrong (i.e. some kind of temporary cover was left in place, that should have been removed) or there is a blockage/clog like you suggest.

 

[edthedawg]

wouldn't be the first time that ever happened. nor would it be the first time a new stove shipped and arrived w/ a damaged primary linkage. it should sound like chains or gears rattling a little in there when you move the primary lever from side to side.

But it would be the first time i heard a true, undisputed manufacturing defect be ignored by this manufacturer.

(I say that knowing full well folks have cracked stones - those are disputed in my mind, due to possible overfiring concerns)

 

[Highbeam]

I bet the installer was pretty embarrassed. The product has been ready for retail for many years, your particular stove or install is suspect. I trust that you know how to burn a fire and the fact that your fire was snuffed as soon as you shut the doors with no change made by sliding the air control lever tells me that the intake system is the culprit.

Yes, a new thread is in order. Let's hear about your intake system, did the installer plumb in an outside air connection? Did you slide the air control all the way to the left, or "+" side.

Did the installer just give up and leave? Was he an employee of the dealership that sold you you stove?

My heritage easily starts up and runs. There are no temporary covers to be left. Perhaps cement.

 

[Fsappo]

You should see the Heritage burn in our showroom before condemning it as a poor design. Wait, Alex is from New York, you may just be able to do that. Feel free to stop by and compare notes if your local

 

[MarylandGuy]

I have a similar stove, just the smaller model. My first year I had very green wood. I learned the hard way that these stoves require very dry wood. And be sure to rake your coals forward each time you reload.

Just an idea, but I was able to dry my wood on top of the stove that first year. I bought a couple of those concrete pavers from the hardware store and put them on the top of the stove on each side. I then placed splits on the pavers, criss crossing in a stack maybe 24" high. In about 24 hours, you could see the ends of the wood starting to crack. The hot stove dried the wood very well. And if stacked properly, very little risk.

 

[edthedawg]

Dunno if you were monitoring stovetop temps or not. But perhaps luckily, you were running green wood, so those stovetop temps were too low to begin with?? :gulp:

(this does work a little, and it can be done safely, but it is NOT recommended. ain't much in the way of woodstove police, for daily operation.)

IMO, if you have wet/green wood, you're better off using a supplemental product in with it, to get hot temps inside the box, and boil/burn off the nasties faster. I use EcoFirelogs or BioBricks - just 1/2 Eco or 1 Bio - in w/ a load of hardwood. It heats up SO much faster if there's any question of the wood quality...

 

[Highbeam]

I would love to see that poor Tribute with concrete block loaded on that soft stone, and then two feet of firewood stacked on top of that steaming off. The little Hearthstones aren't very deep so it would be a balancing act for sure.

I haven't met wood that wouldn't burn if it is split small enough and there is good enough coal bed. The big huge wet log is more trouble than it is worth.

I hate to think that the OP of this thread had wet wood but we can't know for sure. He/she seemed pretty convinced that it was dry.

 

[edthedawg]

HB - we could run out of fingers to count - on an hourly basis! - the number of people who come here swearing up and down that they have the best wood in town.

And then, when pressed...

"yeah it does make some hiss, sizzle, and steam when i burns..."

I just no longer believe it, despite the frequent insistences. However in this case, I'm fairly convinced there's something else afoot.

 

[LLigetfa]

What gets me is when they defend their wet wood by saying the same wood burned fine in my old stove. Most of us know that most modern EPA stoves cannot deal with wet wood that the old smoke dragons took in stride.