Heating flue of Englander Madison wood stove.

[tlhfirelion]

Hello all. We have a Madison wood stove and this is our second year with it. Im having the same issue with this stove and that is preheating the flue. I’ve tried a match, a longer match, a propane torch, burning a rolled up newspaper and despite having 14’ of straight up flue pipe and easy burns once I get it going, it fights me all the time from cold. It keeps spilling smoke back into the house and its ticking Me off. I’ve had stoves that had less flue and no issues so I’m very puzzled at this. None of my tactics are working and besides irritation, it’s mildly embarrassing. im Currently nursing a bum shoulder so climbing around on the roof is a no go. Im either not gonna use it or try anything you folks suggest I try to solve This issue. Thanks I’m advance for your assistance.

 

[kennyp2339]

You turning on the boost air option on the stove?
Pull your air control out and then half turn to the left, should feel a little click, thats your boost air for starting and it should automatically reset after it gets hot - some earlier models got stuck in the open position and had to manually be turned off.

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[tlhfirelion]

You turning on the boost air option on the stove?

No idea what you mean. I have the air open.

 

[kennyp2339]

No idea what you mean. I have the air open.

Watch the video I attached, shows once the lever is pulled out it should turn a quarter and click to the left

 

[tlhfirelion]

Watch the video I attached, shows once the lever is pulled out it should turn a quarter and click to the left

Thank you very much. As soon as I saw the still of the video you linked, I realized what I’d forgotten. I think my gray hair may have a blonde base. Lol. Thanks again!

 

[WoodGirl]

Thank you very much. As soon as I saw the still of the video you linked, I realized what I’d forgotten. I think my gray hair may have a blonde base. Lol. Thanks again!

That does not "boost" the air. It is simply an auto setback for the draft. The Madison is a very poor drafting stove. If you don't mind your house smelling like smoke all the time, then it can put out some heat but it is a bear to get it to start drafting. What I do is to build a small fire that I can let burn as hot as possible without worrying it will get away from me. I watch the temp on the flu to let me know that the chimney might be hot enough to create a draft with this stove.

 

[begreen]

The 15-SSW01 was designed for a minimum 15-16' flue system. 14' is marginal. If the outside temperature is mild, then the draft will be poor. This is not the stove's fault, but Englander should have put a minimum flue system height in the docs. This is not uncommon. It's been noted here several times that adding 2-3 ft. more chimney can make a big difference. This would make life easier. Note that if this puts more than 5' of chimney outdoors then a brace needs to be added at the 5 ft point above where it exits the roof.

PS: sorry about your shoulder.

 

[WoodGirl]

I called the company and asked them how the height of the chimney was measured. They said from the floor to the top of the chimney. If that was the case; even with the through the wall installation, I had plenty of chimney before I added three feet. However, it is a known fact that the Madison stove; at least the large one that I have, does indeed have a draft issue. I added three feet to mine and it still will fill the house with smoke if you are not careful. I fuel on hot coals and wood will start to smoke soon afterwards and then comes creeping out the top; especially those cut-outs on each side of the glass air wash inlet; why the cut-outs; I don't know. I am sick of this stove; glass falling loose, smoke spillage, damper spring hitting the door (I removed it), dog box too far inside of the firebox. England got it wrong on this stove in so many ways. The only good thing about it is that it does heat the house.

 

[tlhfirelion]

Well, I continue to have issues with this stove. I’m gonna deal with it this winter and then get rid of it. It does heat well but most stoves do that. The constant draft issues are infuriating. I’m by no means a stove expert but I’ve never had a stove act like this, especially when it’s set up better than stoves I’ve had in the past that still performed better. Guess I know now why the Madison was so cheap at Lowes.

 

[WoodGirl]

I still say it IS the stove. Increasing my chimney height resulted in NO difference at all in the smoke spillage. If you have a hot roaring fire, then you can open the door. However, if you are down to the coal stage and go to add fuel, the fuel starts smouldering and the smoke comes pouring out. The smoke first comes out at the cut-outs in the corners of the airwash; what are the purpose of the cut-outs? I think part of the problem is that the door is too large and this cuts the draft to almost zero when open. The only solution for this stove; besides a 30 to 40 foot chimney, is to add a draft inducer to the flue.

 

[heathman]

The 15-SSW01 was designed for a minimum 15-16' flue system. 14' is marginal. If the outside temperature is mild, then the draft will be poor. This is not the stove's fault, but Englander should have put a minimum flue system height in the docs. This is not uncommon. It's been noted here several times that adding 2-3 ft. more chimney can make a big difference. This would make life easier. Note that if this puts more than 5' of chimney outdoors then a brace needs to be added at the 5 ft point above where it exits the roof.

PS: sorry about your shoulder.

Hello! I have the 15SSW01. I purchased it at Lowes but it never got installed due to Covid and homeschooling taking priority.

As I was selling my home, a friend offered to buy the stove. However the manufacturer told her that while the stove was originally okay for use in the US, it has since fallen out of approval somehow such that if a home fire occurred, the insurance wouldn't cover the loss. This seemed odd but she spoke with them twice. Here are her texts to me:

--------------
I called Englander a second time they gave me the same answer it is only good for Canada if your house were to burn down in the United States your insurance Co. does not warrant it. It has to do with the auto setback lever on it. It used to be ok now it's not.
The w06 model does not have it - its manual on it and doesn't have a setback lever. Hope this helps you too.

(and another message about the setback lever)

It's some lever on that stove that you set it when you 1st start it and it releases itself gradually as it gets hotter.
1-800-245-6489
Englander got bought out by SBI a Canada company. You can talk to the stove info. dept. which is American.
-------------

Is this woman correct? Did the setback lever get banned in the US? Would it really nullify home insurance? Please do let me know. I am asking you because you're a moderator here and the people on this thread should know about this as well. Maybe the manufacturer is mistaken. I hope so. Hard to tell. Important to find out.

Thank you so much!

- Heathman

 

[heathman]

Hello! I have the 15SSW01. I purchased it at Lowes but it never got installed due to Covid and homeschooling taking priority.

As I was selling my home, a friend offered to buy the stove. However the manufacturer told her that while the stove was originally okay for use in the US, it has since fallen out of approval somehow such that if a home fire occurred, the insurance wouldn't cover the loss. This seemed odd but she spoke with them twice. Here are her texts to me:

--------------
I called Englander a second time they gave me the same answer it is only good for Canada if your house were to burn down in the United States your insurance Co. does not warrant it. It has to do with the auto setback lever on it. It used to be ok now it's not.
The w06 model does not have it - its manual on it and doesn't have a setback lever. Hope this helps you too.

(and another message about the setback lever)

It's some lever on that stove that you set it when you 1st start it and it releases itself gradually as it gets hotter.
1-800-245-6489
Englander got bought out by SBI a Canada company. You can talk to the stove info. dept. which is American.
-------------

Is this woman correct? Did the setback lever get banned in the US? Would it really nullify home insurance? Please do let me know. I am asking you because you're a moderator here and the people on this thread should know about this as well. Maybe the manufacturer is mistaken. I hope so. Hard to tell. Important to find out.

Thank you so much!

- Heathman

Hello! I wanted to add this - a picture of the plate located on the stove. Except for my blocking out the serial number, it is exactly what you see.

 

[brenndatomu]

Sounds fishy to me...if the stove is not approved for use in the US any longer then they should issue a recall...can't see how insurance co. could deny an claim if it was approved when it was bought, and nobody from SBI has contacted you in any official capacity about it...and not sure some techline person just telling you that even qualifies as "notification"...unless maybe they email you a copy or something.
I do know that SBI bought Englander out, but SBI usually handles their business better than this...