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After last nights run, I now suspect that the air to the secondaries, or the pipes themselves are clogged.
It seems I only get the "jet" occurring on the right side of the stove when looking into it. There is nothing happening on the left side.

I might need to have someone come out and look at this thing officially now. That has me worried.

To me, the above info along with what you said earlier regarding the changed feel of the damper control seems indicative of a mechanical failure, rather than clogging.

Having a pro look at it sounds like the best approach.
 
After I digested all the above information given by you, and all the associates that contributed from their knowledge base.
My suggestion is to move down here to TEXAS where it does not get as COLD.
I'm in East Texas, we received snow on Christmas day, 2 inches it almost shut down everything except the liquor stores, and temps got to 25 , I had to stoke my old stove every 4 hours just to keep temp at 65.
 
my Napolean 1900p was causing me grief for quite a while til one day, after reading another user's post on an entirely different stove and how he was having problems with out of control draft (couldn't shut it down and get the secondaries going). I had secondaries, but not the REALLY GOOD ONES I suspected I should have. So it got me thinking, and I started looking at my draft rod (it seemed really loose and sloppy), and sure as chit, it was almost falling off of the unit! In my model of stove, if you take the ash pan out of the stove and lay down in front of the stove, look up at where the draft control slides in and out, you can see there are two sheet metal 'retainers' that hold the rod in position. The rod has two 'doors' tack welded onto it, one door closes off the primary air and the other closes off the secondary air, which are two seperate 'windows in a channel under the stove.

Both of those tin retainers were almost FALLING OFF! It looked as if whoever was in charge of making sure they were tight on the line in the factory didn't even check them.....the fact that they were loose allowed that draft rod to sag, and even when you had the draft completely closed, the air was going around the doors (there was at LEAST a 1/2" gap around them). So after tightening the sheet metal screws with a 1/4" nut driver, VOILLA....the draft problem was solved! Not only did I get awesome secondaries, I also got WAY longer burn times out of my unit....I mean HOURS AND HOURS longer on an overnight load. I used to have to get up in the middle of the night to reload the stove.......not any more.....

So check where the draft comes into the stove and make sure everything is kosher with the controller.....

It still makes me SICK to think of how much wood I wasted in that stove over the years due to that damm draft rod not being right.....I wonder if I can go after Napoleon for all that lost time cutting, splitting, stacking and WAITING FOR THAT WOOD TO SEASON!!!
 
my Napolean 1900p was causing me grief for quite a while til one day, after reading another user's post on an entirely different stove and how he was having problems with out of control draft (couldn't shut it down and get the secondaries going). I had secondaries, but not the REALLY GOOD ONES I suspected I should have. So it got me thinking, and I started looking at my draft rod (it seemed really loose and sloppy), and sure as chit, it was almost falling off of the unit! In my model of stove, if you take the ash pan out of the stove and lay down in front of the stove, look up at where the draft control slides in and out, you can see there are two sheet metal 'retainers' that hold the rod in position. The rod has two 'doors' tack welded onto it, one door closes off the primary air and the other closes off the secondary air, which are two seperate 'windows in a channel under the stove.

Both of those tin retainers were almost FALLING OFF! It looked as if whoever was in charge of making sure they were tight on the line in the factory didn't even check them.....the fact that they were loose allowed that draft rod to sag, and even when you had the draft completely closed, the air was going around the doors (there was at LEAST a 1/2" gap around them). So after tightening the sheet metal screws with a 1/4" nut driver, VOILLA....the draft problem was solved! Not only did I get awesome secondaries, I also got WAY longer burn times out of my unit....I mean HOURS AND HOURS longer on an overnight load. I used to have to get up in the middle of the night to reload the stove.......not any more.....

So check where the draft comes into the stove and make sure everything is kosher with the controller.....

It still makes me SICK to think of how much wood I wasted in that stove over the years due to that damm draft rod not being right.....I wonder if I can go after Napoleon for all that lost time cutting, splitting, stacking and WAITING FOR THAT WOOD TO SEASON!!!


Once it cools I intend to do just that. Took off the surround today and saw that I have no block plate either. Good draft coming in down the chimney....
 
After I digested all the above information given by you, and all the associates that contributed from their knowledge base.
My suggestion is to move down here to TEXAS where it does not get as COLD.
I'm in East Texas, we received snow on Christmas day, 2 inches it almost shut down everything except the liquor stores, and temps got to 25 , I had to stoke my old stove every 4 hours just to keep temp at 65.

After a prolonged stint at MDA Center, I'm good with being in Texas, I think I oddly hate being too warm over being too cold.
 
After a prolonged stint at MDA Center, I'm good with being in Texas, I think I oddly hate being too warm over being too cold.
Id take freezing cold over hot and humid any day. My guess is something mechanical may have come loose, also you should get some roxul and stuff it up the flue and make a block off plate, I have extra roxul if you want it, Im on the CT border.
 
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Cannot find either where the plates slide or the EPA hole everyone talks about. How do I access it? Or see them? I took the fan off and that didn't help. Am I missing a removable panel somewhere? Pictures would help a lot here!

Thanks for the help.

Weatherguy, I already bought some roxul, just waiting for a chance to get back there. Thanks though!
 
Have you considered the possible lack of humidity in the air? I'm sure you know more water vapor in the air will make you feel warmer.
 
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I looked up what insert you have, it's a nice looking unit. I didn't read deep enough to find the answer to this though. Where is the air supply coming from to feed the fire? Since your house is much tighter than it was last year I would assume that if it pulls inside air to burn that somewhere in that scenario is your answer. If you could feed all outside air and totaly seal it up from the inside I wonder how it would perform. Mine is fed with all outside air, burns and goes up the chimney. I don't even have any way to close down the chimney with a damper like I use to with a regular fireplace. What I get is a ton of heat flooding into the room. So far this year my problem is too much heat. Our answer is opening windows and not wearing as much.

RPK1 makes an excellent point about the humidity. Check that first :)
 
Come
I looked up what insert you have, it's a nice looking unit. I didn't read deep enough to find the answer to this though. Where is the air supply coming from to feed the fire? Since your house is much tighter than it was last year I would assume that if it pulls inside air to burn that somewhere in that scenario is your answer. If you could feed all outside air and totaly seal it up from the inside I wonder how it would perform. Mine is fed with all outside air, burns and goes up the chimney. I don't even have any way to close down the chimney with a damper like I use to with a regular fireplace. What I get is a ton of heat flooding into the room. So far this year my problem is too much heat. Our answer is opening windows and not wearing as much.

RPK1 makes an excellent point about the humidity. Check that first :)

Comes in from the sides it seems. From the bottom somewhere, from inside the house. No outside air vents.

I still cannot figure out where from through.
 
Ok, figured it all out today!!! In one of the dumbest moments I have ever had, I found out why the house is not getting any warmer. It snowed today, and as the plow went by my house, I mentioned that it seemed to be right in the room with us. I went into the guest bedroom that never gets any use to see where the plow was. I moved the light blocking curtain out of the way and found.... A FREAKIN' OPEN WINDOW!

Needless to say I am embarrassed and go crawl into a hole now. On the bright side I have all the stuff I need to create a blockoff plate for my chimney now.

Dammit!
 
We have all done that! But finding an easy solution to your problem is the best.
 
Same thing happened to my a couple of years ago and it took until Feb. for us to figure it out. Of course everyone denies ever opening the window, but we suspect it was Thanksgiving when we had house guests
 
Big nuts on you coming on here and admitting it. ,)

Glad your problem is solved.

Ok, figured it all out today!!! In one of the dumbest moments I have ever had, I found out why the house is not getting any warmer. It snowed today, and as the plow went by my house, I mentioned that it seemed to be right in the room with us. I went into the guest bedroom that never gets any use to see where the plow was. I moved the light blocking curtain out of the way and found.... A FREAKIN' OPEN WINDOW!

Needless to say I am embarrassed and go crawl into a hole now. On the bright side I have all the stuff I need to create a blockoff plate for my chimney now.

Dammit!
 
I'd make sure you can replicate that before you make the call.
It was a lot warmer last winter than this one, so far.
That cold snap was a test, for sure.
You can still control the fire with the air control rod, right? I mean, it still works like it should? Mine works real well and can slow it down a lot, if desired.
My problem, with the Hampton sister insert, is too many coals. I took to using the fan on high and leaving the air control rod open some more during the cold spell and one morning the fan had turned off. Still some coals though.
So, in the morning when the stove is cold, is it all burned down to ash? Would that imply big air?
 
I'd make sure you can replicate that before you make the call.
It was a lot warmer last winter than this one, so far.
That cold snap was a test, for sure.
You can still control the fire with the air control rod, right? I mean, it still works like it should? Mine works real well and can slow it down a lot, if desired.
My problem, with the Hampton sister insert, is too many coals. I took to using the fan on high and leaving the air control rod open some more during the cold spell and one morning the fan had turned off. Still some coals though.
So, in the morning when the stove is cold, is it all burned down to ash? Would that imply big air?


Still kind of shocked, I mean this window must have been open through Sandy. How could I not hear the wind?

Anyways, the control rod works better when the box is hot. it is difficult to move with starting a fresh fire, but it does give me control.
At this point it is hard to see what difference closing that window will have on performance since I am out of good quality wood.
I am going to burn some eco-bricks tomorrow to see how things go.
 
Ok, figured it all out today!!! In one of the dumbest moments I have ever had, I found out why the house is not getting any warmer. It snowed today, and as the plow went by my house, I mentioned that it seemed to be right in the room with us. I went into the guest bedroom that never gets any use to see where the plow was. I moved the light blocking curtain out of the way and found.... A FREAKIN' OPEN WINDOW!

Needless to say I am embarrassed and go crawl into a hole now. On the bright side I have all the stuff I need to create a blockoff plate for my chimney now.

Dammit!
I read this whole thread very intently and had a good chuckle this morning, lol, thanks. We all have those types of moments once and a while, glad it all worked out.
 
Congrats on finding the problem, crazy as it was.
There is some info, somewhere, about somebody making a Hampton 300i "automatic". Anyway, they took the thing apart and had pictures. I'm going to look for it and save it, just in case.
 
A FREAKIN' OPEN WINDOW! Needless to say I am embarrassed and go crawl into a hole now. On the bright side I have all the stuff I need to create a blockoff plate for my chimney now. Dammit!​

That's OK, Just get a chuckle out of it. It could be worse, some have been known to forget to shut off the a/c and then wonder why it is so damn hard to get the house warmed up.
 
Wow, Cross Cut Saw called that one way back over three weeks ago.
Good call Cross Cut.
 
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Congrats on finding the problem, crazy as it was.
There is some info, somewhere, about somebody making a Hampton 300i "automatic". Anyway, they took the thing apart and had pictures. I'm going to look for it and save it, just in case.

Share the link or info if you find it, I've been looking for something like that.
 
If you're married like I am, I'd check that all of your windows are closed!!!!

I come home to the craziest chit you could imagine...

"I just wanted to air it out a little" is the most common excuse.


BINGO! We got a winner. And it was the wife.
 
DING DING DING! We have a winner!

Holy crap, I even told my wife about your problem and told her how I advised to look for an open window because she knows she's guilty of that stuff all the time.
So when I just told her that after all this time you found a window open she was very happy she's not the only one.
 
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