I lit my stove for the first time

[karl]

Last night I came home from work and the thermostat read 63 degrees so, I had been itching to light a fire and I did. I didn't really think it was putting out very much heat. Although, alot more than the fireplace ever did. I chalked it up to a brand new stove and really small fire. I only put 3 or 4 splits in it. Then as I was going to bed, and the fire was down to just coals. I looked at the thermostat in the hallway. It read 65. Hmmm. I guess you don't notice the heat when it builds up gradually.

I do have one question. How long before the paint cures. I had it going pretty well for about three hours last night, and suprisingly it was still quite warm when I opened the door. It even had a few coals left in it. Not enough to start a fire. It made a pretty good smell last night and caused my eyes to burn a bit. I lit this afternoon, more for fun than anything, and my eyes are itching again. Another day or so of this maybe?

 

[jtp10181]

What will really get rid of the smell is when you crank it full blast and sustain that high temp for a few hours (that's what does it for gas units anyway). The smaller fires get the process off to a good start but if all you ever did was make small fires I think the smell would continue for a while.

 

[nshif]

I just fired up a new stove (quad 4300st ) last week and it took about 3 or 4 fires to get in burnt off. Untill I got it up to about 500 not much burnt off but after a few hour burn at 4-500 it was gone.

 

[North of 60]

Congratulations Karl...I think you should open up all your doors and windows & keep burning. Each small load burn it hotter and hotter referancing your stove thermomitor. After try to keep the secondary burn going on the third small load. You will have to take that stove to the temp levels you will use this winter to remove those anoying smells. They will keep coming back until you do so in my expereance of the two stoves I have started from scratch. I bet BB could give some insite, Hes broken in a few. Or use Hog as he has the same stove...

 

[karl]

Well I don't have a thermometer yet. I'm going to pick one up Monday. I don't want to risk overfiring the stove. I did get it to produce some nice secondary flames. I thought maybe my itching came from staring at them while having a glass of wine. Also it was only 45 degrees here last night and I had to keep the air halfway open or maybe a little less to keep things burning well.

 

[BrotherBart]

You will smell a little bit at each new "plateau" burning level you reach. After a couple of five hundred or over fires it will be gone. Then the only new smell, that I hope you never smell, is the distinct odor steel gives off when over-fired. If you ever smell that you will know instinctively exactly what it is. But that only sets in around 1,000 degrees so odds are you will never get a whiff of that.

Congrats on getting that pup fired off. Ya bought yourself a fine woodstove.

Now change that danged signature line!

 

[karl]

I can't yet Bart. It's still in the hallway. Maybe that's why my eyes are burning.

I'll change it when I get picture of it to put on my avatar.

 

[budman]

You will smell a little bit at each new "plateau" burning level you reach. After a couple of five hundred or over fires it will be gone. Then the only new smell, that I hope you never smell, is the distinct odor steel gives off when over-fired. If you ever smell that you will know instinctively exactly what it is. But that only sets in around 1,000 degrees so odds are you will never get a whiff of that.

Congrats on getting that pup fired off. Ya bought yourself a fine woodstove.


!

Tanks Bart i was just about to say the same thang. :coolgrin:

 

[karl]

Two more questions?

It is appropriate for me to leave the air control wide open until the stove is hot enough for the blower to turn on? It gets a pretty roaring fire in it before then.

Also, it creeks and pops a bit as it is warming up. I assume this in normal. However, twice now, while it was heating up, it has made a somewhat loud noise. It sounds similar to someone strumming a spring. Perhaps this is the EBT opening? Is it normal? Do you think it's something just working its way into place?


Thanks.

 

[BrotherBart]

I'll let the Summit crowd ring in on the full blast till blower time thing but that is what I do with the 30-NC. Maybe smaller stoves like the Summit like to work differently. :coolgrin:

Seriously now, creaks and groans go with the turf with wood stoves in general and steel stoves in particular. But, and a lot of people don't believe me on this, if a steel stove keeps "talking to you" too much level that sucker. 99.99999 times out of a hundred the louder bangs and bongs go away after it is leveled. That thing was welded together sitting level and it wants to be level when it gets hot. Any other way is just extra stresses on the metal and the joints and they will tell you about it. The "tick, tick, tick" sound is going to happen to all of them and usually when the surface temp starts going over around 500 to 600 degrees. That is just metal expansion.

Strumming sound sounds to me like a harmonic set up by stress on it somewhere. That or Summits are just musically inclined with that "floating" firebox but it is most likely the thinner metal of the shroud on an insert expanding a little with the heat.

 

[budman]

Let the good time's roll,

 

[karl]

I fully understand the ticking sounds and from dealing with very hot metal objects other than stoves, I'm pretty sure I know what you mean about the groans as well. I checked the level on the stove from side to side when I put it in to make sure the surround would look right. I didn't check it front to back, but the fireplace floor is in really good shape and I would say it is very close to level. It's certainly evenly supported across the bottom. The strumming sound only happened twice. Each time when the stove was just warming up. It wasn't a banging or popping sound and it sounded as though it came from internals of the stove and not the case. Imagine taking a strecthed spring and giving it a yank and then letting go of it. That's the sound.

Look at this link. (broken link removed to http://chimneysweeponline.com/hoebt.htm)

Stage 2 Gases ignite and Stage 2 Reburn raging.

The EBT arm pushes the lever open and then as it continues to heat the lever closes. I'm wondering if, as this thing goes past center, alot of tension is released and it snaps shut and maybe that's what im hearing.

On another note. I think my 15 foot chimney is going to work out ok. I haven't put the top plate on yet because it rained while I was installing everything and I wanted to dry the chimney out. I'm going to put it on tomorrow, now that I have had a few fires in it. I get a little smoke in the house when I open the door of the stove and I can't quite turn the stove all the way down without the flames wanting to die out. However, at 11:40 P.M. it's just now 40 degrees outside. Warm temps and no chimney cap, and it's drafting pretty well.

What really surprised me was this afternoon I went into the living room at like noon. A full 12 hours after I went to bed and the stove was burnt down to pretty much coals when I went to bed and I opened the door to the stove and it was pretty hot in there. I actually had burning embers, not enough to restart a fire though.

Update. I guess I hadn't got the thing hot enough. I now have had the draft shut all the way down for about 45 mins and the EBT is controlling everything and It's not smoldering out.

 

[Gunner]

The EBT is silent, mine is anyway.

 

[karl]

Mines silent too once everything is going, but what were the two loud noises when it first fired up?

 

[Gunner]

It's normal to hear noises on a new stove. If it keeps doing it, I would double check that it is level and solid as brotherbart said.

 

[elkimmeg]

Karl it is good to hear you have joined the burning fraternity. All those questions and you are there.

As to break in it might take 3 to 5 fires but the smell smoke should decrees with each fire.

Be patient even mid 40's is not really ideal draft conditions and one can not judge stove performance yet .

Also the n associated noises you are going to hear some including you liner and connector pipe expanding and contracting

Again these pipes may have an oil residue from manufacturing that gets burned off.

Hang in there fully functioning stove will occur when you use it more . Remember heat is not instant but really a controlled burn over many hours