Napoleon 1900 Temps

[jeffs]

Hey All,

First season burning a Napoleon 1900, and noticed something the other night that got me wondering. The other night, I had filled the firebox pretty good for an overnight burn, (on a bed of good coals), and let it go on high a little longer than usual (maybe 25 minutes?). The stove is in our basement, and when I went down to adjust the draft, the stovepipe thermometer was around 500F. Still in the "safe" range on the thermometer, but pushing it as far as the Nap. specs go. For some reason, I decided to turn the lights out and see if anything was glowing. We have a cast iron kettle on the built-in trivet, and under the trivet, I could see that the top of the stove was glowing faintly. I quickly closed the draft reg. down and the temp. started dropping.

Tonight I had the same thing. Had a good bed of coals, added a load of wood, and let it go for about 20 minutes before checking it. Pipe therm. read 475, and had the faint glow under the trivet again. I checked the stove-top temp above the door, in fromt of the louvres, and got a temp reading of about 650.

Both times I noticed that the flames coming out of the secondary tube were really roaring and yellow.

This stove seems really touchy. When I close the draft reg down, the temp drops to about 200-250 on the pipe after half an hour.

Seems like it reaches peak temp very quickly, and if you're not careful it burns through a load of wood really fast. I'm burning mostly oak and cherry, well-seasoned.

I've also noticed that I'm getting some draft at the ash cleanout door. It's closed correctly, but the coals always burn very bright over it, and burn down to ash very quickly over it. That space is always burned down quickly. I don't see any air blowing through and causing extra flame, but it does seem like some air is getting pulled through.

Any other Napoleon users out there noticed these things? Is the glowing an issue? Do I just need to be extra vigilant with my draft control?

 

[Coleman Stove]

Hey All,

First season burning a Napoleon 1900, and noticed something the other night that got me wondering. The other night, I had filled the firebox pretty good for an overnight burn, (on a bed of good coals), and let it go on high a little longer than usual (maybe 25 minutes?). The stove is in our basement, and when I went down to adjust the draft, the stovepipe thermometer was around 500F. Still in the "safe" range on the thermometer, but pushing it as far as the Nap. specs go. For some reason, I decided to turn the lights out and see if anything was glowing. We have a cast iron kettle on the built-in trivet, and under the trivet, I could see that the top of the stove was glowing faintly. I quickly closed the draft reg. down and the temp. started dropping.

Tonight I had the same thing. Had a good bed of coals, added a load of wood, and let it go for about 20 minutes before checking it. Pipe therm. read 475, and had the faint glow under the trivet again. I checked the stove-top temp above the door, in fromt of the louvres, and got a temp reading of about 650.

Both times I noticed that the flames coming out of the secondary tube were really roaring and yellow.

This stove seems really touchy. When I close the draft reg down, the temp drops to about 200-250 on the pipe after half an hour.

Seems like it reaches peak temp very quickly, and if you're not careful it burns through a load of wood really fast. I'm burning mostly oak and cherry, well-seasoned.

I've also noticed that I'm getting some draft at the ash cleanout door. It's closed correctly, but the coals always burn very bright over it, and burn down to ash very quickly over it. That space is always burned down quickly. I don't see any air blowing through and causing extra flame, but it does seem like some air is getting pulled through.

Any other Napoleon users out there noticed these things? Is the glowing an issue? Do I just need to be extra vigilant with my draft control?

Your in the right place.

Loading on a really good coal bed thats deep and hot will get things going fast so just be aware and back it down a little quicker. I have used my manual pipe damper also when I need to cool things.

Loading the stove full will get things hot. Many people dont get their stoves full and cant figure out why the stove doesnt heat up. I have found that the loading of the stove full leaves a little area up in the top thats like a little la propane delivery burn chamber that heat will build fast and the secondaries gets to go really hot and wild as that little burn chamber area in the top of the stove is burning smoke gases really well. I think burning the smoke gases maybe a hotter fire than the wood burning down on the bottom.

On the other hand if you want the stove cooler dont load the wood as high leave more room at the top and shut things down a little sooner.

I don't want to sound rude but I think the general discussion may be the wrong area considering your thread got 13 views.. >.<

 

[Swedishchef]

Are all the gaskets tight? Is the plug for the ash pan in place properly? Did you try the dollar bill test?

I know that if a stove is glowing red that is not a good thing. You did right to turn it down.

My stove is very touchy at one sensitve spot on the primary air. 1/4 inch out and it roars like a nuclear bomb and 1/4 inch in and it cruses.

The 1900 should be able to burn over night: it's a bohemoth stove!

Andrew

 

[jeffs]

Hey All,

First season burning a Napoleon 1900, and noticed something the other night that got me wondering. The other night, I had filled the firebox pretty good for an overnight burn, (on a bed of good coals), and let it go on high a little longer than usual (maybe 25 minutes?). The stove is in our basement, and when I went down to adjust the draft, the stovepipe thermometer was around 500F. Still in the "safe" range on the thermometer, but pushing it as far as the Nap. specs go. For some reason, I decided to turn the lights out and see if anything was glowing. We have a cast iron kettle on the built-in trivet, and under the trivet, I could see that the top of the stove was glowing faintly. I quickly closed the draft reg. down and the temp. started dropping.

Tonight I had the same thing. Had a good bed of coals, added a load of wood, and let it go for about 20 minutes before checking it. Pipe therm. read 475, and had the faint glow under the trivet again. I checked the stove-top temp above the door, in fromt of the louvres, and got a temp reading of about 650.

Both times I noticed that the flames coming out of the secondary tube were really roaring and yellow.

This stove seems really touchy. When I close the draft reg down, the temp drops to about 200-250 on the pipe after half an hour.

Seems like it reaches peak temp very quickly, and if you're not careful it burns through a load of wood really fast. I'm burning mostly oak and cherry, well-seasoned.

I've also noticed that I'm getting some draft at the ash cleanout door. It's closed correctly, but the coals always burn very bright over it, and burn down to ash very quickly over it. That space is always burned down quickly. I don't see any air blowing through and causing extra flame, but it does seem like some air is getting pulled through.

Any other Napoleon users out there noticed these things? Is the glowing an issue? Do I just need to be extra vigilant with my draft control?

I don't want to sound rude but I think the general discussion may be the wrong area considering your thread got 13 views.. >.<

It's a woodstove, where else would I put it?
I think this is where I've read other posts on Napoleon wood stoves?

 

[jeffs]

Are all the gaskets tight? Is the plug for the ash pan in place properly? Did you try the dollar bill test?

I know that if a stove is glowing red that is not a good thing. You did right to turn it down.

My stove is very touchy at one sensitve spot on the primary air. 1/4 inch out and it roars like a nuclear bomb and 1/4 inch in and it cruses.

The 1900 should be able to burn over night: it's a bohemoth stove!

Andrew

To best of my knowledge,, yes, gaskets are tight, all new with stove, installed last fall.
But I have not done "the dollar test", do I just hold a dollar up to the door and go around the edge?

There is no plug on the ash door, just a spring-loaded door that opens and closes via a lever.
I try to pack that with ashes as much as possible.

 

[Huntindog1]

Your in the right place.

Loading on a really good coal bed thats deep and hot will get things going fast so just be aware and back it down a little quicker. I have used my manual pipe damper also when I need to cool things.

Loading the stove full will get things hot. Many people dont get their stoves full and cant figure out why the stove doesnt heat up. I have found that the loading of the stove full leaves a little area up in the top thats like a little burn chamber that heat will build fast and the secondaries gets to go really hot and wild as that little burn chamber area in the top of the stove is burning smoke gases really well. I think burning the smoke gases maybe a hotter fire than the wood burning down on the bottom.

On the other hand if you want the stove cooler dont load the wood as high leave more room at the top and shut things down a little sooner.

 

[jeffs]

Your in the right place.

Loading on a really good coal bed thats deep and hot will get things going fast so just be aware and back it down a little quicker. I have used my manual pipe damper also when I need to cool things.

Loading the stove full will get things hot. Many people dont get their stoves full and cant figure out why the stove doesnt heat up. I have found that the loading of the stove full leaves a little area up in the top thats like a little burn chamber that heat will build fast and the secondaries gets to go really hot and wild as that little burn chamber area in the top of the stove is burning smoke gases really well. I think burning the smoke gases maybe a hotter fire than the wood burning down on the bottom.

On the other hand if you want the stove cooler dont load the wood as high leave more room at the top and shut things down a little sooner.

Yes, in both cases, the coal bed was pretty deep, and the load filled it close to the top, so things got going quickly.
Seems like in those cases, I need to back it down faster.

I'm still experimenting with how far down to let the coal bed burn before adding more wood.
I know some guys like to burn long cycles, and others add a few pieces as room opens up.
I'm finding that if I do that, my coal layer starts to get deep too fast and soon I don't have much room for more than one layer of logs or I'm banging the top baffles when I load.

I know the secondaries are good, but if they are really raging, isn't that hard on the stove, going to cause premature burn out of the tube?
Overall, is it better to have the slow purplish secondaries, not the yellow rocket flames?