Some qaulity time with the Castine

[polaris]

My castine stove top will get hotter with the air part way closed than wide open. The chimney however will get overheated. I don't think running full tilt with the air control wide open is such a good idea unless you are burning real green wood and have no other choice.
Joe

 

[southbalto]

Have you tried running with wide-open air indefinitely to see what max temp you can hit?

Yea, I've tried with small 3" splits stuffed in the box and ran it full tilt. 500.

I also tried Kiln dried simmilar results.

I'm going to talk to the stove dealer this weekend.

 

[southbalto]

My castine stove top will get hotter with the air part way closed than wide open. The chimney however will get overheated. I don't think running full tilt with the air control wide open is such a good idea unless you are burning real green wood and have no other choice.
Joe

I'm concerned about that as well. The stove vents out the back so I don't really have a good method for monitoring flue temps. The wall protection is up but I havent yet put the cultured stone on. I want to get the stove dialed in before I finalize things. I'm considering moving the chimney system up a bit allowing me to top vent.

 

[dvellone]

Your glass is staying clean

 

[southbalto]

Yea, the glass is staying clean during the burn cycle. I do get some haze and some brownish areas in the corners. I wipe it down once a week.

 

[polaris]

Balto, that looks nearly identical to may installation except I used faux 3m creek stone and ran it up to he ceiling(almost 20 ft. on one side and 14 ft. on the other).I have a vaulted ceiling and corner installation.
Joe

 

[begreen]

My castine stove top will get hotter with the air part way closed than wide open. The chimney however will get overheated. I don't think running full tilt with the air control wide open is such a good idea unless you are burning real green wood and have no other choice.
Joe

Our Castine was similar. Less air made for better secondary combustion and a hotter top.

 

[cycloxer]

That's weird because the air on my Castine literally acts like a throttle - more air and I get a hotter burn. I wonder if it is because I have a different top vent with a 13.5 ft chimney?

Maybe the Castine is draft sensative such that you can have a situation of either not enough draft or too much draft - both of which will adversely affect stove top temps.

 

[JotulOwner]

I have a Castine with a Metalbestos T- Out chimney pipe. I have never seen stove top temps North of 550F. I keep my temperatures in the "normal range" for both stove top and flue thermometers. The Rutland stove top thermometers (I have two of them) red line at about 575F and the Condar flue pipe thermometer at about 900F. My pipe temp is usually 400-700F. And, yes, my wood is good (very dry).

Anything wrong with these results?

 

[southbalto]

JotulOwner,

The manual states that normal operation should be in the 400 to 600 range. My goal is to run the stove hot and fast up to the 650 range and then lock it down so It rolls in at stove top temps from 600 down to 400 over the next couple hours. So far the best I've done is 500 with temps dropping back to 200-300 by the two hour mark. With every other stove I've ever run I've never had issues getting up to the desired temp. For most stoves it seems it's imperative that the user watch for overfireing.


CYCLOXER,

I picked up a Rutland thermo tonight and it's showing a reading about 60 degrees higher than the homesaver thermo. I reached 550.

 

[cycloxer]

How much wood are you putting in your stove? Do you load it right up to the baffles?

 

[southbalto]

Tonight may be my best burn yet. I loaded up some smaller sticks to get it going around 6. By 7 the wood was mostly burned down. I loaded the box right up to the baffle with larger 6-8" splits and it's still rolling.

400 on the new rutland thermo
350 on the homesaver

It's warmer out this evening (mid 30's) and the heating room is probably 70s.

 

[begreen]

That's weird because the air on my Castine literally acts like a throttle - more air and I get a hotter burn. I wonder if it is because I have a different top vent with a 13.5 ft chimney?

Maybe the Castine is draft sensative such that you can have a situation of either not enough draft or too much draft - both of which will adversely affect stove top temps.

Could be. I only ran the stove rear exit. It's a closely balanced stove, small changes in draft can affect the burn. I see similar behavior with the Alderlea. If I give it too much air, the stove top temp goes down, but the flue gas temps go way up. This is the opposite of what I am looking for in a stove, so I throttle it down and let it work at its most efficient range.

 

[southbalto]

Guys....thanks for sticking it out with me.

Good results tonight. The more I experiment with this thing the better it gets.

Put some small splits in at 615 this evening to get it rolling then stuffed some large splits on 30 minutes later. It took awhile to really get going but it rolled up to the 650 range. Got excellent heat off it through the ball game. At 1130 the new Rutland Thermo was still at 300. I stuffed the box again around 1145 and checked the temp at 12. IT was again pushing 650.

I've got a fan on it and i'm locking it down for the evening.

The only real difference is the amount and size of the wood. I really crammed the stove to capacity tonight.

 

[southbalto]

The two runs this evening went as follows:

6ish light up with small sticks
630 threw some larger splits on
700 box is a fireball push back the primary air 650 stovetop
715 still going off close primary air and close KEY Damper getting really good secondary burn
9ish still getting lazy secondary burn stove still over 500
930 secondary burn starts to trail off 475
1130 fair amount of coals still at around 300 up top

1145 stuffed the box
12 the stove is going off and I'm freaked out because I think it's going to run on me. Stovetop 650 and increasing
I cut back on the primary air and close Key Damper put a fan behind it
Currently rolling and still above 600

 

[cycloxer]

Yeah, it is a good, hot stove once you get it running. I think you really have to fill the firebox with wood and let it run. It's not a huge firebox, but with good wood, if you fill it and run it hard, it can pump out some serious heat.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you're getting the hang of it sb. Every stove is a learning experience, part science and part art. That's half the fun of it.

 

[Skier76]

Awesome! Glad to hear you sorted things out.

I agree that it's not a huge fire box. However, I'm able to get 4 or 5 decent splits in there and it'll really start to move along. I usually get it up to 600 or so...then start backing down the air. At times, I'm able to go from full open to 80% shut all at once. No smoldering or rapid cool off...the stove drops to 550-525 and just cruises.

The chimney height is interesting. It sounds like cycloxer and I have a similer set up and are both running the Euro plate. Like him, with more air, my stove will really really heat up quickly.

 

[southbalto]

Awesome! Glad to hear you sorted things out.

I agree that it's not a huge fire box. However, I'm able to get 4 or 5 decent splits in there and it'll really start to move along. I usually get it up to 600 or so...then start backing down the air. At times, I'm able to go from full open to 80% shut all at once. No smoldering or rapid cool off...the stove drops to 550-525 and just cruises.

The chimney height is interesting. It sounds like cycloxer and I have a similer set up and are both running the Euro plate. Like him, with more air, my stove will really really heat up quickly.

You all have been a huge help in getting this thing dialed in. I appreciate the help you regulars provide.

Temps were pretty mild thiis weekend but the heating system didn't click on thursday-this AM. So nice to have the living room at 80 degrees.