Thanks for all the comments. It was my first tile job and I obviously have a lot to learn.... After placing the stove, within 24hrs 3 tiles cracked and I conclude that the thinset must not have been fully cured, even after the 2 days I had allowed it to set up. I also conclude that the feet on these stoves are not scientifically designed to spread the load. At a weight of over 490lbs and a contact area of less than 0.5 sq inches per foot, that means a contact pressure of over 245 psi if the feet make perfect contact with the surface. That is more pressure than someone of my size resting all of his weight on an area smaller than a quarter. So at the end of this season, I will have to move the stove off the hearth and replace the 3 tiles, and at the same time, I need to come up with a plan to increase the contact area under the feet. I saw someone else on the forum who bolted square plates under the feet of his stove, but I think I want round with no sharp corners.
I appear to have too much draft, and that is with outside temperatures around 30F. This has been worrying me sufficiently that I have tried to investigate how the primary and secondary air control works. I do get the impression on this stove that adjusting the primary air control does impact the secondary air, which is not the case for many other stoves. The first thing I found is that the primary air control is simple and readily accessible (unlike many stoves) and I was surprised how large the opening was with the control shut down all the way. Yesterday I managed to get the flue temperature up to 1000F after reloading the stove (and it got there pretty fast). After closing the air all the way to the stop, the temperature refused to drop for over an hour. There was a lot of secondary action going on, thus a high flow of air through the secondary system (the second problem), but judging by direct impingement of the primary air on the coal bed at the front of the stove, it was clear that I had a high flow there too (considering the primary air was closed all the way).
Looking underneath, I found that the inlet for the primary air is about 2" in diameter. With the primary air closed fully, about 1/4" of the opening is still uncovered, which struck me as a lot. I "tacked" on a piece of sheet metal using stove cement to reduce the opening by half and now the stove at least responds to the primary air control under high draft conditions, even though it still takes a long time to reduce flue gas temperatures. As a consequence of reducing the minimum primary air flow, I now get increased secondary air flow under fully shut primary air conditions, so I think a similar restriction to secondary flow is required. It would be nice if these stops could simply be adjusted, but understand that the manufacturer is expected by the EPA to deliver a product that is relatively "tamper proof" in order to maintain emissions compliance under "test conditions".
I would appreciate hearing from anyone else out there who has had issues with high draft in similar installations (~24 ft total chimney height of which about 6 ft is in an unheated attic and 4 ft is above the roof penetration) and how you dealt with it. I don't want to put in a damper, since it complicates chimney cleaning and at least in my opinion encourages creosote deposits.
I appear to have too much draft, and that is with outside temperatures around 30F. This has been worrying me sufficiently that I have tried to investigate how the primary and secondary air control works. I do get the impression on this stove that adjusting the primary air control does impact the secondary air, which is not the case for many other stoves. The first thing I found is that the primary air control is simple and readily accessible (unlike many stoves) and I was surprised how large the opening was with the control shut down all the way. Yesterday I managed to get the flue temperature up to 1000F after reloading the stove (and it got there pretty fast). After closing the air all the way to the stop, the temperature refused to drop for over an hour. There was a lot of secondary action going on, thus a high flow of air through the secondary system (the second problem), but judging by direct impingement of the primary air on the coal bed at the front of the stove, it was clear that I had a high flow there too (considering the primary air was closed all the way).
Looking underneath, I found that the inlet for the primary air is about 2" in diameter. With the primary air closed fully, about 1/4" of the opening is still uncovered, which struck me as a lot. I "tacked" on a piece of sheet metal using stove cement to reduce the opening by half and now the stove at least responds to the primary air control under high draft conditions, even though it still takes a long time to reduce flue gas temperatures. As a consequence of reducing the minimum primary air flow, I now get increased secondary air flow under fully shut primary air conditions, so I think a similar restriction to secondary flow is required. It would be nice if these stops could simply be adjusted, but understand that the manufacturer is expected by the EPA to deliver a product that is relatively "tamper proof" in order to maintain emissions compliance under "test conditions".
I would appreciate hearing from anyone else out there who has had issues with high draft in similar installations (~24 ft total chimney height of which about 6 ft is in an unheated attic and 4 ft is above the roof penetration) and how you dealt with it. I don't want to put in a damper, since it complicates chimney cleaning and at least in my opinion encourages creosote deposits.
