hotblast 1557m

[Xerilious]

Ive been hanging around this site for a while now after my father told me this is the holy grail site on all things wood. I do agree well I am running a hotblast 1557m for about three years now and am pretty happy with it but the couple of questions I have is, I cannot keep the fire going throughout the night if I throw in three good size pieces of locust its out after about 5 to 6 hours I have just coals have my door damper closed all the way and bottom damper almost shut second if anyone has one of these how hot does your plenum get the one that the air runs through im scared im getting it too hot sometime you can only touch it for a couple of seconds.. maybe im not putting enough wood in during the night. I guess im scared to get it too hot. any info would be helped. I also thought my chimney was too big creating too much draw with it being a ten inch clay lined chimney?????

 

[YCSTEVE]

I've been burning a Hot Blast 1400 for 5 years now. I load my stove at 10:00 at night and the fans on the stove will kick off about 5:00 A.M. Some times when I burn hedge it will last until 6:30 A.M.

I will load the stove with 8 pieces of wood. 4 pieces in the back 4 pieces in the front. I like oak or ash combined with a piece of hedge so that I will have some coals in the morning.

I close the spin draft on the ash pan door. Then I open it up one turn. I do this in case the power goes out in the middle of the night the amount of air the fire gets is limited. I have had the power go out twice now and that stove got hot fast.

I have a 30 ft brick chimney with a stainless steel liner so it gets a lot of draft.

The air ducts going from my wood stove to my plenum gets hot to the touch but the main trunk isn't bad.

Do you have a plug in the back of your stove or do you have forced air?

Hope this helps

 

[laynes69]

I had to use alot of wood to get me through the night with the furnace. I split the pieces large, and would use rounds of locust for night. 10:00pm to 5:00am were my normal burns at night. I had mine setup different but I would fill mine to the baffle for the night. The ductwork will get hot, and thats the reason to follow the ducting clearances.

 

[Xerilious]

I do have ahole in the back and no I do not have forced air did not buy the blower and I am not talking bout my duct work getting hot I mean like the part around the fire that the air flows through just want some input on other hotblast owners to see how hot theres gets just dont want my woodburner melting down so to speak I sont know maybe im just a little nervous about the thing when I started burning my father in law said bout dreaded chimney fires and the pipes getting red hot and frankly just scares the crap out of me so I think I tend to not load as much wood in for that always in the back of my mind

 

[ziggo_2]

I do have ahole in the back and no I do not have forced air did not buy the blower and I am not talking bout my duct work getting hot I mean like the part around the fire that the air flows through just want some input on other hotblast owners to see how hot theres gets just dont want my woodburner melting down so to speak I sont know maybe im just a little nervous about the thing when I started burning my father in law said bout dreaded chimney fires and the pipes getting red hot and frankly just scares the crap out of me so I think I tend to not load as much wood in for that always in the back of my mind

I dont have a voglezang norseman 2500 Which is the same furnace except the name and the price. (dont believe me go compare them).

If you bought this new it will come with either one or two blower motors that mount on the back. The two holes on the top are there so you can hook it into you existing ductwork. (follow the clearance requirements, you most likely will need backflow dampers). If you dont have blowers, you need them. although the manual says it can run with out, it is not recommended. If your running it without blower you are most likely over-firing your furnace.

I fill mine up with as much as i can pack in it for overnight burns.

Keep in mind...It is a fire inside, so it will get hot to touch.

 

[sctstoys72]

i have a jensen and you can fill it at 10pm and at 8 am its got very hot bed of coals,this add on has the draft blower,i think it was optional on the hotblast,you have to control the air! I got this jensen because my father in law was afraid of it.

 

[flotek]

well the blowers helpcool the unit from overfiring otherwise it cant disipate the heat fast enough ,you should be using them.my dad has a hotblast and one of his twin blowers quit well it dang near melted the panels off the sides it got so hot before he noticed it and i have heard of other tales from others of the blowers doing this which in turn causing overfire problems on this unit

 

[Xerilious]

thats my fear and I do have the two blowers and the other fear is that thermodisk thingy I dont really trust that either I have dampers in the chimney im probably just being paranoid I mean 3 or four years no problems just trying to get a little more out of my burner thats all guys thanks a lot for your input. great information on this site

 

[YCSTEVE]

I've seen pictures on Ebay of Hotblast that have been over heated. They burned the paint off around the sides of the stove. That worried me also. My stove has a return air and a place for a filter. I don't use the filter in case the power goes out it can still draw some air across the fire box. I've had this happen and it still gets very hot.

The manual says you can run the Hotblast 1400 with out power if you take the filter out, don't load the stove above the bottom of the feed door, take the filter out and only have the spin draft open 1 turn. I keep this in mind when I load my stove and I'm gone for a while. That way if I'm not home and the power goes out that thing isn't in my basement glowing cherry hot.

 

[johnnylabguy]

I cannot keep the fire going throughout the night if I throw in three good size pieces of locust its out after about 5 to 6 hours I have just coals have my door damper closed all the way and bottom damper almost shut

This is the third year for me burning my hotblast 1557m and I have the same problem! I like you have a hard time loading mine up to the baffle for fear of the thing just getting too darn hot and something happening when I'm asleep. I just live with the 6 hour burn for the most part. I run mine with the same settings you do. Sometimes I'll leave the door damper cracked just a wee bit for more air over the fire too.

 

[smokinj]

if the plenums are getting real hot are you running a damper on the flue? If not thats where most of your heats going. the plenums dont need to get real hot

 

[EastwoodGang4]

hotblast

I've been burning mine for 5 years now, and I haven't burnt the paint off the sheet metal yet, but it does get hot. I pack the stove FULL at nite just to have fire/coals in the morning. Like others said it depends on the species of wood for burn times. Also an important item to check is your door ROPE SEALS! If they leak and you load your stove full, you will overfire and have NO control of your fire! I check mine with a dollar bill often as they will affect burn times IMEXP. I did have the flue pipe glowing once, accidentaly left the ash door open and overfired BAD. it was scary. I could "smell" the overfire, literally! Ive also tried coal in it too for increased burn times. a few grapefruit sized lumps last overnight quite well. I wonder if there's an alarm that could be set up to go off when the power goes out in the night to wake a guy up??? I worry a lot too about melt downs from power outages. These stoves aren't real high tech, and they take some time to learn how to run them. burn safe!

 

[Xerilious]

yeah ive had mine for three years maybe four havent checked the rope seals wich I should but never knew I was supposed too till now and im not saying Im getting it too hott by what I mean is that that when is it too hott i just went and bought me a knew stove thermometer for the chimney pipe and where I usually burn it says creosote level and for me it seems like its hot i said before maybe im being too much of a sissy being as that my house burnt down growing up I keep telling myself that its not even in the good level yet and to calm down but I dont know

 

[laynes69]

I would clean your flue pipe and chimney then burn it hot for now on. My aunt was like you and always scared of a chimney fire, so she would only burn small cool fires. Well eventually that caught up and she had a chimney fire. Checking the chimney will determine how well you are burning. Once clean, burn it hot once or twice daily to burn off and deposits. Alot of times the paint that is burnt off those furnaces happens during power outages. Had a couple of times where I awoke to the smell of burning paint. Not a nice wake up.

 

[johnnylabguy]

i agree with laynes. You definately want to get that fire hotter or you'll have a chimney fire sooner or later. That's why i leave the door damper cracked sometimes to get it burning a little hotter if i have some damp wood. There's always a little tinkering involved to keep it in that hot but not too hot zone. Seasoned wood helps immensely with even burns too.

 

[taylor6400]

Whats the dollar bill method for checking rope seals? I should check mine.
I overfired mine once too...ash drawer left open too....smelled it too...flue glowing too...scared too! i dont open the ash drawer anymore to get it started so i cant forget again!

 

[laynes69]

Place a dollar bill around the loading door and ashpan door in various places. Shut the door and if the bill pulls out then replace the seals. Those furnaces don't have adjustable doors. Use a gasket cement and new rope seals and your good to go.

 

[duckdown777]

Ive been hanging around this site for a while now after my father told me this is the holy grail site on all things wood. I do agree well I am running a hotblast 1557m for about three years now and am pretty happy with it but the couple of questions I have is, I cannot keep the fire going throughout the night if I throw in three good size pieces of locust its out after about 5 to 6 hours I have just coals have my door damper closed all the way and bottom damper almost shut second if anyone has one of these how hot does your plenum get the one that the air runs through im scared im getting it too hot sometime you can only touch it for a couple of seconds.. maybe im not putting enough wood in during the night. I guess im scared to get it too hot. any info would be helped. I also thought my chimney was too big creating too much draw with it being a ten inch clay lined chimney?????

Place a dollar bill around the loading door and ashpan door in various places. Shut the door and if the bill pulls out then replace the seals. Those furnaces don't have adjustable doors. Use a gasket cement and new rope seals and your good to go.

 

[duckdown777]

Ive been hanging around this site for a while now after my father told me this is the holy grail site on all things wood. I do agree well I am running a hotblast 1557m for about three years now and am pretty happy with it but the couple of questions I have is, I cannot keep the fire going throughout the night if I throw in three good size pieces of locust its out after about 5 to 6 hours I have just coals have my door damper closed all the way and bottom damper almost shut second if anyone has one of these how hot does your plenum get the one that the air runs through im scared im getting it too hot sometime you can only touch it for a couple of seconds.. maybe im not putting enough wood in during the night. I guess im scared to get it too hot. any info would be helped. I also thought my chimney was too big creating too much draw with it being a ten inch clay lined chimney?????

I have been fiddling around with this since winter started ..we just bought the house back in july 2018...at first it burned great but after a mont not so much ..I could keep the blowers running for 8 to 10 hrs without putting anything on it by closing the bottom vet all the way and leaving the setting on the main door just a smidge above low ..it quit being like that after about a month or so ..I decided to change the stove pipe and add a dampner..it was a good call at night with the dampner at 3/4, the heat setting at low and the bottom draft at about 1 1/4 open I get good heat ..I tried burning coal the way it was before but had no luck. Now I'm burning coal with the dampner open, the heat setting at low and the lower draft at 1 1/4 turns open ..I'm still trying to fine tune it and I feel I'm on the right track..Hope this helpa

 

[doubletrouble]

I think what the OP was asking is what temps do the firebox get to. I may be wrong. I have a magnetic thermostat just above the loading door on my Norseman (same as hotblast) and right now I am burning a little hot since it is below zero outside and the temp above the door shows 500° and my black pipe temp (another magnetic thermostat) is about 300-350°. I don't like to run much hotter than this for the same reasons. I don't want to burn the house down. It is putting out great heat right now.
As for night time, when it's this cold I just set an alarm to wake up and check the fire. Normally, when temps aren't this bad. I load it with 4-5 medium splits, getting it burning good before I close down the damper to low for the night with the spinner closed. This leaves me a nice bed of hot coals in the morning to refire. I then burn hot for a bit just to burn off any deposits from the cooler fire overnight.
Hope this helps ya out.