Help!!! I hate my Stovax Stockton 5 MF

km1423

I wonder if anybody out there can help me?

Recently had installed my stove by HETAS engineer. However we seemed to be burning logs very quickly, about 35 mins each, high jets of air coming in and no controls despite shutting everything down.

HETAS guy has been back, and wood rate is now about 1 hour +, so that's great. He installed a part a "clean burn chamber", as I could see drill holes in the back of the stove where air inlets are, and a smoke control kit - with great difficulty, now my top air slider only moves about 1inch if that for total control. Airwash in Centre position is fully closed, to the left fully open, about an inch. Flames are never a golden amber but always yellow flickering tips, plus sounds of rushing air coming in from top air control. Stove is impossible to work with when very windy, logs go out and smoulder. I feel dreadful after pushing to have this installed and now I hate it. I have lost a lot of faith in both stove and installer and so seeking advice, second opinion. Ideas or suggestions appreicated. Thanks:(:(:(:(:(:(

alleycat`

Hi km,

The smoke control kit reduces the ability of the operator to close the top air vent.

This movement reduction on the top slider is very much by design.
It will not help in terms of slowing down the burn rate.
It is designed to make sure a certain amount of air gets into the stove to meet air quality controls.

So the first question would be: Are you in a smoke control area?

If not then i can't see how that kit is going to help you slow down the burn rate and it is probably going to hinder rather than help (if you are suffering excess draw / over firing).

The second question would be:

What sort of chimney do you have and Is it lined?
Was it inspected before installation?

Other questions:-

Was the weather from a certain direction / windy on the nights you were having major problems?

Does the chimney have a flue damper fitted?
Do you have a stove thermometer to see what temperature it is operating at?

Finally, did the person installing the stove go through all the commissioning information with you?
Did they do draw tests, leak tests, etc?

Also, and this isn't meant to sound rude, have you read the instructions?

What are the expected reload times / fuel consumption for the device?

Lots of questions i'm afraid but it'll help get you some answers (hopefully).

You may also want to get an opinion from an independent / locally recommended chimney sweep.

km1423

Hi alleycat, thanks for coming back to me.

yes I am in a Smoke Control Zone.
Brick Chimney - Newly Lined, house was built in 1900.
Chimney was inspected and fireplace was opened up to accommodate stove - all done by company who installed stove.
Commissioning info, by that do you mean how it operates (basic info) how to light etc
Not a stupid question at all - read the manual brief as it is very thoroughly at least 10+ times, and every time I think I may have missed something I read it again. Bought 2year+ hard wood and phurnacite solid fuel.
Stove thermometer fitted, but no flue damper.
Hard to tell which way wind is coming from, tonight is windy as hell. thinking about buying a windsock to see if I can calculate. Something the engineer has asked me to look into is wind direction.
Reload times for wood used to be 35mins, and about 2 hours for coal. Now since rear airlets adjusts, reload for wood in about 1hr 5 mins (average sized log), coal is better, all depends how much I load though, 3 hours if I fill the box.
I was aware that I could not shut the air off totally, but I have about only 1" between fully open and closed now. Is that about correct. I have contacted Stovax to ask about this - but still waiting.

I guess my problems are way down the priority list as the cold weather is here - fitting and installations generate money. My problem won't.

It's awful as I type this I can hear a hurricane coming down the flue. I will try to see if I can get the chimney sweep who swept our chimney and ask their advice. Thank you.:(:(

A._Badger

km1423 wrote: »

Hi alleycat, thanks for coming back to me.

yes I am in a Smoke Control Zone.
Brick Chimney - Newly Lined, house was built in 1900.
Chimney was inspected and fireplace was opened up to accommodate stove - all done by company who installed stove.
Commissioning info, by that do you mean how it operates (basic info) how to light etc
Not a stupid question at all - read the manual brief as it is very thoroughly at least 10+ times, and every time I think I may have missed something I read it again. Bought 2year+ hard wood and phurnacite solid fuel.
Stove thermometer fitted, but no flue damper.
Hard to tell which way wind is coming from, tonight is windy as hell. thinking about buying a windsock to see if I can calculate. Something the engineer has asked me to look into is wind direction.
Reload times for wood used to be 35mins, and about 2 hours for coal. Now since rear airlets adjusts, reload for wood in about 1hr 5 mins (average sized log), coal is better, all depends how much I load though, 3 hours if I fill the box.
I was aware that I could not shut the air off totally, but I have about only 1" between fully open and closed now. Is that about correct. I have contacted Stovax to ask about this - but still waiting.

I guess my problems are way down the priority list as the cold weather is here - fitting and installations generate money. My problem won't.

It's awful as I type this I can hear a hurricane coming down the flue. I will try to see if I can get the chimney sweep who swept our chimney and ask their advice. Thank you.:(:(

I can only add that I think contacting a good sweep is a really smart move. In my experience, installers can be a very mixed bag indeed and I can't see any reason why your were sold a clean burn chamber - it seems quite irrelevant to the problem you're experiencing.

I'm afraid we see far too many posters on this forum suffering at he hands of HETAS installers - to the extent that I've concluded it's a bit of a racket.

My advice would be to consult an experienced sweep, get advice from Stovax and keep pushing for a solution. There's a lot of advice available on this forum, so please keep us posted and good luck!

Going2getanotherAga

Bit of a long shot but is the cleaning plate on the inside roof of the fuel pit closed correctly & a snug fit?.

Kernel_Sanders

km1423 wrote: »

Hard to tell which way wind is coming from, tonight is windy as hell. thinking about buying a windsock to see if I can calculate.

This site shows you which direction the wind will be coming from
http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp?zipcode=PE1

ajpaul

I've got a Stockton 5 too. I have to say, a new log every half hour or so sounds about right to me. When you're not reloading for an hour, are you getting flames, or is the log just smoldering?

Pansy_Potter

Hi,
I am a relative woodburning newbie and have had a similar problem. Best bit of advice I got was to install a woodburning stove thermometer which has helped me a great deal I can now see if I am burning at optimum temperature. Also using it I have realised different types of wood burn at different rates some shoot through without producing much heat and others are more efficient and have a slower burn rate. I thought the problem was my stove but it was down to me not really knowing what I was doing.

Williwoodburner

I find best results when mixing wood types, put 3 or 4 small sticks in and maybe 1 very large log or 2 or 3 smaller ones. Then get it really blazing and temperature right up before closing down a bit.
Let the logs burn down to a bed of glowing embers, then when refueling give the embers a bit of a poke to spread them around before repeating the process.

Regards

Willie.

km1423

A big huge thank you to everybody who has assisted me - bows head in deepest gratitude.

-AJPaul - i used to get 35 mins, now I get an hour+ Only very windy days its the problem with wood smouldering
-Pansy Potter - yep got a stovepipe thermometer (Charnwood), I should have read the signs
-Williwoodburner - great advice, and noted, excellent tip. However I need to cure very strong draught/pull from chimney with flue stabilizer -in process.

I feel once I get the strong flue draught sorted, and the smoke control kit double checked, I may well be on the way to being happy and loving the stovax.

Thank you all again.

km1423

Quick update. A Stovax representative is coming to my home tomorrow (9/12/11) view my stove and check the installation. I will update you on what his professional opinion is.
:j:beer: