Help!!! I hate my Stovax Stockton 5 MF

kada33

Hope you don't mind me butting in on this thread but wondered if anybody can help me with some advice. We had a Brosely Canterbury (11kw) and after two years of complaining, after our HETAS installer carried out more tests, finally got Broseley to admit it was faulty and take it back. There was absolutely no control at all no matter what we did and even the installers could do nothing with it and it gave little heat out.
To cut a long story short, we now have a Stovax Stockton 8 which is controllable and gives out plenty of heat but the problem with this one is that I have to clean the glass every day as it gets completely smoked up and where the log bar is, it is very brown. We know about the type of wood you should use and the moisture etc.. We have it as multi fuel (with an additional kit) but are thinking of taking this kit out and using it just as a woodburner. Unfortunately our installer took away the plate that covers the hole where the riddler is so we are waiting for him to get back to us before we can do this. Has anybody else got this model and having this same problem?

w50nky

I do not have the same stove but I have found when burning solid fuels in my stove I find it helpfull to keep the fuel a little away from the front bar if possible and to allow a little air from the secondary (airwash) control to enter the stove. This helps on my model as glass remains clean.

May be worth a try if the problem is with solid fuel

Regards

suisidevw

KM, What was the outcome of this meeting with Stovax rep?

suki1964

I dont have the same stove but will get a patch of sticky brown if I close the vents down before the fuel is fully alight and its close to the bars

I only have to "polish" the glass with a sheet of newspaper every few days or so - a bit of soot if I dont let the fuel burn hot enough

highrisklowreturn

I get this - only with household doubles though. What I did notice this evening was a large thin sheet across the baffle plate of what I suspect was tar - this formed up and rapidly burnt away under the heat of the fire.

kada33

Thankyou for the replies. We do not burn solid fuel at all that's why it makes sense to remove the kit. Damp newspaper does work well for cleaning the glass (our installer recommended that, with a bit of ash for stubborn marks), but I am fed up with having to do it everyday to stop any build up. I'll keep experimenting....

km1423

Hello everybody who has been so very helpful in assisting me with my Stovax Stockton 5. Finally, about 2 weeks ago we had the long awaited flue damper fitted. Improvements are thus:

-Much better control on rate of burn (wood), yes we now have napalm effect/rolling flames
-Able to maintain a good steady high temperatures easily - 400F
-Improved fuel consumption, a single log lasts about 1 hour 10 mins, and stove is still very hot with charcoal embers. so loading is about 1 hour 25 mins, with temp still at 300F

We are so far very happy with this simple modification.

I hope that this information helps anybody out there who has experienced problems with their Stovax or any other stove in relation to the chimney draw. Read the manual, thoroughly; we had 2 out of 3 symptoms under the excessive draw category. Speak with your installer, chimney sweep.

After all, you have spent a lot of money on this appliance and getting the optimum from it is in my opinion very important.

Thanks to everybody once again.

Bryan22

km1423 wrote: »

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:(:(:(:(:(:(

We too have recently had a Stockton 5 installed and hate it. The only time it burns ok. is if we buy the expensive kiln dried wood and then it does not give out much heat. Anything else just smoulders. We have paid over £2000 for this and isn't as warm as the open fire we had:mad: Had the installers back twice and they say it's because we have a 5 inch flue and therefore need the smoke control. Our last house we had 2 woodburners and could burn anything!

parovo9

interesting reading last few posts re Stovax woodburner. We have had real problems with ours over last few months with Stovax blaming installation company and installation company blaming Stovax. The unit doesn't fire up properly despite having kiln dried logs plus a new 6 inch flue. Having had four other woodburners my feeling is that the unit is poorly designed and manufacturer is reluctant to take any blame, nett result we have an expensive cold metal box in our living room doing nothing...

alleycat`

parovo9 wrote: »

interesting reading last few posts re Stovax woodburner. We have had real problems with ours over last few months with Stovax blaming installation company and installation company blaming Stovax. The unit doesn't fire up properly despite having kiln dried logs plus a new 6 inch flue. Having had four other woodburners my feeling is that the unit is poorly designed and manufacturer is reluctant to take any blame, nett result we have an expensive cold metal box in our living room doing nothing...

I've got a stockton 5, couple of years old and it's fine.

Obviously that is not going to help you but the design isn't massively different to many others on the market (as best i can tell).

When nobody will help you i can see that would be hugely frustrating as they are not cheap investments.

Mine has the multi fuel grate in it but so long as i let an ash bed build up it burns wood ok.

I've had only two issues with the stove/installation:-

First is that stupid defra smoke control vent restriction. On certain windy days that makes the stove much harder to control.

The second is that if the wind comes from a very specific direction and the chimney is cold i can get a blow back effect due to some sort of wind stall.

The cowl i have installed helps that somewhat but doesn't stop it totally (suffered it twice).

On the basis you've had several stoves before.

Were they all on this property / chimney?

If it's the same property can you fit the old stove to the new liner to prove the installation?

If it's a different property then i assume it could be equally affected by the wind direction, local obstructions, etc (trees and the like).

I'm not trying to apologise for stovax, it isn't a perfect stove by any means but it should work reasonably well.