Wood burning stove - what are all these handles for?

money_saving_matt

I've just moved into a new house and it has a wood burning stove, pictured here:

http://imgur.com/VCKMwy0

I've used a WBS before but it only had the "wheel" vent at the bottom. This stove has the same wheel but also a sliding rod at the very bottom of the unit, and another rod that is currently protruding from the unit and doesn't move in any direction (maybe it's jammed)?

Can someone tell me what these two additional rods are for, and should the "stuck" rod slide in and out?

John_the_Boy

Normally with three you have:-

1. Airwash
2. Primary
3. Tertiary

The wheel would be the primary, the tertiary would be the one underneath so the one at the side would be the airwash except this is normally at the top of the stove so I might be wrong

Greenfires

Yes it should.

The wheel control on the door is the primary. The middle one is airwash/secondary. The one sticking out is likely to be a grate riddler. The riddling bars often get jammed particularly when people have been burning chopped up pallets full of nails.

If you're burning wood only, let the ash build up to cover the grate bars, and close the primary control completely once the fire is established, and control the fire with the secondary alone. For smokeless fuel (NOT housecoal - ever!) the grate needs to be kept clear, and the main control to use is the wheel on the door - just keep the secondary cracked open.