Quadra-Fire Isle Royale installation instructions Operating Instructions, AIR Controls

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Isle Royale Wood Stove

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ BEFORE USING STOVE

BURNING PROCESS

In recent years there has been an increasing concern about air quality. Much of the blame for poor air quality has been placed on the burning of wood for home heating. In order to improve the situation, we at Quadra-Fire have developed cleaner-burning wood stoves that surpass the requirements for emissions established by our governing agencies. These wood stoves, like any other appliances, must be properly operated in order to insure that they perform the way they are designed to perform. Improper operation can turn most any wood stove into a smoldering environmental hazard.

KINDLING or 1st STAGE

It helps to know a little about the actual process of burning in order to understand what goes on inside a stove. The first stage of burning is called the kindling stage. In this stage, the wood is heated to a temperature high enough to evaporate the moisture which is present in all wood. The wood will reach the boiling point of water (212°F / 100C) and will not get any hotter until the water is evaporated. This process takes heat from the coals and tends to cool the stove.

Fire requires three things to burn: fuel, air and heat. So, if heat is robbed from the stove during the drying stage, the new load of wood has reduced the chances for a good clean burn. For this reason, it is always best to burn dry, seasoned firewood. When the wood isn’t dry, you must open the air controls and burn the stove at a high burn setting for a longer time to start it burning. The heat generated from the fire should be warming your home and establishing the flue draft, not evaporating the moisture out of wet, unseasoned wood, resulting in wasted heat.

The air control to the right of the stove is called the Start-Up Air Control; it is used during the kindling stage of burning. It must be closed (pulled out) after the first 5 to 15 minutes. Figure 20A.

2nd STAGE

The next stage of burning, the secondary stage, is the period when the wood gives off flammable gases which burn above the fuel with bright flames. During this stage of burning it is very important that the flames be maintained and not allowed to go out. This will ensure the cleanest possible fire. If you are adjusting your stove for a low burn rate, you should close down the air to the point where you can still maintain some flame. If the flames tend to go out, the stove is set too low for your burning conditions. The air control slide in the center of the stove, beneath the ashcatcher, is the one used to adjust the stove for burn rates. This is called the Primary Air Slide Control.

FINAL STAGE

The final stage of burning is the charcoal stage. This occurs when the flammable gases have been mostly burned and only charcoal remains. This is a naturally clean portion of the burn. The coals burn with hot blue flames.

It is very important to reload your stove while enough lively hot coals remain in order to provide the amount of heat needed to dry and rekindle the next load of wood. It is best to open the air controls for a short while before reloading. This livens up the coalbed. Open door slowly so that ash or smoke does not exit stove through opening. You should also break up any large chunks and distribute the coals so that the new wood is laid on hot coals.

Air quality is important to all of us, and if we choose to use wood to heat our homes we should do so responsibly. To do this we need to learn to burn our stoves in the cleanest way possible. Doing this will allow us to continue using our wood stoves for many years to come.

AIR CONTROLS

START-UP AIR SYSTEM

The combustion air enters at the rear of the firebox through the rear air tubes. This air supply is controlled by the Start- up Air Control. For more air push control in, for less air pull control out.

PRIMARY AIR SYSTEM

The primary air enters below the ash catcher and is directed to the upper front of the firebox, near the top of the glass door and to the lower front of firebox. This preheated air supplies the necessary fresh oxygen to mix with the unburned gases, helping to create secondary, tertiary and quaternary combustions. This air is regulated by the Primary Air Slide Control. For more primary air slide control left, for less air, slide control to the right.

Primary Air	Start-Up Air
Slide Control
	Control
Figure 17A

Primary Slide Control	Start-Up Control
OPEN - SLIDE LEFT	OPEN - PUSH IN
CLOSE - SLIDE RIGHT	CLOSED - PULL OUT

February 4, 2005 250-5763B Page 17