Vermont Castings Seville
Annual Maintenance
Perform a thorough cleaning, inspection and repair each Spring, at the end of the heating season.
•Thoroughly clean the chimney and chimney connec- tor.
•Inspect the chimney for damage and deterioration. Replace weak sections of prefabricated chimney. Have a mason make repairs to a masonry chimney.
•Inspect the chimney connector and replace any damaged sections.
•Clean ash debris from under the primary air plate. See procedure below.
•Check gasketing for wear or compression, and replace if necessary. A 'paper test' will guide you on this. Close and lock the door on a slip of paper and then try to pull the paper out. If the paper pulls out with little or no resistance, the gasket isn't snug enough at that spot. If adjusting the latch doesn't result in a seal that makes it hard to pull the paper out, replace the gasketing.
•Check door handle for tightness. Adjust if needed.
•Check heat shield screws. Tighten as necessary.
•Clean dust from the inner sides of bottom, rear and connector heat shields.
•Remove ashes from the ash pan and replace with moisture absorbing material (such as cat litter) to keep the stove interior dry. Close the stove door to keep cats from using the litter.
•Touch up the paint on black stoves.
Clean the Primary Air Outlet
1.Remove the phillips head screws that retain the Primary Air Plate.
2.Use a screwdriver to pry the plate out of the ce- mented seams.
3.Remove ash debris from the cavity.
4.Use
Draft Management
Your stove is only one part of a system that includes the chimney, the operator, the fuel and the home. The other parts of the system will affect how well the stove works. When there is a good match between all the parts, the stove works well.
Wood stove operation depends on natural (unforced) draft. Natural draft occurs when exhaust gas is hotter (and therefore lighter) than the outdoor air at the top of the chimney. The greater the temperature difference, the stronger the draft. As the hot exhaust gas rises out of the chimney it generates suction that draws air into the stove for combustion. A slow, lazy fire with the stove’s air inlets fully open indicates a weak draft. A brisk fire, supported only by air entering the stove through the normal inlets, indicates a good draft. The inlets are passive; they regulate how much air can enter the stove, but they do not move air into it.
The efficiency of a modern woodburning appliance, (in which the amount of air available for combustion is regulated), depends on the chimney to keep exhaust gases warm all the way outdoors. The characteristics of your chimney - whether it is steel or masonry, interior or exterior, matched or mismatched to the stove collar - determine how quickly it will warm up and how well it will sustain the optimum temperatures necessary to maintain strong draft and efficient combustion. Here follows a description of various flue system character- istics and related effects on stove performance.
Masonry Chimney
Although masonry is the traditional material used for chimney construction, it can have distinct performance disadvantages when used to vent a
-that is, it absorbs and holds heat for long periods of time. The large mass, however, may take a long time to become hot enough to sustain a strong draft. The larger the chimney (in total mass), the longer it will take to warm up. Cold masonry will actually cool exhaust gases enough to diminish draft strength. This problem is compounded if the chimney is located outside the home or if the chimney flue has a
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