4300 ACT Wood Stove Series
Page 20
250-7061C December 10, 2004
R
START-UP AIR
CONTROL
PRIMARY AIR
CONTROL
BURNING PROCESS
I
n 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) 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 moisutre out of
wet, unserasoned wood, resulting in wasted heat.
The air control on the right side 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.
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 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 Control.
See Figure 20A.
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.
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ BEFORE USING STOVE
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.
PRIMARY AIR SYSTEM
The primary air enters at the upper front of the firebox, near
the top of the glass door. This preheated air supplies the
necessary fresh oxygen to mix with the unburned gases, help-
ing to create secondary, tertiary and quaternary combustions.
This air is regulated by the Primary AirControl. For more
primary air push control in, for less air pull control out.
OPEN - PUSH IN Rod CLOSE - PULL OUT Rod
AIR CONTROLS
FIGURE 20A
OPERATION OF TWO-STEP DOOR HANDLE
The 4300 is equipped with a two-step door handle. Turn the
door handle counter clockwise and open the door. The door
will open approximately one inch and stop. This allows for
the air flow to stablize and flow up the chimney and helps
prevent smoke spillage into the room. We recommend that
you pause at this stage to allow this to take place. Continue
to turn counter clockwise and now you can completely open
the door for refueling.
See Figure 25A on page 25
for instal-
lation instructions.
