Breaking in a new multifuel stove

[Starcoaster]

I am currently in the very messy middle of having my old stove removed and a new one put in. New flue, collar, everything.

This will be my first go with a brand new stove, and also, it is cast iron-I understand that when you get a new one you should use it a few times at low heat to break it in or something?

Can anyone tell me more about this, how to go about it, and if there is anything else I should know?

[canals are us?]

If it's come from a cold warehouse I would leave it in the boat to acclimatise then light it. Personally at the moment it's not cold so just light small fires gradually building up to full output. Have the windows open to let the smoke/smell out during the paint curing process.

 

James.

Edited September 24, 2015 by canals are us?

[Boat&Bikes]

We always warm ours up gently as winter approaches, candles then a few twigs etc. Can't do any harm and its fun.

 

Ian.

[blackrose]

Yes, you've got to season a new cast iron stove. As James says, start with small fires and gradually build up over about a week.

[nicknorman]

Plus, as mentioned, the new paint can smoke a bit once you progress to hotter fires so keep the windows open and don't panic too much if you realise you can't see the other side of the boat.

[tree monkey]

Plus, as mentioned, the new paint can smoke a bit once you progress to hotter fires so keep the windows open and don't panic too much if you realise you can't see the other side of the boat.

^^this plus choose a nice day when you light your first fire, so you can escape outside because the fumes are eye wateringly acrid

[Starcoaster]

The paint smokes? Gah! New information!

Small fires like what, a bit of kindling small, or just small as in not much coal?

Candles, seriously or not?

Can you use a firelighter to get it going, or are they too hot?

When you light it for the first time, can you keep it going if you build up gradually, or should you keep cooling, lighting and doing it like that?

[DeanS]

Star,,,,put in a firelighter, a few sticks, about 8 coals, and let it get going, while you keep your windows open and stay out the boat for about an hour....I think that's what we did.........and keep repeating that till you're happy it's no longer giving off any burning paint smells....you can keep the fire going.....lots of ventilation....eventually it'll settle itself down

[tree monkey]

The paint smokes? Gah! New information!

Small fires like what, a bit of kindling small, or just small as in not much coal?

Candles, seriously or not?

Can you use a firelighter to get it going, or are they too hot?

When you light it for the first time, can you keep it going if you build up gradually, or should you keep cooling, lighting and doing it like that?

I used fire lighters and a few bits of wood and let it burn out first, then add coal and let it go out, just getting bigger fires as I went

3 or 4 smallish fires then just build up to full on winter sized fires

[ditchcrawler]

I used fire lighters and a few bits of wood and let it burn out first, then add coal and let it go out, just getting bigger fires as I went

3 or 4 smallish fires then just build up to full on winter sized fires

Thats the way I would go, scrumpled news paper or fire lighter and half a dozen kindling sticks for first fire

[Starcoaster]

How many times/how long for does the paint make the horrible smoke?

Do all new stoves do this, or just some?

[bizzard]

How many times/how long for does the paint make the horrible smoke?

Do all new stoves do this, or just some?

Some HT paint smells and some don't. It's usually the more glossy rather than matt that smells. If it's a small Chinese made stove it probably won't smell. The two I've installed recently didn't anyway.

[Starcoaster]

AWESOME.

Not glossy, also, Chinese.

[MtB]

I think they are all having a larf with you. Just light the bloody thing as normal!

 

(And retire to the pub while the paint burns off...)

[nicknorman]

AWESOME.

Not glossy, also, Chinese.

In that case, <politically incorrect joke alert!> just make sure you put a coolie hat on the chimney and it will be fine.

 

<well, if it's good enough for the Duke of Edinburgh, it's good enough for me>

[Liam]

As long as you don't blunder in there and light it with a blowtorch you'll be fine.

As long as you remember that it's a room temperature cast iron box and you're going to set it on fire with the usual expansion etc. that goes with heat and you get it going steadily then you'll be fine.

 

I'd suggest keeping your eye on the fire once lit and warming up as it usually takes the stove a while to warm up to the point it started to burn the residual paint off the stove. Doors and windows open and then to the pub :-)

[nb Innisfree]

I would start off by breathing all over it for a few hours then wrap it up in a duvet. Follow this up with a bowl of warm water placed inside and over 24 hours keep warming the water until it's at boiling point, only after a couple of days of this treatment can you progress to candles.

 

Delicate little things they are...

[madcat]

Small fires to settle it in, it's still fairly warm so small fires is enough. Doors and windows open.

 

Keep an eye on it , pub not an option . I've not had any problems with stove paint being smoky but there's always a first time.

 

Hope all goes well , cats need warmth in a safe space.

[Athy]

In that case, just make sure you put a coolie hat on the chimney and it will be fine.

 

Hoorah! Should the door be left open just a chink too?

[Neil Smith]

When I bought my cast stove for home I just lit it with kindling coal and logs and had a roaring fire from the off, that was in 1989 and its still going strong and not even lined with fire bricks, so has anyone done this and wrecked theres.

 

Neil

[nicknorman]

Anyway being slightly sensible for a moment, you just need a modest fire, not too much fuel (dry wood if poss) and moderate draft to start with, and over a few hours gradually increase the stove temperature.

[Sea Dog]

Making sure the jacket spuds are in tinfoil so they don't pick up any fumes. Bonus!

[Starcoaster]

I would start off by breathing all over it for a few hours then wrap it up in a duvet. Follow this up with a bowl of warm water placed inside and over 24 hours keep warming the water until it's at boiling point, only after a couple of days of this treatment can you progress to candles.

 

Delicate little things they are...

 

This is what I am thinking.

[nicknorman]

Incidentally, stove thermometers are useful things (round thing that magnetically sticks to the side of the stove). Either that or, more expensively an eco-fan whose primary purpose is to indicate how hot the stove is by means of the franticness of the otherwise pointless fan rotation.

[Sea Dog]

Ah, but what a lovely indicator!