by Rainier70 » Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:24 pm
Bob, if you don't mind I will try and answer your questions here on the forum for the benefit of others that may have similar questions.
Bob asked, "When you burn your NuWay stove at night, what do you do for the CO dangers? Do you crack a window? Run your vent?"
I have burned my stove all night, and I am sure I will again on some future trips. If it isn't really cold I will just light it early in the morning and maybe for a bit in the evening before I go to bed. Since I insulated my floor I usually only burn it in the mornings.
I always have a vent open. It keeps everything fresher and drier. Just breathing puts out a lot of moisture that needs to be vented. There is also a 1 1/2 inch opening right by the stove that the gas line comes in. Then there is the gap around my door. My side door does not seal tight on the inside latch, and occasionally I will have a window on the lee side of the trailer cracked open. So plenty of air coming in.
Since it isn't a sealed stove there is always a faint possibility of CO. I have a CO monitor, and I am very careful about being sure that it is drawing properly. I also taped all of the stovepipe joints especially the elbow where it turns to go through the wall. ...aluminum tape.
When I was having wind problems I didn't run it while sleeping. A flickering flame or getting blown out are indications that the wind is backdrafting the exhaust slightly. Not good.. that is a possible source of a small amount of CO escaping into the room. The monitor never did register any at all, and my hypersensitive lungs didn't notice any exhaust either, but always best to be safe. That is why I was testing my exhaust in the gale force winds were were having last week.
When I first got my stove I ran some tests on my thermocouple to make sure it was working. I ran it with a really low flame then blew out the flame myself...the thermocouple shut the gas off immediately. Good to know that the valve is working properly. Always make sure you are getting good draw on your exhaust. When a propane stove blows out the thermocouple shuts off the gas.... End of any exhaust or leaking propane gas.
Last thought, the NuWay stove would be very easy to modify and seal the firebox to use outside air for combustion. A piece of metal across the bottom with a 2 inch pipe nipple and metal flex pipe from that and through a vent in the floor.
Bob also asked about this:
"I noticed in one of your NuWay photos you showed the burning chamber. It is a chamber with the exhaust going off to the side and then up. I wonder if one could add the typical fireplace logs in there and let them warm up. Then as the flame dies down, the warmth of the logs could then give off heat for a period of time, thereby cutting the gas burning time."
The firebox is quite small. You might be able to get the ceramic in there, but I don't think it would be very efficient. Slim fire bricks along the insides might also work. But how will you keep that stuff from bashing around in there and doing damage when you travel? You want to be careful also that you aren't tricking your thermocoupler into thinking there is heat when the flame is out.
The heat retention is by mass, so you would be adding weight also. I don't think you will get enough mass there to have the effect last very long. A home propane stove has not only the ceramic logs and stuff in the firebox, it has much thicker metal in the firebox, cast iron frame, glass grills, and so on....basically a lot of mass besides the logs that retains the heat when the flame cycles off.
I have a covered 2 or 3 qt pot of water that sits on the top of the stove and heats up when the stove is running. It stays warm for quite awhile. I don't really use it as a heat retention device, but it does act in that capacity. The water is weight that I carry anyway and use for my shower in the morning. A metal water container next to the stove would probably give you more mass to heat than the ceramic logs.
, 
.
and am hoping to get that way before it gets too hot ... I need a fix on the desert and the sweet smell of sage in the morning 
