# PE Alderlea T6 Learning Curve and Observations



## certified106 (Apr 1, 2011)

Well so much for waiting until Sunday.......I took a half day and got the T6 moved in this afternoon. 
First break in fire is in progress and being able to actually see the fire is awesome!
First picture is the old Dutchwest the rest are the new addition to the family.


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## leeave96 (Apr 1, 2011)

Very nice!

Bill


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## pen (Apr 1, 2011)

Great looking stove there.  Anxious to hear how to heats compared to the dutchwest.

Now you need to update your profile!

pen


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## begreen (Apr 1, 2011)

Looks like you're off to a good start. Have a nice warm weekend.


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## VCBurner (Apr 1, 2011)

Wow, Cert, your old DW still looked great huh?  Too bad you couldn't see the fire in those older DW's, the new ones stay clear with dry wood.  I'm gonna give mine a paint job this year when the last fire has gone out.  I had a inner sole of a boot fall on the top and just partially melt on it.  Luckily it was only from a small kids boot!  

The T6 looks great in its place, thanks for the pics.  Could you send us one that shows the slide out trivets open as well as the front?  I think that's one of the coolest stove tricks ever!


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## maxed_out (Apr 2, 2011)

sweet stove!


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## certified106 (Apr 2, 2011)

Vcburner I will post some more pics tomorrow unfortunately I am at a water park party today with 57 four year olds. Man I wish I was sitting in front of my stove in peace and quiet right now.


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## VCBurner (Apr 2, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

> Vcburner I will post some more pics tomorrow unfortunately I am at a water park party today with 57 four year olds. Man I wish I was sitting in front of my stove in peace and quiet right now.


 :lol:  I know how you feel, we are sort of home bodies around here too!  Especially when you have a new toy to play with.  Enjoy your party though, I'm sure they will!   We have four boys and one due in May, so there's never a dull moment here either.  They are 10,9,7 and the youngest just turned 5.  The 7 year old is at a martial arts party and I just got back from an indoor soccer game with the 9 year old, they came back from 3-1 to win 5-4!  What a nail biter! :gulp:


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## certified106 (Apr 3, 2011)

Ok, so update on the T6. I started the third break in fire this morning (the last two barely got the stove top to 250) and made it slightly larger as I was instructed to. It consisted of some small pine kindling and a couple of thicker than kindling chunks of oak. Once the fire was started I added two medium chunks of oak and a largish piece of poplar (we are talking 12" long) and let it catch. The stove hit about 350 and I started shutting it down (all this occured in about 25 minutes) and noticed the secondary's were firing. Fairly long burst followed by a little pause and another fairly long burst this has been going on for about 15 minutes and the stovetop settled in at just under 400. Is this normal? I expected from everything I have read on secondary combustion that you have to burn the stove hard an hot to get them to light off but that's not what I just saw. Heck my cat would not have even been close to getting warmed up at this point! Last observation I have from my very limited experience is that the flame path is really weird in the firebox. I had my concerns with an open flue passage in the front of the firebox that flames would be getting sucked up the chimney easily however it appears that the flames are pulled to the rear of the firebox so I guess it must just be the way that they have the supply air flowing into the firebox. I can't wait to actually get to do a medium sized fire this evening and see what this thing will do as of yet I have not even had a 1/4 of the firebox filled with loose stacked splits and very low fire.

Edit: The stovetop settled in at 439 to 452 depending on where you measured it and the secondarys started going from long burst to sustained and floating in the top of the box I haven't added any more wood and it has been burning those three small splits for about an hour and so far I'm impressed there is no smoke out of the chimney. I'm thinking about breaking this post off to start a differnet thread to document my learning curve and review of the stove.


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## Mt Ski Bum (Apr 3, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

> Ok, so update on the T6. I started the third break in fire this morning (the last two barely got the stove top to 250) and made it slightly larger as I was instructed to. It consisted of some small pine kindling and a couple of thicker than kindling chunks of oak. Once the fire was started I added two medium chunks of oak and a largish piece of poplar (we are talking 12" long) and let it catch. The stove hit about 350 and I started shutting it down (all this occured in about 25 minutes) and noticed the secondary's were firing. Fairly long burst followed by a little pause and another fairly long burst this has been going on for about 15 minutes and the stovetop settled in at just under 400. Is this normal? I expected from everything I have read on secondary combustion that you have to burn the stove hard an hot to get them to light off but that's not what I just saw. Heck my cat would not have even been close to getting warmed up at this point! Last observation I have from my very limited experience is that the flame path is really weird in the firebox. I had my concerns with an open flue passage in the front of the firebox that flames would be getting sucked up the chimney easily however it appears that the flames are pulled to the rear of the firebox so I guess it must just be the way that they have the supply air flowing into the firebox. I can't wait to actually get to do a medium sized fire this evening and see what this thing will do as of yet I have not even had a 1/4 of the firebox filled with loose stacked splits and very low fire.
> 
> Edit: The stovetop settled in at 439 to 452 depending on where you measured it and the secondarys started going from long burst to sustained and floating in the top of the box I haven't added any more wood and it has been burning those three small splits for about an hour and so far I'm impressed there is no smoke out of the chimney. I'm thinking about breaking this post off to start a differnet thread to document my learning curve and review of the stove.



Would love to see some pics of those secondairies if you have 'em!


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## madison (Apr 3, 2011)

Mt Ski Bum said:
			
		

> Would love to see some pics of those secondairies if you have 'em!



https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/495668/


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## VCBurner (Apr 3, 2011)

Hello Certified,

Nice to hear things seem to be just fine.  I'm very curious about your findings with the new stove.  Sounds like the thing works huh?  I bet the secondary flames are great.  You could go back and edit the title of your thread for those who have been following it to continue to get updated with your new findings.  I did this with my Dutchwest thread, everything is in there from the day it came home to new experiences today!  I think this gives people a more comprehensive look at a particular stove in one thread.  It may help people who are researching a certain stove to get all sorts of information.  Just a thought.  Good luck, glad things are going well!


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## certified106 (Apr 4, 2011)

VCBurner said:
			
		

> Wow, Cert, your old DW still looked great huh?  Too bad you couldn't see the fire in those older DW's, the new ones stay clear with dry wood.  I'm gonna give mine a paint job this year when the last fire has gone out.  I had a inner sole of a boot fall on the top and just partially melt on it.  Luckily it was only from a small kids boot!
> 
> The T6 looks great in its place, thanks for the pics.  Could you send us one that shows the slide out trivets open as well as the front?  I think that's one of the coolest stove tricks ever!



Yeah the Dutchwest looked great because last fall I drug it out on the deck, wire brushed it, repainted it, and replaced all the gaskets. Even thought it's probably just a personal taste issue I repainted the stove in a glossier black than normal and neither my wife or I liked it we much preferred the flat black. Sorry I still haven't gotten the pictures I promised but I spent all day bucking wood and when I came in last night I grabbed the camera but the battery's were dead so maybe tonight.
Were you able to get the melted boot off the Dutchwest?


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## raybonz (Apr 4, 2011)

Hey Cert very nice stove! Your old Dutchwest looked very good as well! Enjoy!

Ray


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## certified106 (Apr 4, 2011)

"*PS: If you decide to get a probe, I would try to get an older style Condar 3-19 while they are still available. Recent tests on the new 3-39 probe indicate it reads quite high. 
http://www.starbrickstoves.com/acatalog/Flue_Gas_Thermometer_CON-3-19.html* "

Begreen,  I ordered the flue probe you suggested above and the directions say at least 18" above the stove so I was just curious where you had yours installed. 
Anyone else feel free to chime in here if you have an opinion on where in the flue it should be installed


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## begreen (Apr 4, 2011)

20" above the stove top.


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## Highbeam (Apr 5, 2011)

I put mine in at 15". I actually called and talked to Condar and they said something to the effect of, "it don't matta nun son". Obviously a southern company.


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## certified106 (Apr 5, 2011)

Thanks for the input guys, I went about 18" on mine due to a stovepipe joint. I also did the fourth and final break fire in last night. Fourth fire was 5 small splits (barely enough to splits to even cover the bottom of the firebox) stacked in the center of the stove with one fire starter. Anyways it took the stove top to 550-570F with my flue temps running about 450 on the flue probe. Had really nice secondaries going with the air shut down on low after about 15 minutes into the burn. Fairly impressed that the fire lasted from 6 pm to 10:30 when I went upstairs and was still going with somewhere about 1/3 of the load  still burning and the stove top still at 550F. I cna't imagine what this thing will do with a full load in the middle of the winter. When I got up this morning there were a couple of red coals when moving the ash around (not enough to start a fire) and the stove top was still 110. 

A few observations during this final break in fire:
1) this stove heats up quicker than my old Dutchwest
2) It radiates heat much better than my old stove in fact so much better that I don't think I will have to run the blower as much as I used to. 
3) I has a strange rushing air sound at the back of the stove that I can't pinpoint where it's coming from. Is this Normal? I checked my stovepipe and couldn't find any air leaks. Am I hearing secondary air rushing into the stove?

Final couple of questions for those with PE stoves: 
1) Where exactly is the secondary air intake located at? I looked under the stove and saw the EBT hole and the primary air hole but as of yet I have been unsuccessful in locating the secondary air.
2) what are the normal flue temps on this stove? I have never had a probe in the flue before so not real sure what I should be looking for temp wise.


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## begreen (Apr 5, 2011)

Good to hear that it's performing well for you. Now it's time to put some good sized splits and let that stove rock and roll.  Yes, that is air you are hearing as it rushes past the partially closed air intake. It's normal when the air supply is closed down.

The secondary air intake is located at the back, bottom of the stove. Our flue temps peak up to about 7-800F when first starting the stove with a full load of wood, but settle down to 4-500F when the air is reduced and secondary combustion kicks in. Stove top temps will depend on the wood load. With a full load it's not uncommon for it to want to cruise at 700F for an hour or two.


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## leeave96 (Apr 5, 2011)

How about some pics of that T6 in full burn action?

I know - I know - I need to post some pics of my Keystone - just ain't good enough with these 'puters ... yet 

Thanks,
Bill


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## certified106 (Apr 5, 2011)

leeave96 said:
			
		

> How about some pics of that T6 in full burn action?
> 
> I know - I know - I need to post some pics of my Keystone - just ain't good enough with these 'puters ... yet
> 
> ...



Hopefully tonight since it hasn't been over 40 today and supposed to get down to 27 tonight plus break in fires are over. This is probably the only year you will see me get excited about 27 degrees in April. How do you like Englander?


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## VCBurner (Apr 5, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

> Were you able to get the melted boot off the Dutchwest?


The insole out of one of my kids boots fell on it and left a small mark on the top.  The mark is still on it , but I'll repaint the top this summer as well as front and sides.  The rest of the stove doesn't need it, but I want it all to match.  I also want to paint the inner top inside the convection chaimber to give the color back to it.


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## raybonz (Apr 5, 2011)

VCBurner said:
			
		

> certified106 said:
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Chris did you get the private message I sent a couple days ago? It has a link with a vacustack on it (along with piping).. Thought you may be interested..

Ray


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## VCBurner (Apr 5, 2011)

Ray,
Yes, I'll send you a PM reply right now!


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## certified106 (Apr 6, 2011)

VCBurner said:
			
		

> Wow, Cert, your old DW still looked great huh?  Too bad you couldn't see the fire in those older DW's, the new ones stay clear with dry wood.  I'm gonna give mine a paint job this year when the last fire has gone out.  I had a inner sole of a boot fall on the top and just partially melt on it.  Luckily it was only from a small kids boot!
> 
> The T6 looks great in its place, thanks for the pics.  Could you send us one that shows the slide out trivets open as well as the front?  I think that's one of the coolest stove tricks ever!



Here you go, I finally got around to it.


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## leeave96 (Apr 6, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

> leeave96 said:
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I haven't hooked it up.  That will come late Summer after the addition is finished.

Great looking stove you got!

Bill


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## certified106 (Apr 6, 2011)

Finally loaded it just a little over half full much more and I think it would run us out of the place. Flue temps seemed a little high 750. It jumped from 500 to 750 really quick and even with the primary all the way down for a good 30 minutes it is still hanging around that temp (stove top is 700) so I'm not sure if I didn't start shutting it down soon enough. Does the fan help lower the flue temp much on this stove? I have never had a flue temperature probe in the chimney and I'm used to seeing the stick on magnetic thermometer on the outside of my single wall pipe hover around 300 to 400 (anyone know what that equates to for an internal temp). Another thing I noticed is with more of a load and longer pieces of wood the load really wants to burn at the front of the firebox during the beginning stages of the burn which causes the flames to lick up towards the flue exit and be pulled over the top of the baffle.


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## begreen (Apr 6, 2011)

Nice shots. Is there some locust or Osage Orange in there? If the stove was hot on the refill you could be seeing some EBT action there, burning off the excess outgassing. 

How are the room temps? Think you'll make it through next winter?


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## raybonz (Apr 6, 2011)

Very nice pics Cert! Gotta say those secondary burns are rather mesmerizing to watch.. Are there cat stoves that give a similar fire show? Need to redo my hearth before I can consider another stove and it could be tricky as my hearth abuts an irregular shaped chimney.. Not sure how to approach this yet but it sure would be much easier if it had flat stone instead of field stone (this chimney has a cultured stone on it).. I think you're gonna like that stove and forget you ever had a Dutchwest!

Ray


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## skinanbones (Apr 6, 2011)

you can double the surface temperature and be really close to what a probe would be reading.  So at 400 surface you should be about 800 inside.  The P.E. stove will turn on the secondaries at about 550-600 inside temp or about 275-300 on surface temp.  Don't be afraid to let that stove run either, been pretty common to run 900- 1000 inside temp on all my P.E. even had to up to 1800-1900 inside temp one time and there's no damage done.


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## certified106 (Apr 6, 2011)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> Nice shots. Is there some locust or Osage Orange in there? If the stove was hot on the refill you could be seeing some EBT action there, burning off the excess outgassing.
> 
> How are the room temps? Think you'll make it through next winter?



The stove was fairly warm and had about an inch of good hot coals on the bottom at the reload time. I checked the EBT about 40 minutes into the burn and it was about a third of the way open while the temps were up in the flue (not real sure what to think about that). No Osage Orange, I don't even think I have had the pleasure of cutting any of that wood. The only thing I had in there was 4 year old red oak and one chunk of white pine. When I am loading on a bed fairly good bed of coals and the wood catches easily should I shut the air back almost immediately?

Room temp was getting up there around 77 I think. Let me tell you what that stove will put off serious heat I have a really hard time imagining stuffing that fire box full and letting it go to town. I will say that inspite of it seeming like it was going to burn the whole load down in an hour it easily went 9 hours without a problem and I think it could have went 11 without a problem. I loaded it up at 9:30pm went to bed at 12:00am and it seemed like it had burnt a substantial amount flue temps were at 620 and stove top was 725. I got up at 6:30 and there were still big glowing chunks on the side of the stove and the whole bottom of the stove had orange glowing coals. Flue temps this morning were 200 and the stove top was still almost 300. It took about 5 minutes to have the wood lit off and 15 minutes before I shut it down and walked away. This morning I brought the air down in more stages and more quickly. It was a four split fire and the stove top settled in at 600 with the flue probe running about 500 which seemed a little more reasonable to me.


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## certified106 (Apr 6, 2011)

Just in case anyone wonders I changed the name of this thread to more accurately represent what it is about. I also thought it might be easier for others searching for PE experiences to find this thread when searching the forums.


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## begreen (Apr 6, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

> BeGreen said:
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It depends on the wood, the wood species, dryness and size. If the pine wasn't in there I would expect to have it open for maybe a minute before closing it down in steps, maybe 50% for a few minutes, then all the way. I would not mix in pine unless the coal bed has really died down. Save the pine for shoulder season burning and fire starting. And it depends on how hot the coal bed is. I like to let the coals die down a bit more before reloading with the stovetop at about 300F. 



> Room temp was getting up there around 77 I think. Let me tell you what that stove will put off serious heat I have a really hard time imagining stuffing that fire box full and letting it go to town. I will say that inspite of it seeming like it was going to burn the whole load down in an hour it easily went 9 hours without a problem and I think it could have went 11 without a problem. I loaded it up at 9:30pm went to bed at 12:00am and it seemed like it had burnt a substantial amount flue temps were at 620 and stove top was 725. I got up at 6:30 and there were still big glowing chunks on the side of the stove and the whole bottom of the stove had orange glowing coals. Flue temps this morning were 200 and the stove top was still almost 300. It took about 5 minutes to have the wood lit off and 15 minutes before I shut it down and walked away. This morning I brought the air down in more stages and more quickly. It was a four split fire and the stove top settled in at 600 with the flue probe running about 500 which seemed a little more reasonable to me.



You're burning hardwood, so you will see different burn times, coals and heat than I do. It sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Enjoy!


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## oldspark (Apr 6, 2011)

Cert106, what is your chimney setup, size, length, any 90's, just cant get my summit  past 600 or so and am wondering if I need to redo my stack.


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## certified106 (Apr 6, 2011)

oldspark said:
			
		

> Cert106, what is your chimney setup, size, length, any 90's, just cant get my summit  past 600 or so and am wondering if I need to redo my stack.



6" flue 6' of double wall then Class A all the way up from there. The chimney is an interior chimney straight up 27' no offsets or elbows. I can't imagine not being able to get this stove to 600 as I was hitting 600 with a 4-5 split small fire and the primary air all the way down. At this point I'm more concerned with whether I can control it with a full load.

Edit: I should add that where I was reading the stove top temps in the above post from last night was 700 I took a few other readings later on and other spots were between 700 and 740.


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## leeave96 (Apr 6, 2011)

I am very impressed with these PE stoves.  At first glance, I was turned off by a steel stove with a cast iron jacket - it kind of struck me as a bit artifical.  Why have steel inside cast iron - why not just have a cast iron stove in the first place.

But from a DYI standpoint, it's pretty easy (at least for me) to weld-up a crack in the firebox - not so easy with cast iron.  So with the looks of cast iron, the durability of an all welded (and heavy duty) steel box, large window, N/S loading - I'm thinking I could own one of these T6 stoves down the road.  We have a dealer that stocks them some 40ish miles from my house.

But for now, it's going to be the Woodstock Keystone and Englander 30.

Great stove, great thread.

Bill


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## certified106 (Apr 6, 2011)

leeave96 said:
			
		

> I am very impressed with these PE stoves.  At first glance, I was turned off by a steel stove with a cast iron jacket - it kind of struck me as a bit artifical.  Why have steel inside cast iron - why not just have a cast iron stove in the first place.
> 
> But from a DYI standpoint, it's pretty easy (at least for me) to weld-up a crack in the firebox - not so easy with cast iron.  So with the looks of cast iron, the durability of an all welded (and heavy duty) steel box, large window, N/S loading - I'm thinking I could own one of these T6 stoves down the road.  We have a dealer that stocks them some 40ish miles from my house.
> 
> ...



I hear you on the steel firebox and the cast outside at first I was like what is the point in that. However so far I will say the extra mass is great and helps hold heat as well as even it out. As far as the steel firebox goes I figure it's lifetime gaurantee so if I do have a problem with a weld PE will take care of it.

It seems like the Englander 30 has great reviews on this site and people love it so I'm sure you will to. I actually thought about getting one instead of the PE but I got a good deal and I like the look of the cast iron more (actually it's more my wifes preference) since it goes with the decor. I am looking forward to hearing your review of the 30 next year. Running this stove definitely has a different feel to it than my previous cat stove, case in point I let it get to fired up last night on a reload as I'm used to having to really have the wood blazing before engaging the cat so the draft stays strong. I had much better results shutting it down quicker this morning and the secondary's still caught fine giving me alot longer lower burn than when I got the whole load blazing and then shut it down.


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## snowtime (Apr 6, 2011)

With a good chimney the T6 will get to some impressive stove top highs like 800 to 900. If you want to control the temp but want long burns let the stove top temp get to 300 or below before loading large splits and close air off as soon as bottom splits start burning. You are not looking for a smoldering fire you are looking for the lowest setting that will give you a quality fire.  Every install is different but you will get the hang of it.
 Personally I covered up the ebt as I did not like its action. The stove burns clean at high temps even without the ebt.


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## begreen (Apr 6, 2011)

900F is too hot. Turn out the lights and you may see a dull glow around the flue collar. If the stove is getting that hot it needs the draft or air intake restricted more.


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## snowtime (Apr 9, 2011)

As I said 800 t0 900. That means when it's running hard it's usually at 850 or so. No glow here. We are off grid and run the stove in a dark room all the time. If this stove wasn't a welded steel fire box then I would worry. One of the reasons I bought this stove is it's strength and resistance to high temps. Now if I had one of the glued stoves I would be feeling it's deterioration every time it got hot.
 Of course we only run the stove hard when its cold out. I keep a good eye on it and looks like this stove is built right.


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## oldspark (Apr 10, 2011)

I am not so sure I want to fix my chimney as the wife will burn the house down, I am being serious here.


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## flhpi (Apr 10, 2011)

I have had my T6 since last December and it has been great.  I did notice that I could not turn it down enough though.  The ash door was covered and I adjusted my door but the fire would still burn too hot and fast.  I ended up doing a modification on the air inlet on the bottom of the stove.  This lets me restrict more air.  The mod worked great for me.  I have checked the stove pipe for excess build up and it is clean.  The corner of the glass will get dark then burn off when I increase temps.  Well worth the effort.
Congrats on the new stove.  I really like mine.


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## begreen (Apr 10, 2011)

oldspark said:
			
		

> I am not so sure I want to fix my chimney as the wife will burn the house down, I am being serious here.



Give it a rest sparky. Do you want more heat or not? If not, why an entire winter of grumbling?


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## certified106 (Apr 10, 2011)

flhpi said:
			
		

> I have had my T6 since last December and it has been great.  I did notice that I could not turn it down enough though.  The ash door was covered and I adjusted my door but the fire would still burn too hot and fast.  I ended up doing a modification on the air inlet on the bottom of the stove.  This lets me restrict more air.  The mod worked great for me.  I have checked the stove pipe for excess build up and it is clean.  The corner of the glass will get dark then burn off when I increase temps.  Well worth the effort.
> Congrats on the new stove.  I really like mine.



I appreciate your posts on the PE from earlier this year and they weighed in on my decision to purchase the T6. So far I have been pleased with what I have seen from the little I have burned it. Just curious what kind of burn times you are getting with the modifed air setup.


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## flhpi (Apr 11, 2011)

I get around 12 hours. That is fully loaded with hardwood like red oak and locust. When I get home there are red hot coals to mix around and get it going again. It varies with the type of wood and how much ash I have in the bottom of the stove.  My house is older and has been added onto several times.  It isnt the most air tight house I have seen.  Because of this my temp in the house can vary from 78-65 degrees.  

When I did the mod I used my dremel tool with a cutting disc on it.  The plate that covers the air inlet would not close due to the metal stop hanging down from the stove.  I just notched out my adjustment plate and now I can dial back the air.  My stove has the air sucking sound too.  Almost like a furnace but cheaper.


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## certified106 (Apr 13, 2011)

flhpi said:
			
		

> I get around 12 hours. That is fully loaded with hardwood like red oak and locust. When I get home there are red hot coals to mix around and get it going again. It varies with the type of wood and how much ash I have in the bottom of the stove.  My house is older and has been added onto several times.  It isnt the most air tight house I have seen.  Because of this my temp in the house can vary from 78-65 degrees.
> 
> When I did the mod I used my dremel tool with a cutting disc on it.  The plate that covers the air inlet would not close due to the metal stop hanging down from the stove.  I just notched out my adjustment plate and now I can dial back the air.  My stove has the air sucking sound too.  Almost like a furnace but cheaper.



Thanks I appreciate the info. so far I haven't really gotten the chance to stretch my T6's legs so most of that info and posting will have to wait until next year but so far I have found the stove very easy to burn and operate.


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## certified106 (Apr 13, 2011)

So last night it got down it was going to get down in the 30's and barely hit 42Â° all day. Needless to say I hurried home from work so I could get one more burn in on T6. Started with a small 4 split fire that burned down to 350Â° stovetop by 9:30 last night. I then put two large splits EW on the bed of coals and three 12"x3-4" splits NW on top of the long ones (all this wood was tucked into the back of the firebox). After putting the wood in I left the air control all the way open until the wood started to catch (we are not talking about many active flames), I then started shutting the air down in increments as soon as I noticed the wood was starting to flame up more at the new air setting. This process was performed 3 times over a period of maybe 15 minutes and the results were outstanding. I ended up with wood that was barely burning with very tiny amount of active flames on the wood but yet the whole top of the firebox was full of secondary combustion flaming down towards the wood.  The stove top temps were about 600 and the flue was running 550 so the temps seemed pretty reasonable and the fire show was awesome with huge long jets of wavy flames coming down from the top of the baffle. The burn time seemed reasonable also as I reloaded at 9:30 and at 6:30 there was still a couple of 4" in diameter coals glowing in the back of the stove and half a firebox of small orange glowing coals with completely clean glass. The only problem with this stove is I end up staying up way to late being completely mesmerized by the fire show and it makes me feel like I am wasting my wood if I'm not sitting there staring at it hahaha. I am still amazed at how quickly the secondary combustion kicks in and starts burning cleanly and my wife has even commented on the fact that the CAT took way longer than that to get lit off (probably just due to how old my stove was). If I had neighbors they would probably wonder why the next door idiot has spent so much time staring at his chimney in the last two weeks


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## madison (Apr 13, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

> The only problem with this stove is I end up staying up way to late being completely mesmerized by the fire show and it makes me feel like I am wasting my wood if I'm not sitting there staring at it hahaha.



a little allman brothers, grateful dead, or phish @ livephish.com amplifies the experience


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## VCBurner (Apr 17, 2011)

Hello Certified,

I haven't been around as much as I was in the winter, but, I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts about the T6.  I'm glad you decided to keep all the posts on your new stove in one thread.  People will get a much more comprehensive look at experiences you have with the stove and you'll find yourself reading your thread over and over again.  I do it every time the burning season starts to remind myself of everything that I've learned about the stove!  Thanks for the picture with the trivets out.  The stove looks great and sounds great too!  

Take care, 
Chris


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## Bigg_Redd (Apr 17, 2011)

pen said:
			
		

> Great looking stove there. * Anxious to hear how to heats compared to the dutchwest.*
> 
> Now you need to update your profile!
> 
> pen



Is there any doubt or question in your mind?


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## VCBurner (Apr 17, 2011)

Bigg_Redd said:
			
		

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Lets keep in mind that he had an older version of the DW that may have needed a rebuild in order to be able to compete with the newer version of the Dutchwest!  Yes the T6 is a great stove, but overgeneralizing is uncalled for in this world of wood burning.  We all have so many different experiences with our own stoves and I'm glad for Certified, that he went with the T6 and we can all benefit from his learning curve!


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## certified106 (Apr 17, 2011)

VCBurner said:
			
		

> Lets keep in mind that he had an older version of the DW that may have needed a rebuild in order to be able to compete with the newer version of the Dutchwest!  Yes the T6 is a great stove, but overgeneralizing is uncalled for in this world of wood burning.  We all have so many different experiences with our own stoves and I'm glad for Certified, that he went with the T6 and we can all benefit from his learning curve!



Chris, good to hear from you again as I was about to send you a PM to see if you were still alive and make sure things were ok  . I understand having down times on the forums though as this winter I had about 6 weeks were I was still reading but didn't post much for various reason. I do have some thoughts on the T6 so far that I will post a litlle later on mainly because I want to organize them and make sure it comes out right. It has been a very different experience so far not bad but different for sure and my wife still thinks I'm nuts analyzing every little nuance of the stove  haha. My old DW did have issues but I did have it pretty air tight it was just a pain to keep it that way if you used the ashpan door or front doors at all. Last fall I actually scraped and recemented most of the seems that I could easily get to and checked it over very thouroughly. I'm not sure it burns to much different than the new ones as the only thing that has really changed much is the air wash  and compared to my parents new DW with airwash it had a little bit longer burn time since they have a large version so it seemed on par with what I expected from it. I will say this so far the new stove for sure has a lot more top end btu wise and for what it's worth, be it good or bad, it's not hard to get it there. Hopefully some day down the road this thread will help somone out for whatever reason as I'm going to try to give this review in the most fair and balanced way possible when I finally compare both stoves in a side by side post.


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## begreen (Apr 17, 2011)

I went through similar thoughts after the Castine. We really loved that stove. The T6 was the first steel bodied stove I had had since an early Ashley tin can in the early 70's. It was after the first serious cold spell without power that my perspective really changed. The T6 cruised us through cold weather and brought overnight comfort without getting up at 0-dark-thirty for refilling. Woke up at a normal hour and the house was comfortable. After that, my objectivity was lost. The fact that it can do this and yet still be a reasonable shoulder season burner has made me a pretty happy camper.


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## leeave96 (Apr 17, 2011)

I'm looking forward to the comparisons, especially cat vs non-cat - not one is better than the other, but general burning differences/observations.  I'll be posting the same when I get my Englander 30 installed this fall.

If the Englander works out from a stove size, steel box and non-cat stove standpoint, if we swap it out later for a more decorative stove, the T6 would be near the top of the list.  Before getting the Englander, I had considered an enameled PE Summit Classic, but I think I like the cast jacket on the T6 better - just wish you could get that enameled.

I was talking with my brother about these woodstoves as a whole and I recall when buying my Woodstock Keystone, reading very few negative reviews with the Woodstock stoves - other than someone bought a stove to small for their house.  Now that I think of it, I don't recall reading any negative reviews on the PE Alderlea stoves.

Happy burning!
Bill


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## VCBurner (Apr 18, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

> Chris, good to hear from you again as I was about to send you a PM to see if you were still alive and make sure things were ok  .  :lol: *Thanks Cert, we are all fine except my back! :cheese: I'm up at Holy Cross College hanging drywall ceilings, abuse resistant board nonetheless!  For those who aren't familiar with hanging board, those 12' sheets of 5/8 abuse board are extremely heavy, especially when you're holding them over your head! :gulp: * I do have some thoughts on the T6 so far that I will post a litlle later on mainly because I want to organize them and make sure it comes out right. It has been a very different experience so far not bad but different for sure and my wife still thinks I'm nuts analyzing every little nuance of the stove  haha. *Thanks for the response Cert, I've always been a big fan of the Alderlea series.*My old DW did have issues but I did have it pretty air tight it was just a pain to keep it that way if you used the ashpan door or front doors at all. Last fall I actually scraped and recemented most of the seems that I could easily get to and checked it over very thouroughly. I'm not sure it burns to much different than the new ones as the only thing that has really changed much is the air wash  and compared to my parents new DW with airwash it had a little bit longer burn time since they have a large version so it seemed on par with what I expected from it.*You're right about the old vs. new DW's not being too different, there are only a few changes in air supply and a refractory added to the new one surrounding the cat.  The new ones have the primary air which creates an air wash and the cat air.  But the secondary chamber is much like the older series of DW's.  I think the technology built in to the T6 is much more innovative.* I will say this so far the new stove for sure has a lot more top end btu wise and for what it's worth, be it good or bad, it's not hard to get it there. Hopefully some day down the road this thread will help somone out for whatever reason as I'm going to try to give this review in the most fair and balanced way possible when I finally compare both stoves in a side by side post.



Thanks for the informative posts Cert, 
Burn on!

Chris


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## certified106 (Oct 5, 2011)

So I had to dig this thread back up......
So after a year of being on this forum I finally decided to start a top down fire last night and I gotta say I was really happy with the results. Don't knock me to hard for how crappy I stack/throw the wood in stove but hey I was skeptical how it was gonna work and next time I will set it up a little bit nicer. You can see in the photo that I stacked the wood pretty high so the flame off of the fire starter was immediately licking against the baffle in the top of the stove. Here is where I got pretty stoked (I know it's a bad pun) in under 5 minutes you could see secondaries coming out of the baffles. The secondaries continued for the rest of the start up of the stove and I have to say I am still floored. I went out and checked the chimney and there was only a trace amount of smoke coming out of it within minutes of lighting the fire starter. Thanks for turning me on to this fire starting method guys, I'm definitely sold on the top down method now!


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## raybonz (Oct 5, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

> So I had to dig this thread back up......
> So after a year of being on this forum I finally decided to start a top down fire last night and I gotta say I was really happy with the results. Don't knock me to hard for how crappy I stack/throw the wood in stove but hey I was skeptical how it was gonna work and next time I will set it up a little bit nicer. You can see in the photo that I stacked the wood pretty high so the flame off of the fire starter was immediately licking against the baffle in the top of the stove. Here is where I got pretty stoked (I know it's a bad pun) in under 5 minutes you could see secondaries coming out of the baffles. The secondaries continued for the rest of the start up of the stove and I have to say I am still floored. I went out and checked the chimney and there was only a trace amount of smoke coming out of it within minutes of lighting the fire starter. Thanks for turning me on to this fire starting method guys, I'm definitely sold on the top down method now!



I agree Jesse it works very well with my Alderlea too.. I have a question, How long do you wait to move the air lever from full air to another position? Basically how do you determine what position to place the air lever and how long should I wait to reduce the air?

Thanks,
Ray


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## Shadow&Flame (Oct 5, 2011)

Keep up the good work Cert.  I am still trying to get everything ready for my install.  
Its still getting to around 85 during the day, so I still have a bit to go before burning 
season...cant wait to try out all I have learned from this website...


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## madison (Oct 5, 2011)

raybonz said:
			
		

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Eyeball experience.   If you turn it down to early and too much, the fire smolders and you will coat your glass.

Really variable with stove temp, ie cold start vs reload.


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## raybonz (Oct 5, 2011)

madison said:
			
		

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OK thank you..

Ray


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## certified106 (Oct 6, 2011)

raybonz said:
			
		

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Honestly with this stove I depend on the flue thermometer for judging when I start to turn the air down. I have been letting it go for about around 15 minutes (give or take a few depending on the conditions) and when I see the probe thermo hitting that 400Â°F mark I start to shut it down. I honestly have only been shutting it down 2-3 stages and it seems to be doing fine and the secondaries stay going strong. Sometimes I go straight from full open to half and then to closed and other times I have done it in 1 maybe two extra steps. So far I have been loving this stove and I can't wait to try it out in the really cold weather as I have no doubt it's not gonna struggle.


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## Woody Stover (Oct 6, 2011)

raybonz said:
			
		

> How long do you wait to move the air lever from full air to another position? Basically how do you determine what position to place the air lever and how long should I wait to reduce the air?


I'm not a member of the Alderlea cult...yet. Here's my approach, though, and it's probably applicable to about any stove including your old DW. I try to maintain a medium fire...not roaring, not lazy flames. I want the most heat I can get as quickly as possible without subjecting the stove to excessive heat. Your flue temps should give you a pretty good idea what's going on in there.


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## raybonz (Oct 6, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

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Thanx for the info Jess! The T-5 seems to be a serious heater from what I have seen so far.. Have the feeling it will keep up when the temp gets down near zero.. Time will tell and hopefully not too soon lol..

Ray


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## raybonz (Oct 6, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

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Thanx Woody! I do keep an eye on flue temps and also stove top temp plus make sure the fire is not smouldering..

Ray


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## certified106 (Oct 6, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

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Wait a minute it's not a cult unless I'm drinking Koolaid..... :lol:
I do agree with you though so far the flue temps have been one of the best indicators for me and my chimney setup, for someone else it might be slightly different though.
It is worth mentioning though that with this stove it is alot harder to get the fire roaring up the chimney, in fact I have not seen it do that yet (I'm not saying it wont), and it stays alot more tame during start up. With the old Dutchwest if you walked away for even a few minutes with the bypass damper open and came back you would sometimes hear it roaring like a freight train as the flames could easily be pulled straight up the chimney causing the flue temps to skyrocket and the stove to not really warm up  however with this stove the flames dont' have direct access to the chimney and I can leave the air wide open at the begining without having to worry about it taking off on me as much which allows the stove to warm up much easier.


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## raybonz (Oct 6, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

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I agree it's very to start this stove and with the door closed.. I also had that problem with my CDW with the bypass open and it will suck the flames right up the chimney and if you have any creosote it will ignite quickly, don't ask me how I know this lol.. The T-5 seems very tame in this respect like you noted plus seems to crank out the BTU's.. I bet it will be great to run steady with a bed of coals.. Will have to wait until it gets much colder for that here..

Ray


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## BrowningBAR (Oct 6, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

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The T-Series cult vs the Woodstock cult! Two groups enter, one group leaves!


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## begreen (Oct 6, 2011)

T cult slips colored paper and damp wood into Woodstock starter/fuel mix. Cat clogs and T cult pulls ahead. Dramatic finish at 11.


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## raybonz (Oct 6, 2011)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> T cult slips colored paper and damp wood into Woodstock starter/fuel mix. Cat clogs and T cult pulls ahead. Dramatic finish at 11.



Destroyed by a Reese's peanut butter cup wrapper! A horrible death but a fine finish..

Ray


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## flhpi (Oct 6, 2011)

Certified,

I am glad to hear you are enjoying your stove already.  I have had several fires in mine to take off the chill and then I end up in shorts and t-shirt.  Next week I am replacing my old 8in dura vent with 6in.  Once in a while I will open the door and the draft isn't what I think it should be.  I am glad you are liking your stove. There are features I miss from my other stoves but I would buy the T6 if I had to do it over. Enjoy


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## oldspark (Oct 7, 2011)

So you guys are starting your stove with the door closed, it's still kinda warm here but with my new chimney I still have to have the door open, so far it seems like it does not draw any better than the old one but too early to tell.


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## begreen (Oct 7, 2011)

In milder weather I usually start with the door ajar. Probably because of the offset sitting right on the flue collar. Usually 5 minutes does it fine.


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## certified106 (Oct 7, 2011)

flhpi said:
			
		

> Certified,
> 
> I am glad to hear you are enjoying your stove already.  I have had several fires in mine to take off the chill and then I end up in shorts and t-shirt.  Next week I am replacing my old 8in dura vent with 6in.  Once in a while I will open the door and the draft isn't what I think it should be.  I am glad you are liking your stove. There are features I miss from my other stoves but I would buy the T6 if I had to do it over. Enjoy



I will be interested in hearing about what kind of performance change/burning characteristics change you notice when you change that flue. I have been enjoying the stove so far and can't to really let it rip in some cold weather when winter finally rolls around.


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## certified106 (Oct 7, 2011)

oldspark said:
			
		

> So you guys are starting your stove with the door closed, it's still kinda warm here but with my new chimney I still have to have the door open, so far it seems like it does not draw any better than the old one but too early to tell.



Hmmm that's not what I was hoping to hear from you after the chimney was switched out. Did you go any higher with the new chimney or just switch it out to 6"? Also, I can notice a huge draft difference in this warmer weather than when it's in the 30's so you might want to give it some time.  I have also left the door cracked on occasion when starting the fire for around 5 minutes to give it some extra boost during this warmer weather.


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## oldspark (Oct 10, 2011)

certified106 said:
			
		

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 I did not go any higher than the old one but lost the 90 in stove pipe and the thimble so on paper I should have gained the equal to 6ft or so, I have 16ft of durvent 6 inch insulated with about 5 ft of stove pipe all straight up so should work well. I agree too warm to tell but the old chimney drew this well when warm, I have noticed with these few fires (small) I have had the flue temp is lower than the stove top temp for the most part which is a big change from the old chimney.


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## dolphins1lrb (Jan 5, 2012)

Hoping some one can help me. I have owned my T6 for a year now and haven't had any problems till this week. I can't get it to heat. Wood is dry - 2years - it doesn't seem to get air and the baffle doesn't seem to be working either. No flow of air out of the holes in the baffle. Anyone know what changed?


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## oldspark (Jan 5, 2012)

dolphins1lrb said:
			
		

> Hoping some one can help me. I have owned my T6 for a year now and haven't had any problems till this week. I can't get it to heat. Wood is dry - 2years - it doesn't seem to get air and the baffle doesn't seem to be working either. No flow of air out of the holes in the baffle. Anyone know what changed?


 Maybe you should start a new thread, did you clean it lately and possibly plug something up?


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## begreen (Jan 5, 2012)

Good idea. Start with what may have changed, like was the stove pipe recently cleaned?


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## dolphins1lrb (Jan 5, 2012)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> Good idea. Start with what may have changed, like was the stove pipe recently cleaned?



My husband did clean the Chimney pipe but worked great for 3 days after cleaning. The stove body doesn't get past warm, I can touch it with out any protection and it is barely warm.


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## begreen (Jan 5, 2012)

Ask him if he blocked off the secondary tube that ties to the baffle before the cleaning? If not, I am guessing that tube got filled with debris from the cleaning. If so, it will need to be vacuumed out thoroughly. Note that there is a gasket on that tube that seals it to the baffle that may need replacing as well.


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## dolphins1lrb (Jan 5, 2012)

He said he did not. So he is going to do tomorrow when he gets home and I will let you know how that works. Thanks for your help.  :cheese:


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## certified106 (Jan 5, 2012)

Lol I figured that's where this was going to end up. 
Hopefully when you get that secondary combustion air channel cleaned out you will be back in business


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## dolphins1lrb (Jan 5, 2012)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> Ask him if he blocked off the secondary tube that ties to the baffle before the cleaning? If not, I am guessing that tube got filled with debris from the cleaning. If so, it will need to be vacuumed out thoroughly. Note that there is a gasket on that tube that seals it to the baffle that may need replacing as well.



This is going to sound like a dumb question but where is the secondary tube? I know how to remove the baffle and replace the gasket but I don't know what or where the secondary tube is.  :red:


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## certified106 (Jan 5, 2012)

dolphins1lrb said:
			
		

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When you pull the baffle look straight back into the firebox and you will see the square tube in the back middle of the stove, if you look at the top of the tube it will be open which is the secondary combustion inlet for the stainless baffle. The gasket would be sitting on top of the tube.


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## dolphins1lrb (Jan 6, 2012)

certified106 said:
			
		

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Ok we just took baffle out and it looks like it is not sealed is it suppose to be? is it suppose to be all one thickness front to back? this is not. metal is pulled away.


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## begreen (Jan 6, 2012)

Vacuum out the secondary feed tube thoroughly. You may have to tape a section of small diameter hose to your shop vac to do this. 

I am not sure I understand the second question. The baffle box should be a closed unit, top and bottom. Can you post a picture of what you are seeing?


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## dolphins1lrb (Jan 6, 2012)

Sorry took with my Cell Phone. Can you see the way the metal isn't attached and you can see the insulation. Can anyone tell me if this is normal? we put it back in the stove but if it needs to be replaced I would like to do it while it is warm out. Thanks for any help


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## dolphins1lrb (Jan 8, 2012)

dolphins1lrb said:
			
		

> Sorry took with my Cell Phone. Can you see the way the metal isn't attached and you can see the insulation. Can anyone tell me if this is normal? we put it back in the stove but if it needs to be replaced I would like to do it while it is warm out. Thanks for any help



Can anyone help me??????????? hh:


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## oldspark (Jan 8, 2012)

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 Well I hope so, I can not make out the picture enough to tell, maybe this bump will get some one to answer.


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## raybonz (Jan 8, 2012)

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Try starting a new post stating you need help with a PE stove and someone will help you.. I have not had mine apart yet so I can't help you..

Good Luck!

Ray


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## begreen (Jan 8, 2012)

oldspark said:
			
		

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I have to agree, the picture doesn't show much. I'm not sure what the issue is. Was the secondary tube plugged? 

Please start a new thread on the problem if it persists so that it gets the attention it deserves.


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