First season with new Pacific Energy Summit Insert - some questions

[atom631]

i also did the dollar bill test. just to make sure...what i did was put the bill 1/2 and close the door. i then pull it out. if this is the correct procedure, here are my findings:

across the top, starting about 4" from the left corner, i am unable to pull the bill out all the way across
above and below the latch, i can freely pull it out.
near the hinges, it doesnt move.
at the left corners i can pull it out with some resistance
right top corner doesnt move bottom right with heavy resistance.
along the bottom there is mild resistance on the left, it gets harder to pull the bill out as i move towards the hinges

the brown discoration is across either side by the latch and hinges from center to bottom.

 

[Dix]

I usually start with putting about 4 pieces of wood on. I currently have a bunch of duraflames left over from just my fire place. I chop off a piece of durflame and place it at the bottom. I stack the wood in a tick-tack-toe pattern making sure at least one piece of wood is over the chunk of duraflame. I have the damper all the way to start and the door shut. The wood gets blazing within 10 minutes. At about 15 minutes I try to turn the damper all the way down (right). If the fire looks like its going to go out, I open it to start again for 5 minutes. Usually by 20-25 minutes I can choke it all the way down.

The above from your first post on this thread.

Even back in my FP days, the firewood wasn't blazing in 10 minutes with a Duraflame. on a good day.

 

[Hogwildz]

You can adjust the latch by just tapping a mallet or block of wood against the latch on the stove face. You only need to bend it a wee little bit inward, then check the loose door spots with the dollar again.
You only need some resistance. Does not have to be super tight. If you bend the latch too much, and it is too tight, the gasket will wear faster into the knife edge, leaving less adjustment later down the road.
If you bent it too much, just pry it out a hair to get it right.

 

[atom631]

The above from your first post on this thread.

Even back in my FP days, the firewood wasn't blazing in 10 minutes with a Duraflame. on a good day.

so based on my moisture readings, do you still think my wood is too damp?

 

[atom631]

You can adjust the latch by just tapping a mallet or block of wood against the latch on the stove face. You only need to bend it a wee little bit inward, then check the loose door spots with the dollar again.
You only need some resistance. Does not have to be super tight. If you bend the latch too much, and it is too tight, the gasket will wear faster into the knife edge, leaving less adjustment later down the road.
If you bent it too much, just pry it out a hair to get it right.

i will give this a try. i looked at the braided rope, there is basically zero indentation near the latch. from the corners near the latch headed towards the hinges, the indentation gets deeper.

 

[Sodbuster]

It's a little on the damp side, but I've seen worse. I'm used to burning Ash that has been dead and standing for 10 years though, I usually get moisture readings of 10-12%. Your splits sound really small at 10-14", your stove can handle 18", 20" max I believe. If that's the case you are leaving too much empty firebox. My stove burns best when it is packed full with big wood on the bottom.

 

[setitonfire]

Hogwildz, are you running 15 min wide open with the door closed or ajar? I usually run for about 10 min with the door ajar then close it and run for about 5 min before I start shutting down.

 

[atom631]

15 wide open door closed. I then check to see if I can choke it all the way down. If not I will either bring it all the way open again or maybe 50% for another 5minutes or so. Then choke it back down

 

[Hogwildz]

Hogwildz, are you running 15 min wide open with the door closed or ajar? I usually run for about 10 min with the door ajar then close it and run for about 5 min before I start shutting down.

15 mins door closed, air open. I usually reload at anywhere from 200 to 300. Sometimes lower if I space out or am lazy. Takes a little longer sometimes depending on the wood and coals.
I don't leave the door open or cracked once loaded. I have been turning the air down earlier 50%, about 350ish, and still gets going then another 10 mins, then air all the way low. You'll get a feel for time & temps, and even know a good idea when the wood is greatly dry, or less than perfect. It becomes second nature after time.
Once the front of the splits are charred, its usually ready. The secondaries do the rest to keep it climbing up to temp.

 

[Sprinter]

I don't leave the door open or cracked once loaded.

Me either. I find that the controlled flow from the primary air is more effective than the turbulent air from the door. Full up should always allow plenty of air for starting.

Regarding the door gasket, you don't need to latch the door very hard at all for it to seal. With that knife edge, it seals very easily and too hard will wear it out sooner. Just a little resistance to the dollar bill test.

 

[Sprinter]

so based on my moisture readings, do you still think my wood is too damp?

No, those readings are just fine.

another issue is the glass is getting really dirty...like brown burn marks and some splash marks from popping wood. i thought that was a product of wet wood...but with the way my stove is burning my wood seems fine. is this related?

If you're burning sappy wood like pine, you're going to get some marks on the glass. But it's not moisture, it's resins popping. Other, larger discoloration is another thing, though.

When to start turning down the air? I do it by observing the fire and sometimes the chimney cap for smoke output. I think the best time to start reducing the air is when the secondaries are burning and the flue temps are above creosote level. Then adjust it to keep a lazy flame and the secondaries burning. The sooner you can allow the secondaries to take over, the better and that happens with lowered primary air. But don't expect to see obvious secondary action at this early stage.

I've noticed that when I get some browning of the glass, it tends to happen during the later coal stage of the fire unless I turn the air up a little at that stage. Don't know if that's your case, though.

 

[dafattkidd]

Atom, welcome to the forum. I'm confident you'll get this tuned in shortly as the temps are about to drop over the next week or so. Have you picked up a thermometer yet? I bought this one at Miller Place True Value. I've tested it against an infrared temp gun and it's pretty accurate.

 

[Ashful]

@setitonfire: Woods like poplar, sycamore, and even silver maple are a godsend to first-year burners. They dry pretty darn quick (I bet even the stuff you CSS'd in April is half decent), but the price is very short burn times. I went thru a full cord of poplar in 8 days, two years ago, whereas the same volume in any good hardwood will hold me at least 2 weeks.

 

[atom631]

Atom, welcome to the forum. I'm confident you'll get this tuned in shortly as the temps are about to drop over the next week or so. Have you picked up a thermometer yet? I bought this one at Miller Place True Value. I've tested it against an infrared temp gun and it's pretty accurate.
View attachment 144109

Its nice to see a few very local people on this forum!. Thanks for the heads up. I have a work-from-home day, so I am going to run over there around lunch time and grab one.

Can someone point me in the right direction of a chart or thread of what temps I should be looking for? And what I should be doing at each temp?

 

[atom631]

BTW I split another 7 pieces of wood this morning... I got ranges from 13% - 19%

 

[Ashful]

Assuming you're pressing those probes well into a freshly split face, your MC% numbers are great.

I like Hogz post on adjusting the latch. Mild resistance is fine, but pulling out with zero resistance is no good.

 

[atom631]

I did adjust the latch and lit a fire this morning. Zero brown stains so far. Maybe this was my issue!

As for the probes, I wasnt pressing them very tough in fear of damaging the end. I will try again and see if my readings change.

 

[Ashful]

The probes will bend a little if you don't have a steady hand, but just try not to slip and bend one over 90 degrees. You can buy spare / replacement probe sets, if you do break one, but I've not managed to break one yet.

I usually try to bury at least half of the skinny length into the wood.

 

[atom631]

OK - after probing the wood deeper.... everything jumps up about 2-3%. So maybe my wood is a bit wet.

I also got the thermometer and i have it on the top of the insert. It is reading about 125-150 degrees. Which is showing in the creosote danger zone. The thermometer calls for it to be placed on the pipe, which i obviously cant do.

 

[Sprinter]

The probes will bend a little if you don't have a steady hand, but just try not to slip and bend one over 90 degrees. You can buy spare / replacement probe sets, if you do break one, but I've not managed to break one yet.

I usually try to bury at least half of the skinny length into the wood.

FWIW, the bulkhead on my first meter broke by my applying too much force to it over time. I actually got a new meter with much thinner probes that takes much less force to insert but without bending.

 

[Ashful]

I believe he's using the General meter, same one I have.

 

[setitonfire]

@setitonfire: Woods like poplar, sycamore, and even silver maple are a godsend to first-year burners. They dry pretty darn quick (I bet even the stuff you CSS'd in April is half decent), but the price is very short burn times. I went thru a full cord of poplar in 8 days, two years ago, whereas the same volume in any good hardwood will hold me at least 2 weeks.

@Joful: Yep. Most of my oak and hickory are nowhere near ready. The silver maple is going to be my main fuel for this winter. I've got some small splits of oak that are around 20% if I'm in a pinch.

 

[Sprinter]

I believe he's using the General meter, same one I have.

Right. And hopefully that one is more robust than mine was. That was just a general warning not to push any harder than you have to on any of them.

 

[wood4myheat]

Atom,

I do not know if you are still following this thread, but I am also a first season PE Summit wood stove owner and I have experienced some of the same initial problems. In my case, the door sealed poorly and leaked air. The leak was worst around the door latch. Upon inspection, the knife edge of the door opening was fabricated unevenly. (With the door removed, look at the door opening from the side of the stove with your view grazing across the top of the knife edge and it will be apparent if you have this same situation). It was necessary to use an angle grinder to grind the knife edge even to achieve a good door seal without excessive pressure on the latch. This is tricky unless you are somewhat practiced at making this kind of adjustment. I did adjust the latch too, but only to provide the minimum pressure to seal the door and make the door handle smoother to operate. Now that the door seals well, there is never any soot on the glass and the air is more easily controlled.