I just THOUGHT I knew how to burn my TL300

[razerface]

Might tighten door latch a bit?? Your dark spot is just above latch area isn't it?

yes it is. The door closes very tight, and passed the $1 test all around, but i am going to do it again when I check that window glass.

 

[razerface]

It did it again! A lot worse!

I loaded the stove to the top before I left for work. I let it burn a while,,AB was in and running good. I shut it down to 1.5 notch. I came home from work and decided to keep burning since it is going to get cold. I loaded up a half load and started getting good flames,,,so I got bored and decided to check the max temp the stove got up to during the day.

2026! That was what the flue hit today! I went up in attic and checked everything. I found nothing. I can't trust this stove to run while I am not here. Both times it has done it on a packed to the top load.

 

[branchburner]

I I let it burn a while,,AB was in and running good. I shut it down to 1.5 notch.

2026! That was what the flue hit today!

Any way to know at what stage of the burn it hit that? Was it in the initial period before you shut it down to 1.5? If not, and you were watching the flue temps then, how high DID it get before you left for work? How long was the air shut back before you left?

I have NEVER had my flue temp rise after shutting both bypass and air. The surface temp of the back of my stove could push 1000f, nearly glowing, without the flue being over 500f external, should I leave the air open too far. If I forget it for a few minutes with wide open air when reloading, and it is roaring, it might possibly approach 2000f internal for a minute. But that would drop nearly in half within a few minutes of shutting bypass, and then drop even more after shutting back the primary air. For flue temp to then rise again to very high levels during the burn means air leak or overdraft, to my mind.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Sounds like your bypass is staying open. Those things get loose after awhile and have to be re-adjusted. Also be careful when filling the stove to the top as you can easily stack wood to interfere with the bypass door.

 

[razerface]

Any way to know at what stage of the burn it hit that?

The only clue I have, is I can push a button and it will tell me what the max temp was , and how many seconds it took to get there. The time worked out to 135 minutes, slightly over 2 hrs. I watched it for about 45 minutes before leaving, and it was on the 1.5 notch that entire time. Stovetop was under 500 and flue was high 700's when I left. It takes the top a while to get hot when the wood is shielding it(full)

What do I look for on the stove to verify it hit that temp? What if meter was wrong? I have another meter and hooked it up too last night to watch the first meter. The second digital is still coming up in temp in the pic.

 

[razerface]

Sounds like your bypass is staying open. Those things get loose after awhile and have to be re-adjusted. Also be careful when filling the stove to the top as you can easily stack wood to interfere with the bypass door.

I tightened the bypass last week. I am very careful of that since I got a chunk in there once. I have checked it a thousand times with a flashlight on smaller loads looking thru the door. I can tell by feel of the handle if it closes. I am running it tighter on the adjustment just to be sure. Probably ruin the gasket quicker, but ,,,,

This isn't good for my sleep habits. I have been up and down all night. No alarms went off so far.

 

[razerface]

Seasoned oak and branchburner,,,

I am happy to report I have been talking to my wife this morning. I had not told her what temp the stove got too,,just that it got hot.

I mentioned the temp this morning when I told her we had been up in the attic checking the chimney. When I told her the temp the alarm was reading,,,she immediately said,, " that's as high as you showed me"

Sigh,,,, I knew in that split second what had happened. I sometimes torture her by making her listen to me explaining things,,,you know,, make the wife the audience whether she wants too be or not.

Well, sunday I showed her how sensitive and quickly my digital temp gauges respond to heat, making sure she understood they are worth the money I spent on them, and giving her a chance to once again,,roll her eyes around her eye sockets.

Yea,,, I showed her with a propane torch on the probe. I then forgot to reset the high temp,,,, and it remembered my propane temp as high reading. It would have been 135 minutes after I reset it the first time.

I'm sorry I raised the false alarm, but am very happy my stove did not get to 2000 deg yesterday. I reset the high temp.

I feel stupid and happy all at the same time

 

[branchburner]

I sometimes torture her by making her listen to me

Understood... funny story, glad it was a false alarm. Tell the wife you were just trying to prove how dangerous it could be to heat the house with propane.

 

[razerface]

Tell the wife you were just trying to prove how dangerous it could be to heat the house with propane.

Wish I would of thought of that! Saving face and all,,,,,lol

Sounds like heating with propane is dangerous to the wallet right now.

 

[1kzwoman]

Haha behind every good man there is a good woman!
Glad all is safe.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I figured something was amiss. Your pipe and the top of the stove would have to be cherry red to hit those temps. Its a learning curve. I go by stovetop temp alone. Afterburn action starts between 500-600 stovetop temp(on a cold stove) and stalls below 400 Stovetop temp.
Unless its late in the burn and then you really dont have much reburn going on. This stove is a bear.Puts out tons of heat,most of which does NOT go up the flue. One of the few you can heat a large poorly insulated home from the basement with.

 

[razerface]

I figured something was amiss. Your pipe and the top of the stove would have to be cherry red to hit those temps. One of the few you can heat a large poorly insulated home from the basement with.

I thought the temps happened while i was at work. I looked at the stove closely, because i figured with those flue temps, the stove would have to be at 800-900,,,but it did not show stressed, burnt paint on the stove or the pipe..

Even with my problems, I heat 3,000-3,600 sq ft from the basement now. I need to measure the space to know how big the house is. I remember around 1800 sq ft on a permit for the main floor,,the basement is the same size, but i think porches might have been included,,so maybe closer to 3,200.

1kzwoman, she saved me this time! I was stressing out over this! After we figured it out this morning,, i was happy to load it back up and let it burn while i went to work.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Once you get over your fear of this stove you will love it.

 

[razerface]

Lol,,still scared!

It did it again last night.
Reloaded at 10:30 full to the top load
Engaged AB at 10:45 or so on notch 3
Took to notch 2 from left at 11 :15
Alarm set for 1100, went off at 1:20am

Got to the stove it was at 1260. It took approx 30 minutes of air shut off, mixed with opening and shutting the top to get it under 1000 deg on the probe. The whole load was glowing.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

YOu need to keep your air all the way down. 3 is too high if the load is glowing.

 

[branchburner]

YOu need to keep your air all the way down. 3 is too high if the load is glowing.

Sounds like he left it at 2... but even if at 3, or down to 1, the primary air is low enough that flue temps should be much lower than that.

 

[branchburner]

Makes me wonder what temp your AB is getting up to, in order to have flue temps that high a few hours into the burn. All I can suggest is to try a partial blocking of the secondary air, with aluminum foil, to see how the burn goes.

Do you know what your stove top temps and flue temps were at 10:30 , 10:45 and 11 :15? I would keep a log book as best you can of temps for all stages of the burn, noting any special conditions of weather or wood.

 

[razerface]

YOu need to keep your air all the way down. 3 is too high if the load is glowing.

i loaded full before i left this morning,,thinking the wife was going to be there to watch out,,,,then they called her to work, after it was too late to get the wood back out. She called me and told me, so I had her turn the air down to the first notch. I was on notch 2 when it went last night. I hope it is ok. Can you burn yours with it closed?

 

[razerface]

Makes me wonder what temp your AB is getting up to, in order to have flue temps that high a few hours into the burn. All I can suggest is to try a partial blocking of the secondary air, with aluminum foil, to see how the burn goes.

Do you know what your stove top temps and flue temps were at 10:30 , 10:45 and 11 :15? I would keep a log book as best you can of temps for all stages of the burn, noting any special conditions of weather or wood.

Stove top never got over 475 that i saw. The full load seems to shield the top from getting hot. Flue temp at 11:15 when I left it to go to bed was 735, and that had dropped from the 1200 or so I had used to get the load burning. It dropped normally when I closed the dampner.

My OAK is laying on the floor feeding the air hole in the back of the stove, not connected to the stove, but lined up directly to the hole. That feeds both air sources right? Not just secondary?

I was thinking about the log too, as I am forgetting individual temps from previous days. It would show a pattern. It has always done it with a full load,,never with a "less then full" load.

I have been mixing some greener ash in with the dry oak to get rid of a pile on the back porch till I can get more wood moved up from the stacks.. Usually 2 small or medium size splits mixed in the full load.

 

[branchburner]

My OAK is laying on the floor feeding the air hole in the back of the stove, not connected to the stove, but lined up directly to the hole. That feeds both air sources right? Not just secondary?

That I can't tell you... I don't have the same model, and have no OAK... the bottom rear of my stove has a shield under which there are two openings for air.

The temp drop from 1200 to 735 sounds about like mine... can't figure why it would go back up to 1200, though.

 

[branchburner]

Can you burn yours with it closed?

I can but rarely do, as it's somewhat more prone to either stall the AB or blacken the glass. If the secondaries are really roaring shortly after the AB is engaged, I may shut the air all the way for a half hour or so, then open it back up to 1-2 for the duration of the burn, sometimes 3-4 if I want more heat.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

i loaded full before i left this morning,,thinking the wife was going to be there to watch out,,,,then they called her to work, after it was too late to get the wood back out. She called me and told me, so I had her turn the air down to the first notch. I was on notch 2 when it went last night. I hope it is ok. Can you burn yours with it closed?

Its not really closed,thats just the lowest setting. Yes you should be closing it down as soon as the load comes up to temp. My stove makes too much heat with it any higher and burns the load faster. My stovetop gets up to 600+ Flue pipe to about 400-450 measured outside. You can x that by at least 3 when using an inside temp gauge.

 

[branchburner]

Flue pipe to about 400-450 measured outside. You can x that by at least 3 when using an inside temp gauge.

I thought it was more like 2x, no?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I thought it was more like 2x, no?

It also drops off quickly as you get farther from the stove. For me i really dont care what the internal flue temps are. I go by the stove top temps for afterburn operation. The old rule of thumb is as long as its not glowing cherry red its not too hot. Sounds like razorfaces stove it operating correctly but with a strong draft he needs to keep the air at a minimum.

 

[razerface]

It also drops off quickly as you get farther from the stove. For me i really dont care what the internal flue temps are. I go by the stove top temps for afterburn operation. The old rule of thumb is as long as its not glowing cherry red its not too hot. Sounds like razorfaces stove it operating correctly but with a strong draft he needs to keep the air at a minimum.

the flue temp has been my problem though,,, if I did not know the flue jumps to over 1200 temps at random times, when the stove should be cruising,, i would not be having any problems. Nothing has ever turned red on the stove. If I did not have this alarm, I would never know it was happening.

LOL,,,Do I need to send you a digital to see if your flue does it too? Maybe you have the same problem but don't know it? I would feel better if I weren't alone,,,,,,


Do you think I have created my own problem by not turning down the air enough? The stove should be able to burn on the higher notches. It does not happen consistantly,,,,maybe every 2-3 days.

The scary part is, what temp it would go to, if I did not have the alarm,,and go turn air down and work to get stove cooled when it happens.