Looking for some advice on new Alderlea T6

[KG19]

I’m looking for some advice on running my new Alderlea T6. This isn’t my first stove, but my first season with the Alderlea. My issue I’m having is the stove burning too hot (at least I think).

My setup includes a stove pipe with 90 degree bend into a masonry chimney with 6” insulated liner (brand new) going up approximately 25-30’. I know this is a tall chimney so the draft is strong.

The issue I’m having is if I put more than 4 or so splits in, the stove gets very hot. Right now the stovetop maxed out at about 820F on the hottest spot I could find with IR gun with five 4-6” thick splits in there, all loaded N/S with very little air space between them. When I loaded, the stovetop was 300f and I shut down the air about halfway as soon as the wood caught fire, and shut it down all the way within 5 minutes. It was at about 350 when I shut the air all the way down, and continued climbing to over 800 over the course of an hour. It’s also not that cold here yet, it’s currently about 45f outside so I know the draft will be even stronger in midwinter when it’s ok the single digits or below zero.

I’m wondering if it would actually be better to fully load the stove? Would less airflow around the perimeters of the firebox help to keep it from taking off so much? I’m just nervous to try it. Do I maybe need to just shut the air down completely as soon as the logs catch fire? Maybe 800-850 stovetop isn’t terrible? I can’t find a temperature for overfire in the manual. I’ll also add that that temperature is in a very specific spot on the stovetop and the rest of it is reading variously from 700-800. Looking for any feedback. Thanks

 

[begreen]

You're correct. It's too hot. The stove is going to need a stovepipe damper to tame the draft and maybe two of them if the flue height is 30ft instead of 25 ft. 800-850º may be overfiring the stove if the thermometer is accurate.

In the meantime, close down the air much sooner. The stove top is not a good measure of when to do this. It's a lagging indicator. It's possible that flue temps ae exceeding 1000º frequently. If prolonged ,this can be damaging to the liner. Get a good flue thermometer. I've found that a digital thermometer is the best investment for tracking flue temps.

This thread shows how different flue and stovetop temps are on startup and how the flue temp is a better guide for startup temps.

Thread 'Starting a fire and running an EPA stove'

Jan 17, 2020

Questions about starting a fire and avoiding a runaway stove come up so frequently I decided to document starting our stove. This is a Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 with about a 3 cu ft firebox. The stove is connected to a straight-up, 20' interior flue. The outside ambient temperature is 34ºF. The blower was off all the time for these shots. The firewood is douglas fir at about 17% moisture content. This is a N/S loading. An E/W loading start will follow.

NOTE: as testing will show, the older Condar flue thermometer is reading low. It needs recalibration.

There are 3 instruments shown.

1. ...

• begreen
• Replies: 79
• Forum: The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces

• 

 

[KG19]

You're correct. It's too hot. The stove is going to need a stovepipe damper to tame the draft and maybe two of them if the flue height is 30ft instead of 25 ft. 800-850º may be overfiring the stove if the thermometer is accurate.

In the meantime, close down the air much sooner. The stove top is not a good measure of when to do this. It's a lagging indicator. It's possible that flue temps ae exceeding 1000º frequently. If prolonged ,this can be damaging to the liner. Get a good flue thermometer. I've found that a digital thermometer is the best investment for tracking flue temps.

This thread shows how different flue and stovetop temps are on startup and how the flue temp is a better guide for startup temps.

Thread 'Starting a fire and running an EPA stove'

Jan 17, 2020

Questions about starting a fire and avoiding a runaway stove come up so frequently I decided to document starting our stove. This is a Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 with about a 3 cu ft firebox. The stove is connected to a straight-up, 20' interior flue. The outside ambient temperature is 34ºF. The blower was off all the time for these shots. The firewood is douglas fir at about 17% moisture content. This is a N/S loading. An E/W loading start will follow.

NOTE: as testing will show, the older Condar flue thermometer is reading low. It needs recalibration.

There are 3 instruments shown.

1. ...

• begreen
• Replies: 79
• Forum: The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces

• 

Thank you! I’ll reach out to the installer about a damper. It’s something we had discussed prior to installing because of the chimney height but they advised waiting to see if it’s necessary. In the meantime I’ll stick with less fuel and close off the air supply even quicker. I was thinking I was closing it pretty quickly already though

 

[begreen]

A key damper will help. The wood supply may also be extra dry or the splits may be thin for this stove. Thick splits will burn slower. Turn down the air as quickly as possible, in increments, without extinguishing the fire. Lazy flames are ok.

 

[KG19]

A key damper will help. The wood supply may also be extra dry or the splits may be thin for this stove. Thick splits will burn slower. Turn down the air as quickly as possible, in increments, without extinguishing the fire. Lazy flames are ok.

Hey begreen, one other question for you… I’m curious about whether or not you think I might have a leak in the glass gasket on my door? I’ve attached a photo of what my door glass looks like after a couple of fires. I’ve cleaned it a few times already and I keep getting these dark lines around the perimeter of the glass. Just curious if that could actually be the issue? Maybe that’s just normal for this stove but I get it up to at least 600F basically every time I have a fire, and occasionally near or above 800f as I mentioned in my earlier posts, and it still seems to form these lines. In my old stove, that would always burn off if I got a hot fire going. I’ve done the dollar bill test on the door gasket but I don’t know how to test the glass gasket

 

[Todd]

Could be you are reloading on too large a coal bed. It also helps to rake all the coals forward before reloading so it will give you a more front to back burn instead of an all at once off gassing firebox.

 

[begreen]

When the stove is cool, check to make sure that the door gasket is actually adhered to the door frame. It might not be in those locations. If not, it will need some gasket cement or RTV in those location to glue it to the door.

FWIW, I get a little sooting sometimes around the edges but the door gasket is now 4 yrs old.

 

[KG19]

Could be you are reloading on too large a coal bed. It also helps to rake all the coals forward before reloading so it will give you a more front to back burn instead of an all at once off gassing firebox.

I don’t think this is likely the cause, since I’ve been waiting pretty long on reloads due to the mild weather. I’ll sometimes wait 8 or so hours to reload (from a load of only 4 splits) so there isn’t a very big coal bed. I also do rake what coals there are up to the front when reloading. I do think it’s just drafting way too strong. It seems to me like the fire will take off at a normal pace, at least comparing to my old stove it’s about the same. But after I’ve shut the air control all the way down, the STT will just keep rising from 300 all the way to 800 if I have more than 4 splits in there.

 

[KG19]

When the stove is cool, check to make sure that the door gasket is actually adhered to the door frame. It might not be in those locations. If not, it will need some gasket cement or RTV in those location to glue it to the door.

FWIW, I get a little sooting sometimes around the edges but the door gasket is now 4 yrs old.

Here’s what I’m seeing… when I first checked I was only looking at the actual door rope gasket, we my previous stove only had that one. This one has a second gasket on the inside of the door against the glass. I’m assuming that is supposed to be glued on, correct? Could this be the issue?

 

[begreen]

The glass gasket has an adhesive backing that helps hold it in place when installing. It should fully overlap the contact with the stove door to seal between the door frame and the glass.

Check the door gasket in these areas too to make sure it is bonded to the door frame.

 

[KG19]

The glass gasket has an adhesive backing that helps hold it in place when installing. It should fully overlap the contact with the stove door to seal between the door frame and the glass.

Check the door gasket in these areas too to make sure it is bonded to the door frame.

The stove company came out today and installed the damper section for me, and also put in a probe thermometer for me. Gaskets are all good, they double check that for me.

So now my question is how to operate the damper. They told me to do the normal air control first like I’ve been doing, and then adjust the damper as needed after that. Does that sound like the best way to do it? Is there any temperate on the probe that I should be watching for to know if/when I should adjust the damper? Thanks for all the help so far by the way

 

[begreen]

Start the stove with the damper open. Having the probe thermometer will change the way you start the stove. Use it as a guide for when to start closing down the air. My guess is that you will be doing it sooner.

In milder weather you may run with the stovepipe (SP) damper open all the time. It will depend on the wood species that is being burned, how thick the splits are, and how tightly packed the firebox is. If you find that when the fire is fully engaged, the flue temp is still climbing too high (over 650?), then close the SP damper. Try it at half-closed and if that doesn't slow down the flue temp increase, close it all the way. That should stop the flue temp from climbing. Don't forget to open the SP damper about 10 seconds before opening the stove door to reload.

 

[KG19]

Start the stove with the damper open. Having the probe thermometer will change the way you start the stove. Use it as a guide for when to start closing down the air. My guess is that you will be doing it sooner.

In milder weather you may run with the stovepipe (SP) damper open all the time. It will depend on the wood species that is being burned, how thick the splits are, and how tightly packed the firebox is. If you find that when the fire is fully engaged, the flue temp is still climbing too high (over 650?), then close the SP damper. Try it at half-closed and if that doesn't slow down the flue temp increase, close it all the way. That should stop the flue temp from climbing. Don't forget to open the SP damper about 10 seconds before opening the stove door to reload.

I’ve taken some time today to experiment a bit with it, and it seems to be working much better with the damper. I’ve run 3 loads of wood today with about 3/4 full firebox (more than I had been comfortable to the before the damper), and I’ve been able to keep the stovetop temp at 700 or so and the flue temp between 600-700 by closing the air control and damper. Where in the past, it would take off and just keep climbing, I can now close the damper and it will remain steady at the 700 STT and 600 or so flue temp.

Something to note though is that I’m fully closing both the air control and the damper, and temps are only in the high 20s - low 30s today. So as it gets colder I’m gonna have to maybe fine tune how quickly I turn down the air and damper. Just wanted to say thank you for the advice and help!

 

[begreen]

Great. It's good to hear there is progress. Try to shut the air down sooner followed by damper closure. I'd be more comfortable seeing the STT a bit lower in the 600-650º range.

How are these temperatures being measured?

 

[KG19]

Great. It's good to hear there is progress. Try to shut the air down sooner followed by damper closure. I'd be more comfortable seeing the STT a bit lower in the 600-650º range.

How are these temperatures being measured?

I’ll keep trying to get the hang of shutting down the air and damper sooner. I had an issue earlier today of shutting it down too quickly I think and the flame almost disappeared and didn’t really rebuild much after about 10 mins, but the flue temp was still reading around 500F.. so I opened the air back up and let it build up and then dialed it down again. Maybe I should have just let it go since it was reading high enough on the probe? I think it’s gonna just take some getting used to.

I’m measuring the flue temps with a condar fluegard probe and the STT with a magnetic thermometer as well as an IR gun.

 

[begreen]

Yes, let it rebuild on its own as long as there is a lazy flame present. You'll get a feel for it as time goes on and then it becomes pretty routine.