dyerkutn
Feeling the Heat
Oh thanks--I did not notice that---I see there are a whole bunch of old threads on measuring flu temps--I will read through those.
Timing issue...loading the stove when the stove isn't ready to be loaded
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Sprinter
Minister of Fire
DianeB
Feeling the Heat
With the Castine, I can push a balled up wad of aluminum foi in the underneath air intake - have not had to do it yet, but I have learned where the intake is and I have the balled up foil that has been tested ready to go. I have heard of some that use a large magnet to cover the intake, but I would not know where to find one of those.Thanks for the responses. I'm glad I didn't load up before bed. I left it as it. When I woke up, the stove was cold, and there was nothing but ash left. But the house was still warm, 68 degrees. Hopefully by winter, I'll get my timing down.
Ok, now I'm going to divert on my own thread a little. What if I did load up and had a run away situation? Is there anything that can be done to help bring the temps down? Fan on full blast? Damper open or closed? Open the door and throw in some wet paper towels? Thanks.
My first run away was a fright. I had the dog/cat carriers ready, while posting on here every 5 minutes.
BB & BG got me through it, thankfully. Pegged at 1000 on the thermo on the upper right hand corner of the face of the PE.
Coal bed at about 400, loaded it with rounds to stuff the box, as it was a wicked cold night. 10 minutes later, I'm at 650F , 15 minutes it's at 750 & climbing
Never, ever load at 400F or more. Not worth it. Be cold in the morning. Save your sanity for other issues
That being said, waiting for my coal bed on the PE to hit 350F, then reload for the night.
You'll get it, it's a game
BB & BG got me through it, thankfully. Pegged at 1000 on the thermo on the upper right hand corner of the face of the PE.
Coal bed at about 400, loaded it with rounds to stuff the box, as it was a wicked cold night. 10 minutes later, I'm at 650F , 15 minutes it's at 750 & climbing
Never, ever load at 400F or more. Not worth it. Be cold in the morning. Save your sanity for other issues
That being said, waiting for my coal bed on the PE to hit 350F, then reload for the night.
You'll get it, it's a game
Here is how I handle this one: When you get home from work, throw in just a few splits of lower BTU wood like soft maple and open up the draft to burn it down fast. It throws lots of heat while you need it and burns nicely down to coals and is ready for the the full evening load.
This stuff about a runaway fire is a little foreign to me, with the Fireview and Progress I can have a 400F stove and even throw in bone dry Cottonwood with no problem - it damps right down. But with a non-cat stove there is more air even when it's fully damped down.
Yes. When you get an major explosion of wood gas in a stove equipped and ready to burn it off, things will get exciting for a bit. The main thing here is to remain calm if it happens. And don't repeat that exercise.
I'm not suggesting everybody load a hot stove, but I can tell you I have done it numerous times with absolutely no problem, and I checked with Woodstock and they saw no problem. It seems these stoves simply have sufficient air control.
Well, Tony, I have the Progress and have had it climb up to the upper 600s thanks to the cat eating too much smoke. The more you damp it down, the higher it goes. Sweating bullets, literally and figuratively... How do you control things in that situation?
Well, I'm not speaking for Tony for sure but I think you know my thoughts on this one. 600 degrees is a long ways from making me nervous. And yes, when you get the high temperatures, that stove top can get hot. You might remember the story about when I found my wife standing at the stove opening and closing the bypass because the stove top wanted to go over 700. I found she had closed the draft. So I simply went over and opened it to 1 (25% open) and the stove top did as expected; it cooled down and did not go over that 700 mark. So many times on these stoves it is good to give more air rather than less.
Hollow,
Believe it or not the way to control a cat stove that is climbing past 600 due to an engorged cat is to open up the draft! It seems counter intuitive, but it works, The idea is to speed the smoke travel so it does not have as much time contacting the cat. You can even try opening the bypass, but I usually just open up the draft about 1/4 to 1/3 for a while, and the temp drops.
Believe it or not the way to control a cat stove that is climbing past 600 due to an engorged cat is to open up the draft! It seems counter intuitive, but it works, The idea is to speed the smoke travel so it does not have as much time contacting the cat. You can even try opening the bypass, but I usually just open up the draft about 1/4 to 1/3 for a while, and the temp drops.
Dennis, I learned from the best!
And of course you are talking about one Tom Morrissey! He will appreciate that.
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Elusive
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When you get older, there won't be a "final reload" for overnight burns....you'll be getting up in the middle of the night for a "nature call", and throw in a piece or two like I do
When you throw in a piece or two in the middle of the night, do you just leave the air closed down? I'm assuming you aren't going to stay awake and mess with air adjustments in the middle of the night. I'm still trying to learn some of the tricks. Thanks
You shouldn't need to reload that Summit during the night, should easily burn through without needing wood. That's one of the stoves that I'd still like to test drive in my home.
Elusive
Member
You're right, I shouldn't ever have to.
I was just wanting to know how he goes about it, and how it works out.
Yup, I meant Dennis. Tom Morrissey is also tops, but I got this tip from Backwoods.
Beer Belly
Minister of Fire
I stay with it for about 15 minutes.....gotta walk the dog too....he's a senior also
And that is what I did, and it worked! But it sure seemed like the wrong thing to do, but I did remember your wife's story Backwoods and clenched my teeth and turned it up.
Now that you mention it, that is how I got the temp down. Thanks for the reminder
Trust me, you'll only have to mention it a couple hundred more times before it sticks...
Now that you mention it, that is how I got the temp down. Thanks for the reminder
Trust me, you'll only have to mention it a couple hundred more times before it sticks...
Wow, this was a good read. I have never known any of this. Just loaded the stove before bed and usually reload around 2-3 am when I get up to hit the head. Mine will be out in the morning if I don't reload. I don't hve a thermometer on mine anywhere. Where should I be measuring temps from ? I have a raytek laser thermometer.
What are ideal burn temps ?
I just shot mine. My stove is at about 420f and the flue pipe is about 250.
I just shot mine. My stove is at about 420f and the flue pipe is about 250.
Ideal burn temperatures is whatever is required to heat the home. That can be regulated a lot just by the wood that you put in the stove. Not only the type of wood but the quantity. If little heat is needed, there certainly is no need to fill the stove. This morning was a good example. When we got up the sun was shining brightly and a warm, mid-30's day forecast. I put in 3 small splits of ash. That was good until around 5:00 when I added some. Now I wish I'd waited as it is hot in here.
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