So it occured to me when I got my encore nc that measuring stovetop temp on the griddle when in downdraft mode isn't really indicative of what's going on. After all, most of the combustion is going on in the rear burn chamber at that point. So, I run two thermometers. One on the griddle and one on the rear collar (mine is set of rear exit).
When things are really humming with the bypass closed, the griddle temp will plumet to around 400 or 450, but the rear collar temp will be up around 650 plus depending on the load... And this with the air closed all the way down.
It seems to me all the reports about glowing stove backs were directly related to this... If you're only measuring griddle temp with the bypass closed, you're not really getting the right story. If you're only looking at griddle temp and see the temps plumet, you're going to leave the air wide open. At which point things go thermonuclear in the rear burn chamber.
Clearly, VC hasn't been very good about directing people how to operate this stove. I think Ive got a pretty good handle on it now with my dual thermometer method.
I'm curious if the few of us still using this stove have come to any kind of similar realizations.
When things are really humming with the bypass closed, the griddle temp will plumet to around 400 or 450, but the rear collar temp will be up around 650 plus depending on the load... And this with the air closed all the way down.
It seems to me all the reports about glowing stove backs were directly related to this... If you're only measuring griddle temp with the bypass closed, you're not really getting the right story. If you're only looking at griddle temp and see the temps plumet, you're going to leave the air wide open. At which point things go thermonuclear in the rear burn chamber.
Clearly, VC hasn't been very good about directing people how to operate this stove. I think Ive got a pretty good handle on it now with my dual thermometer method.
I'm curious if the few of us still using this stove have come to any kind of similar realizations.