Pacific Energy Pacific Insert Cracks

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Awesome to hear!
 
Great news! I am happy to hear that PE has come through!!
 
We're warm here this fall so I have only done a few fires. It was 64F yesterday, 54 right now. Our T6 still looks as good as the day it was born. That is except for the ashen look inside.
Even though I don't own a PE stove, this is good to know. How old is your T6? PE was in my top 3 picks originally. I really loved the look and the reputation of their stoves at that time.
 
UPDATE!

Well, got the good news today that PE is going to replace my firebox! Hopefully it is in on Friday. Guess what I am doing this weekend!
Excellent. I bet that first fire in the new unit is going to feel good....
 
Even though I don't own a PE stove, this is good to know. How old is your T6? PE was in my top 3 picks originally. I really loved the look and the reputation of their stoves at that time.

It's going on season 4.
 
UPDATE: picked up my replacement stove Friday night! They sent me the new model, the PE Super Insert as they no longer make the Pacific. Everything is new with the exception of the door and the surround. Those 2 parts I am reusing from my previous stove. All I had to pay was freight, which I felt was very reasonable. PE wanted my old stove back, hopefully for inspection. I would love to see the inspection report they write up. I installed a new door gasket and cleaned up the surround. Pics to follow.... The Super is definetly a nicer stove than the Pacific was. The cast iron ash lip is larger, the top edge is now cast instead of plate steel. It has 2 small blowers over just one large one. Assembly / disassembly is easier and from what I have read PE believes this is a very tough stove, build for many years of service.

So the BIG question that PE can't answer is: what temp can I burn to and where to put the thermometer? My dealer has recommended that I place it on the top, just behind the cast iron top and that I run 400-600F with 700F being the max. I am starting with that advice but am open to others input. I used to run it just over the top left corner of the door with the same temp ranges in mind He suggested that didn't do a good job of representing where the stove was actually running. I am thinking I am going to run 2 for a while and compare.

I have a break in fire going as I type this. Running around 350F with 4 splits or so. I plan on repeating the same thing tomorrow night.
 
And the pictures:
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Clean, new firebox!

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Installed.

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First fire.
 
Congratulations! As a satisfied owner of a Super insert I am pretty sure you will love yours, too. I would recommend getting an IR gun. The hottest accessible place I found was in the center just above the door and below the top edge. However, I don't think you will be able to fit a thermometer there. With the IR gun I can also hit the flue collar through the blower opening and find that about 50 F warmer than the spot over the door. Thus, I usually run the stove at 550 to 600 F at the door spot which should keep me well under 700 F overall. I can check again but as I remember the top was quite a bit cooler than the spot I am using.
 
Congratulations! As a satisfied owner of a Super insert I am pretty sure you will love yours, too. I would recommend getting an IR gun. The hottest accessible place I found was in the center just above the door and below the top edge. However, I don't think you will be able to fit a thermometer there. With the IR gun I can also hit the flue collar through the blower opening and find that about 50 F warmer than the spot over the door. Thus, I usually run the stove at 550 to 600 F at the door spot which should keep me well under 700 F overall. I can check again but as I remember the top was quite a bit cooler than the spot I am using.

If you wouldn't mind, can you check top verses front of door? Also, what's the temp in the upper left corner of the door verses the center of the door? Any suggestions on an IR gun? I was just going to get another mag thermometer. My biggest concern is that air from the blowers cools the thermometer, giving an inaccurate reading.
 
Also, any recommendations on break in? I found nothing in the manual. I have done 2, 5hr burn not exceeding 400F on the top. I would like to do a hotter burn once the temps outside fall into the 30's again.
 
It would be interesting to see the differences in the areas where you noted the cracks. Can you post some shots of those same areas on the new stove?
 
If you wouldn't mind, can you check top verses front of door? Also, what's the temp in the upper left corner of the door verses the center of the door? Any suggestions on an IR gun? I was just going to get another mag thermometer. My biggest concern is that air from the blowers cools the thermometer, giving an inaccurate reading.

Yep, I was thinking of checking it again when I did the post but we left our insert get cold as we hit the upper sixties yesterday and today. I think the difference between the top and the door spot was about 150 F but once we have it running again I will check to make sure.
 
I would believe that. I have the stove top at 400F currently and judging by the way its running would say its about how it would run when the door frame was at 500F or so.....I think I am going to buy an infrared gun. They are less than $50 on amazon.
 
I took some measurements today. The stove has been running with the air fully closed and nice secondaries for ~30 min with the blower off. The IR gun readings:
Above the door: center: 590 F left and right corner (but not on the blower cover yet!): 465-470 F
Top; just before the surround: center: 420 F left and right side: 230-240 F
Flue collar, "lasered" through the blower opening: ~600 F
I started closing the air when the door center spot hit 350 F and had it almost fully closed at 500 F.

I use the IR gun from Harbor Freight which seems to work well enough. Usually it is $40 but often on sale for $30 and sometimes even for $20. I think for many inserts it is the only way to get some reliable readings. The manufacturers should really put a recommendation in their manual where to place the thermometer and what temps not to exceed. Just simply saying "not to overfire it" is not enough IMO.
 
I think temp measurements with an insert is an impossible dream. My 30-NC in the fireplace can be kicking at 650 to 700 and shortly after I turn the blower on at half speed the stove top thermo reading drops a couple of hundred degrees. Same for the infrared thermo. Ya just gotta do it with how the fire looks and if you are smoking up the 'hood. Fine to test how the burn looks and measure temps without the blower. But when that blower is turned on, all bets are off.
 
I took some measurements today. The stove has been running with the air fully closed and nice secondaries for ~30 min with the blower off. The IR gun readings:
Above the door: center: 590 F left and right corner (but not on the blower cover yet!): 465-470 F
Top; just before the surround: center: 420 F left and right side: 230-240 F
Flue collar, "lasered" through the blower opening: ~600 F
I started closing the air when the door center spot hit 350 F and had it almost fully closed at 500 F.

I use the IR gun from Harbor Freight which seems to work well enough. Usually it is $40 but often on sale for $30 and sometimes even for $20. I think for many inserts it is the only way to get some reliable readings. The manufacturers should really put a recommendation in their manual where to place the thermometer and what temps not to exceed. Just simply saying "not to overfire it" is not enough IMO.


I TOTALLY agree with the need to define over firing and where to place a thermometer. My dealer said the same thing as well and is working on PE to get a location / a number. Will update if I hear anything. I get that the exterior shouldn't glow, but by the time that happens it is too late.

So based on your numbers, the face of the stove is approx 1.5X hotter than the top. I am guessing that with the blower running the top is quite a bit cooler than the face.

I think I might run to HF and pick up an IR tomorrow. It went from 60 last night to 30 tonight. I want to be able to run this stove and feel confident that I am not overworking it. It seems to have alot more control than the Pacific did. Perhaps they modified the fix of the air control mechanism.....????
 
I think temp measurements with an insert is an impossible dream. My 30-NC in the fireplace can be kicking at 650 to 700 and shortly after I turn the blower on at half speed the stove top thermo reading drops a couple of hundred degrees. Same for the infrared thermo. Ya just gotta do it with how the fire looks and if you are smoking up the 'hood. Fine to test how the burn looks and measure temps without the blower. But when that blower is turned on, all bets are off.

I am starting to think that stove top temps aren't reliable with the blower on. The face however isn't in the air stream. It seems to me that this would be a reliable number.

I did a quick test just now. If I turn the blower all the way down, the stove top increase 50F within a few minutes. Turn the blower back on, temp drops rapidly.
 
I'll vouch for when the blower is off. Especially on an insert.

Had to run the PE with no power during Sandy's after math. Glad I bought it, and that it convects the heat with no blower.

But I really had to keep an eye on the temps.I know they are way hotter than the thermo shows (upper right of the door). Running the 13 was way easier.
 
So the BIG question that PE can't answer is: what temp can I burn to and where to put the thermometer? My dealer has recommended that I place it on the top, just behind the cast iron top and that I run 400-600F with 700F being the max. I am starting with that advice but am open to others input. I used to run it just over the top left corner of the door with the same temp ranges in mind He suggested that didn't do a good job of representing where the stove was actually running. I am thinking I am going to run 2 for a while and compare.

I called up six dealers with the same question a couple of weeks ago and got wildly different answers, including from PE tech support themselves.
 
I'll vouch for when the blower is off. Especially on an insert.

Had to run the PE with no power during Sandy's after math. Glad I bought it, and that it convects the heat with no blower.

But I really had to keep an eye on the temps.I know they are way hotter than the thermo shows (upper right of the door). Running the 13 was way easier.

Agreed. I ran my Pacific 24/7 last year when we had no power / heat for 1.5 weeks after a freak snow storm in October. It threw off lots of heat without the blower but I watched it a lot closer.
 
I called up six dealers with the same question a couple of weeks ago and got wildly different answers, including from PE tech support themselves.
what did they say?

I am thinking that if I hit 600F with the blower on I have over fired the stove. I would like to avoid this with the new insert!
 
I am glad I bought the IR thermometer. It was actually that I could also check for cold spots around the house but being able to measure the temps on the face of the Super made it totally worthwhile. For what its worth running the blower has little effect on the temp I measure above the door. 20 to 30 F at most. I used to run the stove with the blower on most of the time but now I only do it when I want to get the house warmed up more quickly. The convective air movement around the firebox is really working well. Needless to say, I really love the Super.
 
This should give renewed hope to those of us who were starting to question PE's warranty policies.
 
Good to hear that there is good convection around the Super. The Pacific really needed the blower to move the heat away from it I felt.

The Super is definitely better looking than the Pacific was. The additional cast iron really does it for me.
 
This should give renewed hope to those of us who were starting to question PE's warranty policies.
I am very pleased with the ultimate outcome of my situation.

I did have to do a bit of leg work to keep things moving, but it worth it. I credit my dealer who pushed the distributor hard to resolve the situation.

For me I think pulling the stove and finding additional cracks was really the turning point.