NC-30 thermometer placement epiphany

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jminacci

jminacci

Member
Jan 9, 2011
20
south central pa
Today I decided to take my extra thermometer and place it on the right side of the stove just above the fire bricks. The stove top thermometer is on the up slope on top of the stove. Stove top reading is 475 degrees and the one on the side is 700. Makes me wonder what that temp was when I had the stove top cruising at 650. Where do you guys place your thermometers and have I been unknowingly abusing my stove?

Jason
 
I've had it on the side of the stove before and found the same thing. It's fun to watch but I've found that the hot spot on the side will change location depending on the way the logs are loaded, how many are in there, how the burn is going, etc. For consistency, I like the stove top but never hurts to play around.

pen
 
My 30 is the same way. Its usually 100 degrees hotter on the side. I guess if we are worried about it we could put a cut row of firebrick on top of the angle that holds in the other side bricks. Which leads me to another question. What is the top temperature and side temperatures of a cat stove. I would guess that the sides are cooler than the top. Stove output is not just the top temperature but rather the whole stove at an average.
 
I think this is part of why we aren't supposed to loss the 30 above the firebrick, which acts as an insulator to help keep firebox temps up without overheating the sides of the stove. That, and the airspace helps the secondaries work better.

-SF
 
Pen,if ya wouldnt mind,,would you post a pic of where you place your stove thermometer on your stove please????? Gonna be pickin up a NC 30 in the spring, when the prices come down a bit. If I dont ask ya now....I will forget later.!!!
 
Found out the same thing last night. It was 10 degrees out when I got home and the house was 55. The wife and newborn like it HOT so I made a ripp roaring fire, probably the hottest I've ever had just to get some heat in the house (just started burning this year). With the blower on full the stove top was about 650.

I was messing around with the IR meter measuring everything in the room and when I pointed it at the side of the stove above the firebricks it was 850!!!!! Makes me wonder what the side of the stove would be if the top was 850?!?!? I too wondered if I've been abusing the stove.

The wood was up to the top of the firebricks but my secondaries were epic. The stove was shut down all the way and it was producing a flame akin to the bowels of hell. I started the fire at 8:30pm and at 6am the stovetop was still 250.
 
I have a Kuma Tamarack. Kuma said to put the thermometer on that vertical (ish) wall at the top of the stove & get the temp up to 7 or 8 hundred when I add wood... & that it should take about 1/2 hour.
 
Joey said:
Pen,if ya wouldnt mind,,would you post a pic of where you place your stove thermometer on your stove please????? Gonna be pickin up a NC 30 in the spring, when the prices come down a bit. If I dont ask ya now....I will forget later.!!!
Click to expand...

Hottest spot is the center of the stove just at the bottom edge of the step.

I consider "redline" on my stove to be bout 750. However, my thermometer shows redline at 675. To keep things simpler for the Mrs. I have my thermometer placed an inch or so infront of the stope pipe collar on the top plate of the stove. I found this generally reads 75 degrees lower than the hottest spot of the stove in front of the step. With this thermometer there, the redline it thinks is appropriate matches up with what I think is appropriate.

Since I run the stove 95% of the time, it's easier that way than trying to expect the Mrs. to remember.

pen
 
About that high temp on the side of the stove. It occurs in the space between the secondary air manifold and the brick retainers. Above that the air coming in the manifold cools it and below it the bricks insulate it.

That space in mine is packed with rockwool so it reads the same as the stove top.
 
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