Stove top temp readings

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HighHeat22

HighHeat22

Member
Sep 29, 2011
172
southern michigan
My stove top temp is a lot lower than what I read in the firebox. I use a hand held digital laser reader from Harbor freight. Are they accurate or not.

The Hottest my stove top reads with this hand held is 325 and in the fire box it is at about 600. I am wondering why the big difference and why can I not get my stove top hotter. I do use a fan that does blow over the stove top and I have read this will lower the stove top temp..

I have a blanket on top of my top fire brick. Manuel says to use and I do check for damage when I clean the stove. Does this have anything to do with a lower stove top temp..

What I am wondering is are these hand helds as accurate as the temp meters that stay on stove top or on chimney pipes. Does the blanket lower the stove top temps..
 
Outside will never match inside temps, with that said your stove top numbers seem rather low to me although I'm not familiar with your particular model.

Take us through how you're running the stove, explain the set up to us stove/chimney and of course the age old when was the wood c/s/s.
 
My wood has been c/s/s for 2 years. Moisture content on wood is around 14 to 16 on fresh split when checking with meter.

I am going to get a more accurate temp gauge that sits on stove top. Maybe these hand helds are not accurate. Do you know ?.
 
Check it against something known, or at least close to known. Your oven, boiling water, ice water, etc.
 
The hand held IR is much more accurate then the stove top
models I have tried over the years.
My hand held is a Fluke 62 mini.
 
Great Idea. I will check with a known temp.

Mine is a cen-tech from Harbor Freight.
 
I'm with rdust, 325 for a max stove top temp is WAY too low.

Something is going on here if the wood is dry in terms of your loading technique, or the way you are adjusting the stove's air control.

pen
 
That is exactly what I am wondering. I get a good load going and then adjust primary air way down to about 25% just enough so I see some slow flames any lower and my burn is not good and I soot up the glass.

I check with my hand held and inside the box the temp is at about 600 and on stove top it is around 325. I have no idea what is up. Could the blanket on top of top fire bricks be affecting the heat from transfering up ?.

Does not matter what loading technique I use n/s or e/w I get the same result.

I also use a damper in my pipe about 3 foot above the stove to get better heat.
 
Taking the temp inside the stove or the temp of burning contents is basically of no value. Only worry about the temperature of the external surfaces on the stove itself. Use that IR gun to find the hottest spot on the top, and use that to judge how the burn is going.

pen
 
Oh, I did not know that. I was just using the inside temp as a reference to the stove top temp..

I have no idea why stove top temp is so low. I will not be going thru another winter with this stove I am looking now for a good or clearance price on another stove.

This is my second season with this used stove. A friend who moved out of state sold it to me with a super great splitter and about 4 cords of oak. He bought the stove new about 10 years ago it is EPA.

What do you know about the blanket on top. The manuel says to use.
 
How do you run the stove, is the air open full way to get huge flames or turned down once the wood catches, etc.
 
After my load is started real good I turn down the primary air to about 50% for about 5 or 10 minutes and then to 25% for rest of the burn just enough to get a slow flame any lower and the burn is not good and my glass will soot up.

If I am reloading on a good coal of beds I just give maybe 50% air and then turn down to 25% when going good.

I am still wondering about the blanket.
 
My stove has the blanket of insulation on top the baffle board and it doesnt keep my stove from reaching 700 degrees stove top temp. Its a good thing to have as its adds to the performance of the stove as keeping the fire box temps higher in the top of stove means the stove can burn smoke gases more efficiently at a lower air intake setting.

You need to build the heat up more before you close it down. Try loading some kindling up front on hot coals that you raked forward to burn hot and fast to build heat higher and faster. Then if you want when the kindling burns down and the stove is up to high heat before you shut the air down load another split up front where the kindling burnt down to nothing, the heat should be up high by then and it wont set you back much by opening the door. The stove at the higher built up temps will recover quickly from adding the log.
 
Are you able to post any pictures of your setup or the blanket to which you refer?
 
I have tried a lot of different load configurations. But, I will try letting load get hotter before I turn down the primary air. Thanks for info on blanket I understand more now.

Pen posted on another post something about blocking off the secondary air flow to someone who is burning thru to much wood. Maybe I have no air flow to my secondary's. I have tried to pull up a diagram of the air flow on this country s210 stove but can not find anything. Lennox bought out country stoves I think.
 
I was having some issues with getting up to temperature. I read here that it might be the size of my splits. I split some in half and that took care of the problem.
 
This is the manual from the lennox website, does this match the stove?

http://www.lennoxhearthproducts.com...r_SS-ST210_Installation_Operation_775215M.pdf

It sounds as though your wood should be well seasoned at 2 years being cut, split and stacked. But getting black glass and low stove tops are indicating that the burn isn't going well.

Often times, this can be from inadequate loading strategies (wood is placed in strange criss cross patterns, too far apart, full rounds and no splits, splits too large, etc). Other times having a problem getting the stove up to temp could come from having a chimney cap that is plugged or even a joint that came undone reducing draft (may happen in a fireplace where it may not be visible).

Also, are you always starting from a cold stove or are you loading on coals? A cold stove usually doesn't perform quite like a fire built off of coals does. Also, are the loading the stove right up and letting it run in cycles or are you throwing a log or two on every few hours?

Also, what is the chimney like for your setup? 6 in liner? 8 in liner? Class A double wall insulated? Masonry chimney? How tall is the chimney?

pen
 
Yeah, I read that also and have reduced mine to.

I am really wondering about my secondary's now. But, they just help control the exhausts of the wood right.
 
Please tell us also what you're doing with the flue damper. (Many mfgs say to not use such.)
 
I only get dirty glass when I turn down my primary air to low. So I only turn down to about 25% and I just have lazy flames this seems to work best.

I will check my chimney and cap. Cap is exhausting good and I do not see anything leaking from pipes outside.

Most times during the day I am reloading on a load of hot coals. It depends on who is home and what time of day and the outside temps as to how I operate the stove. Now today I am just throwing a couple of splits at a time on random to just keep stove going and try to hold temps in this cold. Later around 4 I will go with a full load for the evening and night till morning. On weekends when everyone is home if temps are low I will keep going all day with full loads.

I am not talking about low stove top temps when I am just throwing a few splits on I am talking about full loads on good bed of coals and I can only get the stove top to 325 degrees. I am going to try really letting load go until turning down the primary air and see what it will do.
 
I have about 15 ft of single inside and 12 ft of double stainless supervent above for my chimney.

I have read on the forum some people use a damper and some don't. Mine as I have said is about 3 ft above the stove. I close about a quarter turn when load is going good and the heat really gets better off the fan.
 
HighHeat22 said:
I have about 15 ft of single inside and 12 ft of double stainless supervent above for my chimney.

I have read on the forum some people use a damper and some don't. Mine as I have said is about 3 ft above the stove. I close about a quarter turn when load is going good and the heat really gets better off the fan.
Click to expand...

That's a lot of single wall but a good length chimney. Draft should be adequate if the cap isn't plugged.

Off the fan? Are you talking a stove blower or a magic heat reclaimer?

pen
 
Yes a tall chimney. I have a 2 story and an open ceiling above the stove with an overhead ceiling fan above the stove. The ceiling fan really helps move the air around.

The fan I talk about is a stove blower mounted on the back of the stove.

The cap does not appear to be blocked I see good exhaust coming out of it.
 
Sounds like your wood needs to be a bit dryer as a full load of wood thats hard to get going points to the wood.

Do you load East West or North South
 
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