Alderlea T6 - First Weekend

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Ash Man

Member
Dec 18, 2011
35
Spruce Grove, Alberta
After spending hours reading this forum, I finally decided on the T6. Yesterday we did our progressively larger break-in fires, and we love the way this stove operates. I do however have one concern. When I put just 3 medium sized splits of poplar on, the stove top temperature reaches 725*. If I put the thermometer 18" up the stack, the temperature is 350* This is with the air turned down as low as it will go. The fire looks perfect, nice rolling flames with secondaries. Nothing scary looking, except for the high stove top temperature. I'm afraid to think what would happen if I loaded this stove up! My chimney is 25' straight up, the first 15' in the house. Does this sound normal? How hot is safe for stove top temperatures?
 
725 without the blower -- not unbelievable. I am sure others will chime in regarding the flue temp. Sparky will fill you in as he monitors all the temps.

Two things, check the door fit and check the ash chute to make sure it is sealed. you will see a blow torch white hot area around the ash chute if it is leaking air, and would promote a hot burn.

Also, maybe check the stove top thermometer in the oven on a pizza stone or whatever to make sure it is in the ballpark accuracy wise.

Welcome as well, do a T-6 search and you will find tons of info
 
I think so, you said it was Poplar which is a quick burning wood that will get hot with just a few splits, do you have single wall pipe with a magnetic thermometer on surface, sounds like your system is spot on, my Summint seems to run with higher flue temps. I think you are going to like that stove.
 
I tried some poplar for the first time this fall. It does burn quickly. With a stove full of about 8 splits and rounds it climbed up to about 750F and I put the blower on medium speed. That settled it down quickly to about 650F. I was surprised at how nicely the fire burned and for a good long time. It gave me a whole new appreciation for poplar which some of the locals call sh!twood. Now I tell them I'll be happy to take it off their hands, right along with black locust which they tell me won't burn in a wood stove. lol

With your cold temps and stack, you might want to put a pipe damper on the flue. That will give you an extra degree of control for the cold days when the wind is blowing hard. Loading the stove E/W and packing the splits in tightly will also slow down the poplar burn.
 
I'll check the thermometer in the oven. The ash chute seems ok, but when I examined the gasket on the front door, the gasket that runs around the glass is twisted on both sides (the side section of the glass, as opposed to the bottom and top). Is this by design, or should that gasket run flat along the glass the whole way?

My chimney is double walled, and I move my magnetic thermometer between the stove top and the pipe.
 
The window gasket is somewhat oversized. The part of the gasket that hangs outside of the glass will twist and bend over. That is normal and not an issues as long as there is a good contact seal between the glass and the other half-width of the flat gasket. On our stove this contact area varies between about 1/8 and 1/4", with less as it bends around the corners and more in the middle.
 
Ash Man said:
I'll check the thermometer in the oven. The ash chute seems ok, but when I examined the gasket on the front door, the gasket that runs around the glass is twisted on both sides (the side section of the glass, as opposed to the bottom and top). Is this by design, or should that gasket run flat along the glass the whole way?

My chimney is double walled, and I move my magnetic thermometer between the stove top and the pipe.
Magnetic on a double walled stove pipe is not that good of a solution for monitoring flue temps.
 
And hey, congratulations on the new stove! Hope it keeps you folks warm and comfortable for many years to come.
 
Thanks BeGreen, can you have a look at your window gasket and tell me if it twists on the sides?

Got your earlier post, thanks.
 
The excess may lay flat or it may twist. As long as the captive part is flat between the glass and stove door, it should be ok. This is what our glass gasket looks like:
 

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This looks the same as mine, thanks. So, if I'm sealed up ok, my next option would be to invest in a blower. Our installer said that dampers on flues are illegal in Alberta. Not sure why. I'll continue to increase the number of splits that I add to see how many I can get away with. It would be nice to load her up to get all night burns. At what stove top temperatures should I get concerned?
 
When the stove gets to about 750F I start watching it. Don't load over the top of the bricks and you should be ok. I used pretty thick 6-7" splits of poplar and they were great.

Do check up on where that statement about the damper came from. I am curious whether this is fact or an opinion. I did a search but didn't come up with anything. He could be correct, I have no experience with Canadian code.
 
Checked the thermometer by putting it in the oven. Oven at 325*, thermometer said 480*. That could be part of my problem. Think I'll invest in an infrared gun. I also read earlier threads, and it looks like others have had similar issues with the T6, and have made modifications. Sure does burn nice though.
 
Picking mine up tomorrow, don't know if it'll get hooked up though, I put my back out at work on Friday night. Just how heavy are they anyways? How did you get yours in place?
 
The T6 is about 600 lbs heavy. Treat it with respect and be prepared with the right equipment and extra bodies.
 
Ash Man said:
Checked the thermometer by putting it in the oven. Oven at 325*, thermometer said 480*. That could be part of my problem. Think I'll invest in an infrared gun. I also read earlier threads, and it looks like others have had similar issues with the T6, and have made modifications. Sure does burn nice though.

It's possible that the error gets worse as the thermometer gets hotter. Run the stove with a decent thermometer and let it teach you. You could be fine without any mods.

I have this IR thermometer. It's made well and does a great job.

http://www.stockwiseauto.com/product_info.php/cPath/239_728/products_id/147828
 
BeGreen said:
The T6 is about 600 lbs heavy. Treat it with respect and be prepared with the right equipment and extra bodies.

Loader with forks to front door. After that some kind of cart and extra bodies!
 
For $420 a guy came, removed my VC, installed the T6, and took the VC away to the place old stoves go. I think it was worth it! There were two guys, and my wife says they used a dolly.
 
when checking the probe in an oven, you may wish to place the probe on a piece of metal, and make sure the stove and metal are equilibrated/prewarmed for quite some time and consider as well that ovens are not always the most accurate -- but you can at least ballpark estimate the accuracy with the above method.
 
Ash Man said:
After spending hours reading this forum, I finally decided on the T6. Yesterday we did our progressively larger break-in fires, and we love the way this stove operates. I do however have one concern. When I put just 3 medium sized splits of poplar on, the stove top temperature reaches 725*. If I put the thermometer 18" up the stack, the temperature is 350* This is with the air turned down as low as it will go. The fire looks perfect, nice rolling flames with secondaries. Nothing scary looking, except for the high stove top temperature. I'm afraid to think what would happen if I loaded this stove up! My chimney is 25' straight up, the first 15' in the house. Does this sound normal? How hot is safe for stove top temperatures?

That's a great stove. I've got my eye on a T5.
 
When I first went with the double walled pipe, I used the magnetic thermometer but it left me with questions like yours. So, I got a probe thermometer and that solved everything: I'd never go back.

I still use a stovetop to see what the temp is in the center of the top and that's fine.

I also got an inexpensive IR thermometer and check things with it, only once in a while now. But, it has other uses too; like working on my Street Rod, I can get a good idea of how the radiator is cooling.

Congrats on the T-6:those are really nice pieces.
 
Hopefully mine goes in tomorrow! Getting it in the house was well lets just say an adventure! Going to let the old stove burn down while I wait for it I am going togo rent some sort of appliance cart to get it up on the hearth...pics to follow!!
 
Picked up an IR thermometer today. Magnetic thermometer says I'm at 900*, IR says 500* Problem solved! That piece of crud magnetic thermometer caused me a lot of stress this past weekend. It ain't worth the powder to blow it all to hell!

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm sitting here watching amazing secondaries dance above my poplar fuel. My wife is getting tired of me insisting that she comes over to see!
 
Congrats on the T6!!! How are you adjusting to the change coming from a Resolute? In this weather I have consistently been going between 14-16 hours and still relighting from coals and I couldn't be happier!
 
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