Alderlea T5

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Rt22

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Oct 28, 2013
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With help from Begreen, figured out where and how to Post

I have an Alderlea T5 stove installed February 2012, it is a 2011 model that someone else used for one season and I bought from them as they upsized to a larger unit.
Question 1: The I/O manual says do not overfire the stove but they do not state what stove top temperature is considered overfiring do you have any idea?
Question 2: If the stove top temp does get too hot and looks like it is in the range of overfiring and the T5 air control is all the way down, what do you do, should you wait for the fire to die down on its own and ride it out, or try to remove a log with fire protective gloves, or other suggestions??
Question 3: I do not have a blower but I have read posts that say turning on the blower helps reduce stove temps. How does an external blower lower internal stove temps?
Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated
 
Keep the stove top temp below 750F and it will be fine. Normal peak temperature should be in the 650-700F range. If you see anything on the stove top glowing red it's too hot. If the stove does start getting too hot, stay calm and try ride it out. The stove top may reach 800F and still be safe, just very hot. Temporarily putting some metal tape over the air intake will slow the fire down, also opening the stove door can slow it down a bit with an in rush of cool air and breaking the secondary air flow. Do this with gloves on and with caution. Another trick is to cover the wood with ashes if possible, though that is difficult with a full load of wood. Some folks have suggested having a bag of wet newspaper standing by to toss in. With reasonable burning practices this all should be academic. I have had some dramatic fires, but have never had to snuff out the fire.

In general it is best to never cause a condition that would over fire a stove. That means that one never burns a large load of very dry wood like construction scraps or a stove full of small kindling or tiny splits.
 
begreen said:
Keep the stove top temp below 750F and it will be fine. Normal peak temperature should be in the 650-700F range. If you see anything on the stove top glowing red it's too hot. If the stove does start getting too hot, stay calm and try ride it out. The stove top may reach 800F and still be safe, just very hot. Temporarily putting some metal tape over the air intake will slow the fire down, also opening the stove door can slow it down a bit with an in rush of cool air and breaking the secondary air flow. Do this with gloves on and with caution. Another trick is to cover the wood with ashes if possible, though that is difficult with a full load of wood. Some folks have suggested having a bag of wet newspaper standing by to toss in. With reasonable burning practices this all should be academic. I have had some dramatic fires, but have never had to snuff out the fire.

In general it is best to never cause a condition that would over fire a stove. That means that one never burns a large load of very dry wood like construction scraps or a stove full of small kindling or tiny splits.
Click to expand...
thanks for all the help
 
That's what we're here for. Welcome Brian!
 
Brian, i also burn a T5, have had it 3 years.. couple of tips. try to reload after stove top is below 300 degrees, this will help keep stove from getting to hot on a fresh load of wood, the external blower does cool both the stove top and pipe temp, it has cooled my stove and slowed my heart beat on a couple of occasions, also a rule i learned from BeGreen is to not load above the firebrick.. it helps keep temps down. its a great stove and easy to operate.... one more thing my stove seems to burn longer and not as hot on tightly packed larger pieces of wood.. this forum is awesome and i have learned a ton from it good luck with yours.
 
I wouldn't recommend trying to pull a burning log out of an overheating stove as the chances of burning your house down are probably greater from doing that than letting the stove burn itself out. One thing that can help cool a stove is to aim a box fan or other strong fan at the stove from five or six feet away. That sort of air movement can help draw the temperature down quite a bit.
 
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Good tip Nick.
 
Thank you for the input.. really helps.. good to know others are out there to assist, especially when you are new to using a stove
 
I have heated with wood for a long time but it makes me wonder if I really know anything about it. Like Rt22, I have an Alderlea T5 that we have used for two seasons now. When retiring for the evening I typically fill the box with dried split, of various sizes, Maple and Beech. I let the fire burn hot enough to get a good flame and then damper it down (maybe 400 degree chimney temperature). The stove responds immediately and the flames mostly die away. A couple of times I have got up in the night just to check all is well and have seen gas temperature readings of 750 to 800 degrees (Fire by Flame - US made temperature probe installed about three feet up the double wall chimney). So now I wonder how hot the stove top actually is? How are you measuring the actual stove temperature? Is this a metering gauge that is actually installed on the stove itself? So if I am seeing the 750 to 800 chimney degrees which the gauge says is "optimum" but on the high end should I be concerned?

Sorry Rt22 for jumping in on your thread but I thought it might be of interest to you as well. Thanks in advance for any knowledge you can share with me on this question. I also have a story about the baffle falling out but I see there is another thread on that and will post my story there.

Thanks
 
Offset said:
I have heated with wood for a long time but it makes me wonder if I really know anything about it. Like Rt22, I have an Alderlea T5 that we have used for two seasons now. When retiring for the evening I typically fill the box with dried split, of various sizes, Maple and Beech. I let the fire burn hot enough to get a good flame and then damper it down (maybe 400 degree chimney temperature). The stove responds immediately and the flames mostly die away. A couple of times I have got up in the night just to check all is well and have seen gas temperature readings of 750 to 800 degrees (Fire by Flame - US made temperature probe installed about three feet up the double wall chimney). So now I wonder how hot the stove top actually is? How are you measuring the actual stove temperature? Is this a metering gauge that is actually installed on the stove itself? So if I am seeing the 750 to 800 chimney degrees which the gauge says is "optimum" but on the high end should I be concerned?

Sorry Rt22 for jumping in on your thread but I thought it might be of interest to you as well. Thanks in advance for any knowledge you can share with me on this question. I also have a story about the baffle falling out but I see there is another thread on that and will post my story there.

Thanks
Click to expand...


You need to check the temp of the top of the firebox, underneath the swing out trivets. The firebox itself is steel, with the cast iron panels on the outside. It should handle temps of 750 okay, I think. My Spectrum usually peaks around 650.

You can use a magnetic thermometer, like this. Move it around until you find the hottest part of the stove top.
http://www.condar.com/stove_top_meters.html

I like an IR thermo, and I have this one.
http://www.harborfreight.com/non-co...-with-laser-targeting-60725.html#.Ux3qWWahCt8
I prefer the IR, because I find the hot spot on my Spectrum varies, depending on the load, splits and flame path. It varies a lot, sometimes a couple hundred degrees in an inch or two. Magnetic thermometers also aren't known for accuracy. Some are better than others.

The Spectrum, by the way, is the same firebox as your T5, just different on the outside.

And, welcome.
 
I have our thermometer placed in front of the flue outlet, to left so that it's visible through the first slots in the trivet.
 
begreen said:
I have our thermometer placed in front of the flue outlet, to left so that it's visible through the first slots in the trivet.
Click to expand...
I also have a T5 and it is my first year burning with it. I keep the magnetic thermometer on the steel a few inches in front of where the pipe meets the stove with the trivets slightly open so I can read it. If I am running it with full load of large splits it stays between 700 and 725 for a couple of hours and then slowly goes down. I do not reload until it is down to at most 300 or if it is really cold and I want to reload sooner I don't totally fill it up. I find that the pipe can shoot up to 600 or 650 really easily with either a full load of large splits or a smaller load of small splits. I usually stay right by it and slowly damp down until it gets below the "red" zone. The stove is very responsive and maintains a great balance between pipe and stove--as pipe cools off, stove heats up in equal proportion and pretty predictably. I love the stove--it gives off great heat, is easy to learn, and burns for a long time once you get your technique down. All assuming of course you have nice dry wood!!
 
Hey Dyerkutn, ive been using the T5 for 4 yrs now, you sound like you are doing the right thing.. i love my stove as it is easy to operate and holds a fire for a long time. i have 16 feet of straight up chimney, single wall to ceiling adapter... if i load on hot coal bed my pipe can climb quickly.. i have to keep a eye as you do to make sure it does not get too hot. i keep my thermometer in front of flue to left side.. my pipe temp thermo is 18 inches up pipe. i also have the blower on it, but do not run it alot.. usually only if i get it too hot, it will cool stove and pipe quickly.
 
I just want to thank you folks for sharing the information concerning temperature readings. I will get the digital and magnetic indicators and let you know what I find.

Appreciated.
 
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