Adding firebrick to drolet myraid

deere317 said:

Thanks Ethan that's what I had in mind. It's good to know it doesn't hurt the stove. Are you having any excessive charcoal build up.

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No excessive charcoal buildup, I love my stove. Not much to look at but willing to work hard and can slang heat like the sun... I'll take a pic in a couple hours when I get home before I load up for the evening.

Chuck the Canuck said:

I'd love to see some pictures of the modified stove. How long have you had the stove altogether?

Cheers

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this is my third full season with it, bought it in February 4 years ago I believe. Added a row of fire brick to the top not long after buying it.

I find the Austral to be a real workhorse, but I have wondered about the exposed sides up above the brick... they get a good bit hotter than the stove top itself.... I sometimes push it (or so I thought to myself) by loading a couple/few inches above the brick especially when it's as cold as it is right now, but I get nervous about it too because the secondaries really seem to get hairy when I load over the brick and the stove top starts cooking up into the 750 F range... I run the fan full time when it starts getting that hot. So I'm curious about the secondaries since you've added the extra row of brick... has the addition changed the characteristics of the burn? This is an interesting thread: I'm glad someone brought it up, because I've wondered about these things (I thought I'd get shot at too much if I started asking questions about adding brick etc.......

Cheers

ethanhudson said:

I have an Austral which is the same firebox, and yes, I added a row of the denser firebrick placed horizontally atop the pumice firebrick that came in my stove. The reason I did this was similar to you, although my stove has never glowed red on the sides. The manual for the stove indicates not lo load the wood above the firebrick (I assume to allow space for secondary combustion and maximize the stoves efficiency.) I however, in my desire for long burn times regularly loaded my stove above the factory installed firebrick and began to notice that the sides of the stove were warping (obviously from getting too hot.) I installed the firebrick as described above and have had zero issues with this configuration for the last three seasons.

If you want pics let me know and I'll hook it up when I get home tonight...

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Would love to see pics? How did you keep the bricks in place?

deere317 said:

Ok stopped by dads after work and he had a cheap IR thermometer for his stove. Loaded it up got her refired and temps go as
Stove pipe 580
Stove top 550 to 610 depending on location
Sides 315 at bottom 500 on top above fire brick

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stove pipe 580? Is that at 12 inches up or right at the top of the stove?
A stove pipe measurement for most of us is 12 to 18 inches up from the top of the stove.
So for our reference measure it at 12 inches.
If your pipe at 12" up is 580 and your stove top is 600 then something is odd.
Are you sure you have the bypass closed? Sounds like it could be open.

Huntindog1 said:

stove pipe 580? Is that at 12 inches up or right at the top of the stove?
A stove pipe measurement for most of us is 12 to 18 inches up from the top of the stove.
So for our reference measure it at 12 inches.
If your pipe at 12" up is 580 and your stove top is 600 then something is odd.
Are you sure you have the bypass closed? Sounds like it could be open.

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When I reload my stove on hot coals I see the flue temps (double wall measured with a thermocouple and digital readout) rise as high as 750 F before settling back down to around 600 F where it will generally stay while the secondaries are firing, which can be 2 to 3 hours, before finally trailing off. The stove top temps follow this pretty closely, running up to 700 (or 750 F if I'm pushing the stove) before levelling off and cruising down around 600 to 650 F while the secondaries are firing, and eventually trailing off as the secondaries die down....... This is pretty standard for me....

Chuck the Canuck said:

When I reload my stove on hot coals I see the flue temps (double wall measured with a thermocouple and digital readout) rise as high as 750 F before settling back down to around 600 F where it will generally stay while the secondaries are firing, which can be 2 to 3 hours, before finally trailing off. The stove top temps follow this pretty closely, running up to 700 (or 750 F if I'm pushing the stove) before levelling off and cruising down around 600 to 650 F while the secondaries are firing, and eventually trailing off as the secondaries die down....... This is pretty standard for me....

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Surface temps these stoves cruise at about 300 to 350 pipe temp and 600 to 650 stove top surface temp.

Huntindog1 said:

Surface temps these stoves cruise at about 300 to 350 pipe temp and 600 to 650 stove top surface temp.

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Oops, I apologize, I am reading direct flue gas temps with the thermocouple, not outside surface temp of the pipe..... my bad....

deere317 said:

By pass is also closed. I accidentally left the damper open once it was running away to almost 700 if I remember correctly. This thing can get hot quick on you.

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How tall of a flue do you have?

deere317 said:

About 25ft I think it's been two years since I put the liner in can't remember the exact measurement.

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Well you could have too much draw from the flue and that could explain the extra high stove pipe temps. Could try a pipe damper.

Make sure you check the door seal.

Just to add some more experiences here I have an austral and had it try to run away on me yesterday 0f outside with 20 mph winds and she was off to the races. Stove top was 850 when I filled the secondary air slot with tin foil to get it calmed down before work. My issue was that the secondaries were so strong they started acting as primary and secondary. (Air shutdown, Loaded above the fire brick).Picked up a magnet from tsc on the way home, and have it covered about 3/4 and the stove is much easier to control. Don't know if its gonna stay for the long run but for these temps it's about right. The bricks don't sound like a bad idea to keep some of that intense heat off the walls might have to try it

ckitch said:

Just to add some more experiences here I have an austral and had it try to run away on me yesterday 0f outside with 20 mph winds and she was off to the races. Stove top was 850 when I filled the secondary air slot with tin foil to get it calmed down before work. My issue was that the secondaries were so strong they started acting as primary and secondary. (Air shutdown, Loaded above the fire brick).Picked up a magnet from tsc on the way home, and have it covered about 3/4 and the stove is much easier to control. Don't know if its gonna stay for the long run but for these temps it's about right. The bricks don't sound like a bad idea to keep some of that intense heat off the walls might have to try it

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Did you load it full on a big bed of coals? How tall is your flue as the tall flues have much more draw.

Huntindog1 said:

Would love to see pics? How did you keep the bricks in place?

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They just sit there. Been there for years... Don't mind the ash/coals its what's left of my morning burn lit about 11.5 hours ago.

ckitch said:

Just to add some more experiences here I have an austral and had it try to run away on me yesterday 0f outside with 20 mph winds and she was off to the races. Stove top was 850 when I filled the secondary air slot with tin foil to get it calmed down before work. My issue was that the secondaries were so strong they started acting as primary and secondary. (Air shutdown, Loaded above the fire brick).Picked up a magnet from tsc on the way home, and have it covered about 3/4 and the stove is much easier to control. Don't know if its gonna stay for the long run but for these temps it's about right. The bricks don't sound like a bad idea to keep some of that intense heat off the walls might have to try it

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So where is this secondary air slot located that you covered? That would be good info to have in case of an overfire even similar to what you experienced....

ethan are they just sitting on top? nothing holding them up there?

EDIT: Whoops I see you said they sit there

ethanhudson said:

They just sit there. Been there for years... Don't mind the ash/coals its what's left of my morning burn lit about 11.5 hours ago.View attachment 149715

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There is probably an inch above my added brick to the bottom of the tubes on the baffle. Hope that pic posted OK. Did it from my phone...

ethanhudson said:

There is probably an inch above my added brick to the bottom of the tubes on the baffle. Hope that pic posted OK. Did it from my phone...

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Pic came out awesome! How have the secondaries and the regular burn been affected by adding the brick?

deere317 said:

Pipe temp

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send us a pic of the fire and the stove top temp. Stove top temp middle of stove about 4 inches back from front lip is usually the hot spot.