Everything Drolet Tundra - Heatmax...

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Now a couple comments about the tundra. Has anyone else noticed that the 8" supply on the left looking at the front of the stove gets much warmer air compared to the supply on the right? I really like how this thing just goes into auto pilot once you set the thermostat. Had the house up to 73, also not wise when the wife has given you the "look" already.
First fire...WOOT WOOT! :cool: (oh, and that was post 500 of this thread BTW)
Yeah the left hand warmer duct thing was discussed a bit back on page 16 of this thread...
So having the house up to 73* was a good thing or a bad thing?
 
Well I just got furnace fired up this afternoon. It really took right off. One thing I don't get. Is why the stack temp goes up and down so much. Is it from bad chimney draft. Draft is currently at around .05 WC. Which is just low right? If I added some length to chimney would this help? I have it hooked up to that omega temp control thing. When it gets to 355 deg the draft shuts off and I get good secondary burn. Then stack temp drops and draft door opens and the cycle repeats. The house is about 80 degrees! So its putting off good heat. Just curious on your thoughts
 
Well I just got furnace fired up this afternoon. It really took right off. One thing I don't get. Is why the stack temp goes up and down so much. Is it from bad chimney draft. Draft is currently at around .05 WC. Which is just low right? If I added some length to chimney would this help? I have it hooked up to that omega temp control thing. When it gets to 355 deg the draft shuts off and I get good secondary burn. Then stack temp drops and draft door opens and the cycle repeats. The house is about 80 degrees! So its putting off good heat. Just curious on your thoughts
-0.05"WC is perfect. They call for -0.04" to -0.06"WC
The first few burns can be a lil squirrelly, especially with a brand new unit you have never run before so no worries, you'll get there. This is the season for many SOS calls here on hearth in the fall, happens every year. Hang out in the stove forum, it can be entertaining ;lol
355* sounds a lil low, I'd bump that up 1-200*, see what happens. IIRC, @3fordasho had his at 625* high limit. (which still is not a very high internal pipe temp)
If you have truly dry wood, you should be able to get the firebox temp up to the point where it will maintain a fiery hot secondary burn for a couple hours (depending on your heat load) keeping the tstat satisfied and the damper door closed for quite some length of time. That should stabilize the pipe temps a lot
 
why the stack temp goes up and down so much.

That sounds perfectly normal if your damper is cycling open and closed. Were you intentionally leaving the damper switch energized? (Were you having trouble keeping secondary burn with the damper closed)? I remember my first few fires, I had no idea what I was supposed to be achieving. @brenndatomu is right, you'll get the hang of it.
 
Secondary burn is great the whole time draft Draft door is closed. The tubes glow red and flames dance. It's kinda mesmerizing! The chimney draft dropped to -.04 from what I'm assuming is from the wind not blowing? May hover a touch under -.04 at times. It's 32 deg out also. There's not much or no smoke ever coming out of the chimney. I'm assuming that is the goal. I'll get the hang of it for sure.....with a lot of ???'s along the way
 
I have it hooked up to that omega temp control thing. When it gets to 355 deg the draft shuts off and I get good secondary burn. Then stack temp drops and draft door opens and the cycle repeats. The house is about 80 degrees! So its putting off good heat. Just curious on your thoughts


355 is pretty low to shut the air inlet, (assuming that's 355F) Mines set at 625f and that's pretty safe. Really everything sounds pretty normal and I wouldn't touch a thing untill you get a little more burn time and colder outside temps and then re-evaluate the draft situation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Matt78
Time for an update, its been a couple days of running now. My stack temp really never goes over 350. I am not complaining, most of the time it's running at about 200-275. On the magnetic temp gauge I have it shows just short of the burn zone. I guess, correct me if I am wrong I am getting really nice heat transfer from the heat exchanger. I went outside to look at the chimney figuring I would see a lot of smoke since its a little low on stack temp. Heck I had a hard time seeing anything coming out the chimney. Figuring that's a good thing. The only time I see much smoke coming out of the chimney is when I put a fresh load of wood on. Last about 10-20 minutes depending how long I leave the flap open to get the wood nicely chared. Burning primarily pine/spruce right now, and getting about 3-5 hours before needing to reload onto a nice bed of coals. I am putting in 2-3 nicely sized pine splits. What say you guys???? I think this sounds ideal to me but then again what do I know I have 2 days experience with the tundra.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Matt78
Time for an update, its been a couple days of running now. My stack temp really never goes over 350. I am not complaining, most of the time it's running at about 200-275. On the magnetic temp gauge I have it shows just short of the burn zone. I guess, correct me if I am wrong I am getting really nice heat transfer from the heat exchanger. I went outside to look at the chimney figuring I would see a lot of smoke since its a little low on stack temp. Heck I had a hard time seeing anything coming out the chimney. Figuring that's a good thing. The only time I see much smoke coming out of the chimney is when I put a fresh load of wood on. Last about 10-20 minutes depending how long I leave the flap open to get the wood nicely chared. Burning primarily pine/spruce right now, and getting about 3-5 hours before needing to reload onto a nice bed of coals. I am putting in 2-3 nicely sized pine splits. What say you guys???? I think this sounds ideal to me but then again what do I know I have 2 days experience with the tundra.
Sounds pretty normal to me! Amazing how well these things work when they are set up per the manual rather than cobjob it in and then come on hearth bellyachin about the "piece of @*&#" furnace that Drolet makes...;) (that's an attaboy for @Builderml and @Matt78 and a dig on the people that don't follow directions and then wanna come here and beotch)

Oh, and just a FYI here, if you have a magnetic temp gauge, you are measuring the surface temp of the pipe, the internal temp will be roughly double that number. When @Matt78 or @3fordasho mention temps, you have to keep in mind that they are taking an internal temp reading.
 
Last edited:
I fired the Tundra for the first time this fall last night. I really hadn't got a chance to mess with things much last spring as I installed it right at the end of the heating season. Anyways, I noticed that I have the "left side supply duct much warmer than the right one" syndrome too. It was that way from cold start through full temp/cruise mode. I didn't have my thermometer handy to check actual temps, but there was 50-75* difference from side to side I'd guess, very puzzling...
 
I have the "left side supply duct much warmer than the right one" syndrome too.

Agh! Stay away, it's contagious! :)

How long are your 8" outlets until (if?) they connect to a common plenum? Are they fairly symmetrical looking or different from each other? IIRC, they're both short until they get to the plenum.

I haven't done my first fire yet, but I'll try to pay attention and have my thermometer handy.
 
How long are your 8" outlets until (if?) they connect to a common plenum? Are they fairly symmetrical looking or different from each other? IIRC, they're both short until they get to the plenum.
3 to 3.5' long...both identical
 
I fired mine in the house for the first time (this season) a few nights ago and confirmed the difference again, left warmer than right. I then pulled the filter out a ways and it seemed like the temps were starting to equalize but then the fan kicked on and that was the end of the test.


I fired the Tundra for the first time this fall last night. I really hadn't got a chance to mess with things much last spring as I installed it right at the end of the heating season. Anyways, I noticed that I have the "left side supply duct much warmer than the right one" syndrome too. It was that way from cold start through full temp/cruise mode. I didn't have my thermometer handy to check actual temps, but there was 50-75* difference from side to side I'd guess, very puzzling...
 
I then pulled the filter out a ways and it seemed like the temps were starting to equalize but then the fan kicked on and that was the end of the test.
For me, they were very much unequal even after the fan kicked on...I thought maybe I could feel a difference in temp on the HE cleanout door from side to side, appeared pretty even though, like I said, wish I had my thermometer around at the time.
 
Last edited:
I also noticed left side warmer than right. I wonder if it would be better to use the left side 8" duct with either front or back combo? I know SBI says no, but I wonder if they truly know what there talking about. Just thinking out loud.
 
For me, they were very much unequal even after the fan kicked on...I thought maybe I could feel a difference in temp on the HE cleanout door from side to side, appeared pretty even though, like I said, wish I had my thermometer around at the time.

Well this morning I put my Raytek infered laser pointer temp sensor thingamajiger to work. Low and behold to touch the left side feels much warmer but according to my reading I am only getting about a 4 degree temperature difference warmer on left. This reading was taken about 12" up from the top of the furnace. Will be interesting to see what others come up for a temp difference
 
Last edited:
Did you measure those temps on a shiney surface? If so, they don't work very good on those. You might have to spray a spot of flat black paint where you want to measure, then try it again after it dries.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: STIHLY DAN
Did you measure those temps on a shiney surface? If so, they don't work very good on those. You might have to spray a spot of flat black paint where you want to measure, then try it again after it dires.
Yes i did take the readings on the shiney ductwork. I do agree the the actual temp reading may be inaccurate due to the reflective pipe. I held the "gun" at the same distance for both duct readings i took. I just wanted to get the difference and with both pipes being shiney i think the temp difference is correct. I did not take readings in different spots for the comparison i tried keeping the variables the same. Good idea on the flat black paint for actual readings.
 
You might have to spray a spot of flat black paint where you want to measure, then try it again after it dries.
You can make a "target" out of black electrical tape too...
 
You could consider black duct tape, since it is duct work. [emoji14]
Ha!
Yeah, really any black tape will do as long as it is not gloss black. (when installed in this application any/all tape then becomes duct tape, no? >>)
 
Been playing with my @3fordasho inspired temp controller, now that I've got it working it's too much fun! (I know...I'm beyond help :rolleyes:)
I'll try to post some pics of my setup tomorrow night. I used a Mypin brand controller mounted in a deep steel 4x4 electrical box, also had to add a relay because the controller had (2) NO contacts only (need 1 NO and 1 NC)
I had a real bear of a time programming the darn thing to work right (way too much time wrapped up into this!) Looking back on it I should have bought the Omega brand controller so that I could have just copied 3fords homework! ==c I guess I'm too cheap for my own good sometimes ;lol

Now then, I wonder if I can automate my stove ::-)
 
Today I received the fire brick update as well as a long sheet metal looking flap piece. I have not had a chance to install the new parts yet.
 
Flap looks like stainless. Part number PL66099 "air restriction plate".

Bricks are part number SE56647.

66d5f20c90719d9812059d399d5a5263.jpg

a12d8dc6e3dfe5710ec05f8ac6f704b4.jpg

2f4c2edad9f8ff16b577f9a73754861f.jpg

96f409292e8f1deee2278109ba028356.jpg

04fa5472f764b7d48ca4bc1f9b1b2bf4.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: brenndatomu