first T5 fire today

jetmech said:

Got the T5 installed today and built first fire, stove was a showroom model so has been burned previous. makes all kind of racket getting up to temp. So far so good, havent really loaded it up but it is burning nicely, Gonna be a huge learning curve from the Intrepid II... trying to keep single wall pipe temps around 350 to 400.. BeGreen any tips for a 20 year plus Cat guy ???

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Nice looking stove!

Enjoy!
Ray

They do make a little bit of noise (pinging) as they warm up. I agree with the others; Once all of the pieces are well lit I cut the air down to halfway (actually seems to warm up quicker this way...Less of the heat going up the chimney???). Once I hit 450 I cut the air down to 3/4 and then all the way down at 500. Mine runs on pine exclusively and cruises between 600-650 and LOVES to be there. Don't know what my pipe temps are...but I've never seen it even get close to glowing.

In terms of the N/S vs E/W loading they both work very well. Seem to get a little longer burns with the E/W arrangement (perhaps the way that the air moves from the front of the box through the gaps between the wood when loading n/s???...or it's just me). It is alot easier to load it N/S. All depends on the length of your splits I guess.

Congrats

Just curious since the Alderleas are on my list of consideration (and might buy new stove soon) what lengths will they take n/s. I'm not sure yet but guessing size wise T5 would be good for me, but if the T6 can run decent with stovetop of 300 that would probably work well too.

OhioBurner© said:

Just curious since the Alderleas are on my list of consideration (and might buy new stove soon) what lengths will they take n/s. I'm not sure yet but guessing size wise T5 would be good for me, but if the T6 can run decent with stovetop of 300 that would probably work well too.

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20 inches max for N/S. That would be right up to the glass. Don't know much about cat stoves but I know that my T5 wouldn't be very happy; wouldn't burn very clean and wouldn't heat very well at 300 on the stove top. It prefers to be atleast 500 even with just a few splits.

dispatcher101 said:

20 inches max for N/S. That would be right up to the glass. Don't know much about cat stoves but I know that my T5 wouldn't be very happy; wouldn't burn very clean and wouldn't heat very well at 300 on the stove top. It prefers to be atleast 500 even with just a few splits.

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Wow 20" is a lot for N/S. The brochure only states 18" (I assume for E/W), thats suprising it will take a longer split N/S.

BeGreen said:

Yes, 300F is a fairly low temp for these stoves. Usually I am only down to that in the burning off coals stage.

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Yeah I misunderstood what you meant about the 300F stovetop temp earlier. That sounded too low. My old stove is pretty huge, I'm guessing atleast the size of a T6, but it'll run all day in the 300's. I'm worrying with a newer stove with secondary burn I'll be heating myself out of the house at 500+.

Nice setup!! You'll love the stove. I bought one at the end of the summer and have been burning in it since the end of November. First season with it and am loving it.

I think the manual recommends splits at 18" max (N/S). I have mine cut to 16" and that works fine with it. As far as reloading, do what BeGreen states and try and wait for 300*, then load'er up with some big splits on a nice, hot coal bed. I wait for the stove top temp to reach 400-450 and then shut the air 1/2 way. Then wait for 500-550 and shut her down full. Been pretty much doing that all season long, with no problems. Enjoy!!