About stove top temps....

[hemlock]

Hello,
I've been reading a few threads about stove top temps, and it seems the general consensus is that at around 750-800 is enetering the "uh-oh" zone. My question is - on my Super 27, I can hit 700 with little effort and little wood. Last night I hit 700 with three medium splits of spruce, and an average bed of coals. The stove was hardly half full. It would seem to me that the stove should be quite comfortable with 800, as if I were to pack it full with hardwood, 700 would be nothing. Am I missing something?

 

[TK-421]

I can't give you any reliable info. I have an old 1975 VC resolute that until last week has never seen a stovetop thermometer. It's just starting to get cold in CT and we fired it up yesterday like we usually do. Temps went up around 800. All last winter those temps I'd guess were the norm each day.

Our stove is fine and didn't glow at all. Were those temps safe? I have no idea. Ignorance was bliss though. Without a thermometer last winter I never worried at all about stove temps. I've been burning wood almost my entire 42 years and until this forum had never even heard of a wood stove thermometer.

 

[ScotO]

Hello,
I've been reading a few threads about stove top temps, and it seems the general consensus is that at around 750-800 is enetering the "uh-oh" zone. My question is - on my Super 27, I can hit 700 with little effort and little wood. Last night I hit 700 with three medium splits of spruce, and an average bed of coals. The stove was hardly half full. It would seem to me that the stove should be quite comfortable with 800, as if I were to pack it full with hardwood, 700 would be nothing. Am I missing something?

I can tell you one stove thermometer is NOT the same as another, especially after reading some of the posts on here.....I think your best bet for an accurate temperature, on both your stove and your flue, is to get and infrared thermometer (IR thermometer for short).....they are usually quite accurate, you can even get good readings on your hearth surface, and on your combustibles around your stove......and as far as your stove temps go, some stoves can get quite hot, like in the range you seem to be running...research it here, and even google it on the net to see if there is any info out there....if the stove and the pipe are glowing red, then you have some room for serious concern.....stay warm stay safe...

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Check your manual for what the manufacturer says is the stove's limit.

 

[raybonz]

Check your manual for what the manufacturer says is the stove's limit.

PE doesn't mention temps in their manual Dennis.. I just posted about what the blower does for my T-5 and this drives the temp down very quickly..

Ray

 

[begreen]

Hello,
I've been reading a few threads about stove top temps, and it seems the general consensus is that at around 750-800 is enetering the "uh-oh" zone. My question is - on my Super 27, I can hit 700 with little effort and little wood. Last night I hit 700 with three medium splits of spruce, and an average bed of coals. The stove was hardly half full. It would seem to me that the stove should be quite comfortable with 800, as if I were to pack it full with hardwood, 700 would be nothing. Am I missing something?

Accuracy of the thermometer checked?

 

[cwill]

Accuracy of the thermometer checked?

Just went through this the other day. Thermometer, Rutland magnetic from TSC, said 450 and there was hardly any secondary's and they wouldn't last long. Went and got an IR gun from HF and thermometer was 75 to 100 degrees off! read way warmer than it really was and the hotter the stove got the farther it was off.

 

[woodmiser]

I just checked an Imperial thermometer against a new Klein Tools IR that reads to 1000 deg.

The Imperial was reading almost 600, the IR reads 420 all around the Imperial.

Get a load of these..

http://www.kck.com/tel-tru_grill_smoker_thermometer.html

 

[oldspark]

I hit 690 (checked with a IR tester) with 5 small pieces of Oak (3 inch or so) on a small bed of coals so yes the those temps are easily hit with small amounts of wood.

 

[woodmiser]

I'm thinking lots of stoves get routinely overfired and the manufacturers have a difficult time with warranty approvals because of it. I'm also thinking that the ones that do list an optimum "don't regularly go over" temp, use a temp that keeps the stove in good shape over the long haul. Sure, if they say 600 max, you can probably run 700 all the time but it may impact the life of the stove, or at least consumables like baffles, air tubes and gaskets.

 

[oldspark]

Not sure where all the PE owners are but the safe temps for my Summit (I assume for your 27 also) are 700 to 750 with hitting 800 once in a while not being a problem, usually there are several owners that chime in here on this. One guy in Alaska runs his Summit at 800 a lot. I am going to shoot for 700 to 750 max I guess.

 

[HotCoals]

I'm thinking lots of stoves get routinely overfired and the manufacturers have a difficult time with warranty approvals because of it. I'm also thinking that the ones that do list an optimum "don't regularly go over" temp, use a temp that keeps the stove in good shape over the long haul. Sure, if they say 600 max, you can probably run 700 all the time but it may impact the life of the stove, or at least consumables like baffles, air tubes and gaskets.

yep..just because a vette might be able to do 180 does not mean you should do it all the time..lol.

 

[hemlock]

Accuracy of the thermometer checked?

Just went through this the other day. Thermometer, Rutland magnetic from TSC, said 450 and there was hardly any secondary's and they wouldn't last long. Went and got an IR gun from HF and thermometer was 75 to 100 degrees off! read way warmer than it really was and the hotter the stove got the farther it was off.

Not all IR thermometers are created equal either. We use fairly pricely, calibrated ones at work, and I've seen the cheaper hardware store brands be off by quite a margin compared to ours. I have a Fluke at home that I've calibrated to ou good ones at work, and it is pretty accurate.

Aside from that - I'd bet a great many people overfire their stoves consistently. It seems like an easy thing to do. My question is why such a big firebox if loading it to the gills would certainly cause an overfire given what i've experienced? If only half full of spruce (far from the best firewood) causes temps of 700*, it stands to reason that full of maple should be a disaster. But it isn't, because most of us pack our stoves pretty full on a frigid night and don't wake up to a pile of molten steel on the floor or to the fire alarms. These stoves are tough to figure out sometimes....

P.S. - excuse my ramblings and random thoughts.

 

[rdust]

Aside from that - I'd bet a great many people overfire their stoves consistently. It seems like an easy thing to do. My question is why such a big firebox if loading it to the gills would certainly cause an overfire given what i've experienced? If only half full of spruce (far from the best firewood) causes temps of 700*, it stands to reason that full of maple should be a disaster.

This is one thing I love about the BK stove, the control over the fire is way better than I had with a non cat stove. My non cat stove would be getting hot and just keep getting hotter, even with that though I don't think I ever overfired that stove. It had a published overfire of 800* and I never got it that hot. I never left it in the beginning of the burn cycle I always waited for the new load to settle down.

 

[woodmiser]

Been doing some experimenting with measuring stove top temps. I found that the temps vary greatly depending on the exact location you are measuring. So you have to search for the hot spot. I found a hot spot of 600 or so but moving inches away the temps can vary 50 to 100 deg. So anybody comparing a mechanical to an IR remember the spot you are IR checking may in fact be different than the spot the mech gauge is sitting on. I have 3 mech gauges in comparison and so far have found this gauge to be spot on...

http://www.teltru.com/s-54-dual-magnet-thermometers.aspx

 

[raybonz]

Been doing some experimenting with measuring stove top temps. I found that the temps vary greatly depending on the exact location you are measuring. So you have to search for the hot spot. I found a hot spot of 600 or so but moving inches away the temps can vary 50 to 100 deg. So anybody comparing a mechanical to an IR remember the spot you are IR checking may in fact be different than the spot the mech gauge is sitting on. I have 3 mech gauges in comparison and so far have found this gauge to be spot on...

http://www.teltru.com/s-54-dual-magnet-thermometers.aspx

For $47.00 it should be be accurate! I paid that much for my Raytek handheld infrared! I am sure that's a quality thermometer but I am burning wood not baking bread so for $20.00 or less the Condar does a pretty decent job and the Raytek allows me to find the hottest location plus I found the Condar to be pretty accurate..

Ray

 

[woodmiser]

I found the Condar to be off a lot in the higher ranges. Up to 100 degs at times. It's convenient to have a mech gauge there at all times that you know is accurate. Kinda dumb to be using an IR all the time if you asked me. I think $47 is well worth it and it looks like a good gauge, not something from ToysRUs. Compared to the $1000's invested in the stove setups, you think $47 is a lot as your main monitoring device?

 

[raybonz]

I found the Condar to be off a lot in the higher ranges. Up to 100 degs at times. It's convenient to have a mech gauge there at all times that you know is accurate. Kinda dumb to be using an IR all the time if you asked me. I think $47 is well worth it and it looks like a good gauge, not something from ToysRUs. Compared to the $1000's invested in the stove setups, you think $47 is a lot as your main monitoring device?

Yes I feel my Condar is just fine and for 20 years I only used a cat probe and that stove still burns to this day.. I agree the Tel-Tru is a quality thermometer it's just more accuracy than I really need.. The infrared is great for instant readings and also to verify the accuracy of my Condars plus the cats go nuts chasing the red dot around lol.. Try that with a Tel-Tru!

Ray

 

[woodmiser]

I don't like how the Codars needle jumps as it changes temps. I here you in "it's good enough" but I cant stand crappy stuff.

 

[raybonz]

I don't like how the Codars needle jumps as it changes temps. I here you in "it's good enough" but I cant stand crappy stuff.

Sounds like you may have had a defective Condar if it jumped.. Bimetal thermometers are slower to respond to change that's why I like my Raytek IR and consider that to be the judge.. I would even distrust a Tel-Tru for the same reason.. Fluke owns Raytek and I trust Fluke with my life on a daily basis..

Ray

 

[woodmiser]

I don't like how the Codars needle jumps as it changes temps. I here you in "it's good enough" but I cant stand crappy stuff.

Sounds like you may have had a defective Condar if it jumped..
Ray

I agree on the Fluke stuff. One thing I did not like about Fluke though is I have an older Raytek that is supposed to read to 750 but only reads to 500. I called their support. They said they no longer repaired the gun but would replace it for like $65. I can get a replacement myself for <$50. They acted like they were doing me some kind of favor.