so I did a small fire today in my new ASH stove. It's the first in this new stove. I did not use any gasket sealer on the single wall pipe that goes to the ceiling support box but it was very snug putting it all together. I realize there will be a smell from the paint with the first few fires in a new stove. What has me puzzled is the smoky haze in the house. I've been looking and inspecting while this fire burns for any smoke but the dadgum thing burns so clean I can't find any whisps of smoke or heat. Lol I used some toilet paper and the middle seam seems to cause some movement but it's subtle. I used pipe sealer on my last set up and never had this issue IF it is in fact smoke but I don't think the paint would cause a haze like this. My plan as it stands now is to let the fire burn out, seal up the joints, use some sheet metal screws and try again. That said, I'm not sure of the best course of action here so any feedback is appreciated.
First Absolute steel hybrid fire today, smoke getting out?
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The smoke is most likely from the paint on the stove and pipe baking in. That is why we recommend opening windows and if possible put a fan exhausting out the fumes. This will get better with each fire that gets the stove top temp over 500F. FWIW, many folks do their breakin fires outdoors to avoid this.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
I'm thinking it must be paint, which can leave a haze in the air. Does it have the unmistakable smell of wood smoke? Unless it's definitely smoke, I would leave the joints alone for now, if they are fitting as tight as you say.
That may be what's perplexing. It does not smell like wood smoke, only the curing smell but the haze is what is confusing me. I didn't realize curing paint would produce a haze. The windows are open. Thank you for the reply.
The exhaust fans are on and the windows are open. I may get the fire hotter and also give it a couple days before breaking down the pipe to seal. Thank you for the reply.
You will have less smoking with each new fire. After about 3-4 there should be none as long as the stove gets over 500F on the stove top. Personally I wouldn't touch the pipe unless there are obvious large gaps. Let it burn for a week or two and I bet this will all become a memory.
So my owners manual says to season my stove with some small to medium sized fires. I've been doing that since yesterday morning and I've run into an issue, I have two thermometers on the stove. One is approx. 8" up from the stove on the single wall pipe. The second is on the cook top directly over the CC. There is a difference in temps with the swp being lower, but it's only 50-70 degrees lower and I can't get the stove temp over 425 degrees. I was using some pine scraps to not only get rid of them but start smaller like my manual said. Last night I got some split seasoned red oak from the wood pile and it's not making a difference. It's hotter than the pine but 425 is the max. I currently have the stove firebox about 60% full with 75% oak and 25% pine. I have been able to get a long secondary burn going visually and the glass is clean, no dark smoke coming out of the chimney pipe, just a little heat. It's vented straight up and my draft is good. It seems like everything is as it should be but the temp.
I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but I apparently can't figure out what. Your feedback is appreciated.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Perhaps your thermometers are off / wrong? To get secondary reburn (flames out of the sec tubes) the fire box will be above 800deg internal.
I had wondered that. The thermometer on the single wall is the new one that came with the stove. The one sitting over the cook top/cat area is approx. 8-9 years old. It's an imperial/kel-kem brand, I think I got it at lowes.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
next time you got the oven on, put the 2 in, see if the needles correspond with the baking temps. Also FYI the stove pipe thermometers are estimates, usually when the thermometer says 450 deg the internal temps are much higher, after a couple years of burning I gave up on thermometers, I just look at the stove, look at the chimney for smoke and make my adjustments.
St. Coemgen
Feeling the Heat
My experience:
1) It will take a week or more of gradually increasing the heat in the stove to well season the stove and its paint. Do not rush this. If you say "since yesterday" shows that is the problem (you are rushing it). Think of it is like aging a fine wine: it takes time.
2) Ditch the thermometer. They are often a bigger source of confusion than help. Rather learn how to build and maintain a proper fire. For seasoning, build fires of increasing burn time. Start with a 2 hour burn. Then let the stove cool down completely. Then build a moderate fire that lasts 3 hours (add no more than 3 or 4 logs at a time to keep the fire burning). then let the stove cool. Do this again, and again, adding only 1 hour per burn each time. Keep a lively and active fire in the firebox. And in a week your stove paint and the metal will be well seasoned, and both will last you a long time.
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This is steel, catalytic hybrid stove, not cast iron. More like a good bourbon than a fine wine. 
The manufacturer has supplied the thermometer for a reason. It is the guide for cat engagement. Keep it and try swapping positions with the Imperial thermometer to see if the temp reading changes.
As for stove temp, what is the moisture content of the oak? If not fully seasoned and still damp inside the wood it may not provide as much heat as expected.
The manufacturer has supplied the thermometer for a reason. It is the guide for cat engagement. Keep it and try swapping positions with the Imperial thermometer to see if the temp reading changes.
As for stove temp, what is the moisture content of the oak? If not fully seasoned and still damp inside the wood it may not provide as much heat as expected.
Absolutly wrong thermometers are really the only immediate gauge to tell you what is really going on with your fire. I would never think of running any stove without a thermometer.
Squisher
Minister of Fire
I agree with this. I hear many mention just 'watching the fire'. I often picture a caveman beating their chest and pointing 'fire'. Lol. Not trying to be insulting. But it's not inherent in a human to 'just know' how a fire is supposed to burn. Thermometers are science. Get your proper readings with a proper instrument and there is no guess work.
I use multiple thermometers and I always recommend them to customers. I see it constantly, as I'm sure anyone else who cleans regularly does too. No thermometer = more creosote, or signs of massive overfire on the other end of the spectrum. A thermometer doesn't mean you can't screw up but IMO it means you're much more likely to know when you have.
Yes I can burn without a thermometer and did successfully for decades. But I now never would, and see no reason not to use one. Espescially if you're a green unseasoned burner. Thermometer up. It'll help a lot.
I use multiple thermometers and I always recommend them to customers. I see it constantly, as I'm sure anyone else who cleans regularly does too. No thermometer = more creosote, or signs of massive overfire on the other end of the spectrum. A thermometer doesn't mean you can't screw up but IMO it means you're much more likely to know when you have.
Yes I can burn without a thermometer and did successfully for decades. But I now never would, and see no reason not to use one. Espescially if you're a green unseasoned burner. Thermometer up. It'll help a lot.
Absolutely... it's good to know not just stove top temp, but flue temps, and perhaps other spots of a stove if those spots run hot (like the rear burn chambers in downdraft stoves like my old Oakwood). But I would say after running the same stove for 3 or 4 seasons, you can get to know the temps under different times and conditions well enough that often when you look at the thermometer it is simply confirming your correct ballpark assumptions.
I think St.C is correct that simply relying on a temp reading can be a source of confusion if that reading leads you to ignore other factors and if you don't understand the combustion process and technology of your stove. Temps provide clues and info, but need to be correctly interpreted and used in the context of each particular stove, it's venting, air settings, etc.
Squisher
Minister of Fire
I'll respectfully disagree. With a modern reburner stove it's all to easy to be overfiring or underfiring based on what the flame 'looks' like or where your air is set at, or how big or small your splits are, or how dry or wet they are, or how cold or warm it is outside, whether it's a high or low pressure weather system, and on and on and on to the point of almost endless variables.
This is fire in our homes, there is no single factor more important than the actual real temperatures that we are running at. There is no confusion IMO with a thermometer, it tells you the temperature. The confusion comes in when you rely on all the other factors mentioned to try and guess at what the actual temperature is.
This is fire in our homes, there is no single factor more important than the actual real temperatures that we are running at. There is no confusion IMO with a thermometer, it tells you the temperature. The confusion comes in when you rely on all the other factors mentioned to try and guess at what the actual temperature is.
Where did you settle the air setting after secondaries started and you closed the bypass? After cutting back the air in stages, to where it's less than 1/4 open, my stove tends to cruise approaching the 500f range, sometimes lower, with a partial load of wood (mixed, but mostly pine). The flue temps drop to well under 300F. So the temp readings are lower so far than what I was getting with my cast iron stoves, but that is without full loads of hardwood. I am running the stove fairly low, since it's not that cold out yet.
The stove seems to be throwing just as much heat as those stoves, however, and I am getting longer burns. Be patient... when you get some fuller loads going I'm sure you will be quite happy
JA600L
Minister of Fire
If you want higher stove top temperatures try reducing the primary air. This cuts back the secondaries and gives the cat a kick in the pants. The cat glows orange and the top should heat up a lot more. Try a hot reload sometime and cut it back. The cat gets pretty excited when you do that.
I am with squisher. As long as you know where to put the thermometer there is no confusion at all. The temp is the temp plain and simple not interpretation needed. Now yes as you get to know your stove well you probably wont rely on the thermometer as much but it is still there to double check.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
In my stove anyway, when I level the fire off, it's a small difference between the amount of fire needed to level the flue temp off, and a small amount more of fire will cause the flue temp to continue to rise. If that goes on too long, the tee will be glowing. But yes, with experience you get an eye for the fire when you are starting a new load, and you can easily see that more wood is catching and that you need to cut the air.
Squisher
Minister of Fire
I would never argue that you can't burn well without a thermometer but many people won't without one. They will smolder or mercilessly overfire their stove. So I highly recommend it for most everyone, except those who obviously have learned how to operate their stove properly and have a good knowledge base of best burning practices. And most importantly have good dry wood.
For me. I don't like to always babysit or watch my stove at all load to load. I burn 24/7 three or four loads tops a day. I find the thermometers great for confirming what I'm seeing in the box and then I use a remote display which is extremely handy for running a stove from another floor.
For me. I don't like to always babysit or watch my stove at all load to load. I burn 24/7 three or four loads tops a day. I find the thermometers great for confirming what I'm seeing in the box and then I use a remote display which is extremely handy for running a stove from another floor.
same here I love being able to sit at my desk and watch the temps of my stove in the basement below me.
Well, that's basically what I'm saying, too. Just observing that after about three seasons with the same stove and good dry wood, you get to know what it likes. You get to know how to shut the air back depending on the type and amount of wood, and the outdoor temps. So looking at the thermometer gets to be a habit that you keep doing, even though you almost always know roughly what the thermometer is going to tell you even before you look. Of course, when you start out using one there would be no good reason not to keep it on the stove forever.
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xman23
Minister of Fire
When you know your stove, your eyes confirm what the thermometer says. For me to get the stove up to 500, 600 degrees, I need a full fire box of wood ripping. After a few full reloads I can get the stove to 600. Most of the time I'm running at 200 -350
Not with a downdraft stove. People go by the stove top temps as an indication of when to close the bypass, and the AB stalls because the coal bed isn't deep enough... so they run a smolder when the thermometer is in the "good" range.
Or, at the other extreme, the AB is raging but they don't think they are overfiring the stove because temps on the top are below the overfire range, while unknown to them the rear of the stove may be pushing 900f... so they run the stove too hard with too much air because the thermometer is not indicating a problem. So I think it depends on the stove, and if you don't know the basics of your burn technology, a single reading may not give you all the info you need (which is why I like an IR gun as well as a magnetic).
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