flue thermomter

[Lakelivin]

Hey Guy's

I'm Looking to run 2 thermometers this year . One set top and one flue...The flue would be new this year...My dumb question is .Are the probes removable for cleaning the flue?..do the lock on somehow? i cant say i've ever seen one in person..


Thanks in advance

 

[Todd]

The Condar probe is held on by a magnet and just slides out for cleaning. Is this for double walled pipe?

 

[Lakelivin]

yes doublewall

 

[cptoneleg]

flue thermometer,what are they for?? If you have one on stove which one would you try to adjust to??

 

[Todd]

flue thermometer,what are they for?? If you have one on stove which one would you try to adjust to??

Some people like to watch the stove pipe temps to keep more heat in the stove and not up the stack.

 

[oldspark]

flue thermometer,what are they for?? If you have one on stove which one would you try to adjust to??

Some people like to watch the stove pipe temps to keep more heat in the stove and not up the stack.

To not burn the house down!

 

[soupy1957]

Oh brother..........you know "I'm" gonna chime in here, don't ya?!

I just went thru this in my own world. I'm STILL looking for average temps. So much so, that I bought TWO, yes TWO thermometers for the body of the stove, (using them to find a Delta between the two of them), and had recently installed a thermometer on my double-wall flue pipe.

It's an inexpensive and simple install (the stove pipe one) and is easily removable (just pull it out).

If you get a piece of aluminum sleeve in yours, the INTENT of the designers was that the sleeve's narrow end would go thru the two walls of the pipe, ahead of the magnet, to be a guide for the thermocouple. However, the Designers of the product (Condar, anyway), hadn't been keeping up to speed (imho) with the Designers of double-wall stove pipe, and hadn't modified the sleeve to fit in BOTH holes. You'll find that it won't and you'll end up with about .050 - .070 sticking out of the outer pipe wall. No biggie! Just turn it around and put it inside the magnet. The thermometer will sit flush, doesn't sag when heated, and is a great gauge for seeing what's going on when you open and close the damper on the stove, in terms of the temps going thru the pipe.

Watching the temps on our system has become sort of a religious practice for me, but once I get a handle on the "norms" for my system (and all systems will operate slightly differently, depending on the where, how, etc....) I probably will consider my thermometers just a novelty or topic of conversation.

After all,...........you can SEE with your eyes, and hear with your ears, if you are burning too hot!!

-Soupy1957

 

[cptoneleg]

flue thermometer,what are they for?? If you have one on stove which one would you try to adjust to??

Some people like to watch the stove pipe temps to keep more heat in the stove and not up the stack.

To not burn the house down!

Thats for the house themometer, So if you don't have one on the flue you burn the house down , O K I don't need one.

 

[oldspark]

They can be considered a saftey item, extremly high flue temp can cause fires is the point I was making, should have expained it better, it seems like people do not worry about high flue temps any more and just concentrate on the stove top temp. I think both are important.

 

[firefighterjake]

flue thermometer,what are they for?? If you have one on stove which one would you try to adjust to??

I use my stove top thermometer to prevent over-firing and let me know when I can start dialing back the air for the secondary combustion.

I use my flue thermometer to prevent any possible chimney fire by going too hot . . . and to know when I'm burning too cool and could be producing creosote . . . plus . . . I've learned to use and rely on my probe thermometer in the flue now to know when to dial back the air . . . I rely more on this thermometer now than I do the stove top thermometer . . . but truthfully I like having both since it seems they allow me to run the stove more efficiently and safely.

 

[oldspark]

I found it interesting that last spring when I asked about flue temps that a couple of people made the comment why would you worry about flue temps unless it got to over 1000 degrees, I can not imagine how hot that would be, I guess I am just old and careful, if the flue temps get even to 650 degrees I get uncomfortable.

 

[Battenkiller]

I've learned to use and rely on my probe thermometer in the flue now to know when to dial back the air . . . I rely more on this thermometer now than I do the stove top thermometer .

I tend to agree with this thinking. The flue temp is more diagnostic of what is going on with the burn, which is more important info than how hot your stove is IMO. If I want to know how hot the stove is, I just stand next to it.

I never used to use any thermometer, now I have them in both locations... plus an IR gun to keep them both honest. The magnetic thermometers have a time lag, the IR is instantaneous. During a fast start-up, I've had my pipe thermo read at only 600ºF, but it slid right down the pipe when it lost its magnetism. This should only happen at temps over 800º. My feeling is that the temp was really in the 800º range but the thermo hadn't reacted to it fast enough.

 

[oldspark]

Watching the temps on our system has become sort of a religious practice for me, but once I get a handle on the "norms" for my system (and all systems will operate slightly differently, depending on the where, how, etc....) I probably will consider my thermometers just a novelty or topic of conversation.

After all,...........you can SEE with your eyes, and hear with your ears, if you are burning too hot!!

-Soupy1957

I know what you are saying but when I am putting the hammer down I like to monitor the temps so will have advanced warning if getting too hot or running too cold, kinda like having a tach in the car I know when to shift but if pushing it I like to watch the rpm's.

 

[Battenkiller]

I found it interesting that last spring when I asked about flue temps that a couple of people made the comment why would you worry about flue temps unless it got to over 1000 degrees, I can not imagine how hot that would be, I guess I am just old and careful, if the flue temps get even to 650 degrees I get uncomfortable.

I think folks are referring to internal probe readings when they say not to worry until they get over 1000º. Internal flue gas temps of 650º are pretty tame. I assume you are using an external pipe thermo?

 

[oldspark]

I found it interesting that last spring when I asked about flue temps that a couple of people made the comment why would you worry about flue temps unless it got to over 1000 degrees, I can not imagine how hot that would be, I guess I am just old and careful, if the flue temps get even to 650 degrees I get uncomfortable.

I think folks are referring to internal probe readings when they say not to worry until they get over 1000º. Internal flue gas temps of 650º are pretty tame. I assume you are using an external pipe thermo?

I can look for the posts but it sounded like they did not even have a flue temp sensor of any kind and yes I have a magnetic on my flue. I am refering to the temp on the gauge, it goes red at 450 and the new ones are the same.

 

[3fordasho]

I found it interesting that last spring when I asked about flue temps that a couple of people made the comment why would you worry about flue temps unless it got to over 1000 degrees, I can not imagine how hot that would be, I guess I am just old and careful, if the flue temps get even to 650 degrees I get uncomfortable.

Ditto, Going on my 4th year burning and it's a real eye opener the time or two I've forgotton the bypass was open and inlet air too far open for a start up or reload. You come back to the stove room, things are smelling hot. Flue thermometer pegged at max (1000F). Stove top temp is normal because it takes lots of time for the heat to work its way through soapstone. Close bypass and cut the air all the way down, things start to settle down but then you hear that tinkle-tinkle sound coming from the double wall connector pipe and get a small amount of smoke in the stove room. Yep the start of a chimney fire. Now my pipes never have enough build up to get a out of control chimney fire, but the presence of 2-45 deg elbows in my double wall connector pipe is a build up area and 1000F+ temps there is enough to catch what ever has built up.

My #1 rule for running the stove- never, never go far from the stove on start up or reload (bypass open/air open). Keep flue temps under 650F.

 

[begreen]

This was covered a lot late last winter. Single wall surface thermometers don't give the same readings as a probe thermometer. One is reading the surface temperature of the pipe and the other is reading the temperature from a probe in the middle of the pipe. The single wall temp can be 1.5x lower than the probe reading. So a surface reading of 400 translates into actual flue gas temps of 600 depending on the accuracy and location of the thermometer. Which brings up another topic. There were several probe thermometers tested then by WES999 using a comparison thermocouple, that were reading very high. And we've seen many surface thermometers disagree.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/51149/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/51548/
the actual test:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/51880/

 

[oldspark]

Thanks BeGreen there is some good info in those posts, some of it I had not run accross before.

 

[begreen]

No problem. You either need accurate instrumentation or take it with a grain of salt. I've checked mine with a laser thermo and am reasonably sure it is reading correctly. But others have reported some wide discrepancies with these thermometers. It's just another data point and no substitute for the 5 senses. Look at the fire, stove and pipe, feel the heat, smell if something is getting too hot, hear crinkling of creosote in the pipe and last (no don't taste it) exercise common sense when burning. Don't put a fresh charge of wood in a 600 degree stove on top of a raging fire.

 

[Later]

Hey guys, I have a HF laser thermometer that reads to 0.1 degrees. It may be more accurate than a magnetic stove top thermometer but then again it may not, I have no idea. It just makes me happy that I have a tech tool to tell me the temp.

 

[soupy1957]

Retired Guy: We fellas love our toys, don't we. The Condar Stove Thermometer came yesterday, and so I have set it side by side with the Rutland, but it's too warm this morning to light the stove to see how much they agree or disagree with each other. (Actually, I HOPE they DISAGREE, so that I CAN get a "Delta" from the results).

I'm running out of gadgets (toys) to buy...........I need some new inspiration!!

-Soupy1957

 

[Lakelivin]

Well,
Here's why i started the thread.. I had the chimney sweep guy out during the summer , after he was done with his sweep we opened the stove to check on the debris,He was quite suprised at the results..AFter my 1st burn season aprox 12f/c of <23% dry seasoned wood that we only got about 1/2 of a dixie cup of soot out..He told me i was probably burning to hot and also wasteing wood. I used a stove top thermometer and run it between 450 - 600 degrees the entire season ,but i was never sure exactly on the stove where to put the thermometer,

Franks and i e-mailed regency and we where told where to place a probe thermometer, But no mention of a set top one...so did i burn to hot? I thought i would get a probe to further micromanage this thing..Maybe i had the stove top thermometer in the wrong location ,maybe i can run the regency alittle more efficient, i didnt want to install a probe if it would hinder the cleaning though...Looks like it's completley removable though


Thanks guys

 

[Pagey]

Without more details, it simply sounds like you burned seasoned wood properly. Perhaps the majority of the sweep's customers do not do this, hence his surprise at just how clean and efficient your system was.

 

[begreen]

Well,
Here's why i started the thread.. I had the chimney sweep guy out during the summer , after he was done with his sweep we opened the stove to check on the debris,He was quite suprised at the results..AFter my 1st burn season aprox 12f/c of <23% dry seasoned wood that we only got about 1/2 of a dixie cup of soot out..He told me i was probably burning to hot and also wasteing wood. I used a stove top thermometer and run it between 450 - 600 degrees the entire season ,but i was never sure exactly on the stove where to put the thermometer,

Franks and i e-mailed regency and we where told where to place a probe thermometer, But no mention of a set top one...so did i burn to hot? I thought i would get a probe to further micromanage this thing..Maybe i had the stove top thermometer in the wrong location ,maybe i can run the regency alittle more efficient, i didnt want to install a probe if it would hinder the cleaning though...Looks like it's completley removable though


Thanks guys

It's not uncommon for a good EPA stove burning dry wood to have a very clean flue. I've checked our flue every year and it has been clean enough to go on another year. This year it's getting cleaned out of curiosity and in anticipation of a hard winter. I'll post what we find, but I expect less than a cup of soot in a 20ft flue. We run a 500-650 stovetop typically, but the flue usually stays at about 400 °F while she is cruising.

 

[soupy1957]

LakeLivin: Just pull out the thermometer on the flue........it's just a magnet.

-Soupy1957