Harman TL300 flu temp/afterburn questions

[cyclone]

What flu temp to you engage your afterburn for a down draft stove.

The stove I have is the Harman TL 300

 

[begreen]

I don't have this stove, but there are several owners on the forum. Have you looked up any of the past threads for this stove? Try TL300, without the space. Here's an older thread on the subject with more links:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/29573/

(ps: I edited the original title to attract a more targeted response)

 

[branchburner]

My stove is in a fireplace so I don't have a good spot to check flue temp, I go by stove top. If I'm starting from scratch it is always over 600F, but if I already have a good bed of coals I may shut the bypass as low as 500F, never below that. Depending on how much primary air, the stove then runs at 450-550.

 

[MishMouse]

What flu temp to you engage your afterburn for a down draft stove.

The stove I have is the Harman TL 300

It depends greatly on the conditions and how much coals you have in it.
If you have a good coal base and it is not about 50 outside, I would say around 500 stove top.
Or around 500-600 on a double wall pipe.
Another member has success when he gets his interanl flu around 1K.

But, it takes pratice.
I know almost imediately after engaging the AB if it is going to stay lit and give me 8-12 hour burn average stovetop 450, or it is going to die and drop below 400 stovetop.

This year due to my wood not being as seasoned as I would like it to be (When is the sun going to come out, haven't seen really much of it in the past month, rain damp 90%+ humidity and dark conditions doesn't season wood, been that way since September), when I engage the AB at 500, I keep it on high until it reaches around 550, then I put it on medium until it gets to 600, then I move it to the last notch for the extended burn.

But, if you watch the fire and keep an eye on the stovetop temps you should be ok.

 

[dolphins1lrb]

I am looking at purchasing a new freestanding wood stove to heat up to 3000sqft house that is pretty wide open. I only found 2 stoves that claim they can heat that much - one being the Harman TL300 and the other Quadrafire 5700. I am not big on the Quadrafire brand I had a 4300 that couldn’t even heat 1500 sqft. so I am looking at the Harman, what is the talk about Afterburner and Downdraft? Any other sugestions of wood stoves would be great. Also does anyone know if you can purchase a wood stove and a pellet stove and qualify both for the tax rebate?

 

[branchburner]

I am looking at purchasing a new freestanding wood stove to heat up to 3000sqft house that is pretty wide open. I only found 2 stoves that claim they can heat that much - one being the Harman TL300 and the other Quadrafire 5700. I am not big on the Quadrafire brand I had a 4300 that couldn’t even heat 1500 sqft. so I am looking at the Harman, what is the talk about Afterburner and Downdraft? Any other sugestions of wood stoves would be great. Also does anyone know if you can purchase a wood stove and a pellet stove and qualify both for the tax rebate?

You might want to start a new thread, like "Suggestions for heating 3000 sq ft" and give info on house layout.
I wonder if the if the Quad was the issue, or was it a wood/chimney problem, or?

The TL300 is a good stove that may do the job. The afterburner/downdraft combustion is a system that requires a good, hot coal bed in the stove and a flue that drafts very well. It likes to burn hot. I find it to be a trickier, higher maintenance stove type than I expected.

Any combination of qualifying products can be used for the $1500 credit.

 

[ddklahr]

Just curious on how people are operating their TL 300's:

When we get our stove fired up, sometimes my wife will adjust the air lever to the 4th notch and leave it there for awhile and then bring it down to between the 3rd and 4th notch. We do have the blower attached to it, so that may be why she does it that way. My question is whether or not this is damaging the afterburner by having the air lever that high? It is roughly in the middle of the slide adjuster, but just curious if I am doing harm to the stove by operating this way?

 

[probert]

I keep a magnetic stove pipe thermometer in the middle of my TL300's topload door. This is how I burn:

1) Build fire, let burn @ full draft w/o afterburn until stovetop temp reaches 475 and coalbed has been formed.

2) Engage afterburn, almost immediately reduce draft to notch 2-1/2 - 3. Stove top temp will gradually decrease to 350-425 deg. Reload when stovetop temp gets below 300. So far, so good. I would like more heat and longerburns though, so I am not done experimenting yet.

My draft lever has three notches on the left side, one in the middle, and I think one on the far right. Is that what everyone else's looks like too?

 

[ddklahr]

I believe they are the same setup as far as the notches. I am concerned if by having the air opened up more if it will damage the afterburner. We will try and get stove top temp to around 500-550 and then shut the bypass damper. If it doesn't "kick in" and it cools down to much, we will open the by-pass back up and fire it again to around 475 and then close. The afterburner normally kicks in and you hear that jet engine sound. At that point, we can get 8-10 hour burns depending upon the outside temperature and whether or not we turn on the blower. The blower has a tendency to cool the stove temp down a bit.

Currently, we are having outdoor temps from -2 to 30 degrees and we can keep our old two story farmhouse around 70 degrees. So, we are pleased with that. This is our second year with the stove and are getting much more familiar with it.

 

[cyclone]

Dry wood

good bed of coals.

Stove and chimney like to be warm.

Stove needs to be worked.

Shut down stove pipe thermometer reads 500-525. Stove top thermometer reads 500-550. Let air open on full for ten seconds start to work it down to the fourth notch let it there for 1 minute, work it down to the third notch let it there for 3-5 minute, put to second or first notch for a good burn