In the middle of an installation, and need immediate advice

[soupy1957]

I'm in the middle of installing my Condar FlueGard (Model 3-39) Flue Gas Thermometer, and I'm stumped about the eyelet included.

The eyelet is about 1/2" long, with a sleeve diameter and a larger diameter end. Which way does it install? Long end INTO the magnet, or facing the pipe?

-Soupy1957

 

[begreen]

Put the eyelet on the stem first with the wide flange toward the thermometer face. It acts as a bearing for the magnet. Then slide the magnet over the eyelet. Insert probe into the hole in pipe.

 

[soupy1957]

Instructions say that the magnet should go on the stem first, THEN the eyelet.........now what? Either way, the long end of the eyelet goes into the magnet?

-Soupy1957

 

[BrotherBart]

Somebody help him fast. In just four months it is going to be getting cold in that house. :lol:

 

[begreen]

My thermometer is the older style. The hole in the magnet is about twice the diameter of the probe, so I assumed the eyelet was to take up some of the slop. Could be that mine is not correctly mounted? Maybe that is why it's reading more accurately? I just tried it the other way, as per instructions and that works too. Suit your pleasure.

 

[soupy1957]

It was 50ºF last night.........I nearly DID start the fire this morning!

Why does such simple stuff have to be so complicated!! You'd think Condar (not "open" today of course) would be available.......you'd think Google or YouTube would have something about it (nada)........

-Soupy1957

 

[Todd]

The eyelet goes into the pipe and the probe slides through it for more support.

 

[ANeat]

I put the eylet into the pipe, but either way will work just fine,


To me if the eylet was intended to go into the magnet a 1/4 hole would not be needed in the outer pipe. You drill the 1/4 hole for the eylet to go into.

Like Todd mentioned the eylet provides support and also prevents the thermometer from resting on a sharp edge

 

[soupy1957]

Todd, Tried that........the .187 hole on the inner wall is smaller than the diameter of the eyelet, and the length of the eyelet when butted up against the inner wall, forces the wider diameter end of the eyelet to stick out of the outer wall about .075.

I ended up putting the eyelet both ways, before and after the magnet, with the long end of the eyelet inside the magnet in both cases.

Given the fact that the eyelet's long end is smaller than the I.D. of the magnet, I thought as you did, that perhaps it was to be a "liner" of sorts, to the .250 hole.

Since the entire length of the eyelet is longer than the distance between the inner and outer wall, and since the long end of the eyelet won't go into the .187 smaller hole, I wonder if either the eyelet is simply too long, or the walls of the double-wall flue pipe are too close together.

I tend to believe as you do, that the eyelet is made to be an insert for the Flue pipe, but something tells me that the folks who made the eyelet either don't know the proper diameters and lengths needed (in which case you'd think the eyelet would have two diameters on the length of the shaft, and be long enough to penetrate both the Ø .187 and Ø.250 holes) or that the manufacturers of the double-wall flue pipe may have had a new iteration at some point, narrowing the distance between the two diameters of pipe, and the thermometer maker isn't up to speed yet.

If "I' were the QC person at either manufacturer, you can bet I'd want to get on the same page!!

In any case, the whole thing is in place. I drilled level and concentric holes with no trouble, and after 4,000 hours (again, "according to the manufacturer) I'll replace it. (Lord knows how I'm gonna keep track of "4,000" hours of burning!!)

Now let's hope it does what it's supposed to, accurately, and that it proves useful.

-Soupy1957

 

[begreen]

I'll bet you're going to have a lot of fun installing that heat triggered hour meter on the stove. :cheese:

 

[soupy1957]

"heat triggered hour meter???"

-Soupy1957

 

[fossil]

Rip out the stovepipe, replace with single-wall, stick a magnetic thermometer on there. Problem solved. :coolsmile:

 

[begreen]

"heat triggered hour meter???"

-Soupy1957

Gotta have one!

 

[soupy1957]

BeGreen: Do Tell?! (I'm all ears)

Just to put a final exclamation mark on all this..............the manufacturer recommends the replacement of the FlueGard Thermometer after 4,000 hours of use. By my calculations, if I burn 24/7 as intended this season, and all subsequent seasons, from October to March, It comes out to 4,032 hours for every burn season. That would mean that I'll be buying a new FlueGard Thermometer, every summer, for the next season's burning cycle, if I follow their advice.

For those of you who have bought and used on of these, .............how long did YOURS remain accurate, (presuming the same "October to March" burning cycle, 24/7)???

-Soupy1957

 

[Capt]

Somebody help him fast. In just four months it is going to be getting cold in that house. :lol:

Now that's funny..........

 

[fossil]

BeGreen: Do Tell?! (I'm all ears)

Just to put a final exclamation mark on all this..............the manufacturer recommends the replacement of the FlueGard Thermometer after 4,000 hours of use. By my calculations, if I burn 24/7 as intended this season, and all subsequent seasons, from October to March, It comes out to 4,032 hours for every burn season. That would mean that I'll be buying a new FlueGard Thermometer, every summer, for the next season's burning cycle, if I follow their advice.

For those of you who have bought and used on of these, .............how long did YOURS remain accurate, (presuming the same "October to March" burning cycle, 24/7)???

-Soupy1957

Mine remained accurate, or at least to within an acceptable margin of agreement with my secondary, tertiary, and quaternary instruments, for approximately 4827 hours, 53 minutes, 17 seconds. Then I could stand it no longer, and so took it out of service. I mean, I couldn't tell what my flue gas temp was within ±100°F! Imagine my frustration. :shut: I've since upgraded my instrumentation.

Just kidding, of course...I don't now have, nor have I ever had, a probe type thermometer installed on either of my stove setups. I'm glad you got it put in to your satisfaction, Soupy, and I hope it brings you (at the very least) 4000 hours of satisfactory performance. Rick

 

[begreen]

Our Condar probe starts it's 4th season this fall. I expect it will be fine unless I disturbed it's wah by altering the eyelet position. FWIW, our Sandhill stove top thermometer will be embarking on its 30th season and it's still accurate to within 10 degrees.

 

[soupy1957]

I can't say I recall the life expectancy of the magnetic thermometer that I used exclusively, last year. Fair question that I think I'll ask of my dealer here. I suppose THAT thermometer too, has a crap-out point.

Fossil, you talk about not being able to get better than ±100ºF readings........what were you reading (type of thermometer set up)? I also bought this year, bought a laser temp reader, just BECAUSE I didn't have a way to compare what I was reading on my stove thermometer, with anything. (Mind you, I realize that "laser" tool is useless on a double-wall Flue Pipe.............thus the probe thermometer).

-Soupy1957

 

[North of 60]

Keep it simple Soup. Its a probe that references your flue exhaust temps. Did you get it in the exhaust path above the stove at the recommended distance through the double wall? If so..... Your done. Light a fire and observe. If not and you didnt figure it out....Sell that damn stove before someone gets hurt... :lol:

 

[soupy1957]

North of 60: Don't worry about this ole country boy, son.........I'll be fine! Yea, I'm analytical and anal about detail, but that's just "me." That's why I've been such a successful Auditor/Inspector in my real job, all these years. I'm very detail oriented. Sometimes painfully so. They send me all over the world to Audit processes and systems because they know I won't miss a detail. (China & Mexico, most recently). Sorry it's so painful to you folks in here when I seem to be chasing information that falls between the cracks.............it's just "me" being "me." The end result is, I'll have one of the safest systems around these parts. There will be no rock left unturned. I won't risk losing my home because of a fire I could have prevented. I won't risk a life, because of CM leakage that I could have prevented. Not on MY watch!

(Yes, 18" above the stove)

-Soupy1957

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Soupy,

I think they are trying to tell you, that in their opinion, joshingly, (mostly)..

That man has been heating with fire for a long time. Eons in fact. It really doesn't require a redo at this point, and monitoring it with nuke reactor grade equipment and accuracy is felt to be un-needed by most people.

For some it's a serious need...

IMHO, A modern stove, installed and operated to the manufacturers specs, just is not anywhere as dangerous as the guy running it.

Have you thought about a flue modification with some curved ceramic glass, so you can visually monitor the probe and gas flow? ;-)

 

[firefighterjake]

Somebody help him fast. In just four months it is going to be getting cold in that house. :lol:

Now that's funny..........

I agree . . . laughed a bit myself.

 

[firefighterjake]

Soupy . . . folks are having some fun with you and your wary ways . . . but you're right . . . truthfully we would rather see folks go overboard by being Captain Cautious vs. being Donny Dangerous and doing things half-cocked or however they think is the best way to do things.

That said . . . you didn't actually drill a hole in the stove pipe did you? Oh no . . . . . . and yes . . . I'm kidding . . . things will be OK . . . you'll see.

 

[North of 60]

Ya Soup, I hope you took it in fun. Just trying to get you to keep it simple.
North

 

[Jonsered]

Thermometer? Isn't that the thing in the wall that opens and closes and has curtains on it?