step-top blower temp question

[Anthony]

Hello All,

second season burner here with a question regarding my quadrafire 3100 step-top. The wife and I like to keep the blower on most of the time. I was just wondering that since the blower is blowing right across the bottom step it cools off the stove top and my stove top thermometer. Does anyone have an idea how many degrees the fan cools off the stovetop? The dealer seems to think that if i have the blower on and keep the stove top in the 300-400 area that i should be fine with not over-firing. would like to hear from the community to see what the consensus is.

we have a double walled chimney so a pipe thermometer is not an option for us.

 

[begreen]

On our stove the blower drops the top temp by about 100-125F.

 

[pen]

With air moving across a bimetallic strip in that thermometer, you are definitely reading lower than what the metal plate is for temp. For a spot like this, an IR thermometer would help you decide what your temps really are and would give you more understanding of what is happening. However,

Another thing to consider is moving the thermometer to another location on the stove. For my unit, I found a spot about 3/4 the way towards the front of the stove on the side, that was below the baffle but above the firebrick. This location gave me temps fairly consistently about 50 degrees (either way) of what the stove top was reading, when the stove was loaded up full. With a stove 50% or even 75% loaded, it was a different story.

What does your manual say about overfiring???

pen

 

[Anthony]

With air moving across a bimetallic strip in that thermometer, you are definitely reading lower than what the metal plate is for temp. For a spot like this, an IR thermometer would help you decide what your temps really are and would give you more understanding of what is happening. However,

Another thing to consider is moving the thermometer to another location on the stove. For my unit, I found a spot about 3/4 the way towards the front of the stove on the side, that was below the baffle but above the firebrick. This location gave me temps fairly consistently about 50 degrees (either way) of what the stove top was reading, when the stove was loaded up full. With a stove 50% or even 75% loaded, it was a different story.

What does your manual say about overfiring???

pen

thanks for the fast responses.

i do have an IR thermometer and its about a 50-75 degree difference then the stovetop thermometer.

manual doesnt define any temperatures, just says glowing red and loud cracking/banging is bad. when i emailed quadrafire any questions they refer me back to the dealer and the dealer refers me to the manual.

 

[pen]

manual doesnt define any temperatures, just says glowing red and loud cracking/banging is bad.

Exactly

Use the thermometer to help you maintain those guidelines in terms of consistency. This compared to the accumulation you find in the chimney with regular inspections will let you know if you are burning too cold or not.

pen

 

[charly]

Hello All,

second season burner here with a question regarding my quadrafire 3100 step-top. The wife and I like to keep the blower on most of the time. I was just wondering that since the blower is blowing right across the bottom step it cools off the stove top and my stove top thermometer. Does anyone have an idea how many degrees the fan cools off the stovetop? The dealer seems to think that if i have the blower on and keep the stove top in the 300-400 area that i should be fine with not over-firing. would like to hear from the community to see what the consensus is.

we have a double walled chimney so a pipe thermometer is not an option for us.

Just get a flue gas probe for your chimney. This one comes with a bracket you just slip into a 1/4 hole you drill through your pipe. Holds the probe dead still, no turning, nothing. I had a step top Quad 5700, that blower also cools your flue gases as well as you can see once you install a probe and turn on the blower. This probe can also be calibrated at anytime by inserting the end into boiling water. About 71 dollars.

 

[charly]

thanks for the fast responses.

i do have an IR thermometer and its about a 50-75 degree difference then the stovetop thermometer.

manual doesnt define any temperatures, just says glowing red and loud cracking/banging is bad. when i emailed quadrafire any questions they refer me back to the dealer and the dealer refers me to the manual.

Best thing I found with QuadraFire,,,, call them direct! 800-926-4356. Ask for Phillip. My dealer told me some air inlet pads had no part number listed for my Quad, it was a non replaceable part. Really! 10 minutes later Phillip was reading off the part numbers to me over the phone. Believe me,,, just call. I used the IR gun to find the hottest part on my stove top for the thermometer. Mine was right in front of the pipe on the lower step, about an inch away from the upper step. Truthfully, I couldn't stand the sound of the fan. Was way to noisy. I used it to just cool the stove a few times. I think they should have used a blade type fan over the squirrel cage like I had on a Country Stove. You could barely hear it run.