Auber At210 combo initial review

[dirk_411]

Hopefully this review will help anyone , new or vetran

so I ordered the 210 combo. With k type thermocouple 6ft length with 1/8 probably for double wall. I previously had installed an imperial dial Guage in the front side of the double wall about 20" up from stove top. I opted to leave the dial Guage in the front and drilled for the thermocouple prob in the back near the same height, it's where I originally wanted the thermocouple anyways so it all worked.

So went through the settings either verified or change setting as needed. Time to get the fire going. I had the high alarm set for 590°F, because, on my dial Guage the stove is purring just right. 600 on dial and your smelling metal pretty good, 700 stove top is starting to blush, 800 and your stove top will have a light red spot size of an orange starting, that's scary. ... so you wonder why I set the 210 combo to 590.... well that's why, going off my dials numbers...

Well instantly I noticed a variance between the 210 combo and the dial. Burning my kindling I set the 590°F alarm off, while the dial Guage hardly registered anything. As I'm writing this post I've only had a fire going for an hour. I got the dial guage up to 400, which isn't as optimal as 500 but is very comfortable for warmer winter days. What did the auber 210 read out? Glad you asked, 908°F. So more than twice as much. That's in a sustained fire, burning a mix of oak, yellow birch, maple, little elm and ash, tiny bit of birch and iron wood.

So far in my observation I can say that the 210 combo is easy to use and install, the default buzzer is loud enough in a bungalow. Its so much more accurate and responsive versus the old dial Guage. I'm going to give it a day or 2 burning to figure out where I need the high alarm set. Just guessing g it appears I will be somewhere between 1000-1200°F. Just to give you a real example, 400°F on the dial was 908°F on the 210 combo. So there is quite a difference.

 

[begreen]

Was the Imperial gauge a probe or a surface mount thermometer meant for single wall pipe? a magnetic flue thermometer will react too slowly to be used on double-wall pipe. It would be also inaccurate as no one knows what the actual temp is without the probe reading.

 

[Squisher]

My biggest complaint with my auberins unit is the sticky tape for either the screw on plate or the Velcro attachment is not up to snuff and peels off.

I have the ring/washer type thermocouple on mine screwed onto the outside of my single wall stovepipe and have found it still to be deadly accurate. Always within 10degrees of my IR gun. Right now the stove is dead cold and my auberins unit reads 68degrees and my house is 68degrees. Chilly. The ring thermocouple is not only accurate but extremely fast acting. Air adjustments can be seen on the auber within 20-30seconds tops I'd say. My thermocouple is about 12"s up the stovepipe and anything over 600 is getting really really hot, that's where I've set my alarm. And the alarm is well, alarming. It gets your attention.

In normal operation I aim to only reach 450-500 on reloads and have given myself that 100 degree margin to ensure the alarm doesn't go off. Because not only does the alarm signify the stove is to hot, but the sound of that alarm can get my wife pretty hot in no time too. Not the good hot unfortunately.

 

[Squisher]

I find it to be an invaluable tool in running my stove now. My stove is in the basement in an area where I'd rarely ever choose to hangout, so I don't get to constantly watch what's happening in the box. The auberins allows me to remotely monitor it from upstairs(obviously) but it also let's me know if my air adjustment is slowly increasing/decreasing/ or just maintaining temps. Also it helps me peg my reloads and extend my burn times as you get a feel for temps vs coals vs air setting.

Only thing better would be to have two I think so I could monitor stove top temps as well as pipe temps.

 

[WES999]

I have 2 older model temp alarms, I made these before Aauberins came out with their latest model.
I have a probe in my double wall and TC on the stove top.
My flue hi temp alarm is set to go off at 875, just about the rite temp to start turning the air down to keep max the
flue temp under 1000.
The stove top controller turns on the blower at 675 and sounds the alarm at 725.

 

[Highbeam]

My biggest complaint with my auberins unit is the sticky tape for either the screw on plate or the Velcro attachment is not up to snuff and peels off.

I have the ring/washer type thermocouple on mine screwed onto the outside of my single wall stovepipe and have found it still to be deadly accurate. Always within 10degrees of my IR gun. Right now the stove is dead cold and my auberins unit reads 68degrees and my house is 68degrees. Chilly. The ring thermocouple is not only accurate but extremely fast acting. Air adjustments can be seen on the auber within 20-30seconds tops I'd say. My thermocouple is about 12"s up the stovepipe and anything over 600 is getting really really hot, that's where I've set my alarm. And the alarm is well, alarming. It gets your attention.

In normal operation I aim to only reach 450-500 on reloads and have given myself that 100 degree margin to ensure the alarm doesn't go off. Because not only does the alarm signify the stove is to hot, but the sound of that alarm can get my wife pretty hot in no time too. Not the good hot unfortunately.

Your temperatures are what I would expect but according to @begreen are really high. He reports 300 internal temps from his summit.

You'll never really know if perhaps your new meter reads low!

 

[begreen]

1000F for a high limit alarm sounds realistic. This is possible to hit on startup. All you need is a phone call at the wrong time and the flue can reach those internal temps. On startup our flue normally reaches 600F before I start turning the air down. But given a lively start the flue temp can easily get up to 800F with a moment of distraction.

Highbeam, we have a Alderlea T6. 300F probe temp would be low, happening during the coal stage, many hours after start or restart. 300F would be too low for my comfort at the strong outgassing stage of the burn. Most of our probe temps reported here are ~100F lower than the stove top with the blower off. A normal high cruising temp for our stove would be 650F during the first couple hours of the burn. Flue temp during that period would be around 550F. .

 

[dirk_411]

Was the Imperial gauge a probe or a surface mount thermometer meant for single wall pipe? a magnetic flue thermometer will react too slowly to be used on double-wall pipe. It would be also inaccurate as no one knows what the actual temp is without the probe reading.

Probe

 

[begreen]

Amazing. With readings that far off and slow it seemed like it could be a surface thermometer.

 

[Squisher]

Your temperatures are what I would expect but according to @begreen are really high. He reports 300 internal temps from his summit.

You'll never really know if perhaps your new meter reads low!

I read external single pipe temp with my auberins, my IR, and a magnetic thermometer. They are all very close to each other so will assume they are all fairly accurate. The magnet being the slowest and least accurate but it's 'general' readings are inline with the others.

 

[Squisher]

I will add that that alarm temp of 600 ext single pipe is used as an alarm. As in get cutting the air cause it's getting hot in there. In my normal operation it never goes off. I also can cruise at more moderate and cooler temps like down to 200 once I'm coaled up. I'm finding the summit to be very controllable and its getting easier and easier for me to burn effectively overnight.

 

[Highbeam]

I will add that that alarm temp of 600 ext single pipe is used as an alarm. As in get cutting the air cause it's getting hot in there. In my normal operation it never goes off. I also can cruise at more moderate and cooler temps like down to 200 once I'm coaled up. I'm finding the summit to be very controllable and its getting easier and easier for me to burn effectively overnight.

The Summit and its clone the alderlea are excellent stoves. Your flue temps are what I see on my NC30 and single wall, and what I would expect from a typical non-cat. Some folks claim super low flue temps though. For reference, the temperature of the outside of single wall pipe is roughly half of the internal temperature which is also known as the flue gas temperature. In your case you are running 400-1200 internal temps. The 1200 is very high and as you say you seldom get there. The top of the normal range for surface temps of single wall is typically called out as 475. That keeps internal temps under 1000 which is the continuous limit for class A chimney as well.

Keep doing what you're doing squisher, maybe set your high limit alarm to 500.

 

[Squisher]

Great info. As I said the alarm is only a reminder if things were forgotten about I never try to get it that hot but I do regularly hit 500+ on reloads so maybe I'll try now to keep it below 500. For me at 500+ you start to smell the chimney a bit, that weird smell I believe that about a 100 threads a year get started here about. To me it's just the smell of hot. I've always burned hot my whole life and I've always had quite clean chimneys too.

 

[fire_man]

My biggest complaint with my auberins unit is the sticky tape for either the screw on plate or the Velcro attachment is not up to snuff and peels off.

I read stories of the sticky stuff failing and units dropping to the floor. Open up the case, drill a small hole through the case and through the metal plate that hangs the unit. Use a very short sheet metal screw to join the plate to the case and no more worries..

I'm leaving the unit attached all year to my single wall pipe. It's a very accurate room thermometer when not burning.

 

[Squisher]

Great tip thanks.

What sort of temps are you seeing while running?

 

[fire_man]

The washer style sensor is mounted on a horizontal pipe 6" from the exit of the stove. It typically reads slightly below 300F an hour or so into the burn on the Palladian.

The AT100 is worth every penny for piece of mind on startup.

 

[KB007]

The magnetic thermometers are notoriously inaccurate. You can sometimes bend the psring to get it to be a little closer to reality, but some other temp source is usually going to be more accurate.
I have the auber AT200 unit (well 2 actually) and use it with a magnetic sensor on the front of our Regency i3100. It works very well. Only thing I haven't figured out yet is how to have it alert at a specific temp (ie what temp I want to shut down at) then reset the alarm for a longer period - as the temp always continues to rise when the stove is shutdown due to secondaries. I was hoping to use this for my wife to know when it's time to shut down rather than a true high temp alarm, but haven't wuite figured out how to do that, other than unplugging to stop the alarm.