Buckstove owners, temp question

[jtb51b]

I have a buck model 21 in my basement that I heat the whole house with. Seems to work just fine, but the secondaries seem to be a bit finicky.. I am burning oak seasoned for a year in the south, should be plenty dry.. My question is this: What kind of stovetop temps do you run your stove at? I regularly see 400-450 on mine and at that point it is heating quite well but I am worried that I am overfiring the firebox.. Maybe I am being too cautious and need to burn hotter for the secondaries to be more stable, what do you think?

Jason

 

[begreen]

400-450 on the stovetop is far from overfiring. Can you explain how you normally burn and what finicky secondary behavior you are seeing?

PS: 1 year for oak may not be enough, especially in a humid climate. Have you tested a freshly split piece of firewood for moisture on the interior of the split?

 

[jtb51b]

My concern was due to the stove having a double top, triple if you count the refractory.. I can only measure the temp on the outside top and it hits 400-450 with little trouble.. My normal burn consists generally is started with coals from the previous fire, I have no trouble keeping coals in excess of 12 hours to start the next fire.. I usually put in a couple 4" splits 18" long oak on the coals, with a piece of pine fatwood in front of them. Open the air wide open and wait a minute or two before its flaming well. Usually from there it takes me about 30 minutes moving the draft down in incriments until I am almost fully closed. By then the top stovetop is around 250-300 and its putting out pretty good heat.. The secondaries are just kinda sparatic (sp) and don't like to kick off at all on the first load.. On the second load the top is around 250-300 when I load and around 400 when I get it shut down and then they seem to work pretty well. If I get the stovetop to 450+ then the secondaries seem to work well but almost look like a blowtorch coming from the air holes in the top/back-- theres what made me think I could be running too hot.. The refractory even begins to glow a bit at the seems when its that warm.. Am I over analyzing this?

Wood:
I have the oak that was from a nearly dead standing LARGE tree cut early last year, left split and piled until the smell died down and then stacked covered until needed. I do NOT have a moisture meter maybe I should invest.. I also have some hickory from a dead standing tree, it tends to burn longer and hotter than the oak but I assumed that would be the case.. Maybe I do have some wood problems, either way I'm stuck with it for this year, so I need to figure out how to make
it the best I can, next year will be better as I already have some cut and stacked for then and its mostly hickory.. Suggestions?


Jason

 

[Don Ed]

I'm really thankful for your dialogue about the Buck Model 21. I am going to purchase this model but had thought about a 74 Buck for the larger firebox. It is great to know that you are enjoying yours so much and that it is doing well heating for you. Thanks!

 

[southland]

I have a Buck model 51 with the optional blower. I've only been using this stove for a short time. (My past experience is with a cat stove.) I just open up the air control and the secondary air tubes will glow with plenty of flame around them. I believe it takes around 1100 degrees for smoke to burn, so I assume this is normal. Since the model 21 has a 1.6 cu ft firebox, if you still have coals after 12 hrs, then you may not be burning hot enough. You should check the chimney to see if you're getting creosote buildup.

 

[Hillbilly]

I also have a Buck model 51 with the optional blower. My stove is setup as a fireplace insert. I try to keep it at 450/550*. This seems to be the best temp for my heating needs. The stove design is not the best for using a magnetic thermometer because of the double walls. I put mine on the upper right corner on the front. It will read ablut 100* less than a reading taken with the IR thermometer pointed at the glass. At 450/550 the stove is no where near over fire. With 25' of 6" SS straight up, I had to block off some of the secondary air inlet, otherwise the stove would try to burn like a blast furnace.

 

[jaydee]

I'm reviving this post:to see if you guys can help me out.

I have a Buck Stove 21. If you put a stove top thermometer on the door, (because the stove top is insulated and won't read correctly), then what temperature should you aim for on the thermometer?