Equinox Stove Top Temps.

[FireWalker]

We are really heating now, not just making the room warm, we are heating the whole house. My wood this year is much better than last years and it shows, better species and better seasoning. I really took the time to do it right....thanks in part to you fine people. Anyway, now that I'm loading the stove to full capacity, after the normal hot burn period (10 minutes) on a fresh load I reduce the air supply in steps until it's shut full off. The fire itself looks normal....dancing blue flames with wisps of yellow feeding the burning cloud around the tubes. The glass is clean and really, everything seems great but even when set to low (full off) at the damper I get up to 600-650 on my rutland thermometer which I believe to give a high reading. This reading will be maintained for a good 3 hours and then will slowly drop, I'm getting 10 hours on a load and at that point the whole bottom of the stove is a coal bed. Again, I'm burning the best oak, maple and birch I've ever had, the burn tubes are active within minutes of reloading, everything seems perfect. What gives, what would happen if I left the damper open just a little, surface temps would go even higher which would be a little scary?

How does this compare with other Equinox and Hearthstone stoves users out there. I'm chalking it up to really good wood and I'm happy and warm. I am on the other hand concerned that if I wasn't paying attention even for just a few minutes things could really get heated up.

 

[Rich L]

Hey Firewalker,the update sounds delicious.What kind of night time temps are you dealing with ? Which damper are you turning down,the one on the stove or the one on the pipe or both?My Mansfield connected to 38 feet of insulated pipe drafts so strong it's ridiculous.Ya you have to watch these stoves when running wide open or your thermometer will go into the overfire zone in no time.I like the thermometer that I have from Woodstock which has that overfire zone on it which is especially good for a soapstone.Once I turn down my dampers then I can leave the stove alone.

 

[Highbeam]

Our stoves being non-cat are not very controllable. Particularly the lowest setting, which is chosen by the engineers and is not low enough for most installations. I have the same experience where if I load the 400 degree stove fully for a long burn and then close the draft to 0% then the temps will climb as high as 500 with zero control. I can't stop it. Overfire on my heritage is 600 on the stove top and the stove has never gotten that high because I let the fire cool between loads.

I think the way to really get ourselves into trouble is to fully load a 500 degree stove with smaller splits. You will have no control and melt the stove into a pile of talcum powder.

What is the EQ's overfire temp? Is it 600 like my heritage? Time for you to get a trustworthy thermometer and if you aren't able to keep the stove cooler than the overfire temp then you need to take steps or look for air leaks.

 

[Rich L]

The pipe damper saves my backside.With it I can control the fire otherwise I'd have to sell the stove.

 

[FireWalker]

I do not have a pipe damper......just the one control damper as provided by those trusty Hearthstone engineers. I have looked high and low for supporting information regarding the Eq's overfire temp. and still have not found any set number. My manual breaks it down based on damper settings, basically high, medium high, medium low and low. Part of the reason for my post is the fact that the manual suggests medium low (1/4 open) to be the preferred unattended setting. Based on my post here it's safe to say I'm never going to leave this thing unattended except on low!

My insulated 8" stack is at least 25' high with maybe 5' of that above the roof. My single wall connector is about 3' up from the stove top to a 90 and another 3' back to the stack. I've considered a pipe damper in the past, would one allow me to slow things down if I chose to do so? Seems the primary way with this wood to regulate how much heat I make is to limit the size of the wood load.

I'm not really sure if reloading a already hot stove would make the surface temp spike beyond the previous loads max temp. as you suggest Highbeam. The amount of air feeding the fire is unchanged and is limited to our lowest setting.

Outdoor temps went to the low 20's last night and I loaded her right up at 8 pm......I sat up until after 10 to make sure things were ok which I feel it was but after hearing you folks talk about reducing these rocks to dust when pushed above 600 I'm getting a little nervous. Hard for me to believe that when all seem to be working perfectly and I'm cranking out a good amount of heat, I get worried I'm gonna break the thing.

Rich L, you running an Eq.? oops, you have a Mansfield

 

[Rich L]

I do not have a pipe damper......just the one control damper as provided by those trusty Hearthstone engineers. I have looked high and low for supporting information regarding the Eq's overfire temp. and still have not found any set number. My manual breaks it down based on damper settings, basically high, medium high, medium low and low. Part of the reason for my post is the fact that the manual suggests medium low (1/4 open) to be the preferred unattended setting. Based on my post here it's safe to say I'm never going to leave this thing unattended except on low!

My insulated 8" stack is at least 25' high with maybe 5' of that above the roof. My single wall connector is about 3' up from the stove top to a 90 and another 3' back to the stack. I've considered a pipe damper in the past, would one allow me to slow things down if I chose to do so? Seems the primary way with this wood to regulate how much heat I make is to limit the size of the wood load.

I'm not really sure if reloading a already hot stove would make the surface temp spike beyond the previous loads max temp. as you suggest Highbeam. The amount of air feeding the fire is unchanged and is limited to our lowest setting.

Outdoor temps went to the low 20's last night and I loaded her right up at 8 pm......I sat up until after 10 to make sure things were ok which I feel it was but after hearing you folks talk about reducing these rocks to dust when pushed above 600 I'm getting a little nervous. Hard for me to believe that when all seem to be working perfectly and I'm cranking out a good amount of heat, I get worried I'm gonna break the thing.

Rich L, you running an Eq.? oops, you have a Mansfield

Firewalker it sounds like you can control your stove with the damper controls you have just set it before leaving it alone and your ok.Me I need the pipe damper because even if I shut down the stove's damper mine will continue to blaze hotter and hotter.However your getting good heat times with your set up though with a pipe damper I think you can extend the heat times.It'll definitely slow the rate of burn.

 

[FireWalker]

That's exactly what I am looking for.....a little more control. How high above the stove top should a pipe damper be placed?

 

[jlow]

Installed our EQ last January. This is also the first season for me using truly seasoned wood. I find that when my stove hits 500 stove top temp I can smell it. I have never gotten it to 600. I have never used a flue thermometer and I do have a pipe damper due to a strong draft. It seems to me that every day is different and as long as the house is warm I really don't monitor it closely. Now when it gets sub-arctic I may have a different outlook. I guess I will wait and see.

 

[doug60]

you'll notice the colder is get the more you will need the pipe damper.
If its cruising a 600 ,with outside temps at 20 , at 0 it will burn even hotter.
My cruse temps hang around 500 /550 on the coldest nights with the damper pipe damper fully closed.
30 degree temps I don't use the damper at all.

The colder the outside temps the stronger the draft.

 

[doug60]

That's exactly what I am looking for.....a little more control. How high above the stove top should a pipe damper be placed?

I would say any where convenient would work fine.
Oh and your wood pile will last longer.

 

[Todd]

How hard would it be to rig the air control to close down more?

 

[wellbuilt home]

Hi FW , My Eq will burn out of control if the stove is loaded for a over night burn with a full bed of Cole's .
Before i added the damper i had a hard time reaching 375o with the damper i can reach 450o and the wood will last longer.
With oak i can maintain 550 for 4/5 hrs and the stove will drop to 250/300 in 13hrs+-
My damper is about 30" off the stove .
I cleaned my flue for the first time last weekend and i had alot of creosote , about 4 gallons?
I don't think i cleaned 4 Gs of stuff out of my DW the hole time i used it .
I was hoping the EQ would heat my house + the new addition i have planed .
I mite add a Mansfield in the new addition as back up . John


.

 

[Rich L]

Firewalker my damper is about 17 inches above the stove.It works just fine.

 

[Rich L]

Hi FW , My Eq will burn out of control if the stove is loaded for a over night burn with a full bed of Cole's .
Before i added the damper i had a hard time reaching 375o with the damper i can reach 450o and the wood will last longer.
With oak i can maintain 550 for 4/5 hrs and the stove will drop to 250/300 in 13hrs+-
My damper is about 30" off the stove .
I cleaned my flue for the first time last weekend and i had alot of creosote , about 4 gallons?
I don't think i cleaned 4 Gs of stuff out of my DW the hole time i used it .
I was hoping the EQ would heat my house + the new addition i have planed .
I mite add a Mansfield in the new addition as back up . John


.

Hmmmmm wellbuilt you may be shutting down too soon too often.Let that bad boy burn full open longer to burn up some of that gunk.Four gallons of creosote is a fantastic amount which should only be found in the twilight zone not in the real world.

 

[FireWalker]

Installed our EQ last January. This is also the first season for me using truly seasoned wood. I find that when my stove hits 500 stove top temp I can smell it. I have never gotten it to 600. I have never used a flue thermometer and I do have a pipe damper due to a strong draft. It seems to me that every day is different and as long as the house is warm I really don't monitor it closely. Now when it gets sub-arctic I may have a different outlook. I guess I will wait and see.

This sounds to me like we have very similar setups. The only reason my stove has gotten to 600 is because it wanted to, I had no say in the matter. Don't get me wrong, I don't think running up to that temp is a bad thing but not being able to control it going beyond 600 is where I get concerned. I'll bet if you wanted to go beyond 500 the smell you are experiencing would be short lived.

Here is what I want to know.....If the maximum heat output of this stove is 120,000btu's/hr, what is the associated stove top temp for that setting? How do I know when I have reached my safe max heat output? There are times in my home where we need a lot of heat and it would be nice to know exactly how hard I can safely push. My manual says to run the thing wide open for as much as 40 minutes twice a day which I believe would not only melt my home but my neighbors would be in danger as well!

The manual does say a single wall connector temp of 400 is a normal efficient setting.

 

[FireWalker]

you'll notice the colder is get the more you will need the pipe damper.
If its cruising a 600 ,with outside temps at 20 , at 0 it will burn even hotter.
My cruse temps hang around 500 /550 on the coldest nights with the damper pipe damper fully closed.
30 degree temps I don't use the damper at all.

The colder the outside temps the stronger the draft.

I'll be installing a damper!

 

[FireWalker]

How hard would it be to rig the air control to close down more?

Well, this is a good point as I'm still dealing with a sticky damper, I have plans to take the thing apart and investigate making this adjustment. Somehow though I'm reluctant to mess with how the stock setup is designed. My manual does suggest a damper as needed based on your draft.

 

[FireWalker]

Hi FW , My Eq will burn out of control if the stove is loaded for a over night burn with a full bed of Cole's .
Before i added the damper i had a hard time reaching 375o with the damper i can reach 450o and the wood will last longer.
With oak i can maintain 550 for 4/5 hrs and the stove will drop to 250/300 in 13hrs+-
My damper is about 30" off the stove .
I cleaned my flue for the first time last weekend and i had alot of creosote , about 4 gallons?
I don't think i cleaned 4 Gs of stuff out of my DW the hole time i used it .
I was hoping the EQ would heat my house + the new addition i have planed .
I mite add a Mansfield in the new addition as back up . John


.

Dude, you need to run that thing hotter each and every morning to burn that stuff off before it sticks. Start hot morning burns only after you clean the flue. I do it and it scares the hell out of me....if my wife knew what I was doing she would worry. I have had excessive build-up in my connector before with this stove but the technique the manual recommends does help a lot.

 

[FireWalker]

Soooooooo, now when your stove is good and hot, what tempratures are you seeing on your hearth? My tile floor hearth (code compliant) gets challenging to walk on in bare feet.

 

[jlow]

I think the smell at 500 degrees is just the residual ash and dust that accumulates on the stove top. It lets me know that the heat is moving when I can smell it upstairs. It smells like the old radiators use to when you first fire them up.

When I get up in the morning I load 5 splits N/S and open it up for about 30 minutes. I leave the pipe damper wide open and this fire heats up my flue and cleans out any overnight residue. My stove temp after this is approx. 375-400. I then will load a couple larger splits and back the stove air to 1/4 and close my pipe damper to 1/2. This gets me to 475 and my home temps will start to rise. This morning we went from 71 to 73 in an hour. I heat 2900 sq. ft and my thermostat is in the kitchen The family room is always 6-7 degrees warmer than the thermostat. My home is older and has 3 different additions so air flow is gradual but the house always feels warm. Our bedroom at 10pm is 72 degrees and it is the farthest distance from the stove. (upstairs).

I think it was mentioned earlier to load less wood. I have yet to fully load my stove, even for overnight burns. I would imagine that is where the max BTU's would derive.

 

[FireWalker]

I think the smell at 500 degrees is just the residual ash and dust that accumulates on the stove top. It lets me know that the heat is moving when I can smell it upstairs. It smells like the old radiators use to when you first fire them up.

When I get up in the morning I load 5 splits N/S and open it up for about 30 minutes. I leave the pipe damper wide open and this fire heats up my flue and cleans out any overnight residue. My stove temp after this is approx. 375-400. I then will load a couple larger splits and back the stove air to 1/4 and close my pipe damper to 1/2. This gets me to 475 and my home temps will start to rise. This morning we went from 71 to 73 in an hour. I heat 2900 sq. ft and my thermostat is in the kitchen The family room is always 6-7 degrees warmer than the thermostat. My home is older and has 3 different additions so air flow is gradual but the house always feels warm. Our bedroom at 10pm is 72 degrees and it is the farthest distance from the stove. (upstairs).

I think it was mentioned earlier to load less wood. I have yet to fully load my stove, even for overnight burns. I would imagine that is where the max BTU's would derive.

Sounds very similar to what I do, except I'm working with higher temps. It's cool with this stove even with the big splits I have cut this year (not long but big around)when I load NS I can get 1 layer of wood in there filling the bottom of the stove from one side to the other (5 or 6 splits), I have yet to attempt a full second layer of splits on top, you would have to fit them in carefully but there is definitely room for more filling right up to the tubes.......hellooooooooooooo in there.

 

[Rich L]

you'll notice the colder is get the more you will need the pipe damper.
If its cruising a 600 ,with outside temps at 20 , at 0 it will burn even hotter.
My cruse temps hang around 500 /550 on the coldest nights with the damper pipe damper fully closed.
30 degree temps I don't use the damper at all.

The colder the outside temps the stronger the draft.

I'll be installing a damper!

Yeaaaaaaah.

 

[FireWalker]

Just wanted to update this post, I've been experimenting. I have yet to install a damper as I'm still trying to figure out if I even have a problem. I can hit 550-600 on my stovetop when only half of my burn tubes are burning! The front tubes won't burn unless the damper is open say 1/4. My connector off the top of the stove is a steel adjustable slip pipe (pipe inside a pipe), my manual tells me normal pipe temps should be 400 and thats where it runs. 400 at the pipe translates to 500-600 on the top. The damn thing is working so well, I just can't believe I have a problem. Last night I loaded the box full NS with 9 good sized splits, I had to get a second armload and it all fit. The fire did not take off after my char stage and while the damper was open the pipe got up just over 650. When I dampered down to low, the pipe temp dropped to 400 and just sat there. The fire inside was lazy using only half the tubes, my house was warm.

Question is, will this double pipe connector give the same reading as a single pipe connector? This is not an insulated deal, just a slip pipe connector.

 

[Highbeam]

So are you reading this temperature on the outside of the single wall stove pipe? With some sort of stick on thermometer? Are you certain that the stove manual doesn't mean they want you to have 400 inside the pipe as measured with a probe thermometer?

 

[FireWalker]

So are you reading this temperature on the outside of the single wall stove pipe? With some sort of stick on thermometer? Are you certain that the stove manual doesn't mean they want you to have 400 inside the pipe as measured with a probe thermometer?

Nope, it says "400 on a single wall stove pipe confirms the stove is supplying sufficient heat". I'm using a magnetic rutland stove pipe thermometer. You follow with me about the adjustable stove pipe I described? Pipe inside a pipe to allow length adjustment....no airspace, no insulation, just double thickness steel pipe.

Again, no mention in my owners manual about maximum temps. on stove top. This and it says 1/4 open air supply (medium low) is the preferred setting for unattended burns. At 1/4 open I get all four burn tubes going and a whole lot of heating. I would not feel comfortable leaving the stove full and unattended at this setting although looking at it work at this setting it seems to be working great, just purring along with a good rolling fire behind the glass. All you guys got me scared about this darn 600 thing.

Last nights full loading at 6 pm (9 splits) allowed room for 2 more medium large splits before bed and this morning at 6 I had a 3" coal bed and 2 charred splits, one each side. It would have easily heated into the afternoon so I'm not worried about air leaks or too strong a draft as this would lead to short fire duration. Heck, I'm this close to 2 feedings per day!