First burns on PE Super...Am I too hot? pictures

[bsa0021]

It finally got into the low 50s upper 40s this week in NE Ohio. The first three nights I cured the paint and the last two I've had decent fires. I started out with the thermometer on the door and the top and after reading some posts moved it to behind the door. Last night with temps. around 52 using soft wood (I think cottenwood)and filling maybe half full I had temps 750 -775. This is much higher than my VC Dutchwest ran (by about 250). If I run this high on softwood what will happen when I use hardwood and the outside temp is colder and the draft improves. I seem to have good draft now but if you look at the last picture you can see the coals that remain after 8 hours with 3 smallish softwood pieces loaded at night. If I had too much draft, wouldn't the fire burn out quickly?

Comparing this to my VC the PE is so much easier to use and secondary burn is easier to achieve. If I'm correct in my obsevation, if the PE would get too hot, the correct thing to do is open the air??? This is opposite of my VC. Why is this?
Thanks!

 

[Bubbavh]

Soft wood tends to burn hotter and faster then hardwood. Hardwood releases its heat slower and lower.

 

[Todd]

Looks like you got good secondaries and a good long burn there. It's hard to say if your temps are too high since they are taken on the front of the stove, but you have no other options for taking temps. How hard would it be to take the surround off and take some stove top temps temporarily and compare them to the front face temps?

 

[iceman]

as long as you closed your air all the way down i wouldnt worry ... stoves get hot!! now if it stays at 775 for a couple of hours (3-4) start worrying... or if the stove starts glowing... most of the time it will get those temps with good dry wood but then it starts to slowly come down

 

[bsa0021]

Looks like you got good secondaries and a good long burn there. It's hard to say if your temps are too high since they are taken on the front of the stove, but you have no other options for taking temps. How hard would it be to take the surround off and take some stove top temps temporarily and compare them to the front face temps?

Stove top is accessable. The top protrudes about 6" from the hearth and I think they were around 400.

 

[madison]

Check your door fit with the dollar bill test, I would hazard a guess that you may have a leak.

Also, No close the air control. once it is up to temp and burning well.

 

[bsa0021]

2nd pic [pinkflame] looks like unburnt CO to me= if it had enuff combustion air it would be more blue= slightly inefficient but nothing serious ithxnx

I think the pink flame is more a combination of camera flash and cheap camera. The flames were more orange and blue.

 

[iceman]

Looks like you got good secondaries and a good long burn there. It's hard to say if your temps are too high since they are taken on the front of the stove, but you have no other options for taking temps. How hard would it be to take the surround off and take some stove top temps temporarily and compare them to the front face temps?

Stove top is accessable. The top protrudes about 6" from the hearth and I think they were around 400.

where he has it on the stove in the third pic is the best place for pe inserts
when mine was new i had the same worries.... as long as temps come down and dont stay at 800 for long time its ok temps should come down to about 600 -50 within an hour and then stay there for awhile

 

[bsa0021]

Check your door fit with the dollar bill test, I would hazard a guess that you may have a leak.

Also, No close the air control. once it is up to temp and burning well.

Failed on the latch side. Any idea how to adjust the door? It has a piece of bent steel on the stove with a 90 degree rod and a roll pin treaded into the end. Only thing I can see is to get a slightly larger roll pin......that will be difficult to find. You would think PE would supply different roll pins.

 

[begreen]

Is there a shim behind the door latch on the stove body? If so, try removing it. Otherwise, try tapping on it with a hammer to bend it very slightly towards the stove for a tighter close.

 

[bsa0021]

Is there a shim behind the door latch on the stove body? If so, try removing it. Otherwise, try tapping on it with a hammer to bend it very slightly towards the stove for a tighter close.

No shim. Only problem with bending that latch is once it is bent it won't hold long until it returns to it's original position. Although, if I can't find a roll pin I may have to resort to bending it.
Funny, the PE door gasket system is what kind of help me decide on this stove. I didn't think about adjustment.

 

[thechimneysweep]

Because PE offers several different door finishes, the doors ship separately from the stoves. What this means is, the first time your door met your stove was when you or your installers hung it on there. Some adjustment is usually needed, and here's how you do it:

Test the door seal by closing the door on a dollar bill. PE"s new graphite-impregnated gasket makes a great seal at very low pressure, but you should still feel a little resistance when you tug on the bill, all the way around the perimeter (loosest point will normally be at bottom center).

If the gasket isn't sealing at any point (the bill falls out when you let go), tap lightly on the door catch (to the left of the opening), and re-test until you get a good seal. The catch won't bend back out again as you surmise, but might need slight re-adjustment as the gasket wears in.

As to operating temperatures, the warming tray above the door is not the stove top; it is suspended above the stove, with an airspace beneath it, and will always be several degrees cooler than the actual stove body. The best place to take the temp on a PE insert is where you're doing it, above & beside the door. Note that this temp isn't accurate either, as there is an air delivery channel that runs across the top of the door inside the firebox to feed the airwash. In our experience, the temp at that spot will be somewhere around 100 degrees cooler than the stovetop temp. At your location, look to spike at 700 or so, and cruise around 600.

 

[Dix]

Good thread, a wealth of info here. I just ordered the same thermometer, and was wondering where the best spot for it was !!

I notice the front of the unit looks alittle different than mine

 

[bsa0021]

Because PE offers several different door finishes, the doors ship separately from the stoves. What this means is, the first time your door met your stove was when you or your installers hung it on there. Some adjustment is usually needed, and here's how you do it:

Test the door seal by closing the door on a dollar bill. PE"s new graphite-impregnated gasket makes a great seal at very low pressure, but you should still feel a little resistance when you tug on the bill, all the way around the perimeter (loosest point will normally be at bottom center).

If the gasket isn't sealing at any point (the bill falls out when you let go), tap lightly on the door catch (to the left of the opening), and re-test until you get a good seal. The catch won't bend back out again as you surmise, but might need slight re-adjustment as the gasket wears in.

As to operating temperatures, the warming tray above the door is not the stove top; it is suspended above the stove, with an airspace beneath it, and will always be several degrees cooler than the actual stove body. The best place to take the temp on a PE insert is where you're doing it, above & beside the door. Note that this temp isn't accurate either, as there is an air delivery channel that runs across the top of the door inside the firebox to feed the airwash. In our experience, the temp at that spot will be somewhere around 100 degrees cooler than the stovetop temp. At your location, look to spike at 700 or so, and cruise around 600.

My door must be fine. I thought the bill was supposed to be difficult to pull out. I can slide it out with resistance on latch side and bottom and can't move it on the remaining sides.

As far as temps go what is the corrective action if temps do exceed 700 behind the door?

 

[bsa0021]

Good thread, a wealth of info here. I just ordered the same thermometer, and was wondering where the best spot for it was !!

I notice the front of the unit looks alittle different than mine

Mine looks different because I removed my fan covers to track down an intermitten fan vibration/rattle.

 

[summit]

Good thread, a wealth of info here. I just ordered the same thermometer, and was wondering where the best spot for it was !!

I notice the front of the unit looks alittle different than mine

Mine looks different because I removed my fan covers to track down an intermitten fan vibration/rattle.

PE just recently changed the front trim/ashlip design on the Pacific inserts.

 

[madison]

Consider checking the thermometer for accuracy. ie put it in the cooking oven on a pizza stone and compare it to the oven temp. Or try a second thermometer. If you had significant coals remaining after 8+ hrs overnight as stated in your first post/picture, runaway burning is not your problem so I would check the accuracy of the thermometer.

 

[bsa0021]

Consider checking the thermometer for accuracy. ie put it in the cooking oven on a pizza stone and compare it to the oven temp. Or try a second thermometer. If you had significant coals remaining after 8+ hrs overnight as stated in your first post/picture, runaway burning is not your problem so I would check the accuracy of the thermometer.

I thought about this last night when I was using the stove and at 500 degree oven temp the thermometer was at 700. I didn't use a cookie sheet, just put it on the rack, but I've used this thermometer for my VC for five years so that spring probably loses it's accuracy after a couple years.