New burner ... Need some advice

[jcapler]

So we have had a old Sear wood stove in the house for the last 3 years that we have used for just a "pretty" fire. This year we decide that it would be nice to use the stove for a better purpose. We purchased a non-catalytic stove. This in turn brought me to this site to read and read and read ... then read some more about proper chimney installation and just general advice. This ended up causing me to redo the entire stack. I reframed the chimney and installed all the "up to code" items. Our original chimney was an 8" and flue size is 6" so there is a transition at the ceiling.
Anyway the main question is this. I have been running the stove for the last 4 days and I can not seem to get the flue temp to rise about 200F. It has maybe been up to 250F once when i was getting a coal bed started (door cracked). The temp of the stove top usually runs around 500F and sometimes up to 600F. I am going off the magnetic temp gauge that i have attached on my flue. Does this create creosote while running? About the only smoke i see is when i start a cold fire (it is dark so it is hard to tell). I will leave it at that for the moment. I can provide any info needed.

P.S. I can say how much i enjoy reading the knowledge on this site. Thanks to all!

 

[begreen]

Welcome. What stove make and model is this? Can you describe the flue system from stove to chimney cap including height, elbows, etc.?

 

[jcapler]

Welcome. What stove make and model is this? Can you describe the flue system from stove to chimney cap including height, elbows, etc.?

Stove is a Wood pro WS-TS-2000 Wood Stove. 6" flue from stove is about 30 inches. It then is in an offset to adapt to the 8" chimney which if i had to guess was 3 or 4 full lengths and a 12" piece that is used when entering the attic from the stove room. 1 full length of chimney pipe is about the ridge line of the house. This is in the addition of our house, there is only an attic above the room. I attached a picture of the inside setup, I know the clearance is an issue on the one side of the stove (i added some bricks there for now). We are remodeling the kitchen area and that cabinet is coming out.

Sorry about being rude. Thanks for the help and i can say how much this forum has helped me in some of the questions I have already had. It is great to be here.

 

[begreen]

Nice looking setup. The stove top temps sound just about right. If the full lengths of chimney are 4 ft lengths then there should be enough chimney. Are you able to turn down the air control at least 70% or more once the fire is burning well?

 

[jcapler]

Nice looking setup. The stove top temps sound just about right. If the full lengths of chimney are 4 ft lengths then there should be enough chimney. Are you able to turn down the air control at least 70% or more once the fire is burning well?

Thanks, I am glad that we replaced the old stove. I feel if i would have seen the old attic setup before i would have never lit a match in the old stove. I was not a good setup. I am not sure the full length of the 8" insulated chimney stack but i am guessing it would be the 3-4 foot range. I have to do some work to it this summer. I saw a couple of things I would like to sure up when i was fixing the old setup. Going to have to be a summer fix though and nothing i feel unsafe about.
Yeah i can usually turn down the air intake to the point to only secondaries burning. This will burn for a while before it starts to flicker. If i see the secondaries starting to go away i usually open it up a little and let it get going again. I try not to run a full out raging flame. I let the wood just burn softly (if that works for a description). To add, this is a 2 year season for ash. I also have a friend that burns all year and we usually get wood together. He has an older stove and bases his burns on the flue temps. That is how i got started on the flue temp gauge.

 

[begreen]

Until you get to know the setup better keep an eye on the chimney. Maybe give it a tad more air to boost the stovetop up to 650F. The flue temps are a bit low and going up to 8" is going to cool off the flue gases even more. Clean it after a cord has been burned and see if there is any notable creosote buildup.

 

[jcapler]

Thanks. I am pretty new to the wood burning community and I have never been around the newer wood stoves. I am just not sure how keep them set. I will add that I have a small angel wing soot on the glass after burning for a night.
It does seem like I have an issue getting that temp up that high. I can cram the box full and not get that temp up there. I am assuming this is because I am turning down the air intake to much and not letting that temp rise up there.
Maybe I will get brave and let a full rage go, I am going to be changing wood this weekend, I have just burned through my 2 year ash. The next will be some 1 year ash. I have also ordered a meter for wood moisture and a laser temp gun.
Overall i am just worried that I am creating more work for myself at the end of the year with the creosote buildup and i also don't want to create an unsafe situation for myself.

 

[begreen]

Take it one step at a time to build up confidence. Maybe just run 3/4 full loads for now. Try closing down the air a little later, getting the flue temp up to about 400F and close down the air not quite as far and see how it goes. Note that the flue gases will be hotter than the surface reading. They can be from 1.5 to 2x the surface reading.

 

[jcapler]

what is a good way to measure the flue gases? I have the temp gauge on there but I have slowly started to not trust that reading. I feel like the temp is to low for the reading that it gives me when setting the gauge on the top surface of the stove. Am I worrying to much about the flue temp with this being a stove with secondaries? Does that secondary baffle burn take away the from the flue temps? Again I only have a magnetic flue temp gauge and i have not got the laser temp gauge yet.

 

[jcapler]

just took a couple of temp readings on the stove. Right now the top of the stove is running at about 550F and the flue temp (gauge is about 12" up) is running at 225F

 

[begreen]

It's possible the flue thermometer is not too accurate. A laser reader will be better. If you're not seeing any smoke out of the chimney then the stove is burning cleanly. Check the chimney in a month as a safety check.

 

[jcapler]

Ok thanks. I will probably try and check when the weather permits when I get close to that month time frame. What is the best situation for air intake and loading the stove for an overnight burn.

I usually don't load the stove up, I just let it burn what is in the stove and leave the air set to what i had it when i decided to go to bed. Sorry about all the questions and if there is some links to look at I am all for that. I have still searching through the forums to find info and getting my fair share of reading material by the fire.

 

[begreen]

What you're doing is fine. I would wait until the weekend to try longer burning full loads so that you can watch it on and off through the whole burn cycle. Every stove/flue combo is different. Most are able to turn down the air until the flames get lazy, but don't go out. With a full load I like to do this about an hour before I go to bed so that I know the stove is in predictable cruising mode. Any time you switch wood species and/or dryness be extra observant for changes in burning and adjust accordingly.

 

[jcapler]

ok, thanks a bunch for all the tips.