New guy with a few quick questions

[edyit]

Hiya, couple of quick questions regarding magnetic thermometers and desirable operating ranges. I have 2 thermometers, 1 Rutland and 1 Imperial, I know that neither is 100% accurate but they both read the same temp when placed at the same location, so if anything they are consistently off.

I have Magnolia 2015, 4' of 6" single wall that connects to the exterior chimney with a 90 degree elbow. The exterior chimney is 16' of insulated pipe. The flue thermometer is located 16" up from the stove top. During a good burn when in "cruise" mode the stove top temp thermometer registers 500-600F but the flue thermometer only registers 200F. From all I've read on here that seams low for flue temps. Is this something I should be concerned about?

 

[Grisu]

That's sounds a bit low. 200 F external on single wall pipe means roughly 400 F internal. In principle, that's enough as you only need to stay above 250 F to avoid water condensation along your flue. However, I have my doubts that with 16' of external chimney you can stay above 250 F all the way to the top. Did you check for creosote accumulation along the pipe? How fast are you shutting down the air? Do you let the flue get warm enough before closing?

 

[edyit]

That's sounds a bit low. 200 F external on single wall pipe means roughly 400 F internal. In principle, that's enough as you only need to stay above 250 F to avoid water condensation along your flue. However, I have my doubts that with 16' of external chimney you can stay above 250 F all the way to the top. Did you check for creosote accumulation along the pipe? How fast are you shutting down the air? Do you let the flue get warm enough before closing?

I've had this set up for the last 3 years now (wife hated initial cost, loves what we save on heating oil now) I clean the chimney annually myself and have never noticed a lot of creosote when cleaning. Some black powder most of it at the clean out plug which falls out when I open it. I don't think I'm shutting the air down too fast. It's taken some practice but I've learned to let it go until the flue thermometer is up to ~350F. Its after I shut it down from there that stove temps rise and flue temps fall. I don't get a lot of smoke from the chimney during burns, just those heat ripples.