Opening the stove's door produces odd sound coming from the pipe ...

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A M

Member
Sep 8, 2013
125
Has anyone here experienced this? Lately, when I open my stove's door while a fire is going, there is the sound of hard (continual) rain coming down from INSIDE the pipe (above the stove). Another example of what I'm hearing is taking a 20 foot piece of aluminum foil and scrunching it continually - fast - for a couple of minutes.

No joke. It can only be heard when I open the door or leave the door ajar slightly. Should I be concerned or is this common. If it's nothing, what is it and when does it go away? Honestly, it is getting a bit irritating, so I thought I'd come to the Forum and ask my fellow wood burners.

Is this the sound of "creosote?" moving or falling, rather, as the heat is melting it, from within the pipe itself? I know it is from within the pipe as I've put my hear close to the pipe and definitely hear it from there, not the wood stove's firebox. It has to do with the stove pipe only.

This is my best guess. It's been going on about two weeks now. Guess I'm getting a bit concerned because it has not gone away and I wonder if this might mean that there's too much accumulated creosote (if it is THAT), already clinging to the interior surface of the double-wall pipe?!

Oh, no rain or snow outside. Temps have been 20s or 30s at night and low 40s to mid-30s during the day. The stove temps are generally between 300 and 425 degrees when this occurs.

Please chime in and tell me what this "sound" is and has anyone ever experienced this with a wood stove?
 
Honestly, I would just sweep the chimney in case it is creosote and inspect it afterwards to make sure it is clean. Only then I would feel confident enough to burn in the stove again without risking a chimney fire. If the sound persists it may be time for a professional sweep to take a look at it.
 
That's the sound of creosote burning off on the inside pipe surface with the extra air. The flue needs cleaning.
 
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yup,creasote for sure either igniting with extra air,or falling from the extra air going up the pipe.either way it is a signal to get the brush out.
 
That's the sound of creosote burning off on the inside pipe surface with the extra air. The flue needs cleaning.

Thanks for the swift reply. Now ... pardon my ignorance but since I have no desire to get up on the roof and clean the pipe, is there a brush that I can clean the pipe from inside the stove (when its cooled down)? If not, I'll have to call a chimney sweeper to do the job.

What a shame: I've only had the stove since late November 2014 and already it is building up too much creosote. That is most likely from the less-than-perfect I've burned in it. Guess there's no other reason.
 
This one works really well if you want to do a bottom-up cleaning: http://www.gardusinc.com/sooteater.html
You will need to remove the baffle; what model stove is it?
What a shame: I've only had the stove since late November 2014 and already it is building up too much creosote. That is most likely from the less-than-perfect I've burned in it. Guess there's no other reason.

That is the most likely the main reason. Contributing factors could be not enough draft due to problems with the flue (e. g. too short, too wide, not insulated) and/or reducing the air too much and therefore running the stove at too low temps.
 
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This one works really well if you want to do a bottom-up cleaning: http://www.gardusinc.com/sooteater.html
You will need to remove the baffle; what model stove is it?


That is the most likely the main reason. Contributing factors could be not enough draft due to problems with the flue (e. g. too short, too wide, not insulated) and/or reducing the air too much and therefore running the stove at too low temps.

The baffle is stainless steel on this Drolet "Myraid" model high efficiency stove. Don't think draft is in anyway a problem; however, I will say that I have a stove top thermometer that is actually for a single-wall piped stove; however, I did not realize this when I purchased it. I've continued to use it on top of this stove so I wouldn't waste it. The very hottest this stove has ever reached was 600 and that was only twice. The majority of the time (according to THIS thermometer), the stove top just passes into the SAFE ZONE and begins at 300, usually cruising around 325, up to 400. These are the norm temps I am able to get with this stove, with the wood I use. These kind of temps are still perfectly acceptable, are they not, for a high efficiency stove with double-wall pipe?

Just tell me this now: do I have to worry tonight about a flue fire while I'm sleeping if I let the stove burn? It's not that this is the type of stove that burns all night. It doesn't or at least I have never filled it to the max with wood. I usually get up around 2AM or 3AM and by habit will check the stove and add wood (usually) if it is dying down.

I am surprised by the creosote, too, because I just had a three-foot extension added during early December. I never thought I'd have a creosote problem so soon. It is slightly disturbing and disappointing at the same time.

I appreciate all input on the Forum. Thank you!
 
The baffle is stainless steel on this Drolet "Myraid" model high efficiency stove. Don't think draft is in anyway a problem; however, I will say that I have a stove top thermometer that is actually for a single-wall piped stove; however, I did not realize this when I purchased it. I've continued to use it on top of this stove so I wouldn't waste it. The very hottest this stove has ever reached was 600 and that was only twice. The majority of the time (according to THIS thermometer), the stove top just passes into the SAFE ZONE and begins at 300, usually cruising around 325, up to 400. These are the norm temps I am able to get with this stove, with the wood I use. These kind of temps are still perfectly acceptable, are they not, for a high efficiency stove with double-wall pipe?

Just tell me this now: do I have to worry tonight about a flue fire while I'm sleeping if I let the stove burn? It's not that this is the type of stove that burns all night. It doesn't or at least I have never filled it to the max with wood. I usually get up around 2AM or 3AM and by habit will check the stove and add wood (usually) if it is dying down.

I am surprised by the creosote, too, because I just had a three-foot extension added during early December. I never thought I'd have a creosote problem so soon. It is slightly disturbing and disappointing at the same time.

I appreciate all input on the Forum. Thank you!


The recommendation from Grisu on the sooteater is good. Depending on your comfort level and setup, brushing your chimney is not really hard and if done with care not too messy. I have never in my five years had a sweep to my house but I have 15' straight up, I can see top to bottom and have easy roof access for sweeping my self. Some users here have reported sweeping once per 1/2 cord for less than ideal wood.....
 
One more thing: If the stove burns between 300 and 400 degrees, ... isn't this range of temperature suppose to burn-off the creosote BEFORE it has time to form? Or,
 
One more thing: If the stove burns between 300 and 400 degrees, ... isn't this range of temperature suppose to burn-off the creosote BEFORE it has time to form? Or,

Not always, and depends on the fuel. Wet wood will produce steam which has a cooling effect on the flue, creating the condensation and more creostoe.
 
Creosote is the condensation of smokey gasses, if you aren't getting a good secondary/ cat burn on an appliance you aren't consuming the fuel left in the exhaust.......
 
If your stove top is only reaching 325-400 then you need to burn hotter...AFTER you clean your chimney.
 
If your stove top is only reaching 325-400 then you need to burn hotter...AFTER you clean your chimney.
Yes...

What's happenning, A.M., is that you are using a flue therm on your stove top... Which is OK, but the safe zone marked on it indictes what's safe for the flue pipe, not what's safe for the stove. Ideal operating for most stove tops (well, mine anyway) is between 400-600 ::F. Because you are operating your stove using the safe temps for the pipe, you aren't burning hot enough, hence the creosote. The 600 deg stove-top temp you say you hit once, would have been perfect for a nice healthy burn.

You can still use your flue pipe therm on your stove top... Just look at the temps, but ignore the zones..
 
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What's happenning, A.M., is that you are using a flue therm on your stove top... Which is OK, but the safe zone marked on it indictes what's safe for the flue pipe, not what's safe for the stove. Ideal operating for most stove tops (well, mine anyway) is between 400-600 . Because you are operating your stove using the safe temps for the pipe, you aren't burning hot enough, hence the creosote. The 600 deg stove-top temp you say you hit once, would have been perfect for a nice healthy burn.


Ding,Ding, Ding!! Most of us start to cut the air back at 300 - not go into cruise mode. If it is a steel box full of wood it will burn best above 400 and preferably above 500 for the peak before diminishing. Not uncommon to see 700+

I would imagine the added chimney is part of the equation here. With the added room for gasses to cool and your cooler stove temps you are getting the majority of creo in the new section of pipe up there in the wind. Clean it and burn hotter. The strange rain sounds will diminish.

I get the same sound from time to time and especially in high winds - for me it is always creo flaking off the cap and falling back down the pipe.
 
I am having the same problem as well. I installed a new stove in December, have burned about a 1.25 cords of wood and cleaned it once. While I didn't get a ton of creosote when I cleaned there was more there than should have been. I too and fighting a battle of less than optimal wood. Today, I am going to go to tractor supply and purchase the creosote remover product people recommend and start following the directions on that. I think this will help alleviate the problem by rendering the creosote into a different form. I will continue to sweep every 4-6 weeks throughout the winter and get ahead on wood so next year will be better.
 
As others said, those temps are too low for an efficient burn (provided the thermometer is at the hottest spot on the top, probably close to the flue outlet, and you don't have the blower running). For a simple steel stove like the Myriad I would expect 600 F or more during the peak of the burn. How much are you turning down the air? I would leave it open more until the stovetop reaches 500 F.

With the marginal wood you seem to be having I would clean the flue every few weeks. Take also a look at the cap. If it has a screen it may be pretty clogged already. A binocular may help if you don't want to climb on the roof.

Check your wood with a moisture meter. Bring some pieces in to warm them up to room temp. Then split them in half and press the pins of the meter in the center of the fresh surface. You want to be below 20%, below 25% will get you by this winter if you operate the stove correctly. Above that you need drier wood. Look for lumber scraps, pallets (a lot of work to cut up but usually dry and often free), compressed wood logs (Envi-blocks, BioBricks, etc.), or find a supplier for kiln-dried wood in your area. Mix those in with your current wood or burn them exclusively depending on what moisture reading you are getting. Plan also ahead for the coming winters. How many cords are sitting split and stacked in your yard to dry? Ideally, you want to be at least 2 years ahead.
 
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I am having the same problem as well. I installed a new stove in December, have burned about a 1.25 cords of wood and cleaned it once. While I didn't get a ton of creosote when I cleaned there was more there than should have been. I too and fighting a battle of less than optimal wood. Today, I am going to go to tractor supply and purchase the creosote remover product people recommend and start following the directions on that. I think this will help alleviate the problem by rendering the creosote into a different form. I will continue to sweep every 4-6 weeks throughout the winter and get ahead on wood so next year will be better.

I'll answer to any reply here on Typ0s note (hey, nice to know you are experiencing the same thing!) ... instead of answering individually but I do thank every individual's opinion stated here within my post. :)

Now, first, let me tell you that when I looked over the Owner's Manual again, here's what it tells me about creosote and temps:

"...The ideal temperature for these gases is somewhere between 275F and 500F. Below these temperatures, the build-up of creosote is promoted. Above 500 degrees, heat is wasted since a too large quantity is lost into the atmosphere..."

SO, since I've been in the cruising range of 300 to 400, I thought I was doing just fine. I still have a dry wood situation even when I've recently bought 2 ricks from a local fellow. He said he'd give me my money back if I did not like the way the wood burned. In fact, I took my new MM and tested his wood and another seller's about three weeks ago. It appears that the upper half of the wood in his truck that I randomly "tested" was good; at 20% or below. Now that I've been using the rest of it, I've run into trouble and some burns some of the time and some I will not burn now because it is so over the 20% rule.

THEREFORE, this week I bought some wood this nice guy was getting rid of in another town. Very inexpensive. He just wanted it off and out of his father's business property. I have one more trip to make. Some of it I can use now and some of it needs sun and wind to get into the burning range.

Getting back to burning range of what DROLET states, ... I don't know what to say to everyone that is normally burning in the 500 to 600 range. This is not the norm for the wood I have. I don't know what else to do short of spending wayyyyyyyy too much money to a seller who is actually sell the good stuff. It's always at a dollar premium, of course. Weather-wise, I am quite fortunate for today, this week and next. Low 40s/50s during day and 20s/30s at night. Overall, it sure would be nice to get consistently good dry wood; wouldn't have to worry about THAT aspect of the enjoyable wood-burning-heat-producing Winter season.

Guess I'm buying the "Soot-Eater" on-line tomorrow ... I did find a small container of powdered creosote stopper I had forgotten I did order some weeks ago from Northern Tool when I ordered the ash pail with lid, so I have been sprinkling that at various time into the fire today. The stove's at 350 right now.

I do love to burn wood and I do enjoy my evening fires the most, despite these temporary set-backs.
 
I looked into the Myriad manual and here is the full quote:

"We strongly recommend that you install a magnetic thermometer on your smoke exhaust pipe, approximately 18" above the stove. This thermometer will indicate the temperature of your gas
exhaust fumes within the smoke exhaust system. The ideal temperature for these gases is somewhere between 275 F and 500 F. Below these temperatures, the build-up of creosote is
promoted. Above 500 degrees, heat is wasted since a too large quantity is lost into the atmosphere."

Hence, you are talking about two different things here. You are measuring stove-temps. The manual talks about flue temperatures. In addition, they seem to measure them by an outside magnetic thermometer on a single-wall pipe. By rule of thumb, internal flue gas temps will be about 1.5 to 2 times as much. In that regard, their advice is correct. However, to get those temps in the acceptable range you need to burn your stove hotter than 400 F on the stove top.

The creosote powder is not a bad idea. But don't forget: It is not replacing the sweeping, it will only make it easier to get the sticky creosote out.
 
I looked into the Myriad manual and here is the full quote:

"We strongly recommend that you install a magnetic thermometer on your smoke exhaust pipe, approximately 18" above the stove. This thermometer will indicate the temperature of your gas
exhaust fumes within the smoke exhaust system. The ideal temperature for these gases is somewhere between 275 F and 500 F. Below these temperatures, the build-up of creosote is
promoted. Above 500 degrees, heat is wasted since a too large quantity is lost into the atmosphere."

Hence, you are talking about two different things here. You are measuring stove-temps. The manual talks about flue temperatures. In addition, they seem to measure them by an outside magnetic thermometer on a single-wall pipe. By rule of thumb, internal flue gas temps will be about 1.5 to 2 times as much. In that regard, their advice is correct. However, to get those temps in the acceptable range you need to burn your stove hotter than 400 F on the stove top.

The creosote powder is not a bad idea. But don't forget: It is not replacing the sweeping, it will only make it easier to get the sticky creosote out.

OK, thanks for the clarification on the flue temps and the stove top temps, according to the OM. Now, by a magnetic thermometer, do they mean the type that you have to drill a hole in your double-wall pipe for? If so, I had spoken to my ancient friend who laughs that the high efficiency stoves even have something like an air-washed glass system that helps to keep your glass clean, as well as believing that the wood he chops today can be thrown into the Myriad stove for tonight's heat, does not believe in putting a hole into a DW pipe and therfore, if the OM means just, then I am out of luck and don't have anyone who knows how to do such a task for me.

If I can buy one that sits vertically and stays on by magnets, then, yes, I can obtain this and would use it right away in order to gauge the correct FLUE temps!!
 
Hi A M, maybe I can help clarify things a bit for you - I've got a Drolet Austral which is essentially the same stove. Long story short you`re running it way to cold. How to know when you`re running it properly is as follows:
It sounds like you have a double walled vent pipe on the Myriad correct? If that is the case then yes you need to drill an appropriate sized hole roughly 18 inches above the stove top for the thermometer you purchase that's designed for double walled venting pipe. (same as how I'm set up.) Then the thermometer just slides into the hole, job done.
Secondly it's an excellent idea to have a thermometer on the top of the stove. For both thermometers I went to my local hardware store that sells woodstove "stuff" and happened to be SBI in particular which is the manufacturer that makes the Drolet stove. (In case you were not aware of that.) They are cheap, and frankly I can't comment on the quality of the thermometers but hey they work well enough.

Now how to operate:
Your temperature reading goals after you've got the stove up to running temp:
-Thermometer on the vent pipe should cruise between 500-700f and in most cases will hang out between 500-600f
-Thermometer on the stove top should read between 600-700f.
From my experience it's actually very important to have the vent pipe thermometer as I find that if I'm not careful I can easily get that waaaaay to hot long before the stove is up to operating temp. On the flip side if you only have that thermometer it's quite possible you won't get the stove up to temp, or at least not as efficiently as you could.

From a cold stove I achieve this by opening the bypass, pull the air intake control wide open, light the fire and leave the door cracked open - by that I mean while the door is wide open turn the door handle so that it's in the same position as when the door is fully closed and then push the door closed until it can't go further - the door closer hits the body of the stove and stops it from closing properly, thereby leaving it cracked open.
Now I monitor the stove, it flames up quickly, keep an eye in particular on the vent pipe thermometer, it will climb pretty quickly, once it's up above 500f I usually shut the bypass. This slows down the vent pipe from heating as quickly. I also start closing the door a bit more, but watching the flames so that the stay "strong" not "lazy". The stove body thermometer should be climbing but of course not as quickly.
Once the vent pipe hits 600f I usually can close the stove door completely. (You can close it much earlier to be honest - the only advantage to keeping the door open a crack is the stove gets up to operating temp a lot quicker I find.)
Now watch the flames - you should soon see the secondaries firing up - you'll know they are going as you get what looks like powerful flames that look almost like a blowtorch blowing straight down from the top of the stove. The more fire you've got going across the top of your wood load the hotter the stove gets, and the quicker it hits that operating temp. Keep an eye on the vent pipe thermometer! If you're not careful it will climb very fast. Personally I've never had mine outside of what the gauge reads as safe operating temp although it's been up a bit over 800f on a few occasions. I never let it stay there - if it does hit that temp close the air controller off completely and wait, usually 5 minutes and you'll see the temp drop. Let it get down to 700f or lower. Once it starts heading back down I crack the air control open again to keep the fire building so the stove body continues to get warmer.
I can't tell you how much to open it because that is totally dependent on your particular setup, how much draft you get etc. With mine I crack it enough that I can see the coals brighten up and the flames perk up a bit.
Anyway, I keep juggling the air control if I have to get the stove warmer till it's up around 600f, at that point the stove will happily cruise along on it's own. At that point you have to figure out where your air control needs to be positioned to hold that temp, but I think you'll find it fairly obvious, you'll have a reasonable amount of flame although nothing crazy - certainly you shouldn't see a big wall of flame when you look into the stove! :)
At that point you should be able to pretty much leave the stove alone till the next time you need to load it.

What's the smoke look like coming out your chimney? Once the stove has hit it's operating temp it should be virtually invisible. If in the past you've always seen smoke then that's another sign you're most likely not running it hot enough.

A note on wood - get a moisture meter if you don't already have one and test just how dry the wood you got actually is - split one and stick the probes in the middle of the split. If your wood isn't very dry then it's strongly recommended to burn it a bit hotter then cooler particularly earlier on in each load - this will help dry the wood itself out while it's burning, plus hopefully help less creosote from being formed on the chimney.

A note on loading the stove - I find it prefers a full load. By that I mean I fill mine till there's hardly an inch between the wood and the underside of the top of the stove. it likes nice big chunks too! Don't be shy! :) But watch it as it will get hotter faster with a full load and it's way more likely to get out of control with a full load. But it will also run a long long time without filling if you do that.

Well, hopefully this will help you out a bit, happy burning!

Oh! Lastly - as mentioned in other posts cleaning your chimney while no fun is a wise idea! If you've been burning a cold fire for a while who knows how much creosote you've built up!!! The last thing you want is a chimney fire. I strongly recommended especially now if you continue to use the stove to monitor both the vent pipe temp and go outside and make sure there's no flames shooting out your chimney!!! Especially if you are only now going to be getting your stove up to it's proper temps. If you're not comfortable doing the job yourself then pay a chimney sweep to do it - it's not a huge cost plus you could probably talk them into installing the thermometer into the vent pipe if you're not comfortable doing that yourself? Consider the cost of a chimney sweep as being much cheaper then dealing with a chimney fire. Certainly it's cheap insurance at this point. Plus it will be a valuable learn to see how much he actually cleans out when he does the job.

E.
 
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Simply put and posted above - Your manual is talking about stove pipe heat and you are taking your readings from the stove itself.

EPA tube stoves are designed to heat the box and not the pipe by burning wood gas(smoke) before it leaves the stove. Beyond the initial blast of heat going up the pipe during start-up you get the stove itself cruising with a temp on top above 500 - often 600-750 - and cut the air back as far as you stove allows. This eats up most of the heat BEFORE it goes out the flue. Hence, the dual thermometers. Stove in cruise mode at 600+ = pipe in the safe range prescribed in your manual. Stove running in the safe range for PIPE gas in cruise mode is sending cold gas and the majority of creo creating junk into a cool pipe that by simple physics is getting cooler the farther from the stove it reaches. The last 3' or so are cold enough to condense this gas and create the problems you are having.

This is why it is unsafe to use any of the wang dangle heat trapping exchanger dealios in the stove pipe on EPA stoves. The heat that makes it that far up is necessary to keep gasses going out and not condensing. Anyone that has tried these inventions, either purchased or home brew have discovered they are creosote making machines more than heat creators.

For single wall stove pipe it is safe and effective to use a magnetic therm to gather accurate enough information to verify this but with a Dbl wall pipe you need to drill through the two walls and use a probe therm or you are getting zero valuable info for obvious reasons. Drilling the small hole is no big deal, very safe and many do it. If you wish to forgo this for any reason then the best practice is to use a stove top therm and IN CRUISING MODE get the stove running above 500. Preferably 6-700.

Simple solution, run it hotter.
 
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AM... Just want to add that I feel your nervousness about drilling a hole in your flue pipe to get the therm in place. Becuase of my stove set up (rear exit that goes straight into a stone wall and up inside a chimney) I have no accessible flue pipe on which to place a therm. Whilst it may not be ideal to only have a therm on the stove top, it is certainly not breaking the law and for myself, I find that keeping an eye on the stove top temp range serves me just fine.

Just thought it might be one less thing for you to worry about till you have someone around you can trust to drill that hole for you, should decide to have two therms :)
 
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Hi A M, maybe I can help clarify things a bit for you - I've got a Drolet Austral which is essentially the same stove. Long story short you`re running it way to cold. How to know when you`re running it properly is as follows:
It sounds like you have a double walled vent pipe on the Myriad correct? If that is the case then yes you need to drill an appropriate sized hole roughly 18 inches above the stove top for the thermometer you purchase that's designed for double walled venting pipe. (same as how I'm set up.) Then the thermometer just slides into the hole, job done.
Secondly it's an excellent idea to have a thermometer on the top of the stove. For both thermometers I went to my local hardware store that sells woodstove "stuff" and happened to be SBI in particular which is the manufacturer that makes the Drolet stove. (In case you were not aware of that.) They are cheap, and frankly I can't comment on the quality of the thermometers but hey they work well enough.

Now how to operate:
Your temperature reading goals after you've got the stove up to running temp:
-Thermometer on the vent pipe should cruise between 500-700f and in most cases will hang out between 500-600f
-Thermometer on the stove top should read between 600-700f.
From my experience it's actually very important to have the vent pipe thermometer as I find that if I'm not careful I can easily get that waaaaay to hot long before the stove is up to operating temp. On the flip side if you only have that thermometer it's quite possible you won't get the stove up to temp, or at least not as efficiently as you could.

From a cold stove I achieve this by opening the bypass, pull the air intake control wide open, light the fire and leave the door cracked open - by that I mean while the door is wide open turn the door handle so that it's in the same position as when the door is fully closed and then push the door closed until it can't go further - the door closer hits the body of the stove and stops it from closing properly, thereby leaving it cracked open.
Now I monitor the stove, it flames up quickly, keep an eye in particular on the vent pipe thermometer, it will climb pretty quickly, once it's up above 500f I usually shut the bypass. This slows down the vent pipe from heating as quickly. I also start closing the door a bit more, but watching the flames so that the stay "strong" not "lazy". The stove body thermometer should be climbing but of course not as quickly.
Once the vent pipe hits 600f I usually can close the stove door completely. (You can close it much earlier to be honest - the only advantage to keeping the door open a crack is the stove gets up to operating temp a lot quicker I find.)
Now watch the flames - you should soon see the secondaries firing up - you'll know they are going as you get what looks like powerful flames that look almost like a blowtorch blowing straight down from the top of the stove. The more fire you've got going across the top of your wood load the hotter the stove gets, and the quicker it hits that operating temp. Keep an eye on the vent pipe thermometer! If you're not careful it will climb very fast. Personally I've never had mine outside of what the gauge reads as safe operating temp although it's been up a bit over 800f on a few occasions. I never let it stay there - if it does hit that temp close the air controller off completely and wait, usually 5 minutes and you'll see the temp drop. Let it get down to 700f or lower. Once it starts heading back down I crack the air control open again to keep the fire building so the stove body continues to get warmer.
I can't tell you how much to open it because that is totally dependent on your particular setup, how much draft you get etc. With mine I crack it enough that I can see the coals brighten up and the flames perk up a bit.
Anyway, I keep juggling the air control if I have to get the stove warmer till it's up around 600f, at that point the stove will happily cruise along on it's own. At that point you have to figure out where your air control needs to be positioned to hold that temp, but I think you'll find it fairly obvious, you'll have a reasonable amount of flame although nothing crazy - certainly you shouldn't see a big wall of flame when you look into the stove! :)
At that point you should be able to pretty much leave the stove alone till the next time you need to load it.

What's the smoke look like coming out your chimney? Once the stove has hit it's operating temp it should be virtually invisible. If in the past you've always seen smoke then that's another sign you're most likely not running it hot enough.

A note on wood - get a moisture meter if you don't already have one and test just how dry the wood you got actually is - split one and stick the probes in the middle of the split. If your wood isn't very dry then it's strongly recommended to burn it a bit hotter then cooler particularly earlier on in each load - this will help dry the wood itself out while it's burning, plus hopefully help less creosote from being formed on the chimney.

A note on loading the stove - I find it prefers a full load. By that I mean I fill mine till there's hardly an inch between the wood and the underside of the top of the stove. it likes nice big chunks too! Don't be shy! :) But watch it as it will get hotter faster with a full load and it's way more likely to get out of control with a full load. But it will also run a long long time without filling if you do that.

Well, hopefully this will help you out a bit, happy burning!

Oh! Lastly - as mentioned in other posts cleaning your chimney while no fun is a wise idea! If you've been burning a cold fire for a while who knows how much creosote you've built up!!! The last thing you want is a chimney fire. I strongly recommended especially now if you continue to use the stove to monitor both the vent pipe temp and go outside and make sure there's no flames shooting out your chimney!!! Especially if you are only now going to be getting your stove up to it's proper temps. If you're not comfortable doing the job yourself then pay a chimney sweep to do it - it's not a huge cost plus you could probably talk them into installing the thermometer into the vent pipe if you're not comfortable doing that yourself? Consider the cost of a chimney sweep as being much cheaper then dealing with a chimney fire. Certainly it's cheap insurance at this point. Plus it will be a valuable learn to see how much he actually cleans out when he does the job.

E.

E., thanks for going to the trouble of all info that you wrote. Most, I know from reading but learned a little, too!

When the stove is going really hot (and that can take a few hours to achieve), I barely see any smoke coming out of the cap and just the heat gases, which I know is a good sign to see. Right now (Saturday morning), there is a little bit of white smoke. It has taken much time this morning to get the stove going. There were only a few bits of hot coal in the box from 6AM.

Thermometers aside for a moment, ... it is difficult (using the SBI single-wall thermometer I'm using for the top of stove) to get the stove up to 500 or 600, I gather from the wood I use, despite having a new MM for the past two weeks. Everything was going pretty darn good with the first batch of wood I bought ... then I had to work harder to detect the lower levels of moisture in the remaining wood with my MM. For example, I think the trouble is that I'm finding DIFFERENT percentages of moisture in say, just one piece of wood. It can have 17% on one side, 23% four inches away and then 11% at the very top. And, that is just one side of the split.

Putting the wood itself aside for a moment ... I need to order from Amazon a STOVE TOP thermometer because what I have I think is really for a single-wall flue pipe, not for top of the stove. It is by SBI and I ordered the OAK, etc., at the same time from homeclick.com, but just assumed it was what I needed. So, I plan on getting a proper one. Even with that, we come back to the wood and what I have.

How in the world am I suppose to get 500 or 600 eventual stove top heat when this wood seems to take a mighty long time to get it up to this thermometer's "300 to 400" range?

If I had a different Stove Top thermometer, would I get a different reading than what this one gives me? I honestly don't know. Could the stove be actually hotter than what this range is, in reality?

My common sense says 'no,' because the stove's heat standing in front of it is not super, mega hot. It is hot to touch and the "gold" colored rim of the ash catcher that's located below the bottom of the stove's door ... well, yes, it is too hot to keep my hands on it, ... but, I'm just saying that I strongly doubt that the true temperature of the stove's box right now is higher than what the gauge is showing me. Nonetheless, I think I do need a better one and will get it.

I will probably also order the "Sooteater" and just do the job myself, though I know it will be messier than heck, but, I can use it again in the future and am sure I'll have to. If I change my mind about doing the job, then I'll just call in a CSweeper.

Thank you again for taking the time to share the "instructions." You probably have premium hard wood. Do you check each log with the MM before it goes in the box?
 
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