PE Summit Classic burning extremely hot

[Shaun]

So last night, my Summit started burning hot and with the air control pushed all the way to low, the thermometer continued to rise. I ended up pulling a few burning logs out in my ash bucket and pouring water on them outside. Back at the stove, it seemed as if the ash dump flap was not closed all the way. After playing with that, I was able to get things to settle back down. When I fired the stove back up tonight, I thought things were looking good. But then I noticed the same thing was starting to happen. Fortunately I didn't have the stove loaded with wood and I will just let the one log burn up.

Any ideas as to what could be causing my issue? The door gasket is good and this is the second season that we are using the stove.

 

[rdust]

What is extremely hot?

 

[Shaun]

550 - 600. The smell of the double wall pipe. Smoke in the room coming off the pipe and smoke detectors going off. The flames were raging in the firebox. And all of this with the air on low.

 

[rdust]

Is that stove temp or pipe temps, if it's pipe temp is it internal or external?

If that's stove top temp that's not "extremely hot" that's just starting to cruise.

 

[Shaun]

It's stove top and I know it is cruising temp. But the fire was raging and would not settle down with the air turned all the way down. I let it cruise for about 30 minutes and that is when smoke detectors started going off and the smell of extremely heated metal was getting stronger and stronger.

 

[rdust]

Do you have a probe in the pipe or a IR gun to get the pipe temp? I'd be curious to see how hot the exterior or interior of the double wall pipe was. If paint was burning off the pipe it must've been hot or you just reached a new temp that was never reached before.

Other PE owners will post, I recall reading their cruising temps being anywhere from 650-750(some occasionally tagging 800) for the first part of the burn.

My last stove was a Lopi Endeavor(non cat) and I didn't even start to take notice until the 700+ range was approached.

What was the process used when loading? What size coal bed, how hot was the stove, type of wood used etc. Is the wood being used this season better than last season?

 

[begreen]

Was this with the blower on or off? If the thermometer is accurate and the blower was off, then this could be the first time the stove got up to operating temp. 650F is normal for a full load with the blower off at peak burn.

How tall is the chimney? What type of wood were you burning and what size were the splits?

 

[corey21]

600 stove top temp is fine,

I wonder how hot your chimney was.

Is this your first year burning dry wood?

Edit. Also were there any sounds coming from the flue?

 

[nellraq]

I would suggest that you seal off the "ash dump flap" with hi-temp silicone. It sounds like your ash dump system is the same as I had in a PE Spectrum. Very poor design -even when it appears to be tightly closed, it likely isn't. It's very hard to get an adequate seal between 2 steel surfaces - without a gasket of some kind.

Try it - could be at least a partial solution to your uncontrollable PE.

It really is easy to take a shovel full or two of ash out of your firebox when needed.

 

[Shaun]

There is no blower with this stove. It is not an insert. I am burning oak and ash and this is not my 1st year burning. Been burning for 7 years and this is my 2nd full season burning this stove. No sounds were heard from the pipe or flue. The chimney is 6" diameter and I believe 21' tall.

 

[thechimneysweep]

About PE's ash dump mechanism: Let your stove go cold, then snap the ash chute door a couple times to make sure there are no trapped particles propping it open. Once you're sure the ash chute door is closed, scoop enough ash into the chute to fill it, and cover the entire firebox floor with about 3/4" of ash. This will totally seal the ash chute, and provide an ideal surface for your fire. Every time you dump the ashes, leave enough ash in the firebox to repeat this procedure, and you'll have a better burning experience and never have an air leak through the ash chute.

 

[John_M]

Shaun, The ash removal procedure recommended by thechimneysweep works. However, I do not use the ash dump on my PE Spectrum because I find it
not inconvenient to remove a couple shovels of ash every two to three days.

I suspect the "problem" you experience with the Summit will be easily and permanently solved by following the suggested recommendations of nellrag and thechimneysweep. Would also suggest you visit the link in Tom's (The Chimney Sweep) signature for a wealth of valuable information about all things stove related.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

[Shaun]

I ruled out the ash dump system today. I believe it now has to do with the air control lever. Even with the lever closed all the way, the stove is still wanting to run away today. And I can easily see where the coals are burning extremely hot and quick right above the air inlet holes. Any suggestions?

 

[Shaun]

After reading Tom's info on EBT, I looked up under the stove and it looks as if the flap that covers the hole on the EBT chamber is stuck open, thus allowing a constant rush of air into the stove.

 

[thechimneysweep]

I've never heard of an EBT that has been functioning for a season sticking open, but I suppose anything's possible. To check, let the stove get cold, remove the ash drawer, and look up at the underside of the metal box hanging down to the right of the draft control. You should see a quarter-sized hole being covered from the inside by a metal plate with a tiny hole in the center. If you don't see the cover plate, stick a finger up there (cold stove, remember) and jiggle the plate until it drops into place.

If you see that the plate is in place, it could be you've simply been observing the EBT mechanism in action. If you add a full load of fuel to an already-hot firebox and don't turn the draft control down low enough soon enough, all the individual splits in the fresh load can sometimes reach gasification temperature (500 deg. F) at the same time, resulting in an unusually large "bloom" of combustible gases. When this happens, the EBT is designed to open up and supply enough combustion air to consume the bloom, which can result in quite a conflaguration, the intensity and duration determined by the resin content of the wood and rate of gasification. As the gases are consumed, the fire will settle back down.

If you find this feature unsettling, you can help avoid its recurrence by waiting until the fire has burned down farther before reloading, then standing by to adjust the draft control to its low setting as soon as the fresh load is sufficiently kindled that the secondary flame remains burning. With good fuelwood and an established fire in a powerhouse like the Summit, this process can take as little as 3-5 minutes.

 

[begreen]

Worth checking by you dealer. IIRC Hogwildz found his EBT flap was wide open all the time, even with the stove cold. It was out of its holder frame. However, I'm not sure that can happen with the revised design.

Have to ask again, what are you calling runaway temps? Did you check the EBT flap with a cold stove? If it's open thn, have the dealer fix this. To verify that this is an issue, you could cover the EBT intake with metal tape.

 

[madison]

If "ruling out" the ash dump was by visualization from underneath the flap (ie ash pan removed) - it can still leak even if it looks like it is closed. With a relatively cleaned out stove, and early on in the burn cycle, you will see a white hot area generally above in the area above the ash chute. the two bolts holes which hold the ash chute assembly to the stove bottom can also be a source of air entrainment (even if they are covered with firebrick).

 

[DuckDog]

I have noticed that sometimes my S27's ash dump door gets jammed up and does not seal perfectly. Since I am now conscious of it I always give it a few "flips" to clean it out then once I am happy with the seal I always backfill the hole with ash level to the firebrick base. Literally adds 5 seconds to the job of cleaning out the ashes.