pe summit

[esox]

Fired up my new toy this weekend to try and get the operation down. Daytime temp was 62 but I wanted to play with it the first time while I was around for the day and see how it acted.
I replaced my old Fisher Grandpa which was a real blast furnace but I felt I needed to update for obvious reasons.
The summit is piped into a 7x7 masonry chimney from the basement and is about 22ft high. I was told and read that this was sufficient for the 6in outlet on the summit and never had any problems with my 2 previous stoves.
Everything seemed to work according to plan. Built a small fire, closed the door and left it burn on the high setting for about 10 minutes. Added some bigger pieces, left them char on high for about another 10 minutes and closed the damper about half way. Had a pretty good fire going so decided to close the damper almost all the way and all was well.
So far I've noticed that the flames will only come through the secondary air tubes when the fire is hot but that may be different when I start burning the thing 24/7 on colder days. Even burning the stove on the low setting with a half full box I'm not getting any smoke coming out of the chimney for the most part. I was outside working and I noticed only a small amount of smoke from time to time. I'm guessing that may be the ebt perhaps but not sure.
Anyway, I'm pleased with the ease of operation , burn time and the amount of heat it was putting out. Way too much heat for a day like that so I really cant say for sure yet but I think it has the potential for doing the job the Fisher did and I'm not going to have to climb up on the roof every 6 weeks to clean the chimney and I'm expecting to cut my wood consumption.
My only afterthought is the ash pan. I cant see that I would utilize that very much. Very small opening and the fire would basically have to be out. I'll probably continue to empty the ashes every morning with a shovel and a bucket. It looks as though the hot coals will have to be positioned towards the front of the stove for relighting. I'll figure that out as I go.
I really hated to part with the Fisher but I sold it for $400 because I didn't have any other use for it and it went to a good home. The summit cost me $1900 and that seemed to be the going price for this area.
I'd like to thank the people on here for all the information I've gotten reading your posts and helping me in choosing my newest investment, Dave

 

[jeff_t]

There is no proof of this happening

 

[Hogwildz]

Forget you even have that ash pan, stick with the shovel, but really, you should only need do a serious scoop of the ashes once a week or every other week.
I shovel a scoop full of a along the front out each morning, spread the remaining ashes and coals out evenly and reload.
You will find what works best for you, but leave some ash on the bottom for best burning.

 

[esox]

Thanks for the input Hog. I'm on track with you on the ashes.
Jeff t. Not sure what you meant by that reply. I have a good sense of humor but please clarify. I'm missing something obviously.

 

[begreen]

Yes, we just ignore the ash pan, though it's a handy bun warmer. if you keep it clean or warp them in foil.

Jeff is gently prodding for a picture or two of that beauty, preferably with fire in its belly.

 

[esox]

Thanks guys. I got it with the ash pan thing. Pretty much useless.
Sorry Jeff. Wasn't being a wise guy. Just went over my head. I'm not very good with the pc so posting some pics would require me asking my kids for help and it aint worth the abuse.
I'm really impressed with this stove. As advertised. It hasn't been real cold here yet, low 30s at night. After a 10 hour burn I'm finding I actually have a half firebox full of serious coals. Not complaining but I suppose the only answer to that until it gets colder is not to load it full before I retire for the night. I'm not used to that. I used to load the Fisher up at night and the next morning it was burned down to the point that I would shovel it out and just about have a full firebox again. Basically thats where the savings is coming in. Making the same amount of heat with a smaller firebox.
I have a good supply of seasoned wood this year compliments of Sandy. Oak, ash and black birch. Lots of poplar laying around that I haven't cut up yet but will do it eventually just to clean up the property and give most of it away . Got all my dead trees marked for cutting down for next year. Something is killing all my ash trees. Nature has its way.

 

[begreen]

Save the oak for another season and burn the ash this year. You'll find the new EPA stoves are particular about burning dry wood. Oak needs longer to dry, at least a couple years.

 

[Grisu]

If you have lots of coals left in the morning your wood may not be as seasoned as you think. Oak for example needs a minimum of 2 years to dry better three or more. In addition, get those dead trees cut, split and stacked soon. Even ash needs a year to season and having a dead tree is no guarantee that the wood is dry already. Especially the lower trunk can still hold a lot of moisture.

 

[Hogwildz]

The coals can be from a couple things, loading too soon without letting the prior load burn down, or wood ain't dry enough.
At ten hours on a full load during this weather, you should let it burn down a couple more hours. You can also rake the coals forward into a big pile at the front of the stove and open the air some, or all the way, and let it burn the coals down more. Any wood from sandy, ain't going to be ready yet. Maybe poplar or other soft wood. As already said, the oak is no where near ready. For me, oak takes 3 years to be optimally where I want it. Maybe shorter if it is already partially dry. At 3 years, it is ripe for burning.

The Emerald Ash Borer is in PA, and taking out all the ash trees.

 

[esox]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I dont believe the large amount of coals is due to wet wood as I have been burning ash so far this year from 2 years ago. I will just have to not load it all the way for now. The only reason I'm mentioning that is because I was so used to cleaning out the old stove in the morning to make room for a full load before I go to work. With the amount of coals I have in the morning now I'm really not able to empty it to make room for another good load. I'll get it down as I go along.
If thats the case with the seasoning time for oak I'll have to wait till next year then to burn it. I cut and split it right away after the storm but thats only a year ago. That will make me short on wood for this year. Have to buy some I guess. Cant wait to retire so I can spend my time gathering wood for a living. Gonna be a big pile.
Thanks again, Dave

 

[Hogwildz]

I loaded the Summit full last at midnight with oak & cherry. I don't really care for cherry, but it is what I have ready.
I had to go to a job down in Chalfont today, and got back home around 3:00 PM.
Spread the coals around about 1/2 hour ago (4:00 PM) and had the perfect amount for reload.
Fire is up an running on full load.
So basically after 16 hours, I had the perfect reload amount of coals.
Now when it gets colder every 12 hours or so will be my loading schedule.
Those occasional blustery, windy days, I may throw a 3 medium split load in between the two full 12 hour loads.
It will take some time, but you will find a schedule and know when you need to reload, and when you may want to wait.

 

[begreen]

That's excellent. It sounds like the Summit B is a nice improvement.

 

[Hogwildz]

Actually, I was getting very similar burn times with the old one also.
While the temps still spike some while the offgassing is going on, it seems to spike to lesser temp than the old one did.
The flapper for the secondary burn is def working, I can hear it flap open and closed, and it annoys the crap out of me, but I will get used to it.
The extra rows of burn ports in the baffle seem to create a more even burn & much more secondaries, yet don't seem to be burning the wood away any faster than the old baffle. I was very concerened about this, and did not want to loose burn times, but that seems like a non-issue.
The EBT air to the secondaries seems to be a positive change also, again no added primary air to send the stove skyrocketing.
It still runs to where she wants to go temps wise, but not as high.

It also seems to be getting up in temp faster from cold starts & reloads. As you know I use the oven timer to remind me to cut the air back, and I have had to cut my timer settings down with the new insert.
I am noticing other subtle changes in the way the stove is built inside & out in the front. This is clearly to address the issues with the cracking as was the issues in the older style I had.
So far, I am very happy with the new set up. I loved the old one, had some issues, and although a couple outer cracks resurfaced(cosmetic), it still did an awesome job.
I will say PE really stepped up with the design changes, and hooking me up with the new insert. I wasn't harping them for one, they came to me out of the blue.
That says alot about the company.
Now I wait for the true test of some serious cold.

Oh, and the cast iron top plate and ash shelf.....what an improvement, makes it look so nice!
Now for that T6 Summit insert.......

 

[Dave A.]

The flapper for the secondary burn is def working, I can hear it flap open and closed, and it annoys the crap out of me,

Wish I could say the same. Not that I'm around it all the time, but am not hearing it anymore like when it was new. Am wondering if the EBT got broken somehow. Recall reading somewhere that they can stop working. Not sure how to tell for sure one way or the other.

 

[USMC80]

no need to buy wood, you said you have a bunch of poplar? Get it split and stacked, not the best but still works great for shoulder season (now) and good to mix with other woods like oak

 

[esox]

I'm not sure what your referring to with the noise of the flapper opening and closing. Honestly I wouldn't know the difference if it was working or not because I never had experience with it before. I just assumed it was working. The stove is reacting about the same way as you are describing with yours. Start up times and baffle performance seems to be about the same, as is burn time. I suffer from serious hearing loss so maybe I'm not hearing it. I do hear what I thought was the pipe tinging a lot more often with this stove like you hear normally with temp change and thought that to be odd when the stove was basically maintaining a constant temp. Not the same sound is it?
USMC80. I hear ya with the poplar. I have a ton of huge poplar trees on my property and have burned quite a bit in the past. Ok to burn when I get home from work until I retire for the night and good on the weekends when I'm around the house. The problem is the poplars that are laying over now are also from Sandy. I only had time to top them before spring rolled around and the woods got to thick to maneuver. I only had enough time to get the hardwoods cleaned up last year. I'll do the poplars this winter when I'm cutting up the dead ash and will have plenty for next year. I'll have to give some away actually. Their both larger than 20in at the base.

 

[Hogwildz]

I'm not sure what your referring to with the noise of the flapper opening and closing. Honestly I wouldn't know the difference if it was working or not because I never had experience with it before. I just assumed it was working. The stove is reacting about the same way as you are describing with yours. Start up times and baffle performance seems to be about the same, as is burn time. I suffer from serious hearing loss so maybe I'm not hearing it. I do hear what I thought was the pipe tinging a lot more often with this stove like you hear normally with temp change and thought that to be odd when the stove was basically maintaining a constant temp. Not the same sound is it?
USMC80. I hear ya with the poplar. I have a ton of huge poplar trees on my property and have burned quite a bit in the past. Ok to burn when I get home from work until I retire for the night and good on the weekends when I'm around the house. The problem is the poplars that are laying over now are also from Sandy. I only had time to top them before spring rolled around and the woods got to thick to maneuver. I only had enough time to get the hardwoods cleaned up last year. I'll do the poplars this winter when I'm cutting up the dead ash and will have plenty for next year. I'll have to give some away actually. Their both larger than 20in at the base.

The tinging is expansion & contraction of the steel and also outer casing. Normal, don't sweat it.
It will happen as the temp of the stove rises and falls. In time it will be a somewhat of a telltale of what the stove is doing as far as temp wise.

 

[Hogwildz]

Wish I could say the same. Not that I'm around it all the time, but am not hearing it anymore like when it was new. Am wondering if the EBT got broken somehow. Recall reading somewhere that they can stop working. Not sure how to tell for sure one way or the other.

With the old Summit, the 3x I took the EBT box off and inspected, it had a couple bees and flies in there each time. I suppose it is possible for one to get trapped and get caught under the EBT while it is open, but I don't ever recall having any issues other than the first time I found the EBT flapper unattached.

If your burns are normal as usual, I would not worry about it too much. I am still not so sold on how much the EBT actually does.
The insert burns great regardless.

 

[weatherguy]

Sounds good esox, with the longer burn times it will take a while to get a loading schedule, you can work on that when the cold weather gets here, should be soon.

 

[esox]

That's what I figured it was. Normal expansion and contraction from temp change. I just wasn't used to hearing it as my Fisher only acted up with exhaust noise on temp rise. Still in the learning stage. I'm very aware of too high a stack temp. I don't like it getting too high. I see from other posts that people are saying a 600 degree stack temp is normal and I wont dispute that however that doesn't make me very comfortable. That's pretty high. I work on oil burners for a living and 600 is tops especially with 26 gauge pipe which is used for that. I always make the customer aware of that when I come across it. I'm gonna drill a test hole in my pipe and see what its reading at what I consider to be my highest burn. I may be wrong but I don't think it will be over 500.

 

[esox]

Another question for my stove.
The manual says 18-20in wood for the firebox. I've cut all mine to 18 due to the fact that 20 will sit on the front rail and be almost against the glass. At 20 its too hard to maneuver with out bumping the firebricks and will surely smoke up the glass. My splits are large, once again reflecting on my old Fisher. I'm able to get 4 splits in comfortably but by doing this I'm having a lot of open area. If I were to split my wood smaller and be able to pack the stove tighter would I be better off? My thought is for longer burn time. Not sure if this would make a difference. Smaller splits will burn faster but would be more volume. Any advice?

 

[madison]

if they are dry, leave them big, 3 to 4 large splits and leaving a little space works for me.

i purposely prop the wood on the manifold boost baffle.

 

[Hogwildz]

I personally load the bottom as full as I can with large splits, then fill in the remaining space up top with medium & small splits.
More wood = more heat & longer burn times.
This is why i purposely split a mix of large, medium & small splits. More large & mediums.
The large ones are best for overnight burns, as long as they are dry.
I cut mine between 16" and 18" to keep them away from the glass and off the boost manifold. Any closer on mine and the splits outgas against the glass and fog it up.

 

[esox]

Madison. I'm able to get 4 large splits in there if I do it carefully so as not to be banging the wood against the bricks. I'm seeing Hogs idea of sizing my wood and loading it accordingly . I've done this to some extent with what I have to work with and doesn't seen to make that much of a difference in burn time however it hasn't been that cold yet. Loading large pieces on the manifold will tend to smoke the glass if I'm not paying attention such as loading it up, shutting it down and walking away from it. I do notice however when the glass gets smoked up and at some point I reload the stove and let it burn hot the glass will clean itself up for the most part. That's kinda cool. Left the stove go out Thursday as the temps here have been high and the wife moans if I get the house too warm. Getting colder again tonight and for the next 10 day forecast so fired it up when I got home today. No effort at all and once this thing is burning there seems to be no need for a restart .Plenty of coals to get it going again with little effort. I'm likin it.