PE Super27 troubleshooting

[EasternPromise]

Hi good people. Hope everyone is staying warm.

I've recently invested in a PE Super 27. Did my research, spoke extensively with the dealer, etc., etc. Told this was the Tesla of wood stoves. Thought I was making the right purchase for the home to keep the family warm all winter. But I've found myself constantly trouble shooting and as a result, very irritated.

#1.
The smell...
It's been a month and I still can't shake it. When I burn a nice full load, within 10 mins the house stinks like acrid burning chemicals and the fire alarms go off. My eyes water and throat gets itchy. I understand initial burn offgassing is necessary, but I figured I was long past this. It seems to me also that the smell is coming from the stove pipe and not necessarily the stove itself, but this could just be a hunch. Either way - if I'm to expect this to continue, the stove is effectively unusable.

#2.
Noisy EBT flapper.
I get the theory. I get what the EBT2 does and how it's supposed to work. But the damn clanker is going *constantly*. After maybe 90 mins or so it seems to settle down, but the run up is insufferably noisy to a point where I wonder if I've done the right thing by buying a wood stove. Too late to go back after they've cut up holes in the house - so I'm hoping there is a solution here.

Would love to get some suggestions and opinions. Especially from other Super27 users.

Thanks all!

 

[moresnow]

Pics of your setup including complete pipe/venting description will help.
Are you using a outdoor air kit?
Main floor or basement install?
Explain what your start up and running routine is.
Can you tell us how long your wood supply has been split, stacked and seasoned?
Do you have a hand held moisture meter to test your wood? What is it reading?
Welcome to Hearth. Hopefully the members here can take a look and advise. Good luck.

 

[EasternPromise]

Photo attached.
No outdoor air kit.
Main floor setup.
Startup: Load 3 or 4 logs, fill in with kindling and some large sticks, fill gaps with paper. Get a decent flame, burn for 5 mins with door slightly ajar. Close door once full fire starts. Burn at full air for 15/20 mins until stove gets nice and hot and all logs get fired up. At this point, the smell starts and flapper is going non-stop.
Wood supply: large logs quartered and sitting for 6 months to a year. Split into stove sized logs and seasoning stacked in sun for another 2 weeks prior to burn.
No moisture meter.

Thanks to anyone who has suggestions!

 

[rwhite]

I wont be much help with the EBT but may have a theory on the smell. What is your stove temps? What kind of wood? Was the wood you cut green then split? If so 6 months is probably not enough. We burn mostly white woods here. If its coming off federal lands it has to be dead. Even dead wood cut and split to desired size in March is pushing it to be ready by October. I usually get around 25%ish moisture in March and by October it is down to 15%ish. My guess is your not hitting the temps necessary to burn off the paint. It will take few 6-700 degree fires to do it. Get a moisture meter and test a freshly split room temperature piece, and check your stove temps. I suppose the possibility exists that you are burning at a temp that is a transition point for the EBT and it doesn't know what to do so it flutters around. May be a case of needing dry wood to get up to temp faster so it doesn't bounce around for 90 min.

 

[hilly]

Last year I had some fir split and stacked in the wind and sun from April to October that wasn't dry enough to burn. I left it in the woodshed until this year and it burns well now. The big leaf maple I had with it still isn't ready to burn. When I put it in my stove I could see the moisture coming out of the ends.

Modern wood stoves need dry wood to burn and I don't think yours is anywhere close. Perhaps you have a neighbour you could swap some wood with or try some pressed fire logs?

If you have a multimeter you can use it instead of a moisture meter. Here's the link: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/using-a-multimeter-to-measure-wood-moisture-level.40033/

 

[begreen]

It sounds like the stovepipe is getting too hot, probably due to waiting too long to shut down the air. This is not a stove issue. A proper flue thermometer is very helpful in guidance. It will also help with burning less wood and sending less waste heat up the chimney.

The little EBT flapper does tap tap when the balance is neutral. It's a pretty quiet sound, but I can dig that it may bother some people. I have some ideas on addressing this, but don't have the EBT 2 on my stove to experiment with.

 

[EasternPromise]

It sounds like the stovepipe is getting too hot, probably due to waiting too long to shut down the air. This is not a stove issue. A proper flue thermometer is very helpful in guidance. It will also help with burning less wood and sending less waste heat up the chimney.

The little EBT flapper does tap tap when the balance is neutral. It's a pretty quiet sound, but I can dig that it may bother some people. I have some ideas on addressing this, but don't have the EBT 2 on my stove to experiment with.

Noob question - but adduming I had a thermometer, should I be testing the stove top or the stove pipe? And then, what is the ideal temp before I shut down air?