Super 27 operation advice

[2ndburn]

Looking for some input from fellow Super 27 owners. We recently installed the Super 27 and I am trying to learn the best way to operate it. I ran a few small break in fires initially but now that temps are dropping I have been starting a fire just about every day now but I feel like I am struggling to find the stoves sweet spot and running it at it's potential. I think I may also be suffering from a bit of nerves about over firing so I burn conservative.
I have a Condar inferno stove top magnetic thermometer. I have never had the stove top temp above 600 according to it.
I start with a top down fire, with the base being 2 small splits of fir building up with progressively smaller fir splits, then kindling. The fire takes right off and once that burns down to a decent bed of coals I add a larger split of madrone and let it get ignited well and when I get up towards 600 degrees I start backing off the air. I can get some good secondary burn going but not for very long, then if I keep the air intake closed the fire really starts to die out and the stove top temp starts to drop quickly. So then I will increase air and the fire will cruise along but then it seems like I am burning more wood than I should be and I am constantly fiddling with the air intake to keep a good burn going without killing the heat output performance. I feel like I am baby sitting the stove more than necessary and it's time to change my approach. Am I doing something wrong? Can any Super owners give me operation pointers from your experience with the stove?

Wood has been seasoned for 2 years.

Also, the stove never makes a sound while it is heating up, but when it is cooling off, it makes very loud metallic pops. I don't mean some minor creaking, I am talking loud enough to be heard in the farthest room away from the stove with the door closed and still very audible "POP's", does this happen to anyone else?

 

[brad wilton]

Might be that with one split your not getting enough of a blaze going to light of secondaries

 

[2ndburn]

ok, I can try adding more splits, I was just worried about getting it too hot.

 

[Seanm]

I find that two splits are ok but three will work best. A good practice on reloads is to use a rake and rake your coals forward. This will also help avoid over fires. I had one of those stove top thermometers and returned mine for a IR. Lots of people like them on hearth but I didnt find it responsive enough. My temps will be different than yours since we use two different ways of measuring stove top temperatures but I will reload my stove around 300-400 f stove top (measured at the collar) Once the stove top starts warming up I start dialing back the air and have it shut down by 475- 500f depending on how dry my wood is. It will slowly rise up to around 700 and then settle in a bit lower. After awhile you can do it by feel.... I burn almost exclusively softwoods like fir, larch and lodgepole pine. How do you know your wood is dry? Have you checked it? If it has been top covered, off the ground and split for two years its probably good. I had to read your post a second time and thought you were either having draft issues or had wet wood considering you had to keep opening up the air but it sounds like it is because you were only putting one split on. Good luck!

 

[Starstuff]

Definitely need to put more wood in--at least 2-3 good size splits, but don't be afraid to stuff the firebox full on cold nights (but make sure you're using large splits). You need enough wood to generate the amount of gasses that, when ignited, keep the firebox and baffle hot enough to continue releasing and igniting the off gasses without the need for a lot of primary air. It's basically a chain reaction. Once all the gasses have been burned up, you're left with clean burning charcoal that continues to heat for hours.

 

[Cynnergy]

1. More wood to get more heat
2. Back off air quicker - depending on what I want the final temp to be, I usually start to knockdown the air at about 300f (for lower final temp - 400f for full blast on a full load)
3. Step the air down gradually - 1/2, wait for fire to recover, 1/4, wait for fire to recover, 1/8, etc.
4. If you can't maintain temp at full closed, you might not have enough draft, dry enough wood, or a large enough load to keep it fully closed. I had this problem last year with small loads of semi-dry wood and had to keep the air open just slightly to keep everything from dying out.

Hope that helps? All installs are different, YMMV.

 

[Cynnergy]

PS the stove pings are normal - it's just metal expanding and contracting. My stove is pretty noisy in warm-up. Less noisy in cool down, but it's changing temp a lot more slowly then.

 

[2ndburn]

Thanks for the input everyone, I will add more splits tonight and see what happens. Aside from my own learning curve, I really like the stove. The air wash is fantastic. The glass is still as clean as it was when it was unloaded from the crate.

 

[2ndburn]

Things are improved tonight. I think more splits was just the thing. I still gotta get a better feel for the timing on dialing back the air, but I already have a better burn going than I had before. Air has been shutdown for about 30 mins now and I got secondaries going and stove temp is hovering right about 600degrees. Thanks again for the input. Now I just have to find myself a coal rake for those reloads.

 

[Seanm]

Things are improved tonight. I think more splits was just the thing. I still gotta get a better feel for the timing on dialing back the air, but I already have a better burn going than I had before. Air has been shutdown for about 30 mins now and I got secondaries going and stove temp is hovering right about 600degrees. Thanks again for the input. Now I just have to find myself a coal rake for those reloads.

Sounds like its working out! I tried to find a rake awhile back but had to have my local wood stove store make some. Once we ordered one the guy they hired was able to sell a bunch of them.

 

[2ndburn]

Sounds like its working out! I tried to find a rake awhile back but had to have my local wood stove store make some. Once we ordered one the guy they hired was able to sell a bunch of them.

It is working awesome, Such a dramatic difference! It has been about 2 hours now, I still have secondaries cruising away and solid temp at 600. I am so glad to be able to sit back and let the stove do it's thing and way more efficiently than what I was doing.

I am going to go check the local wood stove shop this week for a rake, if they do not have one I found a couple online that look decent.

 

[Starstuff]

Also consider getting an ash sifter to sift out the coals from the ash. I find that a metal kitty litter scooper works great. Makes a big difference during shoulder season and during warm spells, when you're not reloading onto an active bed of coals every 6-8 hours.