To Go SOAPSTONE / or Pacific Energy Alderlea T5 / T6???????????????

[rhader]

For anyone else that is considering a new stove - these guys put together a pretty decent chart thath is comparing the Pacific Energy Stoves to Hearthstone.

(broken link removed to http://chimneysweeponline.com/wscompha.htm)

hopefully the T6 will be all that it can be!!

 

[Dairyman]

Congrats on the new stove! Don't worry about any bad reviews u read after u buy, I know it gives u that sick feeling in your stomach. These guys would've been screaming at u not to get it if it was a bad one. I'd recommend a good dolly to move it, make sure if u use ramps that their heavy enough or properly supported it's real scary when one breaks! Enjoy!

 

[rhader]

yep! you said it!! lol
I think the only other option would have been to go with a larger firebox - or the Mansfield Hearthstone possibly. I will be sure to post comments.

 

[certified106]

I read a couple of bad reviews - until now I havent been able to find any.... this guy doesnt seem to really know what he is talking about... but anyway...

https://www.hearth.com/ratesingles/rate2418.html

just wanted to make sure I boght the right stove!! Im hoping the T6 will pump out some serious warmth... I bought the blower as well as the screen so the door can be opened when needing some extra heat.

Congrats on the stove purchase! The T6 will pump out some serious heat when you need it, however you will soon find out that the worst idea is opening the door when you need some extra heat. If you open the door it will slow the fire down and pull more heat out of your house and up the chimney than you realize.

 

[begreen]

Sound like the rater must have been one of the first to buy a T6. I agree with the statement about the ash system, and we get similar burn times. But the rest sounds like lack of general knowledge. We went from a beautiful, porcelained Castine to the painted, cast iron T6 3 seasons ago. I was concerned about dust collection (true of all cast iron surfaces that aren't glazed), but have found the issue to be minimal. After 3 years the stove still looks great with just an occasional vacuuming and a wipe with a damp rag. The heat retention of the cast iron mass of this stove was immediately noticeable and continues to be appreciated. Mass rules for evening out heat. Personally having been close in operation and looking at the build details of the Summit v T6, I prefer the Alderlea for it's solid door hinges, nice ash lip, and versatility. It's a winner in our book. Hope you enjoy your's too for many years to come. Take pictures please.

PS: Guess it's time to get that ceiling fan working right.

PPS: Certified is right, the screen won't produce more heat. Most screen purchasers use them once or twice and then they become dust collectors. You will find that as you reduce the air (in stages) on a fresh reload in the stove it will get much hotter on the stove top. I would return the screen for credit. A good stove top thermometer will get used a lot more.

 

[rhader]

pics of the wood stove up running:

Definitely a huge difference - night and day from the little Drolet stove that was there I think with all the clothes that my wife was stripping off my sex life may actually go up!! another selling feature!!

A couple of things that I did notice and question:

1) the window had a fair amount of powder coat over spray on it that does not want to come off.... any ideas???
2) the ash tray does eem to rattle a bit if you have heavy footsteps while walking in front of the stove... but its the ash tray Im fairly certain... (as oppose to the top fold out cast leafs) can be kind of annoying.
3) the bricks supplied with the stove dont appear to be of great quality... for such a high priced item you might think they would be a better stone. Im pretty sure that after a seasons use these light stones will be falling apart.... but time will tell.

As for the weekends results. After some light burning and getting rid of any chemical residue that was left over. little smelly... and it was a warm weekend so it didnt take much to get the house temperature up... But the stove easily climbed to a reeading of over 450C - 500C it actually baried the thermometer which topped out around 500C and that was reading with a thermometer on the top cast iron with the leafs folded out and the thermometer placed on the lower cast on the stove top.

Overall the stove looks great. We love the ook of the heavy cast Iron and the feel of the heat output is definitely different than the Steel Stove that we had in the house. and you can feel the warmth move much better through teh house with the bigger heat source.

 

[begreen]

Congratulations, it looks great. I'm disappointed and surprised to hear about any overspray on the glass, the stove should have been painted before the glass was installed. Ask your dealer about this. The glass may need to be replaced.
Not sure about the ash pan rattle, make sure it is pushed back all the way home. Ours is quite solid. The bricks are actually made of pumice and are premium, not cheap bricks. They use pumice for it's higher insulation value to achieve a hotter, cleaner burn. They will last years as long as you take care of them. Don't slam in the wood and they will be fine. Ours are going on year 4 and still looking good, no cracks.

The stove box itself is steel. It sounds like you are running it too hot. The normal top temperature should not be run above 400C for a long period of time. 500C is in overfire territory. For comparison we are running our stovetop between 300-350°C. Try cutting down the air earlier and not reloading on a full hot coal bed. Our thermometer is placed to the front and left of the flue collar, so that it is visible with the trivet top closed, through the slats in the trivet.

 

[rhader]

I have contacted the vendor about the overspray on the glass. I wouldnt care too much if it was minimal but its a fair bit... so Iam going to see if they can replace it. Unfortunately on pickup it was all wrapped up and I didnt think to check anything like that....

I though the bricks being less dense would be a less insulated material? A friend of mine purchased a Pacific Energy Vista stove and received the same bricks on purchase and his fell apart. BUt it could be possible that he was running the stove to hot??

As for teh temps I saw - I was surprised to see those temps and was just a cause of not turning the stove down and was unintentional.

As far as over fire territory goes... what exactly does that imply?

 

[begreen]

The stove is built like a tank, but frequent overfiring will eventually stress out the joints and welds. Evidence of overfiring can void the warranty. For the longevity of any stove you want to avoid prolonged or repeated overfiring.

For reference, here's our thermometer location.

 

[rhader]

I never actually thought you could get the temps high enough to stress the steel welds... I mean the melting temps of steel being close to 2600F and the internal fire burning temps at what 1000F? does it get much hotter than that? I guess it will in that case... good point then.

As for the location of our stove thermometer I had it placed more centrally located but same general area - I notice that yours IS closer to the stove pipe..

A question on the stove pipe. I have heard that the height above the roofline can cause a certain amount of down pressure and affect the burning of the actual wood stove.... is there any truth to this? and is there a rule of thumb when setting up a wood stove?? reaosn being is the old stove will be the 'new' shop stove... and I want to make sure I get a decent burn from it.

 

[begreen]

One can definitely get a stove too hot, be it cast iron, steel or soapstone. An occasional foray to the high side is usually fine. Frequent overheating will eventually fatigue or crack something. With a steel stove that fatigue often shows up at a weld or warping. In a cast iron or soapstone it is usually a crack.

You'll want to follow the instructions in the manual for the shop stove chimney installation. It will read something like this:

The chimney must rise above the roof at least 3' (0.9 mm) from the uppermost point of
contact. See Figure 2.2.
• The chimney must exceed any part of the building or other obstruction within a 10' (3.04 m)
distance by a height of at least 2' (0.6 m). See Figure 2.2.
• The minimum overall height of the chimney system, measured from the stove top to the
exterior termination cap of the chimney should be at least 12' (3.66m). A chimney which is
too short may lack the “tunnel effect†required to obtain a proper draft.
• Installation of an interior chimney is always preferable to an exterior chimney. Chimneys
constructed outside of the home on an exterior wall should be avoided if possible, especially
in colder climates. The gas which circulates into an interior chimney will cool more slowly,
thus reducing the build-up of creosote and the risk of flue fires.
• All else being equal, cooler chimneys will have less draft than hotter ones. This problem will
be amplified if the chimney is excessively long. A chimney which is excessively long may be
very hard to warm-up due to its higher volume. A cool chimney may even down draft
(reverse flow) due to the difficulty in heating it up to operating temperature while trying to
evacuate the stack gases.

 

[rhader]

Im re-thinking what is rattling on the stove. And it might be some slight movement from the swing out top cast iron pieces. anyone have any luck with using some heat gasket material where they close to stop the metal on metal rattling??

Also - how difficult is it to change the glass out on the stove?? I have to take some pictures with a piece of paper to show the black overspray and they will send me a new glass piece.... but I will have to replace it.

 

[begreen]

You can use almost any thin non-combustible to test this theory. Though I'm wondering if the rattling is a symptom of another issue. Is the stove dead level and sitting solidly on all 4 legs? Is the floor well supported in this location or is it fairly springy?

I just went over to our stove and started bouncing on the floor and now I think I hear what you are hearing. It is definitely a rattle, but I don't think it is the trivet. Not sure yet, our floor are pretty solidly supported so I have to work a bit to get it to happen. I will try again when I can get a helper to stomp so that I can do a closer job of listening. It sounds more like it's toward the back of the stove but I am not certain. Sounds like something under the heat shield, but the stove is hot so I will leave it to you to discover.

The trivet should rest solidly in the little U shaped rest stop, groove when closed. If you find that a little shim there quiets the rattle it could be that the trivet top needs a very slight tweak in leveling. To do this swing out the trivets and look low, beneath the side of the trivet you will see a leveling bolt just behind the pivot hinge. Adjust in small increments, like just a 1/4 turn to lower the front of the trivet so that it seats more firmly in that U shaped rest stop.

The glass should be straight-forward to replace. It looks pretty simple.

 

[rhader]

its an old house originally - though it was some what re-done the original hand carved timbers used underneath to support the house are pretty solid despite their age. the floor isntre ally too springy - there arent really any creaks in the floor for instance. but if you go running by the front of the stove it will make something rattle. For instance - if I take the swing out castors by hand and try to jostle them (when cool of course) you can simulate the rattling. For the most part when you are simply walking by there isnt much of a rattle. just when there is heavy traffic - i.e. several people etc...

In regards to the glass - is there any concern of breaking a seal? or re-applying this same seal with the new glass?? I wouldnt want to render the stove useless just because of some overspray.... maybe its just something I shoudl leave alone? I am probably the only one that will ever notice. But I will always know...

 

[begreen]

I haven't removed the glass on this stove, but it looks like a simple compression fit. From what I see, the clips have slider slots that allow one to push the clip against the glass and gasket, then tighten. It looks like a nice simple system. Just don't push too hard on the glass, all it should take is a firm contact.

 

[madison]

I would try Rutland stove glass cleaner. If that fails, a paint solvent or remover. or email PE if they could suggest a solvent.

 

[rhader]

I will try a solvent or something. wouldnt want to dull the glass in the process though...

 

[madison]

Rutland is safe, I really like the stuff.

I would test in a small area in one of the corners inside, sorta covered by the stove front if there is an untoward affect.

Have you tried direct to PE customer support? Or email/call tom at chimneysweeponline?

 

[rhader]

No I havent emailed PE. or Tom. any specific email address?
you mean just to change out the glass? the vendor which I purchased from has suggested that if I send in some photos that they shoudl be able to have a new one sent in. Though I doubt the overspray will show up as much in photos...

I will give it a shot. whish I had thought to inspect it when I picked it up. but I doubt it would have been noticed anyway.

 

[snowtime]

Changing the glass is easy as pie. I had a leaky glass gasket when new and found changing it very straight forward. Get a spare glass gasket in case you find a problem with the current one. It will be a spare if you do not need it.

 

[certified106]

Nice photos of the stove! Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have been enjoying mine. Did you figure out where the rattle is coming from yet? I have never had my swing open top rattle before.

 

[jwscarab]

I vote for T6, I have one - love it! The surface of the stove does get dusty easily tho with the flat black finish! Thats my only downfall to it I see.

OK, now that I read pages 3 and 4 - it seems I am WAY to late to vote.....lol. Oh well, you picked a winner!!

 

[Hogwildz]

The stove is built like a tank, but frequent overfiring will eventually stress out the joints and welds. Evidence of overfiring can void the warranty. For the longevity of any stove you want to avoid prolonged or repeated overfiring.

For reference, here's our thermometer location.

My o my, looks like someone spilled something on the top, tisk tisk

 

[rhader]

The stove is built like a tank, but frequent overfiring will eventually stress out the joints and welds. Evidence of overfiring can void the warranty. For the longevity of any stove you want to avoid prolonged or repeated overfiring.

For reference, here's our thermometer location.

what is that - placed on the right side of the top of the stove? the brass looking contraption....?

 

[begreen]

Top view of an EcoFan. It's actually spinning, but the flash stops the action.