Too Hot for PE Vista?

[Toasty-Yote]

A couple pics of my new thermometer on my Vista. According to the gauge, it is "Too Hot" but I feel like I have heard of people operating in the 700s regularly with no issues. Currently, it is showing around 730 with the air clamped all the way down. Opinions? I can only imagine how hot this would actually get if I loaded it to the gills which I never do....

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It’s a steel stove. It’ll survive. In the future you’ll want to turn the air down sooner. It’ll draft harder once it actually gets cold outside. It gets iffy up that high because we don’t know if that gauge is accurate. You may be overfiring, or close to it. When you push a stove that hard for a long time it can shorten its life too.

 

[begreen]

Yes, it's a durable stove but constantly pushing it will age the baffle faster. Closing down the air sooner will help slow down the fire.

Is the blower on? It should be to help cool down the stove.

 

[Toasty-Yote]

Blower was on too. How do people load their stoves to the top without over fire? Does my insert just tend to run hot, or do they clamp it down before it really catches on?

 

[Itslay90]

Yes, it's a durable stove but constantly pushing it will age the baffle faster. Closing down the air sooner will help slow down the fire.

Is the blower on? It should be to help cool down the stove.

How sooner, don’t you have to do it in small increments? Or can you just aggressively when the fire is drafting too much ?

 

[joop]

if you have an IR gun compare it with your readings and see how accurate it is.don't see why it was so high it looks like the fire was at an end in picture?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Every install is different as far as how it runs. I start turning the stove down as soon as tge flames start reliably hitting the baffle. How tall is your chimney?

 

[Itslay90]

Every install is different as far as how it runs. I start turning the stove down as soon as tge flames start reliably hitting the baffle. How tall is your chimney?

Are you talking to me ?

 

[joop]

yup

 

[Itslay90]

Every install is different as far as how it runs. I start turning the stove down as soon as tge flames start reliably hitting the baffle. How tall is your chimney?

My chimney is 18 ft tall. I usually start turning my air control down when the flue temperature gets to 350 degrees then again at at another 350 degrees and one more time, and my stove settles a 350 degree

 

[joop]

still think thermometre is not synced properly or maybe a hot spot on stove?

 

[joop]

next time you have the fire rolling take some photos or video .

 

[EatenByLimestone]

How sooner, don’t you have to do it in small increments? Or can you just aggressively when the fire is drafting too much ?

There’s a lag time as the stove adjusts. The earlier you start closing it down after the flame has stabilized tge better

 

[EatenByLimestone]

as an exercise to learn from start turning the stove down when it hits 300. Try to keep the stove at 350.

 

[Itslay90]

as an exercise to learn from start turning the stove down when it hits 300. Try to keep the stove at 350.

Thank you

 

[begreen]

How sooner, don’t you have to do it in small increments? Or can you just aggressively when the fire is drafting too much ?

Depends on the strength of the draft, dryness of the kindling and wood but in general, if the draft is strong, the increments are large with the first increment at least 50%.

 

[Itslay90]

Depends on the strength of the draft, dryness of the kindling and wood but in general, if the draft is strong, the increments are large with the first increment at least 50%.

Thank you

 

[begreen]

It's important to remember that air controls on stoves are not linear, like a volume control. This is in part because as the fire warms the flue, the draft strength increases. So while the air control will need to be wide open to start the fire, once the flue system is hot, the draft is pulling in a lot more air. On our stove the first increment is more like 60% closed one the flue warms up.

This is going to vary with outside temp too. On a 45º day the first increment might be 50% closed. Whereas on a 20º day, with good dry wood and kindling, the first increment could be 70% closed.

 

[Wildflush]

OP I have a Vista free standing stove. On start up I only use about 4x-6x smaller splits. 2x E/W on short lumber scrap runners. 2x diagonal. Top down with kindling. Since I don’t have a flue probe I turn down primary air in increments reading the fire. Target STT is 550-600.

On reloads drag coals forward and wait until 250-300 STT. I reload EW starting at the back packed tight but never more than 5x splits mix of larger at the back a few mediums and a smaller one to get ignition. I never stuff the stove! It’s a small 1.6 box and I’m not looking for long burn time. Plus dont want to over fire the stove. You do have to be careful loading. A loose stack has more space for the fire to go. I got in trouble this year with too many smaller splits on start up with a good draft and was late to turn it down. Wild secondaries and a 725 STT. I was not concerned.

The other time I reloaded when STT was around 350 with more coals than I like with on split at the back and a smaller at the front with a gap between them. 4x 12% shorter oak chunks across the top NS with space between them. Not a good result. They off gased at once and secondaries got STT to 750 and climbing. I ended up opening a window and stove door to cool the flue. Lesson learned. I spoke with PE and they said my stove and Excel pipe can handle that temp but you don’t want that to be the norm since overtime can damage the baffle or lead to cracks in the stove. I stay between 550-650 STT.

I do get a good draft even with my 2x 90’s and 2x 30’s offsets on my 23’ class A chimney. PE said if I had trouble controlling the draft on a regular basis I could install an Excel key damper to tame it. Also you can check for leaks since the stove gasket is prone to let air in overtime. A simple dollar bill test all around the door when closed is a good way to check.

 

[Toasty-Yote]

I am wondering if I placed my temp gauge at the wrong place. Not sure where else to put it on the insert though. This morning I did a modest load of kindling, one good apple split and a split of buckthorn. It was a cold start and I clamped the air all the way down before the flames really got going. Nevertheless, when I got home an hour later, it was up in the 700 range again. What am I missing?

 

[Wildflush]

How tall is your chimney top of stove to top of cap? Have you checked your door for leaks with dollar bill test? I’m surprised a few splits got you to 700 STT. Do you have a STT thermometer vs. the flue pipe thermometer? That would make a big difference in readings. Reason I ask is my ST thermometer shows best temp up to 650. 500 is not hot by any measure.

 

[Toasty-Yote]

How tall is your chimney top of stove to top of cap? Have you checked your door for leaks with dollar bill test? I’m surprised a few splits got you to 700 STT. Do you have a STT thermometer vs. the flue pipe thermometer? That would make a big difference in readings. Reason I ask is my ST thermometer shows best temp up to 650. 500 is not hot by any measure.

Never measured the pipe but I have a standard 1 floor ranch so I’d guess about 15 feet? Also I’m not sure if that is a STT gauge or flu gauge. Insert door does pass dollar bill test.

 

[joop]

i think your thermometer is outta wack or in wrong place.i don't see wood in the pictures that looks like it's been through an inferno

 

[begreen]

I am wondering if I placed my temp gauge at the wrong place. Not sure where else to put it on the insert though. This morning I did a modest load of kindling, one good apple split and a split of buckthorn. It was a cold start and I clamped the air all the way down before the flames really got going. Nevertheless, when I got home an hour later, it was up in the 700 range again. What am I missing?

View attachment 322036 View attachment 322037

That's a good location for the thermometer on an insert. An infrared thermometer can often be more accurate. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it should read to at least 700ºF. 1000º is even better.
Amazon product ASIN B00DMI632G

 

[Wildflush]

Looking at your stove thermometer it considers 300-350 a good operating temp. Much too low. You can’t even get secondary combustion at that temp. That is the creosote zone on my thermometer. Personally I would buy a Midwest hearthworks or another brand. You should not get over 700 STT on a few splits like you described. IMO a 15 ft chimney should not overdraft either.