WeldrDave , What temp would you say is appropriate to run this unit at? I'm used to watching the stove pipe, but since I'm using this double all its a whole different ball game. Burning my "smoke the house out with paint fumes test fire" and boy I'll tell ya what - this unit is going to be a serious heater!!! This double wall is really nice I can just about lay my hand on it where it attaches to the masonry chimney/stainless liner. I have about 8' of pipe before it enters the thimble.
Neighbors be like WTH! Is that a probe type thermo, or just a mag type on the pipe? Probe type is what you want for doublewall...
Don't worry, 98% of them are! Leave it alone! Does it stand up fine? Always! Do it every 3 to 5 years! Yup!
I pipe temp and a side temp, don't worry so much about the stove, keep the flue/pipe about 400º. That's prime burning for that stove!
The Arch type doors started showing up around 1979-1980. The more "modern" look. I have a 1976 with one row of bricks and a 1980 with 2.
Good Morning! So here we are, snow is falling, temperatures are dropping and burning season has begun. I am on my first season with my new Momma Bear. So far my, experience has been so so... I am no stranger to the Fishers, as I have been using a baby bear in my garage for the past 3-4 years with no gripes, but the new Momma Bear is questionable. First off I should say, I do love this stove. Simple, bullet proof, and a stout heating source. My install and setup is described in detail in the previous posts here. Past that, I'm having some concerns. I installed the stove late summer and fitted it with simple Coaly's baffle using exact measurements. I have a nice draft but I feel like this may be corking up the stove too much. I removed it this weekend and the stove seems to burn the same efficiency wise, but breathes easier? I am also getting chunks of what looks like hardened creosote In my ash. Never seen this before in all my years of burning. Funny thing, is that it doesn't smell like creosote? They are like like little chunks if concrete. So much that, I won't be dumping this ash in my garden or compost area like I usually do. At first I though it was from debris in the wood itself, but after burning more and more, it keeps coming? Lastly, the setup scares me because it can run away very easily. I believe I had a chimney fire already on my double wall connector between the stove and the chimney. I let the unit run pretty hot for awhile (both knobs 1.5 turns open) and my double wall was smoking terribly and starting to glow red...... not cool! Obviously you need to keep the unit under control but it seems like this can happen very easily with this unit. I haven't opened up my pipe yet to see how much buildup I have after just a few weeks of burning, but I suspect I have some.... Wood is ash - 2 years CCS. Very dry wood, but chimney smokes alot (hence the name - smoke dragon) Can't get an accurate reading of inner stove pipe temp because of the double wall, but I'm able to keep the unit at a consistent 500-600 degrees on top of the stove. Seems like the sweet spot. To do this, I have a full load of dry wood, and both knobs set about 1/2 to 3/4 open. At this point, it's doing its job well but with this weekends chimney episode, I'm a bit hesitant to run this unit 24/7. Mainly because I don't want to forget about it and have it run away again on me!
Let me start here, I had a similar issue with my Grandma, but it was more of a back burp in the house. I took my torch and burned 6 holes about 1+" in diameter in 2 rows evenly spaced out on the baffle and burping and choking went away. It allows enough flow and keeps the heat more concentrated forward on the stove. I "Very rarely" see smoke coming from my chimney, just a light blue/white smoke if anything. I am very adamant about pipe temps staying about 400º. It sounds like you're not getting the right combustion. If my pipe temp right about the outlet of the stove is at 400º and the stove top is about the same +-50º then your in the sweet spot. It does sound like you had a fire. Glowing red is NEVER a good thing... Everyones draft flow is different and depending on how many bends you have, how long your rise is, and cap restrictions will all play into the equation. Try burning it slower and check your cap for any restrictions. The holes in the baffle will help though.
I wouldn't use galvy plumbers tape to go around the stove pipe. Zinc is great stuff untill it's heated up. Then it's poisonous.
So I found a few things that affected my stove operation. First and foremost, I accidentally started out the season with wood that wasn't completely dried out. My mistake, I assumed this dead ash pile I had CSS was ready... turns out it still needs a year. I think this is what caused my creosote buildup after 3-4 fires. Secondly, I had a furnace cold air return nearly directly above the stove that I was experimenting with to distribute heat through the house. Well, I believe this is the cause of my back puffing. I suspect it was creating to much negative pressure in the room. I closed it back off and the stove pulls hard up the chimney even without a fire! So it seems that for normal long burn runs that I'll have both my knobs about half turn out or one at half and the other a bit less even. What I don't know yet is how much I can open them "safely" to burn the unit hot without overfiring. Ideally, once a day I would crank it for a half hour to clean everything out good and rebed the fire. This is what I was trying to do when I had my chimney episode.... I suppose 1.5 turns on both knobs is too much for that. I'll try 1 on each next time. So I have fully disassembled, inspected,, and cleaned the chimney and reloaded my house with proper dry dry wood. 3 year CSS Black Locust, Ash, Sugar Maple, and cherry. I hope to see better results this time. Maybe I'll take my baffle plate to work and blow a few holes on it as suggested also. Still learning the system of this Momma Bear. I feel like it's the lack of a glass door that makes it tricky. It takes experience to know and understand what the fire is doing or what it needs without seeing it. Instead, you have to listen and watch temperatures which takes awhile to fully understand. I'm going to order a probe thermometer today so I have a better idea of what my flue temp is also. One thing I know for certain about the momma bear so far is that once the fire burns down- it holds coals FOREVER! I've restarted a fire 12 hours after the actual fire burnt down no problem numerous times so far. Will report back. Thanks!
Fortunately, where I live, I don't have any neighbors close enough to bother. Therfore, excessive smoke emissions is not a concern for me. With that said, once I reach an efficient burn, I should see all that smoke.
Received my USA made Condor probe chimney thermometer yesterday and installed. According to the thermometers ranges, 400 degrees is at the bottom of the "ideal" range with 900 being the max. I'll shoot for around 400 based on Dave's recommendations. Currently, I am not burning as it is unusually warm here in NE but I'm anxious to finally have an accurate way to control the stove! I have a full wood ring if 3 year CCS black locust, cherry, sugar maple, and ash already in the basement. Wife thinks I'm insane, but I've had 2 box fans on low blowing on it for days now just to make sure it's ultra dry from any precipitation that has moistened it.
Which brand of stainless steel liner did you buy and how much was it ? I'm thinking about putting a liner in for my oil furnace and I'm doing my research. Watch out putting cardboard in the stove.It can go up the pipe to the cap and spill flames down on your roof.It happened to me once and it wasn't funny.
I had the liner installed 4-5 years ago by a professional and I am not entirely sure what brand he used.
Bad News... The basement Momma Bear setup as described in this thread must be decommissioned. I had another big scare last night. My double wall section in the basement off the stove took off on me and I was very close to calling the fire department. My new internal probe thermometer was reading so high, it spun around and was reading double. Only had 2-3 fires since I last cleaned it. Wood is very good- right around 18% moisture on average. The long horizontal run is what insusoect to be the problem. More to come
How much wood are you putting int it??? You shouldn't have that issue at all! If you have more than 2 good size splits in there, "She'll get hot"! Here's what's in my stove right this minute during the day. The actual surface temp is about 300º. The only thing I'm thinking is you have way too much air and too much wood!
My stove (not a fisher but basically the same idea) with a factory baffle is loaded like this load after load all winter and even with a strong wind won’t over fire if the knob on the front and the pipe damper are set properly. Some times the Mrs don’t shut her down enough and it gets hot!! I guess what I’m trying to say is the stove should be more controllable.
