3yr old oak & really high stove temps

Last week I helped a co worker install a lopi liberty and he did the normal break in burns for the first few fires. He's sittin on 15-20cord of mixed oak, most of which is 3yrs old. He told me today that the dang thing was runnin 850deg stove top with the intake air closed and damper basically shut . That was with 3 large splits. Call me crazy but that seems reallly hot! I know my stove is a totally different animal but i normally cruise around 550-600.

 

What was the stove top temp when he reloaded or was this from an original fire?

They can run hot so he should make sure the door gasket is good and tight, don't pack the thing full of oak.

With a full load of Beech our Liberty stove top temp can top out at 700, that's with me closing the air down at 550-575.

 

Ya that's high. Lots of things could be the cause. I'm betting wood to dry isn't one of them.

 

Said his reload was at around 300. Even with the intake air control all the way out (closed) you can hear the stove sucking air through the bottom. The door gasket was nice and tight.

 

Page 26, I have one more washer I can take off, it's not tight enough with two washers on, they should see some difference if they take one off.

The Liberty burns hot with seasoned wood.

 

What washers ya talkin about?

 

Did he put in an outside air kit, we don't have one.

 

No outside air. This thing is gettin enough air as it is!

 

The washers are behind the door cam on the inside of the door handle (page 26).

 

http://avalonfirestyles.com/TravisDocs/100-01337.pdf
Page 26, you can see the door cam with the washers, taking the washers off or just one make the door gasket seal super tight.

Also the nut that holds the door cam on will loosen up after a bit which will make your door gasket seal not so tight, I check that nut every load, I did tighten it up this morning.

 

I doubt it is the oak.


Or, convince him it is the oak and trade him for all the willow, poplar and cottonwood you can find.

 

Already tried that haha. He know's his 3yr wood is primo stuff

 

Maybe he is not dialing it down soon enough, especially when it's real cold you have to keep on top of it for the first 1/2 to 1 hr, maybe not raking coals forward and all the wood front to back is gassing off .
How is he packing the stove ? to loose maybe
Does he have a blower on the stove ?

 

Sounds like it is getting way too much air.

 

Get a straight edge and check that, the front of stove and door are flat and true .
This is a new stove ????
It does sound like the problem I had when my gasket was screwed up .

 

Yes it's a brand new stove.

 

I did a reload at 350 with Su``````````````````````````````````````````````

Does he have a blower on it?

 

Pull on door gasket to be sure it's stuck down good all the way around , and no gaps where the ends come together, a gasket that isn't stuck down good, will still pass a dollar bill test.
Check the glass gasket also

 

No blower