Advice Please

Bingo!

I can get the secondaries to fire on all three of my stoves.
But if the stove temp is too low, those secondaries will stop burning within 1/2 hour ish and the draft has to be reopened as the stove;s temp will start it's downward spiral.

 

I figured you had & that I was just reading to literal.

 

Are you sure that your wood is dry?

 

When I got my first epa stove, yes I was sure it was dry because it burned without problems in my non-epa stove, right?
Sound familiar?

I went through all the searches and questions of what is wrong with the stove, the venting, the elbows, etc etc! Couldn't be the wood, right?

After my third year it was burning great; the fourth and fifth year was just icing on the cake! (I'm talking years for the wood pile now)

 

What kind of wood will effect how far you can turn down the air, Poplar would work better then many of the more dense woods, turning it down to quick as mentioned could muck it up though.

 

I have had training in the arts as well as the sciences;

 

This is a good point and is where my manual for the Madison differs from the 30-NC. My manual states that 550F is considered a medium to high heat output and that 600F is considered the maximum operating temp and that it should not be done for long periods of time as unit damage can occur. I am still uncertain where to measure STT; they say above the door. I have it on the top of the stop near the edge above the door but I would like a illustration from them.

 

So I need to get the flue hotter before damping the stove down? The flue temp was in the middle of the good range.

 

That is a good question, I reread your first post and it sounds like you shut your stove down all at once which might not be the best way to do it, shutting it down all at once with 550 stove top and in the middle of the good range on the flue might be too much too soon.

 

Yes, there may be hotter areas of the stove. However, the manual stated to measure temperature with a magnetic thermometer above the door on either the left or right side. Now there is no room above the door on the face so I have it on the top of the stove. I am going to ask the manufacture to provide an illustration for where they mean to place the thermometer.

 

Why do I want to take the time to create a thermal gradient map of the stove top? What would the purpose be other than just information of where the stove gets the hottest during operation? The manufacturer has stated where to measure the stove temperature for operation. Let's say that I find a spot that gets 700F during operation; that is of no real concern if the point where the manufacture states to take the measurement is at normal temperature for safe operation. Without an inferred thermometer it would take too much time; since the magnetic ones are slower to respond. Still, an inferred thermometer is something I would like to have so I can monitor my frying pan to keep the temperature below the smoke point of the oil I like to use. At the moment I use visual inspection; "Yep, it is starting to smoke."

 

The infrared testers are great as you can check temps on your electrical system for hot spots.

 

If more precise placement were needed, I think they would have stated so. Just go for the hottest spot.

 

Actually I brought the meter because I did not have a stash of wood; it was important to know if the wood I had on hand was safe to burn.