Yes I would definitely do this Marvin as it will give you a more exact reading and you can check all over the stove, even where you think it might be leaking. Same goes for the flue. Or if you wish to see how hot a girl is...
Sometimes I'll fuss with a piece that has rolled against the glass if I can adjust it quickly, but mostly not a concern to me anymore. And you might have another one roll while the fire is going nuts and now have two pieces that don't fit! I read somewhere of the glass breaking from a piece not quite being in the stove fully, and then whatever leverage force being applied closing the door damaged the glass, so there's a no-no. I know I had a log shift once and couldn't close the door as it blocked the locking lever inside, and there I was running down the hall and launching it out the door, half charred and smokey as heck. Plan your stacking before you load the stove, and try to stack it so it wants to stand straight, or fall backwards into the stove (if there were no logs behind it. Also, a few square or rectangle pieces in front that are longer E/W than your door opening is, will have half the battle won right there. Those goofy too long pieces, throw in a pile rather than in the stove, and when you have a bunch, zip them in half and call it your stubby or uglies pile.
I think I've decided I am going to insert a key damper in to my stove pipe. This leads me to a few more questions.... First, how high should it be? I have 6" double wall stove pipe and the probe is about 19" above the outlet. Second, should the damper be above or below the probe? I am thinking below but just wanna make sure. I guess this is pretty much the same as the first question in a way... Third, I have a 6" damper from when I had single wall stove pipe. Will this fit in 6" double wall?
I'm not sure how high the damper should be, but mine is right above the stove, and it doesn't bind anywhere with anything, and fits as well as the telescoping pipe did. Maybe it would work better further up the pipe, but mine works fine as is. I saw on another forum someone pieced together their own double wall damper from a single, but I'd bite the bullet and just buy a double wall damper like this example. 6" Double Wall Stove Damper Kit Just make sure it's same brand pipe, same line, to make it a legit install.
Ok Marvin, FIRST your probe is measuring temps inside flue.. My magnet thermometer on single wall is about half inside temp. Is your other reading from a probe or magnet?? I do not think your comparing apples to Apple's. My stove right now STT 600 flue temp 250, 12 inches up flue single wall. Cat stove cat engagesd
My stove top thermometer is magnetic and I have it placed in the center of the stove top. The flue thermometer is a probe thermometer because I have double wall stove pipe.
I was just thinking I hope you didn't take my answer as being snarky in any way Canadian border VT. After thinking about this I could see how it could be misunderstood. IIRC you double the single wall temps to get flue gas temp correct? So is it normal to have your flue gas about 100* lower than your STT even with a cat stove? Sorry I feel like I am overanalyzing everything right now.
So this afternoon I let the stove go cold and put in a key damper. I also cleaned out the ashes at the plug for the ash drawer and cemented the plug. I have not fully loaded the stove yet but I have been putting decent loads of small stuff in all evening. I haven't been letting it cool down as much as normal because I'm trying to get the house temp back up. I'm amazed at the kind of control I think in have now. I dont know if it is the damper (I haven't reall used it yet so its doubtful) or the cementing of the plug (more likely) but the stove has not tried to run away at all this evening. I'm curious to see what happens when I load it up for the overnight burn. Thank to all of you for your input!!
After the cat is engaged your stack temperature should drop well below STT unless something isn’t right, and STT should rise pretty quickly once the cat is engaged. I can see a huge swing within minutes.
The stack temp should drop quite a bit on a tube also when you have the air cut back to "cruise" levels...stack should drop some and STT should go up some. I can't give you numbers because I don't monitor stack temp on my stove, just STT. Many times I have the air cut back by the time the STT is 4-500, and it often creeps up to 700+ before its over...
Marvin it's all good, I interpret all messages in the most positive tone possible, Maina I believe on his set up, the stack Temp still be higher, because of the probe
So then is it weird that my stack temp has been higher than the STT since I put the damper in? I wonder if I just messed the probe up or something. Since yesterday afternoon when I put the probe in the stack temp has been about the same if not a touch higher than STT even with the air cut all the way back.
Well, I can't say for sure since I don't have a probe on mine...doesn't sound right to me. I do have a probe in the stack on my wood furnace, but there is no "stove top" to monitor on that so...
Not yet....still waiting for it to show up in the mail. I'm guessing it will be here today and the glass gasket I ordered will be here Monday or Tuesday so it's looking like maybe Thanksgiving day until I get it on. Hopefully it won't be too cold that day.
Maybe you can just tap the top of the latch receiver with a small hammer instead of cutting the handle off the door itself? Did it last week when the new door gasket was replaced and it works well.
My tube stove normally has a higher stack temperature than STT. It is normal for my installation (NC-30, 18ft chimney, OAK), though others report different. That is with a probe in the stack (18 inches above stove top) and using a non-contact thermometer on the stove top, at the hottest location. As I said, that is normal for my installation, and works quite well. There is talk around these parts that the stack needs to be cooler than the STT, or else "you are losing all that heat up the stack," but I am not sure that is accurate, especially for a large tube stove. Temperature ≠ heat. Burn dry wood as cleanly as you can, and don't overheat the stove, and you will get good results.
