What should I be shooting for for the most efficient and clean burn without over firing? This year so far I've been maxing out around 650-700 at the base of the flue with a full load and the air shut down all the way which provides plenty of heat for our little ranch house. However, sometimes I'm getting in the 750-825 range, again with the air all the way closed down. This worries me about damaging my stove from overfiring and/or wasting heat. FWIW, I see no obvious damage after 1.5 seasons of burning. I think that my flue/chimney is just very efficient and maybe I should consider a key damper or a mild restriction of the air intake to give me better control of the STT/firebox temp. Is there anyone who is familiar with this firebox and best practices for burning with it? Thanks in advance for advice.
Hey Mike! You could always bend the stop on the front air intake so that it closes a bit more. I did this and my max temps dropped right down. Sorry dont recall the technical name for it. In my 27 its located in the front center. I have to pull the never used ash pan out and then reach in with a few pair of pliers and give it a bend. If you shine a flash light on it you will see that when you have the lever fully "closed" it is still open quite a bit. When the lever is fully closed it hits a stop that can be bent with a bit of difficulty.
Couple of us did this Sean. You can use a Dremel tool and groove out the slider mike. There is also a tube on the left where the slider sits when fully open which we stuffed with steel wool. You can almost see it in this picture.
I use an IR gun and Im almost more interested in my stack temps on a new load than stove top and find that no matter what I do I can over do it with the stack if Im not paying attention. Close the air and I settle in at 350f there abouts (IR on the outside of double wall).
I have a PE super 27 with a probe thermometer 24" above the stove top in double wall stove pipe, and I run my temp between 400 to 600 most of the time, which is internal temp. I don't know if that's high or low for internal temp, but it heats the house great and I don't get much creosote. I see how the air intake can be modified to close more, but on my stove there is a rod that goes from the slider in the front to another in the back, is that also an air intake to the firebox, or is it for the air wash system?
I think 400-600 is where you need to be. I don't know much about the mechanical aspect of the stove, but I need to learn.
