Cooling a hot stove

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Would 800 be a good time to start to panic?

That sort of depends on the stove. Our old 602 got up to 800 so frequently that I kind of got used to it. By 800F there is a certain smell that gets one's attention. If you are an experienced wood burner and you know why, then it is decision time. Ride it out, close off some more air or put a fan on it.
 
I was ready to file this away for future "just in case" reference. Then I was reminded in another new thread (flashes in my stove) about "whuffing" when an oxygen starved fire sucks oxygen down the chimney leading in some cases to a potentially dangerous (usually not) explosion in the stove. I believe in one extreme case, a poster here had the window blow out of his stove sending shards of hot glass and glowing embers across the room!

So it seems that "don't panic" really is the best advice Don't panic and take some time gradually reduce the air, close the flue damper and when all else fails, try blocking (again, maybe not all at once) the air intake(s). And since I'm absolutely new at all this, these are really questions.
 
Yes, though these are two entirely different and unrelated situations. When discussing cooling down a stove in this thread your advice is good too. The best advice for backpuffing is to avoid or fix the conditions that make them happen.
 
Yes, though these are two entirely different and unrelated situations. When discussing cooling down a stove in this thread your advice is good too. The best advice for backpuffing is to avoid or fix the conditions that make them happen.

OK, I guess I'm still a little confused. If I slam the air shut on a seemingly out of control burn, don't I run the risk getting into a whuffing situation?
 
I think it just takes experience to know a good burn from a burn to hot i think.
 
I think it just takes experience to know a good burn from a burn to hot i think.

So, the answer is, crack the door and ride it out pulling alot of hot air up the stack? The fire is going to be stoked with all that oxygen, but it should be going up the flue quickly enough without damaging the pipe?
 
OK, I guess I'm still a little confused. If I slam the air shut on a seemingly out of control burn, don't I run the risk getting into a whuffing situation?

The situation that I think folks are talking about is when the air control is already all the way closed and yet the stove top temp continues to climb. The secondary air is still feeding the fire and is not controlled by the primary air control. New burners unfamiliar with this can panic at this stage, especially if they have a flue thermometer that indicates overfire at 600F on the stove top. They panic because there is no more air control to close off.
 
The situation that I think folks are talking about is when the air control is already all the way closed and yet the stove top temp continues to climb. The secondary air is still feeding the fire and is not controlled by the primary air control. New burners unfamiliar with this can panic at this stage, especially if they have a flue thermometer that indicates overfire at 600F on the stove top. They panic because there is no more air control to close off.

Sorry to pester you Begreen, but is opening the door after you have the primary closed down the correct answer, or should I try to choke off the secondary air a little first? I don't want backpuffing.
 
The situation that I think folks are talking about is when the air control is already all the way closed and yet the stove top temp continues to climb. The secondary air is still feeding the fire and is not controlled by the primary air control. New burners unfamiliar with this can panic at this stage, especially if they have a flue thermometer that indicates overfire at 600F on the stove top. They panic because there is no more air control to close off.

Got it!
 
Sorry to pester you Begreen, but is opening the door after you have the primary closed down the correct answer, or should I try to choke off the secondary air a little first? I don't want backpuffing.

Though a bit daunting, opening the door or air control has worked for some folks. For blocking a bit of the air, it depends on the stove and where the port is located. I wouldn't want someone burning themselves trying to do this. A safer first step If the stove has a blower is to turn it on high. Or have an external fan blow across the stove top.

The best solution is to not get in a bad state to start with. For our stove that means letting the coal bed die down a bit before reloading and using larger splits. for the reload.
 
Though a bit daunting, opening the door or air control has worked for some folks. For blocking a bit of the air, it depends on the stove and where the port is located. I wouldn't want someone burning themselves trying to do this. A safer first step If the stove has a blower is to turn it on high. Or have an external fan blow across the stove top.

The best solution is to not get in a bad state to start with. For our stove that means letting the coal bed die down a bit before reloading and using larger splits. for the reload.

I agree. Don't put little splits on a hot bed....but I still forget from time to time. Big splits on a hot bed isn't terrible. Especially dense mishapen knotty chunks that don't take-off easily.

I would have never guessed to open the door. I always thought oxygen = hotter fire, but I never thought about heat being retained in the box like that with less air coming in. I know where my 2nd air intake is. Just to the left of the rear leg...About 3 to 4 inches across...set-up to accept an outside air kit maybe.
 
Rookie question, What is a good hot but safe stove top temp for an insert? My manual says anything over 825 is considered an overfire. I get it up to 700 and never think twice about it.
 
So, the answer is, crack the door and ride it out pulling alot of hot air up the stack? The fire is going to be stoked with all that oxygen, but it should be going up the flue quickly enough without damaging the pipe?

No open the door wide. It reduces your draft and the heat quickly dissipates into the room.
 
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Rookie question, What is a good hot but safe stove top temp for an insert? My manual says anything over 825 is considered an overfire. I get it up to 700 and never think twice about it.

Wow! 825 is unattainable for me. I would not push it over 800. Better safe than sorry
 
Opening the door one time didnt work for me but plugging all the holes did.

The backpuffing isnt that on cat stoves? in that case I would open the cat bypass to cool the cat and plug the wholes
 
Wow! 825 is unattainable for me. I would not push it over 800. Better safe than sorry

Yeah I got it up to 800 once and was alittle concerned lol. I think ill try to live in the 600 to 700 range. I have alot to learn with this new stove when it finally gets cold out. Cant learn to much with test fires I need to let it go for a few days.
 
Though a bit daunting, opening the door or air control has worked for some folks. For blocking a bit of the air, it depends on the stove and where the port is located. I wouldn't want someone burning themselves trying to do this. A safer first step If the stove has a blower is to turn it on high. Or have an external fan blow across the stove top.

The best solution is to not get in a bad state to start with. For our stove that means letting the coal bed die down a bit before reloading and using larger splits. for the reload.

I find also if wait till my stove top temp drops to around 300 it helps also to use big splits.

My secondary air vent is easy to get to.
 
because you wimped out too soon ::-)

Your probably right but it was hotter than heck and was roaring even more.

I understand the concept and it should work.
 
So opening the door throws the heat out into the room. I don't know if I ever had secondaries with an open door. Usually, I open the side door and only briefly when she's roaring. I do get anxious when she's running full tilt. The chimney fire thoughts and fear of damage keep me out of that territory. That and not wanting to burn the building to the ground and burning up all my files.
 
OK, I guess I'm still a little confused. If I slam the air shut on a seemingly out of control burn, don't I run the risk getting into a whuffing situation?

NO. If the stove is that hot, there is hot air moving up the flue. As the stove cools, then you could run that risk but by that time the wood will be pretty well burned out and you should not have to be concerned about a back puff until you reload the stove.
 
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I don't know that stove, but I have had a couple of runaways with my Oslos. With the Oslo, opening the side door makes the runaway worse because it feeds air right into the heart of the fire, but opening the front door seems to take a forge like situation and turns it into more of a fireplace. I think what happens is that air from the room bypasses the fire to a large extent and goes right up the chimney, and once the chimney isn't pulling draft through the stove, things settle down in there. Like Kathleen said.
 
So opening the door throws the heat out into the room. I don't know if I ever had secondaries with an open door. Usually, I open the side door and only briefly when she's roaring. I do get anxious when she's running full tilt. The chimney fire thoughts and fear of damage keep me out of that territory. That and not wanting to burn the building to the ground and burning up all my files.

No, opening a stove door will draw huge amounts of air through the door and up the chimney, taking lots of that heat with it. This is precisely why open fires are inefficient. You will feel increased radiant heat on your face, but overall there is less heat coming into the room, sometimes even negatively efficient because all that air going up the chimney has to be replaced, so cold air from outside is drawn into your house. You will probably never get secondary combustion with an open door, the air has an easier path into the stove through the open door.

TE
 
So in short, if the stove starts overheating:

1) turn down the air control

If that doesn't work

2) block off the air intake and open the door

Right?
 
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