Is Red Hot always bad?

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RubberDuck

New Member
Dec 14, 2011
10
Shenandoah Valley, VA
I loaded some new wood into the firebox and closed the door. I left the damper open so that the fire could get going. The fire started going extremely well and about 10 minutes after adding the wood my wife notices she can see sparks and a red hot glow coming from a hollow area on the top of the stove that the air blows threw to move heat from the surface area of the stove into the room. I can imagine that the sparks may have been dust trapped that became hot enough to ignite and jump up, but because it is a wood stove insert with a insulated pipe, I have no way of knowing if the stove pipe is red hot. This piece is where the direct connect is for the flue, but seen from a gap to move air by the squierl fan on the bottom of the unit. I closed the damper and the color immediately faded away. Does any of this seem like a problem? Or, does it all seem normal? Should it be red hot ever? Should I see sparks inside an area that is outside the fire box?
P.S.: The temp on the box is about 600F and has held for 20-30minutes after the damper was closed completely.
 
Anything glowing is generally something to be avoided. Sounds like your flue collar was glowing? Probably no damage if a short period of time, but I would make sure that it didn't happen again. Did you reload on a hot fire?
 
Here is a picture of the area.
 

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Good to know Bart. Mucho gracias mi amigo.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by hot fire. There was a fire, but the wood was almost burnt down so I scraped the embers to the front and loaded 3 sticks of wood.
 
According to the color chart it would have likely been 1100-1300F
 
RubberDuck said:
According to the color chart it would have likely been 1100-1300F

Yep. If it got that hot you will probably be able to tell because it should have burned the paint on the stove back by the flue collar. What you are checking for is warping of the top of the insert or cracking. There is a good chance the stove isn't hurt. You just need to know.

I know this is the wrong time to have to be shutting down for this given the temps outside but ya gotta do it. Last one I had glowing like that registered 1,425 degrees on my infrared thermometer. And the paint on the stove thermometer went "poof" in a puff of smoke.
 
You basically over fired the stove. My insert has done this a few times and its because I kept the air open too long with a full load. The flames wrap around the baffles and start to climb the stove pipe. This gets the pipe extremely hot so it glows. It may have also glowed the stove top around the flue collar and that is where you get your flameing dust sparks. My manual states when this happens, shut the air down all the way and turn the blower on high to cool off the stove top.

When the stove cools off, shine a flashlight in the area where the hot air exits from. You should be able to see the flue collar and the stove top. Make sure all the seams along the stove top are still welded. Also look for cracks. Sounds like you caught it in time but it's better to be safe than sorry.
 
ET's finger glowing = good.
A stove glowing = bad.
 
"The flames wrap around the baffles and start to climb the stove pipe."
Is that not normal, my flames always wrap around the baffle, never had anything glowing yet.
 
Hot Red-head = good
Hot Red stove = bad
 
Jake has it right now!
 
firefighterjake said:
Hot Red-head = good
Hot Red stove = bad

Hot red head can get you in almost as much trouble as hot red stove.
 
woodjack said:
firefighterjake said:
Hot Red-head = good
Hot Red stove = bad

Hot red head can get you in almost as much trouble as hot red stove.

In my experience, the red hot stove will cost significantly less.
 
bluedogz said:
woodjack said:
firefighterjake said:
Hot Red-head = good
Hot Red stove = bad

Hot red head can get you in almost as much trouble as hot red stove.

In my experience, the red hot stove will cost significantly less.

The house is gone either way.
 
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