Closest to over-fire I want to come!

Sounds like you stayed under 800. No worries, although it's better to stay under 700.

Did you rake the coals completely forward before reloading?

Could also be dryer wood than usual. Also, those smaller fill-in splits probably helped feed the big ones. I had some really dry oak last night (ten years split from an old farmer nearby) so I shut it down quite a bit faster than normal. Settled down just under 700.

I've never tried opening the primaries to slow it down. I have tried to open my doors wide to slow it down, but that didn't really help much. My stove has never really been out of control though and is pretty responsive to the air controls.

Could have just opened the door. The colder room air will usually calm it down and the strong draft gets broke.
The wood must have been really off gassing fast.

begreen ++++

That's why I like the digital thermometer. I have it set to scream at me when I leave it too long. 15 min would normally be fine, just not in this case.

This is a timely post since I've been contemplating this very situation recently as I watch my fire at night after my final reload. I make a point of staying right in front of the stove after I reload so I can control my primary air according to what I'm seeing in the stove. I do this every night and I've learned there is no rule of thumb you can reliably go by on when to turn down your primary simply based on the passage of time. Each fire is more or less unique and you have to use your observations to lower the primary air properly. As I reduce my primary air as my fire burns more vigorously I eventually get down to my lowest setting. At this point many people would watch the for another few minutes and if things look okay they would head to bed. Since I enjoy watching the fire burn I often remain in the room watching the fire for a more extended period. What I've noticed is it is important to watch the fire for at least ten minutes after you make your final air adjustment. The fire might look just the way you want it after a few minutes, but my observations have shown me that it takes longer for that for the stove to react to the change in air input. Often, after ten minutes or so, the fire will start to grow too weak on my lowest setting, but sometimes it will recover and burn fine. Other times I have to open the primary slightly to get things back to where they should be. Being a top notch wood burner requires a fair amount of patience in my experience.

Sconnie Burner said:

I had every control shut down at 450ish as far as they would close at the point I left the stove. I returned to check hiw it was doing and was shocked it got away lime that. I would suspect fast off gassing was the problem. Did it raise the flew temp causing the draft to increase to rapidly? Its just wierd there isn't a way to shut it down more. Us rookies could use a full close option for this very instance.

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You can put in a pipe damper for added control. You didn't answer my question though. Did you rake the coals forward before reload? If you don't, and you have coals dispersed through the firebox, everything is going to catch fire at the same time and involve the whole firebox (gates of hell syndrome). Also, we had cold weather last night. You will get increased draft as the temps fall to typical winter temps in Wisconsin. Have to compensate for that too. I had a damper for the first year that I owned the stove. I removed it after I developed confidence in how to control my stove.

This is only my second season burning wood, so this is only a somewhat educated guess, but I wonder if the smaller pieces you put in to fill the gaps were part of the problem. In my limited experience those little pieces can really increase the temp of a fire for a short period of time. I add some small almost kindling-size pieces to the occasional fire that isn't hot enough, so it seems like they could lead to an overfire situation in certain conditions.

With that kind of dry wood you need to be really careful. Try to move all the coals forward; if necessary burn them down a bit more. Also, if the stove and flue are hot try turning down the air a bit sooner and in stages to keep more control over the burn. You don't really need to wait until all the wood is charred. And if your draft is good, getting the air down to 3/4 to 1/2 just after a few minutes may settle down the stove enough to not have a runaway fire. Then you can close it fully once the fire is well established.

I think if you count on every split to be the same as the last is you are pulling your own leg.

Timely post. I am trying to figure out how to control my fires better. Over the last two weeks I had a I had fires that are at the edge of my comfort zone (750 - 800). I started shutting it down earlier but the fire still climbs. I use to wait until 400 now I start at 300. I do get lots of off gassing. Air is shut all the way so I have no adjustment there. Only thing I can do is load less wood. I do not stuff it to the gills 4 or 5 splits. If I cut back to 3 or 4 I will get lousy burn times with no coals in the am to restart the fire. I do rake the coals forward not all but most. Guess I will try and get them all. Shut it down earlier before the wood is charred but don't I risk smoke? I know my wood is drier this year than last.

At what temperature do I not have to worry about flue gasses? 25' Interior chimney. Do you shut it down differently between the first fire and subsequent fires? Do I not have to worry about flue gasses after the first fire? Makes sense since the flue is warm but I do not want to assume anything. Just want to run this thing right. Bigger splits? Stuff I have now is on the smallish side. 2 to 3" new stuff seasoning is 3-5" 16" long.

begreen said:

With good dry wood and a vigorous fire started, you can cut down the air without worry about smoke. Secondary burn should increase. That will start burning excess smoke. Also, with dry wood and an interior chimney the risk of creosote build up goes down considerably with a modern stove. Bigger splits will definitely slow the fire down. I only use 2-3" splits for kindling. Most of my splits are in the 5-7" range with some 9 inchers in there. I use 4-5" splits as gap fillers. If you have to burn poorly seasoned wood then you must watch the flue carefully. Have it cleaned at least once for every cord burned. Damp wood cools down the fire and the flue temp considerably.

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I thought you do not want to burn anything over 6". Believe I read that on woodheat.org site or their manual. I have a rather small firebox. Wood is seasoned properly this year. 16 to 19% on a fresh cut split. Last year we could not turn the air all the way down. This year yes and it continues to get hotter. Kindling 1/2 to 1" Guess I am still use to the open fireplace way of building a fire. Must admit that I am a bit nervous about bigger splits.

Good thread: I'm in the same boat. 2nd season with our Isle Royale and I will reload at ~250 degrees and IMMEDIATELY do full shutdown only to watch the temp climb up to 550 to 600. Secondaries are glowing red presently. I'm pretty sure my gaskets aren't worn out after 1 season, 4.5-5 cord last year. The only thing I can figure is my splits are smaller and they're drier than I've had in the past.

I filled the stove last night with chestnut oak and red oak. Raked the coals to the front loaded the stove. Started turning it down at 350 and 20 minutes later stove was at 750 blazing and I mean blazing secondary's red air tubes and the fan on low and that's where it stayed for some time not really sure how long because I went to bed. Guess that oak was drier than I thought

In my opinion the EPA made to stove more dangerous by not allowing the air to be fully closed down in order to protect idiots that are happy to let it smolder. My tiny Avalon hit 730 last night and was quite pleased with it to be honest. If it is a runaway but not a chimney fire why not just open the door to kill the draft and let plenty of air to dump the heat up the chimney?