Too hot for this rookie

Handy Daddy · Feb 18, 2015

I've been burning my Regency EX90 ZC unit (R90/FP90) since November. 18' of 8" Duraplus and seasoned wood that I split, stacked and covered two years ago.

Last night I got her hotter than I ever have before and it was a little scary.

I followed all of the wonderful advice that I've learned on hearth.com and I believe I did everything right to build a clean, hot and efficient fire. It was just a little too hot for my liking. I'd like to learn what I could do differently next time. Ideally I don't need it as hot and I'd like the burn cycle time to be as long as possible.

In an effort to get a nice long burn I loaded the stove with 3 large splits. I'd say it was 3/4 full. I loaded onto a nice coal bed, not too big, not too small. The load ignited immediately on wide open primary air. I let it burn wide open for about 15 minutes. Then I began to turn the air down slowly. 3/4 open, wait 5 minutes. 1/2 open, wait five minutes. 1/4 open, wait five minutes, and finally all the way closed (unsure if all the way closed on the rod is actually 100% closed or not).

Well the show that I had was unreal. The secondaries looked like a blazing inferno and the stove was throwing off some serious heat. I could feel the heat through the glass at about 10 feet away. I pointed my IR gun at the door and saw 650. I pointed it through the warm air vent and saw 650 on the actual steel stove top.

I was holding up OK until I heard what I believe was the outer sheet metal case of the ZC box oil can and make a noise that basically made me sh*t my pants. I proceeded to babysit the stove until the coaling stage.

The next day I did an inspection ( I have site access to the top of the unit, the collar and the pipe) and everything looked fine. I believe everything is fine. I had done an inspection of the inside of the flue about 2 weeks ago and there was minimal to zero creosote buildup.

So my question is:

How can I keep this from happening again? Ideally, I like when the door is at 500, not 600. I'd like to load a full load for long burn times, but I don't need this crazy fire. I'm guessing that I could turn down the air sooner and load on a smaller bed of coals?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I want to enjoy this thing and not have to stress about it. It is a serious heater and we've come to love that aspect of it this winter.

Thanks!

DougA · Feb 18, 2015

Turn the air down faster. If I'm loading on an active bed of coals, I start at 1/2, then go to fully closed in 5 to 10 min BUT - that's on my stove.

buckdog · Feb 18, 2015

when reloading try raking all the coals to the front in a pile, then put the splits in N/S so the whole pile burns from front to back. If the coals are spread out all over, the whole pile of fresh splits take off all at once. no need to open the fresh air all the way unless your doing a cold start, reload with air 1/2 opened.

tarzan · Feb 18, 2015

What Doug said. The only thing I would add is larger splits (like you were using) off gasses slower so you may want to try to have one or two mixed in with every load. Another thing is it sounds like you are using your clock as a reference. I find it better to use a thermometer. even a cheap one that may not be exact works well once you decide what temps to look for. Even watching the flames build is a better indicator of when to step down the air than a clock. To many variables from load to load to use time as an indicator.

Nick Mystic · Feb 18, 2015

I agree that you should close your primary air down a lot sooner when loading on a bed of coals that ignites your splits as soon as you load them, as you mentioned in your post. As soon as the splits are burning vigorously you can probably shut your air down to half and then down further if the flames remain strong. I would be cautious with the N/S loading, however, if your primary air inflow (dog house) is at the front of your insert like most of them are. Loading N/S on hot coals can really get an inferno going with all the air spaces open between the logs with this type of loading. It sounds like buckdog must be able to load his stove very tight when he does it N/S since he says it will promote a slow - front to back burn. When I load my Jotul F600 N/S it turns into a blast furnace in no time!

Handy Daddy · Feb 18, 2015

Great advise guys, thank you.

The Regency FP90 was designed for E/W loading (shallow, wide firebox with andirons). I wish I could load N/S but it really doesn't work well.

How would you guys describe an "active bed of coals"?

The biggest change that I'm going to make is not having the air wide open on a reload and also turning it down sooner. Sometimes when I turn it down too soon the secondaries aren't as vigorous. Then I usually open it up a little for a minute or too and then turn it back down. This usually results in much tamer secondaries. I always check the chimney and know that there should be no visible smoke.

Do you think it would help to rake the coals forward towards the air inlet and then try and load E/W behind the coals?

I'm trying to develop the technique (and confidence) to pack the stove full, achieve an 8 hour burn cycle and not have to worry about a raging inferno that is too hot for me.

Offset · Feb 18, 2015

I agree with the above. I rake the coals to the front and load my splits. I almost immediately go to about half open on the intake and watch it carefully. You can always bump it up a bit but like you found its tough to get it under control when burning that hot. I let the logs get charred then back it down more. This works well on my stove but each seems to have its own personality.

Glad there did not seem to be any damage done other than your nerves.

countybrown · Feb 18, 2015

Handy Daddy said:
Great advise guys, thank you.

The Regency FP90 was designed for E/W loading (shallow, wide firebox with andirons). I wish I could load N/S but it really doesn't work well.

How would you guys describe an "active bed of coals"?

The biggest change that I'm going to make is not having the air wide open on a reload and also turning it down sooner. Sometimes when I turn it down too soon the secondaries aren't as vigorous. Then I usually open it up a little for a minute or too and then turn it back down. This usually results in much tamer secondaries. I always check the chimney and know that there should be no visible smoke.

Do you think it would help to rake the coals forward towards the air inlet and then try and load E/W behind the coals?

I'm trying to develop the technique (and confidence) to pack the stove full, achieve an 8 hour burn cycle and not have to worry about a raging inferno that is too hot for me.

You have already been given some good advice that I won't disagree with at all. My stove is also designed to load e/w, but I will occasionally go n/s for quicker cold starts.

As far as coals on a reload, you don't need as much as many new burners think. It will take time for you to learn to visually estimate this, but it will come with time. Yes, you should be raking them to the front and reloading behind them. When I reload, I pull the coals to the front of the firebox and spread them out into an even layer 1-2 inches thick, covering about the front 1/3 of the firebox. Then load your splits starting at the back. Usually only the last split gets loaded on top of the coals.

The reason you are doing this is just like others have said, to prevent all the wood from quickly igniting. The hot coals at the front will get plenty of air to quickly ignite the forward piece(s) of wood, then slowly work their way to the back.

Once you get the hang of efficiently reloading, you will have no problem with confidently loading your stove full and having long unattended burns. With time, you will be done adjusting or babysitting the stove 20-30 minutes max.

Wood Duck · Feb 18, 2015

I agree with the idea of raking coals to the front. This not only slows down the burn to tolerable levels, but also makes sure you burn the coals up. When I do this, the splits in the back of the stove are resting directly on the bottom firebricks or on ash, not on coals, so those back splits don't burn at first. Just make sure you don't pull the coals over the doghouse air outlet at the front of the stove (assuming your stove has one like many stoves)

Handy Daddy · Feb 18, 2015

Excellent advise. Looking forward to trying this tonight and tomorrow. Looks like a low of -2 tomorrow night in NJ.

By not raking the coals forward I've been forcing my entire load to start at once, which is not only too much heat but isn't helping me achieve a longer burn time.

When you rake forward and load E/W and then turn the air down sooner, is there any problem igniting the splits that are in the back and not sitting on an coals? I was under the impression that on every reload I needed to get the entire load burning strong before turning down the air. I'm thinking that this mentality is more for cold starts than reloads.

begreen · Feb 18, 2015

One can not go by time alone for judging when the air should be turned down. Let the fire be your guide. In this case turning it down say at 10 minutes, and turning it down more aggressively to say 1/4, will slow the fire down. Still, no harm done. It sounds like you just found the full potential of your heater.

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