What does it take to burn up a 2 year-old insert?

Wood Dog · Jun 24, 2016

I've been battling back and forth with my pride/ ego, and finally thought "What the heck? Go ahead and ask the question(s)". To wit: Last winter, after a late night out, my wife and I came home and I stuffed my Osburn Matrix FULL of locust, watched it get going gooood, and then went to bed. The next morning the missus was perturbed because I had left the door cracked open and, of course, the living room was too hot. Alarm bells went off in my head right then because I surely had a runaway fire burning all night, and that can obviously harm the insert. Since then I hear a number of creaks and groans from the metal as it warms up, sounds that weren't there previously. Otherwise it worked fine for the remainder of the winter.
So, what damage (if any) could have happened? What should I look for? We have an CO2 monitor and it never went off afterwards. If I ever have to apprise my wife of what really happened, do I have a defensible position? :rolleyes:

begreen · Jun 25, 2016

You loaded the stove with high btu wood, then went to bed with the door opened a crack? Did I get this right? If yes, your wife has ample reason to be perturbed and both of you are lucky. I would have the whole system including flue checked out by a professional sweep with full disclosure.

Wood Dog · Jun 25, 2016

I am going to pull it out and check the welds and look for any warped metal/ discoloration. Getting a pro in here at that time is good idea. Thanks. I agree, we were lucky. And it'll never happen again.

begreen · Jun 25, 2016

Good idea. The high heat certainly aged the stove. It probably was red-hot, particularly above the baffle and up the flue. A pro should check the liner carefully. It's possible that it ran at well above rated temp for more than an hour. Most likely it will need to be replaced with a new insulated liner.

Keep us posted and take pictures of what you find. Thanks for having the courage to ask a tough question. We all make mistakes at one time or another. So glad that you had a proper install and that it protected your home and family from greater harm.

kennyp2339 · Jun 25, 2016

forget the stove, if any real damaged happen it would be in the liner, connector, chimney area. Also dollar bill your gaskets, pull your reburn tubes.

LowbanksArcher · Jun 27, 2016

begreen said:
Good idea. The high heat certainly aged the stove. It probably was red-hot, particularly above the baffle and up the flue. A pro should check the liner carefully. It's possible that it ran at well above rated temp for more than an hour. Most likely it will need to be replaced with a new insulated liner.

Keep us posted and take pictures of what you find. Thanks for having the courage to ask a tough question. We all make mistakes at one time or another. So glad that you had a proper install and that it protected your home and family from greater harm.

Any idea what would a professional look for when inspecting the liner?

LowbanksArcher · Jun 27, 2016

begreen said:
Good idea. The high heat certainly aged the stove. It probably was red-hot, particularly above the baffle and up the flue. A pro should check the liner carefully. It's possible that it ran at well above rated temp for more than an hour. Most likely it will need to be replaced with a new insulated liner.

Keep us posted and take pictures of what you find. Thanks for having the courage to ask a tough question. We all make mistakes at one time or another. So glad that you had a proper install and that it protected your home and family from greater harm.

Any idea what would a professional look for when inspecting the liner? I assume it's the shape. I've heard of cheap chimney going oval.

begreen · Jun 27, 2016

The liner has probably changed color dramatically from the shiny new ss color. This should be quite apparent when the insert surround is pulled off. Besides general integrity and color (which will roughly indicate the temp it reached), they will also be looking for weak spots in the liner may have failed. @bholler or @webby3650 have seen more than I and should be able to expand on this.

Here is a video that shows what one fellow found

bholler · Jun 27, 2016

LowbanksArcher said:
Any idea what would a professional look for when inspecting the liner? I assume it's the shape. I've heard of cheap chimney going oval.

What bg said. If it has been hurt you will see severe discoloration possibly distortion and it will sound different when you tap on it. If it is over heated it gets pretty brittle and can even corrode.

tarzan · Jun 27, 2016

You were lucky....and right to inquire about your mistake.

Definitely have the whole system checked by a professional if there's any doubt about doing it yourself.

Probably most of us have a "late night out" story but... not me ::P

Swedishchef · Jul 9, 2016

Luckily, I have never left me door open a crack for more than 15-20 minutes.

As others mentioned, get it inspected. The stove will have heated big time and expanded. So now the pings and pangs you hear are of the metal's easy expansion. It may not have a broken any welds or parts but I certainly would give it a good look.

Keep us posted!

Andrew

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What does it take to burn up a 2 year-old insert?

Wood Dog

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Wood Dog

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begreen

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kennyp2339

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LowbanksArcher

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begreen

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bholler

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