All new personal high....

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Cearbhaill

Feeling the Heat
Nov 15, 2007
356
The deep end
... that I do not hope to ever see repeated.

Woke up around 3:50am and stuffed the insert full as is my habit.
I laid back down on a bed in the family room to watch TV while I waited- a glorified pet bed, but suits me fine when I have to do an early stoke and wait those 10 minutes or so before I cut the air back down.

Well, of course I fell asleep.
Woke up at 4:22 to that unmistakable smell that tells me things are getting a bit too hot- the thermometer at that point was already at 650ºF and of course climbs a bit more before it starts going back down.
So this represents my all time highest temp reached- a hair shy of 800ºF by my view.

Did I overfire?
Isn't 800º the magic number?
Nothing ever glowed, popped, made noise, or did anything but scare the bejesus out of me and none of the firebricks cracked.
It is running fine right now, but do I need a service call to check it out?
Coldest temps still to come and I would hate to have to let it go out, and I doubt my guy would go on the roof with six inches of snow and 5ºF out there.
I wouldn't want to ask him to.
Next scheduled maintenance is April which I do every year- usually get about a cup of fine tan dust.

I think I am fine, but let me tell you- I counted cats and dogs and located crates and leashes.
And kicked myself 5000 times.
Phew!
 

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Shy of 800 - You're probably fine. If you notice that it's burning differently(faster) than usual, have it checked professionally, as it probably popped a seam or a weld. I don't see why anyone would need to go onto the roof - you'll have damaged the stove, not the chim if something is damaged.

I've gotten my stove up to "shy of 800" a few times. Heats really well at those temps.
 
Happened to me two or three times last year. Nothing broke. But mine is an old stove with not much to break on it.

Still ticked my off for letting it happen.
 
Thanks- will watch it closely. Have to as I think my heat pump just frizzed out.
Bad heating juju today.

And duh! me in the roof thing.
 
I used to run my Encore at 800+ almost every day for about 2 years. It was one of those pesky red enameled ones too. I used to see how many different shades of red/brown I could get out of that sucker.
 
+1,

Before I knew how to run my stove properly(What's this lever for?! ... Hey, It runs REAL good when I open the ash pan door!), I routinely got it to turn from black, to rust, to cherry, to bright orange in one firing cycle. No thermometer to speak of, but here's a chart:

Code:
Faint Red            950-1050º  F
Dark Red             1150-1250º F
Dark Cherry          1175-1275º F
Cherry Red           1300-1400º F
Bright Cherry        1475-1575º F
Dark Orange          1650-1750º F
Orange               1750-1850º F
Yellow               1800-1900º F
Yellow/white         Over 2000º F
 
karri0n said:
+1,

Before I knew how to run my stove properly(What's this lever for?! ... Hey, It runs REAL good when I open the ash pan door!), I routinely got it to turn from black, to rust, to cherry, to bright orange in one firing cycle. No thermometer to speak of, but here's a chart:

Code:
Faint Red            950-1050º  F
Dark Red             1150-1250º F
Dark Cherry          1175-1275º F
Cherry Red           1300-1400º F
Bright Cherry        1475-1575º F
Dark Orange          1650-1750º F
Orange               1750-1850º F
Yellow               1800-1900º F
Yellow/white         Over 2000º F

So at which color does your stove just melt into a pile of metal goo? Im' guessing somewhere in the Orange?
 
I think steel melts around 2500F.
 
I feel if a person hasn't fallen asleep once whilst waiting for a full load to catch and of hasn't "peged" the stove thermometer at least 1 time then there not a real seasoned burner (yet). NOt that these are good things to have happened mind you, I'm just sayin.
 
Toni, I did something similar to mine about 2 weeks ago. Same scarey numbers. I was counting dogs & crates, & cats, too. :smirk:

It's fine.

Draft is great !! :red:
 
Maybe I haven't been burning wood long enough?
 
Probably, Dennis. You must need more practice :lol:
 
Eileen, you got that one post between adrpga498 and I. You probably type faster than I do. lol

I'll try to do more practicing.
 
Good, Dennis. Let us know when you have it down pat :)
 
I've put the Englander up there a few times. Not super proud of it, but learning a stove with lots a draft can be an experience.

Matt
 
adrpga498 said:
I feel if a person hasn't fallen asleep once whilst waiting for a full load to catch and of hasn't "peged" the stove thermometer at least 1 time then there not a real seasoned burner (yet). NOt that these are good things to have happened mind you, I'm just sayin.
Is there a secret handshake? A special password? A plaque or trophy of some sort?
How's about a golden fire extinguisher as our award design?

majoraward-1.gif
 
I pegged the needle on the Vigilant once. That was a fun wake-up experience.
 
adrpga498 said:
I feel if a person hasn't . . . "peged" the stove thermometer at least 1 time then there not a real seasoned burner (yet).

Been there, done that.
Been there, done that.
Been there, done that.
 
How about "The Golden Kitchen-Timer" award :)

I've gotten the stove that high when it's 0 or -10 or something, and the draft was really strong.

If I ever get up during the night to add wood, I'm too groggy to put on slippers and a robe, then get miserably cold while I wait for the stove and am wonderfully alert once I go back to bed.
 
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