HOLY BLACKSMITH!! My stove pipe was RED HOT today!!

OMG.... Iv'e never seen that before!!

My Jotul f600 is on it's 3rd season. I started the stove this am the same way as always. I raked the coals even, tossed on some cedar kindling(1x1 inches), added some oak crossways(3x3 inches) and finally another few rows with a big piece on top. I blew a few times to get it started and as usual, it started slowly. I left the side door cracked open a bit to keep it going and went u[stairs for my morning coffee.

About 35 minutes later, I smell the familiar smell of a new stove breaking in.... I ran down to find the collar that exits the stove glowing red hot!! I checked with the laser and it was 1,050 degrees. The stovetop thermo was 495 and as usual the termo reported up to 900 near the center of the stovetop and it confirmed the accuracy of the stovetop thermo at 495ish.

What the heck????? I turned the air all the way down and the temps slowly came down.

BTW, i just emptied the ashes before the restart and doubled checked the ashpan door. I check it EVERYTIME I touch the stove. Yes, a little paranoid.

The only thing I did differently was to turn on the exhaust fan above the stove to try and draw some heat upstairs quickly. I have a bi-level home withe the stove downstairs. Did the high volume exhaust fan keep the draft too slow and cause heat to build up in the collar? Is it possible to have that happen without smoke rolling out?

Did I damage anything?

Worried now.......

A shot a quick image...
I enhanced it a little in photoshop.

I left my darn Jack Russell in charge and he didn't bark!! He was laying next to the stove enjoying the glow!!

When I say cracked open, I mean literally cracked. I even throw my gloves on the edge of the hearth to give an extra margin of protection. I guess since I was burning, I never had a start up issue and was becoming comfortable.

I guess I'll be having my morning coffee downstairs for awhile.

I still think that the exhaust may have had something to do with it since the collar was hot, but not the stove. It was as if the hot gasses were hovering right there. Even the stovepipe above it was NOT red

SKIN052 said:

Never trust a Dog. Maybe I am missing something, are you talking about the blower on your stove or a separate exhaust fan you have installed somewhere? My routine is to rake the coals and add splits just like yourself. Door open a crack to get it going, about 5 minutes. Open air control wide open for another 5 and then down to half and head for my coffee. By the time I am done my coffee and morning routine the stove is roaring hot and I usually add more wood for a long burn and start backing the air down to low.

I understand what you are saying though. You think you have a good plan and then you got to change it up.

Now have a talk with that mutt of yours, lol.

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The exhaust fan is my kitchen stove exhaust. It's an 1,100CFM monster that will suck the eggs out of the pan It was only on medium at the time.

BTW, it takes me at least 20 minutes of open door before I can close it. If i close it after the first 5 minutes, the fire usually goes out immediately!! Then, I am almost never use less than full air open all the time. My stove temp has never seen above 575. I can run the stove with the door open all day and never get above 475. It will go up after closing the door of course.

My wood is red oak seasoned since July 2008. Typically about 16-20 on the cheapo meter...

Maybe it was a combo of dryer than usual wood and the exhaust fan causing the hot gases to "hover" in the collar!?!?!?!?

Dune said:

Nah. It got too hot because you had too much air, not too little.

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Actually, I noticed a bit of a different story.... Too much air means a cooler fire because of the volume of air moving thru the wood. Too little air and the fire can't be supported due to lack of oxygen. Just the right amount means maximum combustion with minimum of cooling. Kind of like the bears and the porridge story...

I'm not making this stuff up.... I see it every day.

That said, I'm not busting on Dune, I just think that there are so many factors affecting a stove that we can't apply situation "A" to situation "B". My stove is rated to burn with both front doors open. Would this cause a red hot collar? I don't think so.......

SKIN052 said:

Sure sounds like you have a problem that you maybe never knew you had. You should be able to dial that thing way down and still have strong flames and a hot stove. You should not have to run wide open. I will agree that the fan may have played a part in this. I think you are in need of an outside air kit (OAK) do you have a new home? Recently upgraded insulation? Next time you lit it up, do not turn on the fan, crack open a window near the stove and see if you are able to get a better flame going with the door closed. Do you have single wall or double wall pipe? Would be very hard to get the double wall to glow.

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My stove was installed by a 2 generation family business. They have a very good reputation. They agree that airflow volume can cool or support the fire depending on exactly how much air. They regularly get more heat and higher temps from closing down the air slightly from full. I have been running full air in my 22 year old home for three years and no changes to house other that the new exhaust fan in the upstairs kitchen.

If I open a door, I don't seem to get a substantial difference in burn. Only if the system is ice cold do I need an open door to prevent smoke roll out. I have found on an ice cold stove, that the more newspaper I use and light in many places, the less smoke I get. I assume that this is due to the large amount of heat generated quickly to heat the pipe.

The collar is single wall"I think" with a heat guard. That's probably why the glow stopped at the first vertical section.

I have turned off all air sucking appliances and opened windows and it does not make a difference. I still need the door open for at least 15 or 20 minutes. It seems to have gotten a little better with older wood, but not a lot.

I guess I need to run a few experiments......

I'll repost any results tomorrow or maybe later. Please keep up the generous offers of help.

Mad Tom said:

You left the side door open a crack and went upstairs. As per your post. To much air. You over fired it.

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I've done the same thing for 3 years and never saw my stove over temp. Stove still wasn't over temp. Only the connector was??? Is that typical?

Why today and not the few hundred others? Why is my stove rated for running with the door open?

xman23 said:

+ 1 on the chimney fire. You know the fires you've made in the past, was this any different? The stove top temp will lag the single wall pipe temp a bit, but by half I can't do that with my Jotel. So how have you been cleaning the stove? Mine after a top down brushing ends up with all the material sitting in the bottom of the cast iron 90 at the back of the stove. It's a bit tough getting it out of there, getting my arm above the burn plates and secondary tubes.


Forby, where in NEPA are you? We are in Lackawaxen

Tom

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I vacuumed that all out just before winter. I clean the chimney 2x a year from the bottom up and never got more than a 1/8 to 1/4 cup of fine white/grey powder.

Maybe a tablespoon in the horizontal run.

xman23 said:

Forby, where in NEPA are you? We are in Lackawaxen

Tom

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Wilkes-Barre area (NOT THE CITY)

BeGreen said:

Just a guess here, but perhaps this batch of wood had reached a high outgassing stage a little earlier than anticipated. The additional air allowed secondary combustion to become focused at the flue collar instead of at the manifold? Closing the door and reducing the air supply altered the air balance by shifting it to the secondary manifold. You might check to see if there are small air leaks developing at the flue collar joint. If so, pack some furnace cement in there.

Could be you are in a section of drier or perhaps less dense oak than normal. Cold weather has increased draft, so it's a good idea to stay nearby the stove until the door is closed. I tend to get involved in other things, so I often carry a kitchen timer with me as a reminder to check on the stove regularly.

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Good possibility regarding the wood and outgassing....... The stove was particularly full in the back with small pieces going between the tubes.

If there is one thing I have learned since burning wood, it's that even the color of my underwear will affect how a stove burns!

If I didn't have a stove with a 3 year history of slow starts and such low temps, I would have been there. I used to do that the first year, but it would take 30 minutes to get up to a temp that would allow me to even close the door!!

Jags said:

A cracked open door will create an air "rush" that open doors will not. Not saying that was the cause of your issue, just saying that open doors is not equal to a cracked door.

Sounds to me like it got away from you a bit. That collar is going to be the hottest spot on the stove during a start up procedure involving an open door (flames getting sucked up the stack). Needing the door to be open on startup for 20 min. is cause for some thought. How tall is your stack? Pipe or tile? Size? When was your wood SPLIT ( I know you gave dates above, but you said cut, not split so I am just fact checking).

A stove dieing after 5 min of start up is problematic. Constant run at just under full open isn't right either. Requiring 20 min. of cracked open door before it will maintain fire - ain't good. Sum ting ain't kosher.

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The stack is double wall stainless Simpson and is about 20 feet high. Split the wood between July 2008 and April 2009.