1st N-S burn had me a bit worried. Did I do something wrong?

[rwhite]

Got the insert installed last Wednesday and I have been burning E-S. Seems like a good hot burn, I get no smoke from chimney, no backdraft. I never was able to get good strong secondaries but I figured with no smoke out the chimney evrything must be working good. Last night I attempted my 1st N-S burn. I started the fire E-S and let it burn to coals and die down to about 300. I raked the coals forward and added 4 splits (maybe 4" each). That thing just took off. At 400 I closed the primary to 3/4. At 450 I closed it all the way. Themps kept climbing to 600 and it sounded like I had a blow torch in my stove. The secondaries were just blowing like crazy. I was scared to go to bed. I stayed up with it until it went back down to 550. Is this the way it is supposed to work?

Happy to say though that we have had lows of 25 and highs of 40 and I haven't had that darn furnace on for 5 days!

 

[snowtime]

Yep. Sounds good. If you are worried about the stove taking off to much turn the stove down earlier. It will still climb but at a slower rate. There is no hard and fast rule that you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can dial it back. When its -40 and I have to reload I will turn the stove all the way down as soon as I close the door. The draft is so strong at those temps that the fire will pull enough air.
I forgot to mention that the best way to keep the burn under control and have a longer burn is to use the biggest splits that can fit.

 

[rwhite]

Wasn't so much the temps as the load roar of the secondaries even with the primary closed. Man those things can get ripping on a N-S burn.

 

[Blue Vomit]

If it worries you, you can also wait a little longer to reload as well. Let the coals burn down a little more and it won't take off on you so much.
Good luck

 

[Wood Duck]

I don't find all that much difference between E/W and N/S loads. N/S loads light up faster and burn a little faster, but the difference is not as dramatic as you describe. perhaps you picked unusually dry wood for the N/S load and loaded onto more coals than normal, so you got a lot of gassing of the wood in a short time. Try again and see what happens!

 

[firefighterjake]

I think the first time any of us really see what our stoves are capable of doing and see the full effect of secondaries in the A-Portal-To-Hell-Just-Opened-Up-In-My-Woodstove Look we all are a bit scared . . . but it's normal . . . and in time you will get used to it . . . your friends on the other hand will have the pants scared off them when they see the Hellfire you have unleashed in your stove.

That said, your temps sound fine . . . but you'll want to keep an eye on them and as mentioned don't load too soon in the burning cycle . . . otherwise the temps will go to the Poop-Your-Pants Zone.