Adventures in stove He!!

[Pallet Pete]

Last night my Vogelzang Durango ( China I have found out ) almost burned down our house. We went to bed and it was coals at 400 degrees no wood load in the stove at all ! The wind picked up and was howling absurdly load then I smelled smoke a recure of paint I think. Thank the angels I woke up an RAN down stairs shut the air down and prayed for it to go out without a fire. The stove was cherry red and of course now the sides have ridges in them and you can feel them sticking out. Has this ever happened to anybody else? I can only guess that it was the wind pressure making it so hot, it took 1.5 hours to die out enough for me to feel safe. This has never happened in 5 years of wood burning to us!
I have pictures of the buckled sides for you guys to see, its amazing too look at . The ridges are toward the top and the top looks warped up a little. Would this be safe to use still or is it shot?

Thanks again Guys
Pete

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Pete, that doesn't sound right. If there were only coals in the stove, how did it get that hot? Perhaps it was half or more full of coals? Also, I've never had an issue with wind sending our stove into a hot spell. Usually there is little to no effect from wind with our stove.

Would it be safe to continue to use the stove? It would scare the whatnot out of me after what you've described and if it is warped, it could really cause some big time problems that you do not want to deal with.

 

[tcassavaugh]

wow....that a nightmare. the man upstairs obviously aint done with you yet. if i burned it, it would be starting out with a small fire and see if any thing seems out of the ordinary. another thing you could do is check for a light leak at night with the lights off using a flashlight inside. that might help with questions about the integrety of the stove. another thing i do to help shut down stoves and give me more control is add a damper to the pipe above the stove. in most cases, especially with more modern stoves it isn't necessary but I'm a bit anal about it. we always had one growing up....and i've used it a couple of times to help shut a stove down faster when i've forgotten to close it down once going. good luck....and throw an extra $20.00 in the offering plate tomorrow........and check your smoke alarm batteries.

cass

 

[Pallet Pete]

-Bakwoods Savage
It was about 1/4 full of coals I never go any higher than that because of the box size. As for the whatnot it definitely got scared away.The good news is we where looking at a new stove anyway for longer burn times, we where gonna wait till march but not anymore. I agree its time to retire the china box! - tcassavaugh I was informed that a damper was not necessary when we bought this stove however I have just learned a very valuable lesson called hey guy put a damper in.

Thanks
Pete

 

[Todd]

There's no way I'd burn that death trap inside my house after it did that to me. Maybe you can turn it into an outdoor smoker?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Pete, all the early stoves had dampers and some still like them. Probably a super small number actually need one. I remember thinking it was really weird not having the damper but soon got used to it and like it.

That still is weird for that hot of a fire with that few coals. I agree, time to shop. Have you looked at the Woodstock line? They even come with a 6 month guarantee. Don't do the job? Send it back for full refund. Believe me, very few ever get sent back. We have the Fireview and the new Progress is the real big stove now. We do have a Progress on order.

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah venturi effect from the wind blowing across the top of the pipe can do it if the cap doesn't have a wind guard. If it was chock full of coals then it essentially turned into a forge. With a 3/16" plate stove body and top plate after the glowing starts warping ain't gonna be far behind. There is nothing inherently dangerous about burning in a warped stove. The big question is what kind of stress the welds are now under. And that could be dangerous.

Time to go stove shopping.

BTW: What kind of chimney set-up do you have? Height etc.

Edit: And are the ridges where the brick retainers are welded inside the stove?

 

[Todd]

Could there have been some creosote inside the fire box that lit off?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That is a strong possibility Todd.

 

[Pallet Pete]

BrotherBart
It is a 18ft double wall straight up chimney with a cap. The cap is not a wind guard however.

Backwoods Savage
I have been really looking hard at Blaze King and Woodstock. We are looking into Blaze King for the box size right now and probably getting it sooner than we thought.

Thanks
Pete

 

[Pallet Pete]

Todd
You might have just nailed it I cleaned out the chimney and stove about a week ago however it is very hard to suck the top of the stove out due to its odd size. I might have missed some suit there!

Thanks
Pete

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Both excellent stoves Pete.

 

[BrotherBart]

Could there have been some creosote inside the fire box that lit off?

There really wouldn't have to be with a quarter of that long box full of coals. Them suckers would have been white hot in a heartbeat with the primary air that suction was pulling right into them. Same thing happened to me last year. That is what caused the 30 to take off for the moon. I had just loaded it for the night burn when the wind took off all of a sudden to fifty miles an hour. That open cap of mine let the wind fly right over the top of the liner and it became a 21 foot drinking straw. Fortunately I have the unregulated air blocked off and so secondary air was the only source so the stove only went to thousand degrees stove top. With the quarter inch plate with a step bend in it on top of the 30, no warping.

The Durango is 3/16" on top with no reinforcing bend. VZ is the only make I know of that does that. Everybody else does 1/4" with the step bend or 5/16" with the flat tops. 3/8" on the PE big boy.

 

[Hass]

so the question is, how do you get a wind guard? are they add ons or separate cap?

 

[Stubborn Dutchman]

Not sure where in Michigan you are located but the Lansing Jotul dealer is advertising on TV a 15% off sale. I just saw the commercial last night. Of course I paid full price for my F600 a few months back! Sure sorry to hear about your scare. Glad no one was hurt and the house is still standing.

 

[bogydave]

When the wind blows here, I get a stronger draft too. The stove burns hotter, not allot but noticeable.
Not a big deal with my cat stove, If I set the stat & the wind picks up during the night, I get more heat, but is needed when windy anyway.
If I set it when it's windy, & the wind dies down, just a little less heat, but that helps too, don't need as much heat when the wind dies down.
Winter wind here is 95% of the time out of the north & it has to get over 30 MPH before I notice the effects.
Maybe I should look into a wind guard cap.
Good tip

 

[BrotherBart]

so the question is, how do you get a wind guard? are they add ons or separate cap?

Most are just a band made around the cap screen. I hated mine and replaced the caps. Still love my new caps without them but there was that one night last year...

 

[Pallet Pete]

Todd
Love it I might just make it an outdoor smoker haha. That will teach it I will demote it to kitchen duty hahahaha. :lol: