First scare of the season

[joefrompa]

Had a load of mixed hard maple and oak sitting in there for 45 minutes. It was cruising along at 400, 450, maybe 500. Well along though.

Started shutting down the air and it climbed to 550 and seemed nice and healthy. Decided to close the air all the way down.

Bam.....started humming, went up from 550 to about 725-750 in the course of maybe 10-15 minutes. Blower on max now and it just sat at 725 for about 5-10 minutes before slowly retreating.

First scare of the season for me.

Joe

 

[SlyFerret]

45 minutes is a long time to run wide open before dialing back the air.

Glad you got it back under control!

-SF

 

[joefrompa]

Sorry if I gave that impression, but that wasn't it at all.

I had the full load of oak & maple in for 45 minutes at maybe 40% air open (60% closed). It was, maybe, 500 degrees after all that time. Was looking good. I then closed it to 20%. Looked very nice, good secondaries. Went up to 550.

I then decided to close it all the way (0% open). Whoosh....shot up ~175-200 degrees in 10 minutes and stayed well over 700 for 20 minutes.

Last year, running lower quality wood ash & elm & pine, closing the air to 0% would ALWAYS shut the fire down. This was the first time it seemed to excel in that position.

It's cruising at 400 now, whereas when I posted 42 minutes ago it was at 700. Haven't touched it, except to turn the fan from max down to 60% power.

 

[Hogwildz]

Your fine, don't sweat it. It will spike with a full load and lots of volatiles.
Try cutting the air back to 1/2 at 300 and all the way at 400. Experiment at different air at dif temps.
You'll most likely find at a full load, it will eventually spike at 750ish regardless of when you cut the air back, just will make it happen at longer point of time or shorter.

 

[nate379]

Earlier this winter I loaded up the stove and went outside "for a few minutes". I got sidetracked taken care of a few things and an hour or so later I see smoke coming out of the chimeny pretty hard... OH crap!

Well the glass got pretty damn clean and it was 85* in the house!

 

[greythorn3]

OPEN THE DOOR IF YOU WANT IT TO COOL DOWN FASTER.

 

[joefrompa]

Yeah, the best way I can illustrate that my stove is undersized for my home - it was ~27-30 degrees outside with little wind. The house is sealed tight. The blower was on max for 30 minutes with the stove over 700 degrees and the house thermostat went from...

67

to

67

...In other words, it didn't even move the needle. After 2 more hours of burning around 400, it went up to 69 in the house. 69-70 is what the house comes too after 8-10 hours of burning with 25-30 degree weather, without spikes.

 

[pen]

Things getting over 850 is when I start paying more attention. Had the stove cruising at 750 last night (on purpose). Probably ran there for about an hour or so and starting coming down slowly.

pen

 

[Martin Strand III]

With your little metal box stoves that were not intended to be over heated (over fired), you need to be careful, to be sure.

It also helps to know what you are doing.

Greythorn above got it right.

By opening the door, adding much more than required combustion air, the extra volume of air going through will cool down the fire box.

Aye,
Marty
Grandma used to say, "Play with fire and you'll get burned."

 

[woodmiser]

I find the open door method only works for a minute or two with my stove and then you start really hearing the freight train draft and tthe temp starts rising again. I throw in a green ugly and it's back down in no time. Not recommended for cats though.

 

[EJL923]

pfff 750°, my stoves just warming up!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

EJL923, realize that each manufacturer has their own recommendation on how hot to get a stove. One example is Hearthstone, a popular stove for sure. They recommend not over 600 degrees.

As for opening the firebox door, I never liked that because it can backfire. However, if the draft if fully closed, then opening that up a bit can help the stove cool down a bit.

 

[Hogwildz]

I find the open door method only works for a minute or two with my stove and then you start really hearing the freight train draft and tthe temp starts rising again. I throw in a green ugly and it's back down in no time. Not recommended for cats though.

X2

 

[Hogwildz]

Yeah, the best way I can illustrate that my stove is undersized for my home - it was ~27-30 degrees outside with little wind. The house is sealed tight. The blower was on max for 30 minutes with the stove over 700 degrees and the house thermostat went from...

67

to

67

...In other words, it didn't even move the needle. After 2 more hours of burning around 400, it went up to 69 in the house. 69-70 is what the house comes too after 8-10 hours of burning with 25-30 degree weather, without spikes.

That is bad LOL. Time to seal & insulate.
Now if your just starting the fire and trying to heat the house from a cold start, the first fire is usually spent heating everything in the room/house. Then once everything is up to temp, it becomes easier to hold and raise the temp some more.

 

[Martin Strand III]

EJL923, realize that each manufacturer has their own recommendation on how hot to get a stove. One example is Hearthstone, a popular stove for sure. They recommend not over 600 degrees.

As for opening the firebox door, I never liked that because it can backfire. However, if the draft if fully closed, then opening that up a bit can help the stove cool down a bit.

Speaking of "backfire", opening a stove door to cool the fire box during a burn with the draft closed is a sure way to get burned; i.e. BACKDRAFT!

For those who don't know about it, here's the definition:
"a phenomenon in which a fire that has consumed all available oxygen suddenly explodes when more oxygen is made available, typically because a door or window has been opened."

Aye,
Marty

 

[oldspark]

EJL923, realize that each manufacturer has their own recommendation on how hot to get a stove. One example is Hearthstone, a popular stove for sure. They recommend not over 600 degrees.

As for opening the firebox door, I never liked that because it can backfire. However, if the draft if fully closed, then opening that up a bit can help the stove cool down a bit.

Speaking of "backfire", opening a stove door to cool the fire box during a burn with the draft closed is a sure way to get burned; i.e. BACKDRAFT!

For those who don't know about it, here's the definition:
"a phenomenon in which a fire that has consumed all available oxygen suddenly explodes when more oxygen is made available, typically because a door or window has been opened."

Aye,
Marty

Or it sucks it down the chimney> :ahhh:

 

[egclassic]

Happened to me the other night also. But the temps in my house got up to about 85-86, had to turn the ceiling fans on for awhile. I was hesitant on opening the door, but out of desparation I did. It did not help much at all. I was in a catch 22, needed to run the blower on high, but according to the manual, the air control has to be open at least a 1/2" to run the blower so I couldn't choke it out and run the blower.

 

[pen]

according to the manual, the air control has to be open at least a 1/2" to run the blower so I couldn't choke it out and run the blower.

If it's running too hot, to heck w/ that line in the manual. Turn the air down and let the blower run. Never heard of such a thing.

I'm guessing that is just there so that folks don't turn the blower on too early in the burn and have it suck heat out of the firebox that it needs to keep a good fire going. But if you already have a complete conflagration, I wouldn't hesitate to shut it down. By the time it could remove enough heat to reduce the quality of a burn it would be past the out-gassing stage of the burn and wouldn't matter much anyhow.

pen

 

[Hogwildz]

Agreed with Pen. Cut that air down to all the way, blower on high, and it will cool down. Make take a few, but it will.

 

[KodiakII]

I have read a couple of accounts of "run away" stoves over the last couple of days. If this something peculiar to your epa stoves you can have them. For the extra wood my old smoke dragon burns I think I will stick with it!

 

[greythorn3]

I have read a couple of accounts of "run away" stoves over the last couple of days. If this something peculiar to your epa stoves you can have them. For the extra wood my old smoke dragon burns I think I will stick with it!

i would think any stove can become to hot.

 

[SlyFerret]

I find the open door method only works for a minute or two with my stove and then you start really hearing the freight train draft and tthe temp starts rising again. I throw in a green ugly and it's back down in no time. Not recommended for cats though.

Yup, I don't recommend it either.

Unless your cat is REALLY mean, don't throw him into a runaway stove. It won't actually do any good, and you'll just feel bad about it later.

-SF

 

[Hogwildz]

I have read a couple of accounts of "run away" stoves over the last couple of days. If this something peculiar to your epa stoves you can have them. For the extra wood my old smoke dragon burns I think I will stick with it!

EPA or non EPA, any stove can run away.

 

[Beer Belly]

I was wondering while reading this....what is the limit on my insert...here is what the manual sez
"Over-Firing the Stove
This stove was designed to operate at a high temperature. But due to differences in vent
configuration, fuel, and draft, this appliance can be operated at an excessive temperature. If the
stove top or other area starts to glow red, you are over-firing the stove. Shut the air control down to
low and allow the stove to cool before proceeding." .....are they kidding ...."glowing red"....HOLY CRAP that would scare the dickens outa me.

 

[woodmiser]

I have read a couple of accounts of "run away" stoves over the last couple of days. If this something peculiar to your epa stoves you can have them. For the extra wood my old smoke dragon burns I think I will stick with it!

The problem with EPA stoves is they have to pass emissions. Because of that manufacturers are forced to design in air flow that cannot be fully shut off. When you have a runaway condition, you end up in a dangerous situation that Al Gore says is more important than allowing smoke to go up the chimney.