Got it in my head to experiment...

[HollowHill]

and WOW did I scare myself So, I reloaded my PH around 280 stove top temp, with a small coal bed around 6:15 or so. Engaged the cat at 320 about 10 minutes later. Left the air at 1/2 for 2 minutes and then shut down the air to a smidge above 0 and the stove top temp around 380. The stove went black in a few minutes. Splits would glow as if someone had blown on them, but no active flame. Usually I would turn up the air a smidge in this situation, but decided this once to see where it would take me if I left it alone. Well, it took me to 590 in very short order. Decided I'd best abort this experiment and turned up the air a smidge. Sat down and was watching it when a massive sheet of flame whooshed - major ignition of a lot of off-gasses. Caught a definite whiff of burnt smell, started to think maybe I'd set something, like, oh say, the house on fire Got a lot of flame now and the temp has steadied and slowly dropped. Phew! Boy can this puppy crank out the heat. Thank goodness it is so controllable that I can stop it in its tracks, more or less. Taking a deep breath...

 

[HollowHill]

Dang drab it! So rattled I posted this in the wrong forum My apologies. Even worse, no pics

 

[PapaDave]

Yeah, you're fired.
Time for some meditating......with one eye on the stove.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You've almost got the hang of it now Hollow! Glad to hear you are finally experimenting. That back puff is nothing to be concerned about. You could have just waited and let the cat do its thing. Sometimes if there is too much smoke for the cat and no flame in the firebox, it will do that and then lots of fireworks in the firebox and wow, the heat!

 

[Buck1200]

Last season with a cold night and a full load of beech and maple I got the top to up to 690 before the secondaries finally started. It's interesting how with secondaries going the top actually drops in temp and then the whole stove gets hot.

The puffback you witnessed causes the stove to briefly become pressurized which forces flue gasses out through the stove pipe cracks and stove joints. Opening the air a smidge more prevents it from happening. Also make certain the center front anti-puffback hole isn't plugged up with ash, or covered by a piece of wood.