just something that happens

[fbelec]

started a fire the other day. used the top down method. along with the kindling i put in super dry poplar. stovetop shot up rather quickly to 500. i have a bimetallic spring primary and that was set to run the stove at 600. well the temp kept rising to 750 then 800 then the spring took over and brought it down to 700 and it leveled off at 650 to 700 but i noticed the two front door started glowing. checked out my thermometer in my oven and that was ok, but just had me puzzled that the stove top temp could be normal yet the stove doors were glowing.
just thought i throw this out there. on another tread there was a discussion on running to thermometers in different spots and also using a ir thermometer and the different reading that were taken on the stove in different spots

 

[pen]

started a fire the other day. used the top down method. along with the kindling i put in super dry poplar. stovetop shot up rather quickly to 500. i have a bimetallic spring primary and that was set to run the stove at 600. well the temp kept rising to 750 then 800 then the spring took over and brought it down to 700 and it leveled off at 650 to 700 but i noticed the two front door started glowing. checked out my thermometer in my oven and that was ok, but just had me puzzled that the stove top temp could be normal yet the stove doors were glowing.
just thought i throw this out there. on another tread there was a discussion on running to thermometers in different spots and also using a ir thermometer and the different reading that were taken on the stove in different spots

I think some stoves have a hot spot depending on how gasses move around the stove. I know on my old fisher, the stove top could read normal but the center of the left door would get a faint glow to it if the room was completely (even the little blue light on the cable box needed to be covered) dark.

My englander's hot spots seem to be on the sides, about 3 inches from the front right where there is a gap above the firebrick yet below the 2ndary air channels,

and on the very top center of the stove right where to step takes place.

pen

 

[Battenkiller]

I have the lil' sister to your stove (VC Vigilant), but they are similar enough in operation for me to take a guess.

My doors are almost always the first parts to get overheated. They get much hotter than the top. I once clocked my left door temp (that's usually the worst one) with an IR gun at 1047ºF, and it was barely glowing with the lights off. You had to get yours higher than that to be able to see the glow easily.

That super dry poplar is a real handful. Lots of fast heat, easy to overfire a stove with it. The lever that controls your thermostat is set into the cast iron in the back of the stove. That part of the stove doesn't get that hot until you close the bypass damper, at which time the hot exhaust gases pass directly over that area and close the air down. During startup, don't count on it closing down too quickly. It takes a long time to heat that area of the stove up enough to affect the draft when the damper is open and the flue gases are rising straight up instead of through the horizontal passages in the back of the stove.

You may have leaky front doors gaskets as well. Mine passed the dollar bill test, but I replaced them anyway. No change in the way the stove works, the doors still get hot spots.

I'll bet those high winds we've been having may have contributed to the problem. My stove was running really hot yesterday due to the increased draft from the wind.

I have been using small amounts of super-dry cherry (another hot and fast burning wood) to make short "flash" fires for the shoulder season. Today I actually weighed the amount of wood I was putting into the stove at startup. 12 1/2 lbs got the stove top up to 800º in 20 minutes. The doors only got to 700º this time, but I'll bet if I loaded twice as much wood and left the air open all the way, I would have overfired the stove. Every charge is different, and you can't predict exactly how high stove temps will reach, or where the hot spots will occur. With the stove running in updraft mode, the air will come in at the back, blow across the bottom and the flames will go right up the front doors on their way to the flue. You really have to be careful with fast burning wood like poplar, cherry and pine, especially if you load the stove loosely so it can get lots of air. They can heat up the stove way too quickly if you give it too much air. Once those flue temps hit the 6-650º mark, your draft will take over and you will lose control of the burn. The manufacturer's literature says these stoves are designed so they are not able to run away, even if you forget and leave the air open all the way. Baloney. I've had it happen several times this year, and I was real glad I was close by watching it.

 

[fbelec]

i agree. i forgot a few times with just the secondary air open in updraft mode and found the stove climbing at 800 degrees with the primary air closed.
last year i had 2 cord of choke cherry. it was great easy lighting and as far as burn times 7 hours instead of 8. but this poplar cuts the time down in a big way. it was only dried for a year. it's so dry a split feels light that balsa wood or what ever it was that the toy planes were made of. super light and what's funny is the bark never came off. anyway hot fire short burn times and glowing doors. when i seen the doors glowing i had to baby sit the thing. i got nervous leaving it that way and going to bed.
my left door is always the one that starts first. i think you maybe right on the gasket being bad. in the beginning of this burn season i rebuilt my stove from the base up. i thought the sides took care of themselves meaning no cement at the base. i didn't see anything in the manual about cementing the sides or front and back to the bottom. when i would close the damper and kick in the secondary after about 30 to 60 minutes the right side where the secondary burn chamber is located, the outside would glow with the stove top at 450 to 500. then i figured it out after seeing the ash would not buildup in that location and a slight yellow light at the bottom outside. so i stuff in the cement from the outside and the glow was gone.