Methinks FIL and I would be having one of those, "Come to Jesus" type discussions and there would be no hesitations and I would guarantee he would understand my feelings when it was all over....
O.M.G! Someone burned wood in MY stove.....
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Methinks FIL and I would be having one of those, "Come to Jesus" type discussions and there would be no hesitations and I would guarantee he would understand my feelings when it was all over....
Oops, my typing overshot my thinking.
I was talking about Mom. She moved in over a year ago.
LOL. Funny thing Dennis: that's what I say to the people I supervise at work (in a cynical manner) "Come to Jesus...".
For any boat owners out there, they understand the feeling. Why? A boat isn't a car, you don't touch one unless the owner/proper operator is around and you certainly don't lend it to someone who doesn't own one themselves. I operate a search and rescue Zodiac. Most people are like "oh, it has a steering wheel so it must be like a car". I then reply "do you see pave underneath? 350 Hp on the water, 4 feet of hull touching the surface when trimmed and 80 km/h in a 5 foot choppy sea isn't a car" Anyone can operate a boat but not everyone can operate a boat properly (ever try putting a boat on a trailer at the launch or dock/board a nice sailboat with one??)
I think the same can be said about wood stoves. Each one has it particularities, qwerks and qwarks, better to keep paws off unless it's your own!
For any boat owners out there, they understand the feeling. Why? A boat isn't a car, you don't touch one unless the owner/proper operator is around and you certainly don't lend it to someone who doesn't own one themselves. I operate a search and rescue Zodiac. Most people are like "oh, it has a steering wheel so it must be like a car". I then reply "do you see pave underneath? 350 Hp on the water, 4 feet of hull touching the surface when trimmed and 80 km/h in a 5 foot choppy sea isn't a car" Anyone can operate a boat but not everyone can operate a boat properly (ever try putting a boat on a trailer at the launch or dock/board a nice sailboat with one??)
I think the same can be said about wood stoves. Each one has it particularities, qwerks and qwarks, better to keep paws off unless it's your own!
There is a mountain hut on the side of a local mountain that has a wood stove. There is a woodstove in the hut but in winter heating the hut requires lots of wood and there are significant issues with moisture buildup and freezing as the hut is heated and cooled. Their solution is to have a padlock on the wood stove. The caretaker lights a fire around supper to get the temp over freezing and then lets it go out.
Knots
Minister of Fire
Years ago I had a small house with a big stove in it. I don't burn this way anymore, but back then I used to put a load of dry oak on top of coals and turn the air way down. It was just a long smolder really.
Anyway, I had this one stack of cottonwood that I used only for starting fires.
So, my father stops by one day when I wasn't home and notices that the stove is down to coals. He packs it with cottonwood and shuts the air way down.
Later, when I get home, I open the door to the house and smell this overwhelming creosote stink. I go look at the stove and there is a LAVA FLOW of creosote coming from the bottom of the stove pipe and crawling across the top of the stove and down the sides!
Lessons learned: I don't "smolder burn" anymore and the stove pipes should be assembled in the proper manner as indicated by most stove manufacturers.
Anyway, I had this one stack of cottonwood that I used only for starting fires.
So, my father stops by one day when I wasn't home and notices that the stove is down to coals. He packs it with cottonwood and shuts the air way down.
Later, when I get home, I open the door to the house and smell this overwhelming creosote stink. I go look at the stove and there is a LAVA FLOW of creosote coming from the bottom of the stove pipe and crawling across the top of the stove and down the sides!
Lessons learned: I don't "smolder burn" anymore and the stove pipes should be assembled in the proper manner as indicated by most stove manufacturers.
Years ago I had a small house with a big stove in it. I don't burn this way anymore, but back then I used to put a load of dry oak on top of coals and turn the air way down. It was just a long smolder really.
Anyway, I had this one stack of cottonwood that I used only for starting fires.
So, my father stops by one day when I wasn't home and notices that the stove is down to coals. He packs it with cottonwood and shuts the air way down.
Later, when I get home, I open the door to the house and smell this overwhelming creosote stink. I go look at the stove and there is a LAVA FLOW of creosote coming from the bottom of the stove pipe and crawling across the top of the stove and down the sides!
Lessons learned: I don't "smolder burn" anymore and the stove pipes should be assembled in the proper manner as indicated by most stove manufacturers.
Incredible that the house never burned down or you never have a bad chimney fire!
Knots
Minister of Fire
No kidding. I changed the way I burned after that and Dad left the stove alone!!
The oak I was burning was three years old and baked in a green house. I think that's the only reason I didn't have a problem before that.
I was going to ask you about the "lava flow" and if you were sure you had your pipes going the right way....but I see in the bottom of your post you figured it out. when I was a rookie, I put the pipes on backwards ONCE. didn't take long to figure out it wasn't the right way. amazing how many folks initially hook them up backwards...............Later, when I get home, I open the door to the house and smell this overwhelming creosote stink. I go look at the stove and there is a LAVA FLOW of creosote coming from the bottom of the stove pipe and crawling across the top of the stove and down the sides!
Lessons learned: I don't "smolder burn" anymore and the stove pipes should be assembled in the proper manner as indicated by most stove manufacturers.
If you have creosote running out of your stove pipe you have bigger problems then incorrectly installed stove pipe, what you have is a ticking time bomb.
yes it is, but for a lot of folks, when they first started burning there was no forum or internet to help answer questions. it was trial and error...sometimes mostly error. thank goodness there is this "well of knowledge" on almost every topic imaginable associated with wood burning.
The information was out there but in books and magazines so no quick fix but that is where I learned about dry wood and flue temps 35 years ago.
Plus insulated chimneys and having the chimney in the center of the house.
Knots
Minister of Fire
Years of burning really dry hard wood before that, so I never had any idea why the pipes needed to be a certain orientation. I cleaned the chimney once a year and it barely needed it. Then there was, what will always be referred to in my family as - "The Cottonwood Incident".
I'll be honest. Since I didn't perform my own install I never realized there was a wrong way to install a pipe.......
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