Resolute run away

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Cord

Member
Hearth Supporter
Jun 5, 2006
52
I have a Resolute stove that up until yesterday functioned flawlessly. My wife put a load of wood in the stove and did not adjust the damper. The damper had been working normally and would only need small adjustments to maintain the target flue temperature. A while after loading the fire place, I heard some loud pops. I went to investigate and found the flue temperature to be off the scale on the high side. I'd estimate 1,000 degrees plus. I immediately shut the air control, but it didn't control the stove. I grabbed a cup of water and poured it on the fire. I went outside to see if there were visible flames and thankfully there were none. The water knocked the fire down but a few minutes later it started to take off again. I had no control over the stove. I put another cup of water on the fire and rechecked the air control. Even though the lever was all the way down, the air door was wide open. I lifted the lever up and was able to find a spot where the door would close. Strangely, down should be closed with a slacked chain, but the door would only close at a middle position. All the way down or all the way up would result in the air door opening fully. Not having trust in the stove, we elected to call the fire department an have them remove the burning wood. This morning the stove is cold and the air door is functioning normally. All the way down closes the door and slacks the chain. Thankfully, our chimney was clean enough that there wasn't a formal chimney fire. I suspect the pops that I heard was the masonry where the flue pipe entered the chimney. Can you educate me as to what happened? Why did the function of the air door change when the stove ran away? I inspected the stove this morning and I don't see any cracks or warped plates. Pretty impressive based upon how badly it was overfired. What service parts should I plan on putting into the stove to ensure it's continued operation?
 
Studying the operation of the air door this morning, I found that I could push the lever down, with some resistance, far enough that I could reopen the air door. I think the spring is over center at that point. Yesterday, I suspect the spring over centered and that's why it was wide open. The question will be why did it run away (over center)?
 
if i remember right the spring is on a thread screw it in or out to re position that spring just remember that your settings will be different