So angry with myself! Got distracted, walked away from Fireview, flue temp shot up. Did I break i

[sksmass]

One week into my new SS liner and my new Woodstock Fireview and I already did something boneheaded! I am so angry with myself! >:-(

I love my new Fireview, and I have been following the manual religiously. Then I went and did this...

I re-loaded the stove and left the cat bypassed to drive out the moisture, like the manual suggests. I set the damper at about #2 so the splits would light up. I intended to come back after 10 minutes to engage the cat like the manual says to do.

Well, I got distracted entertaining visiting family and it was about 25 minutes later when I literally jumped out of my chair and went running to the stove.

The stove top temp was fine, probably 400°F. But the horizontal pipe section going back into the fireplace opening was reading 700-800°F on the surface. Definitely in the red zone of the Woodstock surface thermometer. The pipe was not glowing or anything though. I threw the cat up and dampered down and the pipe temp dropped really fast.

Did I damage my new liner?!? Should I be concerned that I've compromised anything safety-wise in either the stove or the chimney?

The liner is a 6" Olympia Forever Flex .005" 316Ti liner. Manufacturer says it is tested for 2100°F chimney fires

I am almost sick over this.

 

[cmonSTART]

I highly doubt you damaged anything in the liner. FFlex is pretty decent stuff, the temperature wasn't too bad, and the exposure wasn't too long at all.

 

[RedGuy]

I'm sure it's fine, probably easily has a 1,000deg operating temp.

 

[BrotherBart]

The liner is just fine. The flue gases going into it probably were in the thousand degree or so range. Not a problem.

 

[sksmass]

I am sooo glad to hear you guys say that.

You know that feeling, like when you buy your first new car, and it is all shiny and perfect, and you spend all summer washing and waxing and vacuuming it, and you are so happy with it, and then one day you open the door into a parking meter and put a ding in the paint. All of a sudden your car isn't pristine anymore. It is just a car. I feel kinda like that.

If anyone else want to reassure me, please do!

 

[BrotherBart]

Now if you find you chimney cap in your neighbor's driveway...

 

[RedGuy]

I am sooo glad to hear you guys say that.

You know that feeling, like when you buy your first new car, and it is all shiny and perfect, and you spend all summer washing and waxing and vacuuming it, and you are so happy with it, and then one day you open the door into a parking meter and put a ding in the paint. All of a sudden your car isn't pristine anymore. It is just a car. I feel kinda like that.

If anyone else want to reassure me, please do!

LOL I know the feeling, I'm just about done with my instal and I don't want to mess up the pretty shinny stainless steel on one hand, on the other I can't wait to get the fire going

 

[nate379]

Sorry just thought of something and I have to share.

My brother bought a brand new GMC 2500HD a few years ago. Had it 2 weeks and I think he would even take his shoes off to get in the thing.. (we have all been there before)

Anyway he hooks to a trailer to haul my Dad's tractor somewhere. Goes to load the tractor, and trailer comes off the ball mount (he never closed the coupler). Hits the brakes on the tractor and the trailer tongue goes right threw the tailgate.

I am sooo glad to hear you guys say that.

You know that feeling, like when you buy your first new car, and it is all shiny and perfect, and you spend all summer washing and waxing and vacuuming it, and you are so happy with it, and then one day you open the door into a parking meter and put a ding in the paint. All of a sudden your car isn't pristine anymore. It is just a car. I feel kinda like that.

If anyone else want to reassure me, please do!

 

[begreen]

I don't think there's a woodburner out there that hasn't spaced out a damper or air control at some point. The stove and liner will be fine. Consider yourself initiated and welcome to the club!

 

[raybonz]

Now if you find you chimney cap in your neighbor's driveway...

LMAO If I had a dollar for every time I forgot to close the damper like he did I'd be rich..

Ray

 

[sksmass]

Thanks BeGreen. I've learned my lesson. I am now safety-clipping a ten minute timer to my clothes whenever I reload. Woodstock should sell them as accessories!

 

[BrotherBart]

Of course you need to do what a Sgt. made me do in helicopter school.

"Raise your right hand and repeat after me."

"I %#^&ed; up!"

 

[fire_man]

We've hit 700 F briefly a few times on the Horizontal Pipe to the Fireview. No problems so far. Best thing is to set a 10 minute timer every time you fire up. One of these days I'm gonna look into some kind of remote alarm but a timer is so much easier!

Just curious, how close was your thermometer to the stove's connection on the Horizontal Pipe? Ours is resting about three inches from the center of the magnetic thermometer to the edge of the stove's outlet pipe.

 

[sksmass]

The thermometer is about 12" away from the stove outlet. I imagine the top of that horizontal section is probably the hottest part of the chimney/flue system.
So perhaps the liner itself was never quite as hot as the horizontal pipe was. It seems OK. No discolored metal or funny smells.

 

[BrotherBart]

Uh oh. That liner isn't a pleasant golden hue yet? It'll get there. ;-)

 

[gibson]

We have all done it. That is how you learn to rescue your stove. All is well.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

No, we ALL have not done it. Many have done it though.


sksmass, the best thing that happened is that you were taught a lesson and it will no doubt stay with you. No matter what happens, you do need to be aware of what is going on with the stove. After lighting or after reloading is the number 1 time to be aware of the stove and nothing should distract you. You turned out okay this time but don't let that allow you to get sloppy. Learn from the mistakes.

 

[firefighterjake]

I don't think there's a woodburner out there that hasn't spaced out a damper or air control at some point. The stove and liner will be fine. Consider yourself initiated and welcome to the club!

I was thinking the exact same thing as I read the OP's original thread . . . we've all been there . . . and all had those "Oh crap . . . did I just ruin my stove/pipe/chimney?" thoughts.

 

[3fordasho]

I've done it twice to one of my fireviews. My set up has about 6' of Supervent double wall connector pipe, then 15' of Supervent class A on top of that. The connector pipeing has a 90 deg right on the back of the stove, then staight up about 2', then a couple 45degree elbows to jog over where the class A comes through the ceiling. Like your experience my stove top temp was well within normal range, but my probe type flue thermometer was pegged at 1000F. The pipe was smelling hot and I quickly shut the air inlet all the way down. I could hear a crackle/tinkle sound comming from the connect pipe, from the 45 deg el to be exact, and started to get a bit of smoke off the pipe. Went into panic mode and threw a wet newspaper into the stove. Things finally settled down but sure was a bit hairy there for a bit... I even went into the crawl space the class A goes through only to find that was only warm to the touch and no smoke up there. A pipe cleaning later on revealed no damage to anything, but that probe type flue thermometer never read the same and had to be replaced. My lesson, never, never get distracted during start up/ reload, close the air down as soon as possible, and avoid elbows in your flue set up as much as possible.. a straight shot is your best bet. Those elbows are perfect traps for creosote build up.

 

[Highbeam]

Not saying that the liner is trashed but lets look at reality. That 800 surface temp corresponds with a 1600 degree flue gas temp, not 1000. Are you still warm and fuzzy knowing that the flue ran to 1600? If it isn't discolored, I would feel pretty good about it. What saved you and the liner is that you remembered soon enough to fix it.

 

[nojo]

That 800 surface temp corresponds with a 1600 degree flue gas temp, not 1000. Are you still warm and fuzzy knowing that the flue ran to 1600?

Where do you get those numbers? I was under the impression that surface temp was 2/3 or actual temp. Not double the surface temp. Half of surface temp added to surface temp (400 + 800) would be 1200.

 

[Leaky Waders]

I just started heating the home with a Hampton HI300 insert. I have a magnetic stovetop thermometer, but I have no way of monitoring the temps of my chimney liner. Is this something I should be monitoring, and if so, how should I go about doing it?

 

[Highbeam]

That 800 surface temp corresponds with a 1600 degree flue gas temp, not 1000. Are you still warm and fuzzy knowing that the flue ran to 1600?

Where do you get those numbers? I was under the impression that surface temp was 2/3 or actual temp. Not double the surface temp. Half of surface temp added to surface temp (400 + 800) would be 1200.

Outside is half of inside. Where did you get that 2/3 figure? I think Todd has done some actual data gathering on this. I've never heard of the 2/3 figure.

 

[Todd]

That 800 surface temp corresponds with a 1600 degree flue gas temp, not 1000. Are you still warm and fuzzy knowing that the flue ran to 1600?

Where do you get those numbers? I was under the impression that surface temp was 2/3 or actual temp. Not double the surface temp. Half of surface temp added to surface temp (400 + 800) would be 1200.

Outside is half of inside. Where did you get that 2/3 figure? I think Todd has done some actual data gathering on this. I've never heard of the 2/3 figure.

Yeah, I have done side by side tests with a Condar probe and external magnet thermometer and found on my single wall pipe the probe reads roughly twice the external temps for the most part but seems to go even higher as the external temps get above 500. Hearth.com members Wes999 and Pen have also tested this and found the same. I think 800 external temps are getting pretty close to that max 2100 internal temp threshold for a liner.

 

[Highbeam]

Another reason why honest to goodness probe meters are superior for measuring internal flue gas temps. Turns out that chimney materials are rated for various internal flue gas temps and not external temps. So if possible, monitoring internal flue gas temps is the preferred method. I use a nice condar surface meter for measuring the surface temp of the stove.