White coals... not yellow - WHITE almost greyish

[Ducky]

Because my stove is located in my shop, I have access to my air compressor, which I use on occasion to 'restart' the stove instead of waiting around for my newly added wood to relight from the coals...

It actually works quite well...

Crack the door, and blow in some air and viola, instant fire.

Yesterday, I played with the compressed air for a bit... about 30psi at the regulator, using a special gun I made for injecting pesticides into some wood, this summer, eh curiosity almost killed the duck (not really)

I burn just about everything in my stove, anyways last week, I garbage picked some nice pieces from an old playground set... and welp, one of the deck strews was laying amongst the ashes, using my air gun, i got the coals so hot, that the coals literally burned to nothing before my eyes, and to my absolute amazement, the screw itself, also burned away to nothing... that sucker was HOT! Like white hot, wlmost or even grey like hot... I have never seen anything like that ever, infact it freaked me out a little... so I decided ok that enuff lol

Using my thermo probe, with in 10 seconds of killing the air, I registered 1600F which was the high point it dropped like a rock to settle at around 1300F and then I had to move my hand cause it was too hot...

Just out of PURE curiousity how hot was it? Obviously way beyond the design of my stove... I know that so please dont preach to me how dangerous this is and stuff I am just curious...


Will I be pulling such experiments in the future? definately not lol.

 

[joefrompa]

I think the stove is likely going to be "ok" in spot temps up to around 1800-2000 degrees. It's mainly problematic AFAIK when the whole thing gets above 850-900 and the spot temps are pushing 1800+

 

[Ducky]

AFAIK?

the top of my stove generally hangs out around 1100F with an outright roaring fire, itll hit 1300F but never really above that, this was my first spot type thermo reading...

 

[petersenj20]

Steel melts at roughly 2600°. Burning steel is quite spectacular. I use the forge blower (hair dryer) to speed up my stove once in a while.

 

[BrotherBart]

Hey Bubba. Hold my beer and watch THIS!

 

[solrey]

This is my first post after checking out the forum for a while during my research for an imminent wood stove purchase before the tax credit expires here in the US. My thoughts on that endeavor will probably be my second post but this one "sparked" the first comment.

Ducky, sounds like you created a miniature forge in the coals where the air was injected. Assuming the screw was an outdoor deck type screw, it was probably galvanized or anodized with zinc covering a medium carbon content, steel alloy. The melting point for the steel alloy of that screw with compressed air is likely around 2,500 F. The zinc would have gone up in smoke as zinc oxide, along with various other gaseous oxides from impurities in the steel. A series of high temperature reactions of the iron in the screw, involving carbon from the wood and oxygen from the injected air, would leave flakes and chips of iron oxide and high carbon iron oxide (a couple forms of rust basically) in the ashes, with plenty of carbon dioxide plant food going up the chimney. (my garden conveys it's gratitude.)

So you probably got that spot up to at least 2,500 F while the compressed air was blasting it. Nothing to worry about, imho, you could maybe use that stove in your shop as a small forge or smelter with the proper equipment and precautions. What kind of stove is it and what's the thickness of the steel, btw?

I'll bet if you raked a magnet through the coals where the screw was you'd probably collect those rusty flakes and chips of iron that were left over. If you do that, I'd like to hear the results.

I'm the self inflicted, mind detonator
I'm the one infected, twisted animator

I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter

Couldn't help but toss those lyrics from Prodigy at ya.

cheers

 

[Shari]

Because my stove is located in my shop, I have access to my air compressor, which I use on occasion to 'restart' the stove instead of waiting around for my newly added wood to relight from the coals...

It actually works quite well...

Crack the door, and blow in some air and viola, instant fire.

Yesterday, I played with the compressed air for a bit... about 30psi at the regulator, using a special gun I made for injecting pesticides into some wood, this summer, eh curiosity almost killed the duck (not really)

I burn just about everything in my stove, anyways last week, I garbage picked some nice pieces from an old playground set... and welp, one of the deck strews was laying amongst the ashes, using my air gun, i got the coals so hot, that the coals literally burned to nothing before my eyes, and to my absolute amazement, the screw itself, also burned away to nothing... that sucker was HOT! Like white hot, wlmost or even grey like hot... I have never seen anything like that ever, infact it freaked me out a little... so I decided ok that enuff lol

Using my thermo probe, with in 10 seconds of killing the air, I registered 1600F which was the high point it dropped like a rock to settle at around 1300F and then I had to move my hand cause it was too hot...

Just out of PURE curiousity how hot was it? Obviously way beyond the design of my stove... I know that so please dont preach to me how dangerous this is and stuff I am just curious...


Will I be pulling such experiments in the future? definately not lol.

Is this pressure treated wood? If yes, ummmm, I thought that was a no-no.

 

[Willman]

I have used my compressor to speed up the fire in my shop stove. Usually on those really cold mornings. I use an adjustable blow gun. By adjusting the pressure coming from gun I can get a roaring fire quick. Lower pressures pointed in the correct spot work the best. I usually quit around 500-600* on smoke pipe temp gauge.
I am certainly not gonna forge steel though. Thats reserved for when I get an actual forge.Some wood boilers work on induced draft being provided by electric fan.
Will

 

[solrey]

Shari, thank you, excellent point, I overlooked the pressure treated lumber factor. Burning pressure treated lumber produces highly toxic chemicals. The ash should be treated as toxic waste.

http://www.origen.net/ccawood.html

Burning:Incineration of CCA wood does not destroy arsenic. It is incredible, but a single 12 foot 2 x 6 contains about 27 grams of Arsenic - enough arsenic to kill 250 adults. Burning CCA wood releases the chemical bond holding Arsenic in the wood, and just one Tablespoon of ash from a CCA wood fire contains a lethal dose of Arsenic. Worse yet, Arsenic gives no warning: it does not have a specific taste or odor to warn you of its presence. No one disputes that the ash from burning CCA wood is highly toxic: It is illegal to burn CCA wood in all 50 states. This has serious implications for firefighters, cleanup and landfill operations.

Even more astonishing, minute amounts of 'fly ash' from burning CCA pressure treated wood, can have serious health consequences. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported on a family that burned CCA in a wood stove for winter heating. Their hair fell out, all family members suffered severe, recurring nosebleeds, extreme fatigue and debilitating headaches. The parents complained about 'blacking out' for periods of several hours, followed by long periods of extreme disorientation. Both children suffered frequent seizures described as 'grand mal'. The symptoms were finally traced to breathing minute amounts of arsenic laden dust leaking from the furnace as fly ash. The family's houseplants and fish died, too, victims of copper poisoning from the same dust. Peters HA, et al: Seasonal exposure to arsenic from burning CCA wood. JAMA 25118)2393-96, 1984)

Good information to consider for the well being of one's family and neighbors when selecting scrap lumber to burn.

So skip the raking a magnet through the ashes of that pressure treated lumber please.

cheers

 

[Ducky]

this stuff isnt pressure treated which is why they were throwing it out... half of it was pretty rotted, i grabbed the good stuff =)

Aside from the obvious arsenic, burning pressure treated wood, gives off a very stinky rotten smell, which often burns the nose.

 

[Ducky]

So you probably got that spot up to at least 2,500 F while the compressed air was blasting it. Nothing to worry about, imho, you could maybe use that stove in your shop as a small forge or smelter with the proper equipment and precautions. What kind of stove is it and what's the thickness of the steel, btw?my stove is a 1970s - 1980s vermont castings vigilant

I'll bet if you raked a magnet through the coals where the screw was you'd probably collect those rusty flakes and chips of iron that were left over. If you do that, I'd like to hear the results.

Eh I already cleaned out the stove. all the ash is currently sitting inside my 1940's iron milk jug to cool for the next 30 days.