Blazing fire…

[Mr. Kelly]

Hi all,

I have a lady friend who has, if I recall correctly, a Napoleon woodstove… Small to medium sized fire box…

Last night, she put three or four good sized splits on there, and within 20 minutes, that thing was just roaring, with the firebox completely filled with bright intense flames. The whole area was blistering hot within minutes.

I told her I wasn’t sure whether blasting a fire like that was particularly prudent, or safe, and I suggested perhaps she try to shut down the air intake, which she did. It didn’t seem to really do much, so I went over and repeated the process several times, and could notice no real difference in the amount of flame or intensity.

I suggested to her that maybe the box was not air tight and that there was some sort of leak that prevented the air intake from closing down all the way.

My friend tried to convince me that this was normal for her box, and that she runs it that way all the time, blasting the crap out of the firebox with raging flames inside. I’ve never seen anything like that in my PE Summit. When I close it down, pretty much goes down to a very soft flame, dark colored, with secondary flames coming out of the baffle above.

Does this situation sound at all normal to you? Is having a fire box with intense flames normal, outside of my own box?

Other than the dollar bill trick, is there an easy way to tell whether a stove is properly air tight?

Thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[savageactor7]

Sounds to me like a normal fire with well seasoned splits...

...only a temp gauge would confirm over firing.

 

[stoveliker]

If you are concerned about leaks, use an incense stick and see if smoke gets pulled in during that blaze.

 

[Mr. Kelly]

Thank you… So you guys are convinced that a fire box completely filled with white hot flames, and a stove cranking out heat from within about 10 feet of it would be considered normal for this kind of stove?

She does have a stove top thermometer, although the instructions said it should be on a single wall pipe, and she had previously told me that she had a double wall pipe, even though she put it on that pipe anyway… So, I did tell her she should put it on top flat surface, which she said is the only other surface that is not shielded.

My PE Summit never burns like that. Ever. Nor does it ever produce that kind of heat. It doesn’t draft well in the first place, so it’s no surprise.

She did mention that it is kiln-dried wood, which would probably contribute to that kind of combustion. Lucky her!

 

[kennyp2339]

It doesn’t draft well in the first place, so it’s no surprise.

Chimney and draft is the engine that drives the stove, a good present for the lady friend would be a real stove top thermometer or a chimney probe thermometer, looks are looks, but temps tell the story of whats going on.

 

[Northern NH Mike]

My VC will blaze when I put a 1/2 to 3/4 quarter load in on a bed of coals with everything wide open. If I get distracted in another room or making dinner I'll find Dante's Inferno going until I shut things down.

 

[kennyp2339]

Before my pipe damper was installed I would occasionally get a run away here and there, the smell of the metal expanding / paint hitting a high temp would alert me to trouble, since getting my draft issue tamed, no issues and very predictable fires.