eye problems

[blades]

Actually it is 2 pieces one is a clear safety or poly shield the other is the tinted glass- or composite in the case if auto darkening units.

 

[jatoxico]

Charles how do you know you're overfiring are you measuring your stove temps w/ a thermometer? The one split on top of a bed of coals is meant to burn down a big pile of coals left over from a full load so you can load up again.

With a decent load of wood you ought to be able to run for a couple hours at least and keep max temp stove temps under 700ish with cruise around 500 give or take 100. If if shoots up to 750-800 w/ the air closed you may need a key damper to give you more control. I know that's not why you started this thread but I'd think you want to run the stove for a couple hours w/o having to futz with it.

 

[Charles2]

Charles how do you know you're overfiring are you measuring your stove temps w/ a thermometer? The one split on top of a bed of coals is meant to burn down a big pile of coals left over from a full load so you can load up again.

With a decent load of wood you ought to be able to run for a couple hours at least and keep max temp stove temps under 700ish with cruise around 500 give or take 100. If if shoots up to 750-800 w/ the air closed you may need a key damper to give you more control. I know that's not why you started this thread but I'd think you want to run the stove for a couple hours w/o having to futz with it.

Overfire is defined by the manufacturer, and yes, I'm using a thermometer.

OP I think they are polycarbonate. The sparks hit the "glass" and bounce back off, whereas if they were true glass they would fuse to the glass. The polycarbonate also blocks all UV light, which is what prevents flash burns.

So if I feel like my eyes are cooking, it's the UV, not infrared?

 

[Elciteeve]

Sorry, I have ADHD. We got on to welding. I was talking about welding. You seemed to theorize the heat was causing problems. The welding hood would, I would think, block problematic heat sources. I know polycarbonate blocks radiant heat and UV light. I wouldn't think the low amount of infrared given off by a stove would cause an issue. But I'm not an eye doctor. Just my experience working in metal fab shops with torches / welders / plaz cutters.

 

[bholler]

Overfire is defined by the manufacturer, and yes, I'm using a thermometer.

So what are your temps? What is your burning procedure? What is the moisture content of your wood? If you truly are having problems with over firing you need a pipe damper to help control it. Loading one piece every hour if not the right way to burn a stove at all but we need more info to help you.

 

[Marshy]

You can buy safety glasses with filtering infrared lenses if you really want to try them. These type of glasses are commonly used for acetylene torch cutting where the light is not as bright as it is with welding. Maybe you just need to wear them when you are loading. A welding shield it going to be too dark and you will have a hard time seeing anything.
You can order them with different strengths of filters. Shop around, these are not the cheapest I've seen that are available, just gives you an idea.

These have 5.0 shaded lenses. You can get them in 3.0 which are less shaded.
https://www.grainger.com/product/3UXR7?gclid=COPxh_e8vdECFZCFswod8o4KBA&cm_mmc=PPC:GOOGLEPLAA-_-Safety-_-Eye Protection and Accessories-_-3UXR7&AL!2966!3!50916689157g!253744147432!&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!50916689157g!253744147432!&ef_id=WGWangAAAWsVj0C4:20170112204614:s

 

[moresnow]

Welding helmet! Unless I missed it? How durn close to this unit do you sit? I am thinking emergency foil blanket as well Sorry guys. Funniest day on Hearth yet for me.
Honestly, I do feel for you Charles. I am sure having sore eyes would stink. Is the stove and pipe brand new by chance? Paint curing stink/fumes?

 

[Charles2]

Is the stove and pipe brand new by chance? Paint curing stink/fumes?

The paint cured last season when the stove and pipe were new - set off the smoke alarm.

I wouldn't think the low amount of infrared given off by a stove would cause an issue.

I'm no physicist but I would have guessed that a stove would give off more infrared than most people ever experience.

 

[blacktail]

I find that loading it full doesn't reduce the coals any, and I have to choke the air back to prevent overfiring.



Like I said, more than one piece at a time will cause an overfire unless I choke the air back.

They put an air control on it for a reason. Load it up and reduce the air as the fire gets stronger. If they were designed to be loaded one or two pieces at a time there wouldn't be stoves of different sizes.

 

[bholler]

The paint cured last season when the stove and pipe were new - set off the smoke alarm.

can you please give us the info we need to help you? We need to know how you are burning your stove what mc the wood is at and what temperatures you are running at?

 

[jatoxico]

Eye protection, welding helmets for the 30s it takes to tend a stove?? More likely than not, dry eyes from low humidity, nothing more. Get some eye drops, natural tears something like that and add some humidity to the air. If that doesn't help and you can actually tie your problem to wood burning maybe you have a sensitivity and having a stove is not for you.

 

[Elciteeve]

I'm no physicist but I would have guessed that a stove would give off more infrared than most people ever experience.

Me either, but keep in mind the sun gives off IR, as do many other things, and the sun is massively more powerful than any fire we're going to see on this planet. I couldn't find a lot of good information on the subject, but here were some interesting pieces of what I could find.

The sun, every day, outputs a level around 0.06 W/cm^2.

In one study covered, the researchers were able to damage the eyes of rats at “low power” IR levels of 70,000 J/cm^2 over an exposure period of 1000 seconds. They also did higher dosages, but that was the lowest dosage they were able to achieve detectable damage. That corresponds to a power output level of 70 W/cm^2 for 1000 seconds.