Fisher Baby Bear max temperature stoves metal can handle

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gmb77

New Member
Jan 5, 2019
2
Vermont
I am new to the forum, but have enjoyed reading all the info about Fisher Stoves. I have a Baby Bear stove with a 13" x 9" baffle that I put in this heating season due to information obtained from this forum, thanks.This stove came with the house we bought about 20 years ago and have used it on and off during this time. The last few years have used it quite a bit. Any ways I was starting the stove this morning with a hot fire and the door damper wide open. I usually let it burn until the front stove top gets to between 600 to 800 F and the stove pipe gets around 350 F. Once it gets to these temperatures I will close the door damper to three full turns from closed Well this morning I allowed the front stove top to get over 800 F with the stove pipe getting to 350 F. Turned the door damper to three full turns from closed and the front stove top temperature keep climbing as did the stove pipe temperature. Also the air seemed to be rushing through the door dampener as though it was wide open. The stove top temperature got to about 1000 F and the stove pipe temperature to 400 F. Both of these thermometers are cheap surface temperature thermometers. I got nervous about the high stove top temperature so turned down the door damper one full turn and the both temperatures started to decrease. Was the stove getting secondary burn of the exhaust gases and can this stove handle temperatures this high? I don't know when the stove was built, but the door is square with aluminum damper knob, the word Fisher and Patented on it with of course three pine trees. Thanks for any information.
 
Owners manual says no part of the stove should glow.
As steel gets hotter it turns from a dark red glow, to bright red to orange. (See chart in link)
Overheating the steel will cause warping and cracking of the steel. I've seen stoves crack at the vent pipe.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/know-temperature-when-metal-glows-red/
Air rushing through the door sounds like you might have had burning off of creosote in the chimney (chimney fire). Was the chimney clean?
 
.Don H thanks for the reply. I checked out the stove pipe from the stove to the masonry chimney just before started to burn the stove yesterday and all there I found was some soot in the pipes. Didn't check the chimney because it was dark out. When I checked the chimney a couple of weeks ago there was some creosote present, but about 98% of the chimney was clean. I checked the stove pipes this morning before starting the stove to burn and found them in the same state as yesterday. Tried to recreate the same conditions as yesterday, but could not get it do it again. I was able to get the front stove top to a little less than 1000 F and when I turned off all the lights, I could see a slight red glow about 5 inches in diameter where the front stove top makes the bend to the rear stove top. When I turned off the lights with the front stove temperature at 800 F there was no red glow. I will keep my burns to 800 F or less. Thanks again for your reply.
 
A stove or fireplace "roaring"or as you said "rushing air" is a common description from a homeowner when they have a chimney fire.
I doubt you did any damage to the stove.

Also a handy thing to keep by the stove is a few quart sized ziplock bag of Dry Chemical ABC powder, the same powder used in fire extinguishers. In the event of a chimney fire toss one into the stove and shut the door. The draft will carry the powder up into the chimney and knock down the fire. And it make less mess than discharging a pressurized fire extinguisher.
 
Just wondered how you were doing with these colder temps. The colder outside, the stronger the draft, so you need to close the air intake more or use a flue damper to slow it down. One turn open from closed is normal here, but chimney, pipe configuration and outdoor temps determine settings.

The stove should be heating the area you’re trying to heat at 500 to 700 degrees stove top temps. If not, you need a bigger stove if you are constantly pushing 800. Output is calculated by the temperature of each square inch of surface area, this temperature varies greatly measuring surface temps around the stove.

The larger stoves with two intakes only require the intake to be opened 2 or 3 turns when starting. As ti come sup to temp, 1 1/2 turns is about right until fully up to temp when they closed down to a turn. More or less for the desired heat output. I've found Baby to need slightly more, but never more than 2 turns when up to operating temperature. This all depends on CHIMNEY size. The chimney is the engine that drives the stove, so the larger the engine in a vehicle, the less throttle you need to give it to maintain a given speed. Air and flue damper settings depend on chimney draft, not the stove.