Freaked out last night................

[WoodMann]

OK- I get home around 8 and fire up the stove for a cool night ahead. Everything's humming along and I'm packin' the firbox, turn the air down and settle inand watch some American Chopper. After being enraptured in the show for about 40 minutes I snap and look at the stove adn there's a healthy flame licking the air tubes at the top of the box and the flue temp is 1000* and the stove 700* and the room geting very warm. I proceed to shut down the air totally but nothing. I quickly get a soup pot and fill it with ice cubes and put it on top of the stove and scramble to see where the air is comming from. After a little looking I see the ash drawer door seemingly moved to the side too much one way and all the air was being inhaled thru there. I cover it up as best I could with surrounding ash and got the flue temp down to 800* and the stove finally to 600*, needless to say that the ice melted impressively fast, a few pots to boot. SO a questiong, what can I do to avoid this in the future?
Oh yeah- and is there a wood stove compatible fire log, I've been thinking of carrying something like that at the store. We have something called a Java Log that's OK for inserts, does that mean it will also work in a traditional woodstove...........

 

[deck2]

Hey, Mark samething happened to me last year, ashpan was not in all the way and It took me a few mins to find the problem. I always make sure that Ash Pan is installed and sealed correctly now!!

How about something like a bio-block/Brick or something like it for woodstoves, I burnt a couple last year and they worked OK, Wouldn't want to use them everyday, Wood is cheaper and IMO burns better for me, but someone that just wanted to take the chill off once in a while they would work, are dry and easy to transport and store.

 

[LLigetfa]

I don't think ice cubes in a pot on top of the stoves would do much. Some people keep a rolled up wet newspaper in a plastic bag on hand to toss into the firebox to cool off a raging inferno. A buildup of ashes behind the ash drawer can cause the door not to seal properly and is something to always be on the lookout for.

 

[BrotherBart]

What I have done with every stove I have ever had is let that ash drawer fill up with ashes and never touch it again. Scooping out a few shovels of ashes just ain't that hard and not as messy as ash drawers.

 

[WoodMann]

Thanks guys- I'll check all those areas out. Hmm- a bio brick, anyone know where I can get them? I just wanna get a couple to guage public reaction to something like this...............

 

[LLigetfa]

There is always a small risk that opening the door to toss in the wet newspaper could add more air to the fire and a flush of heat up the flue to ignite creosote that is right on the verge of ignition. A contingency plan that can cut off the combustion air more completely is worth consideration. Care must be exercised there too as suddenly starving a raging fire could set up a sequence of mini explosions that might dislodge the flue pipe.

Fiddling with an improperly closed ash door can also let in more air at a time you want less air for the above mentioned reason.

 

[westkywood]

Thats why I oredered my stove without an ash drawer. Last stove I had had one and I never really saw the value in it. I use the Ash Trap. I like the wet newspaper idea.

 

[savageactor7]

WOW! One thousand degrees... we're hot burners but have never been there before. Scary.

Yeah do what BB recommended...it's so easy removing a couple 3 shovels of ash from the front of a cool stove in the morning. Do that for a week and you'll wonder why you never thought of it before.

 

[madrone]

Oh yeah- and is there a wood stove compatible fire log, I've been thinking of carrying something like that at the store. We have something called a Java Log that's OK for inserts, does that mean it will also work in a traditional woodstove...........

http://www.northidahoenergylogs.com/

 

[WoodMann]

Yeah- I'm gonna go over everything with a fine toothed comb. It's that litle trap door thing at the bottome of the firbox that appeared to have a gap at the side and was bleeding air in from the bottom abundantly. Like I aid I'm gonna go over everything with a fine toothed comb. On another note, I always thought that 900* was the upper safe end for the flue temp and a continuous 750* or so was the ideal...................

 

[fossil]

I've burned a few of these. They work fine. 100% Douglas Fir.

http://www.homefirelogs.com:80/

 

[WoodMann]

Cool- I'll check out the woodstove fellow in town and see about getting a couple of those and see what the public thinks...................

 

[Ratman]

My old stove doesn't use firebrick so I always leave a couple inches of ash in.
This seems to help the floor protection substantially.

 

[BrowningBAR]

OK- I get home around 8 and fire up the stove for a cool night ahead. Everything's humming along and I'm packin' the firbox, turn the air down and settle inand watch some American Chopper. After being enraptured in the show for about 40 minutes I snap and look at the stove adn there's a healthy flame licking the air tubes at the top of the box and the flue temp is 1000* and the stove 700* and the room geting very warm. I proceed to shut down the air totally but nothing. I quickly get a soup pot and fill it with ice cubes and put it on top of the stove and scramble to see where the air is comming from. After a little looking I see the ash drawer door seemingly moved to the side too much one way and all the air was being inhaled thru there. I cover it up as best I could with surrounding ash and got the flue temp down to 800* and the stove finally to 600*, needless to say that the ice melted impressively fast, a few pots to boot. SO a questiong, what can I do to avoid this in the future?
Oh yeah- and is there a wood stove compatible fire log, I've been thinking of carrying something like that at the store. We have something called a Java Log that's OK for inserts, does that mean it will also work in a traditional woodstove...........

I hate it when I fall asleep setting up the stove at night. Solved the problem with a timer that goes off after 10 minutes.

 

[weatherguy]

I’ve burned a few of these. They work fine. 100% Douglas Fir.

http://www.homefirelogs.com:80/

Looks like a good product, do you get 12 hour burns like advertised?

 

[madrone]

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Home_Fire_Prest_Logs/

 

[JotulOwner]

WOW! One thousand degrees... we're hot burners but have never been there before. Scary.

My Condar flue thermometer indicates an optimal range (orange color) of 400 to 900 degrees (1000 degrees is too hot, but not off the charts too hot - the thing reads up to 1800. Now that is SCARY). I often operate my stove at temps inbetween those limits (400 to 900) with no problems. Am I missing something?

 

[PapaDave]

Ash pan just seems like another gadget that you don't need. Maybe I'm biased, but our stove doesn't have one. Small stove shovel into the fireside ashCAN a couple times a week, and we're gooder to go.
I'm a firm follower of the K.I.S.S. principle, when I can be.
Stove can go ballistic on me without much effort as it is, so "we don' need no steenkin' ash pan".
Still learnin' and still burnin'.

Dave

 

[grommal]

What I have done with every stove I have ever had is let that ash drawer fill up with ashes and never touch it again. Scooping out a few shovels of ashes just ain't that hard and not as messy as ash drawers.

good advice! lock the ash drawer and forget it...maggie :kiss:

I feel like a lonely voice in the wilderness when it comes to ash pan opinions. I've had very well designed ash pans on both stoves I've used during the last 24 years. Zero mess when emptying ashes. Empty them whenever I want, at any point in the burn. During 24/7 burning, I've needed to deal with ashes once per week or maybe every 10 days. If the firebox floor has the right slot configuration, and you don't get carried away raking the ask around, you get a nice layer of insulating ash that says a relatively constant thickness. Just enough drops through each day to keep it that way most of the time. Occasionally I'll have to do just a touch of raking to keep it from building up too thick. I wish the stove had a large enough ash pan so I could go a month between worrying about ashes.

So far, I've never had an air leak around an ash pan door. Though I suppose there's always a first time.

The key things are a well designed ash system and using it the proper way. The mistake most people make is causing too much of the ash to fall through, and losing the insulating layer.

The large ash pan and well-designed door and grating were key selling points that drew me toward the Oslo.

A fire should never be coaxed with an open ash door. Too risky, if you forget to close it up. In 24 years of burning, I've never used the ash door for that purpose. On the old VC, I had to leave the front doors cracked open to get it going. On the new Oslo, I don't need to leaving anything open but the main air inlet. I consider that a blessing, as I don't have to worry about leaving a door open and forgetting about it.

 

[LLigetfa]

My 11 year old Onyx doesn't have an ash pan but the current Onyx model now does. Unlike the traditional grate system, it just uses a removable firebrick "bung" in the centre and you have to rake all the ashes into the hole. Doesn't seem worthwhile having IMHO.

 

[oconnor]

I hate it when I fall asleep setting up the stove at night. Solved the problem with a timer that goes off after 10 minutes.

+1 - timer works well, so long as I set it. Saved my butt a few times

 

[uptrapper]

What I have done with every stove I have ever had is let that ash drawer fill up with ashes and never touch it again. Scooping out a few shovels of ashes just ain't that hard and not as messy as ash drawers.

good advice! lock the ash drawer and forget it...maggie :kiss:

I feel like a lonely voice in the wilderness when it comes to ash pan opinions. I've had very well designed ash pans on both stoves I've used during the last 24 years. Zero mess when emptying ashes. Empty them whenever I want, at any point in the burn. During 24/7 burning, I've needed to deal with ashes once per week or maybe every 10 days. If the firebox floor has the right slot configuration, and you don't get carried away raking the ask around, you get a nice layer of insulating ash that says a relatively constant thickness. Just enough drops through each day to keep it that way most of the time. Occasionally I'll have to do just a touch of raking to keep it from building up too thick. I wish the stove had a large enough ash pan so I could go a month between worrying about ashes.

So far, I've never had an air leak around an ash pan door. Though I suppose there's always a first time.

The key things are a well designed ash system and using it the proper way. The mistake most people make is causing too much of the ash to fall through, and losing the insulating layer.

The large ash pan and well-designed door and grating were key selling points that drew me toward the Oslo.

A fire should never be coaxed with an open ash door. Too risky, if you forget to close it up. In 24 years of burning, I've never used the ash door for that purpose. On the old VC, I had to leave the front doors cracked open to get it going. On the new Oslo, I don't need to leaving anything open but the main air inlet. I consider that a blessing, as I don't have to worry about leaving a door open and forgetting about it.

I with you grommal, I have only owned 1 wood stove but have empied ashes out of a stove at deer camp for many years. I wouldn't even consider buying a stove without one. Every night I just rake the coals a couple times and once a week I empty the ash pan right after I bring in wood. Way better than shoveling ash and making a mess in my opinion. Maybe there is a better way to empty ashes with a shovel and bucket so as not to make such a mess but even if there was a clean way, the shoveling every couple days is more than enough to make me glad I have a ash pan. Guess thats why they make them both ways though, some people like em and some people dont.

Mike

 

[North of 60]

Putting something ice cold on something that hot isnt gonna do anything good for it. That could cause alot of stress in that one area and cause minute fractures. Waiting it out would of been the best plan. The everburn on the VC,s actually run that hot when they get rumbling. I am glad it all worked out for ya. If you would of had some build up in your flue it could of been a different story.

 

[WoodMann]

WOW! One thousand degrees... we're hot burners but have never been there before. Scary.

My Condar flue thermometer indicates an optimal range (orange color) of 400 to 900 degrees (1000 degrees is too hot, but not off the charts too hot - the thing reads up to 1800. Now that is SCARY). I often operate my stove at temps inbetween those limits (400 to 900) with no problems. Am I missing something?

That's exactly the probe flue thermometer I have, a condar with those same markings; orange 400 to 900 degrees. That's why when it went to 1000* I tried to get everything back down. It's great to know what's going on where, especially when playing with fire..........

 

[savageactor7]

I see a temp and think of stove top temp cause that's what I burn by ...sorry for any confusion. As long as it's become an issue tell me...is it possible to have a stove top temp of 500 and a flue temp that much different? How much higher? thanks