Harman TL300 with blower got a little hot

[79bombi]

This is a new stove I am getting used to. Before I went to bed I filled up the Harman TL300 with hardwood (right around 20% moisture), got it going, turned down the air intake, shut the damper, and turned on the blower (wife was cold). Have not used blower yet. On my old stove it blew room air over thru the stove and out the other side. Several hours later I woke up and thought it was a little warm. Went to check the stove in the basement. Stove was right about to overfire on the Rutland thermometer I have (have not calibrated it to see how close it is) at 600 degrees and room was 100 degrees.

Does this blower encourage the fire or is it just blowing room air across the stove? I felt like it was cranking up the fire because I have had this much wood in it before with a low air intake setting? Manual was not very specific.

 

[Pagey]

Keep in mind that the "overfire" temp on that Rutland is meant for the stove pipe itself, not necessarily the stove you are using. Most plate steel stoves, for example, aren't overfired until they are around 800F or more.

 

[fbelec]

what does the stove manual say is running temps for your stove? 600 does not seem to be overfiring on any stove i've seen. if you said 800 or 900 now your talking. who big is the room that the stove is in? if it's in a smaller room than you might have to run it at 100 in that room to squeeze the heat out of and into the next room or house.

 

[79bombi]

I have looked through the manual twice and can not find a mention of suggested operating temperatures or how the blower works. I am just concerned that the blower is actually force feeding air into the stove because that is the only variable that changed last night and things got hot.

 

[deck2]

Just a stupid question, was your ashpan closed securley? I say this because mine wasn't one night last year and I had a couple of nervous hours and then I realized that a piece of coal had fallen behind the ashpan and it kept the front from sealing correctly!

 

[stejus]

I have a Rutland gauge on top of an HI300 insert. It's sitting on the stove top, not the top shelf. I am at 600 degrees and not even close to an over fire with three splits and the air 3/4 turned down.

 

[79bombi]

Yes - I double checked all the points of air intake to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

 

[BrotherBart]

It was probably just a case of the "Afterburner" lighting off but with a top loader like the TL a piece bark or something could be a culprit if it didn't let the top seal well when you closed it.

 

[branchburner]

600 is not overfiring but seems a little high for a sustained burn with low air - was the primary air fully shut, or mostly shut? If it was fully shut, I think the mentioned ideas (of some object letting in air through top, front, or ashpan door) is likely.
If anything, running the blower should result in cooler temps by pulling heat from the stove.

 

[ddklahr]

When I turn on our blower, it tends to cool down the stove. I have to turn my air lever up to the 3rd notch in order to keep the stove temp above 375 degrees. Normally, we have the air set on the 2nd notch, depending upon how cold it is.

 

[FISHBONZ]

Sweet stove, Used to have one before I moved. Miss it. The blower pushes air from up the back and across the top of the stove.. It does not have contact with the inside therefore should not be feeding the flame. I got mine really hot a few times and it heated my 1200 sq foot basement to unbearable temps. A few times I turned the blower on high and opened windows to get the heat out. Even though I go to those high temps I never saw any problems as a result. I think if you left the ash pan door open you would have had a rageing fire that which you could blow glass with. Not sure if you have ever done it on purpose or not. If you have not, try it to see what happens. DON'T walk away though. It will get your fire going quick and should not be left alone. Did you have the arm locked down all the way to engage the secondary burn cycle. It will shut down the air more than if it's left up. Perhaps having the flu open like that was giving it more air than you wanted. Especially if you have a great draft.