Possibly overfired insert?

[dudiblah]

A little worried that I may have overfired my insert. I loaded up my insert with a fair amount of cedar and some mixed hardwood. A full load on right after a hot bed or coals.

I am fairly diligent about closing down the air control down fairly soon after it starts going. The air wash shield in the front was glowing red, as well as the reburn tubes. My ir thermo was reading almost 900 at the glass pointing through towards the top.

I immediately shut the air down and it started to cool off after some time. From what I could tell the outside insert wasn't glowing red at least on the front. It is an older unit. An old i2100. That was in fairly good shape.

The top does have some specs of discoloration on the inside of the top but it's mostly on the right side like the picture shows. Overall it was a fairly hair raising experience.

Somewhat new to woodstoving but have tried to do my due diligence with the unit and show it the respect it deserves. Makes me hesitant to load it up anymore. Would hate to turn this thing into a 300lb paper weight.

Have done some researching and some stoves do something like this on a regular basis. However the manual states that any red glowing is over firing. I'm not an expert so I'd rather be safe then sorry.

 

[EbS-P]

Stove Parts should never glow. So yes it was overfired. The air wash deflector appears a bit warped. Is that new?

I had parts of my stove glowing once. It just kept getting hotter and hotter. I even had the air full closed and it kept getting hotter. The air wash deflector was glowing. I was quite worried I’d done permanent damage to it. I didn’t. It’s fine. Generally it takes repeated over fires to do damage. Let it cool off and give it good looking over. Pay attention for any cracks especially near corners.

Come up with a system so this doesn’t happen again. I like the Auber at200 thermometer alarm.

 

[BigJ273]

It’s not uncommon for the tubes to glow, especially on a hot reload. Now the deflector does look warped

 

[dudiblah]

The deflector was already like that when I purchased it. However the rest of it didn't show any damage at all. This happened with the air damper fairly dialed back. Not sure if it was all the cedar that I had loaded up. Since it burns really fast and hot. I'll test the door gasket. Going to take the stove apart and give it a once over. Thanks for the advice.

 

[EbS-P]

Check it all over for air leaks. The soot between those firebricks in the second picture make me wonder if there is air leak in that area but it would be an odd place.

 

[dudiblah]

The soot from the bricks seams to be from some creosote build up on the corners. For the most part all the welds in the unit look fine. There is a hairline crack in a corner by the door. There is also some pitting along the left side. I've read that that crack is common on these units when it's been overfired. Here are some pictures. Worth saving with some simple welding?

 

[EbS-P]

Well…… those pictures are not good. What are your needs, goals and wishes regarding this stove, and its possible replacement. It’s been overfired many times.

 

[dudiblah]

Well if it's gone and this was the final straw. I'd replace it with another unit and take the tax credit, Maryland offers a tax credit as well. We have a brand new liner with an offset adapter. If I could find a stove close in size I'd just have it hooked right up to the liner. Possibly a drolet 1500i/1800i maybe. Worst comes to worst I'm out $500 I paid for the unit.

 

[EbS-P]

My biggest concern is not being able to control the fire. Are there other cracks or leaks that we don’t see? How much useful life does it have left, in not sure.
Where ever it was installed before it was was over fired and now it’s happened again.

If you had a plan to cut off the air I might consider continuing to run it this season. I have 20-30 loads in my 1800i and I still don’t know the stove. 5th winter with my jotul im really comfortable with it. It could be a Ron Popeil infomercial “set it and forget it”.

I guess you have some decisions to make.

 

[dudiblah]

Overall it's not a huge loss if I get rid of it. I don't rely on it for primary heat. I invested in a heat pump and solar panels.

The worst thing that has happened has been my confidence took a pretty major hit. For the most part it looks ok inside, however I'm not professional. I went over it with a wire brush for a couple hours.

The most I ask of it is to heat us up when it's cold outside. I just like wood heat. It's something I've always enjoyed. If there's any safety concerns I'd rather not risk anything. It's just not worth it.

There could be something I'm just not seeing. Maybe I put to much fuel in it. Im aware that you have to be a bit more careful with softwoods as they burn hotter but for a shorter time. Maybe I just used to much cedar. My wood pile is behind anyway. I started off with smaller fires then just started to push it.

Metal fatigues over time with to much heat and even if it's fixed other problems could develope over time. I'm not a welder and it's usually not to expensive but having the safety part along with the repeated repairs would make it less worth it.

If it were just a fire pit I probably wouldn't care that much and just reuse it but it's inside and I would rather not have a metal forge or risk damaging the liner or chimney if it's even possible. That's probably the saving grace with the tax incentives and the fresh liner. The new incentives are 30% on my federal, and md offers a $500 credit. Swapping out the unit and bolting it up to the liner probably isn't to time consuming or difficult.

 

[EbS-P]

Seems plausible it was just over loaded with cedar a maybe the air was not turned down soon enough and far enough . I probably keep it and run it carefully this season. Prices and availability right now are not conducive to getting any kind of deal.

 

[bholler]

Overall it's not a huge loss if I get rid of it. I don't rely on it for primary heat. I invested in a heat pump and solar panels.

The worst thing that has happened has been my confidence took a pretty major hit. For the most part it looks ok inside, however I'm not professional. I went over it with a wire brush for a couple hours.

The most I ask of it is to heat us up when it's cold outside. I just like wood heat. It's something I've always enjoyed. If there's any safety concerns I'd rather not risk anything. It's just not worth it.

There could be something I'm just not seeing. Maybe I put to much fuel in it. Im aware that you have to be a bit more careful with softwoods as they burn hotter but for a shorter time. Maybe I just used to much cedar. My wood pile is behind anyway. I started off with smaller fires then just started to push it.

Metal fatigues over time with to much heat and even if it's fixed other problems could develope over time. I'm not a welder and it's usually not to expensive but having the safety part along with the repeated repairs would make it less worth it.

If it were just a fire pit I probably wouldn't care that much and just reuse it but it's inside and I would rather not have a metal forge or risk damaging the liner or chimney if it's even possible. That's probably the saving grace with the tax incentives and the fresh liner. The new incentives are 30% on my federal, and md offers a $500 credit. Swapping out the unit and bolting it up to the liner probably isn't to time consuming or difficult.

How tall is your chimney? Btw tubes and deflector glowing is pretty normal.