Good afternoon,
We had our initial run on our new Buck 74zc fireplace this past weekend. It was going flawlessly until I’m worried we got it cooking a bit too much/overtired. I had the air damper completely shut and the blower running on low per the manual. I loaded up the firebox after about 3 hours of it running moderately, sometimes reaching secondary burn but not consistently. I ended up loading it with about 6 medium sized pieces of dry, quality mixed hardwood. At this point the fire really got cooking. The secondary burn was going constantly, and the secondary burn tubes were glowing red (I read that can be normal and safe). It got to the point where it appeared secondary burn was no longer visibly so we ended up opening up the firebox to get some cool air into the mix and get it down to coals. Since it is a ZC insert the piping is Class A. At no point did walls even appear a tad warm and from what I could see (from 2 stores up) my chimney/flute did not appear red. I have attached a video of the burn when it was starting to reach peak, and also a few pictures after I swept and scooped ash (I used a flashlight to try and make it a bit more visible). The top back left corner of the steel is concerning to me. Is that simply creosote, or a sign that part of the firebox got too hot. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.![[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/316/316538-bd91e47647a1c61c2508c5b1d0265719.jpg?hash=JoDOVg3RTy "[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?")
![[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/316/316539-f17fe367c1a5467909828691d6cad595.jpg?hash=Th-zd3RoyK "[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?")
![[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/316/316540-292c885b38ff23393fd641cf8ed4ac69.jpg?hash=-1FC04Xrie "[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?")
![[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/316/316541-d498c0b619a1f4a1ef5aa3839246d439.jpg?hash=UOmCDc0StG "[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?")
![[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/316/316542-37d0fabc06e6fada9aad7939e54b01b5.jpg?hash=9MMXiofBbQ "[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?")
![[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/316/316543-8d148969a88d07b1a97da44f4013201f.jpg?hash=hUu-UlbiUR "[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?")
![[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/316/316544-c097b2bf2672d36b39d555b4e36068ea.jpg?hash=XWWSoJUiwH "[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?")
![[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/316/316545-14833e33c8a4beea86a910fe6d5ab5a8.jpg?hash=pwZ_dHG64A "[Hearth.com] Signs we got too hot?")
We had our initial run on our new Buck 74zc fireplace this past weekend. It was going flawlessly until I’m worried we got it cooking a bit too much/overtired. I had the air damper completely shut and the blower running on low per the manual. I loaded up the firebox after about 3 hours of it running moderately, sometimes reaching secondary burn but not consistently. I ended up loading it with about 6 medium sized pieces of dry, quality mixed hardwood. At this point the fire really got cooking. The secondary burn was going constantly, and the secondary burn tubes were glowing red (I read that can be normal and safe). It got to the point where it appeared secondary burn was no longer visibly so we ended up opening up the firebox to get some cool air into the mix and get it down to coals. Since it is a ZC insert the piping is Class A. At no point did walls even appear a tad warm and from what I could see (from 2 stores up) my chimney/flute did not appear red. I have attached a video of the burn when it was starting to reach peak, and also a few pictures after I swept and scooped ash (I used a flashlight to try and make it a bit more visible). The top back left corner of the steel is concerning to me. Is that simply creosote, or a sign that part of the firebox got too hot. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
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