The fan on the floor trick OVERFIRE

[TWilk117]

So I have seen it posted several times to try putting a small desk fan on the floor in a colder side of the house; pointed towards the stove room, as to push the cold air out toward the stove, replenishing it with warm air... I tried this, and apparently my house is either too small or too drafty or a combination of the two.
I had the fan running in a bedroom not directly pointed at the stove, but blowing out in that general direction. After I loaded a couple pieces of wood, a couple seconds after I shut the door; my stainless steel pipe was glowing red.
Thank goodness I didn’t walk away.
Be careful.

 

[webby3650]

Either the fan was blowing air up the intake of the stove, or it was a coincidence.

 

[TWilk117]

I think it created a polar vortex firestorm.

 

[bholler]

I agree with Webby unless the fan was blowing into the intake there is no way it could have caused an overfire

 

[TWilk117]

I agree with Webby unless the fan was blowing into the intake there is no way it could have caused an overfire

Well I wouldn’t really call it an overfire exactly. Really the pipe was just briefly red.

Never happened before without the fan so I guesse it was making a lot more air go in the intake. It wasn’t even wide open. Either was the damper.

 

[bholler]

Well I wouldn’t really call it an overfire exactly. Really the pipe was just briefly red.

Never happened before without the fan so I guesse it was making a lot more air go in the intake. It wasn’t even wide open. Either was the damper.

If the pipe was glowing it was an overfire. What temps were you seeing?

 

[TWilk117]

If the pipe was glowing it was an overfire. What temps were you seeing?

I don’t have thermometer yet. Going by stainless steel pipe color, I don’t think it peaked over 600•

 

[bholler]

I don’t have thermometer yet. Going by stainless steel pipe color, I don’t think it peaked over 600•

If it was glowing it had to be close to 900.

 

[TWilk117]

If it was glowing it had to be close to 900.

You don’t say.

 

[bholler]

You don’t say.

Yeah and 600 surface pipe temp is to high. 900 is way to high

 

[TWilk117]

Oh okay. I’ll get a thermometer as soon as I can.
Thanks!

 

[velvetfoot]

Supercharged!

 

[TWilk117]

Yeah. You’re not kidding.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

As Paul Harvey would say, where's the rest of the story? It's not really possible for this situation to be remotely related as described.

 

[TWilk117]

In my situation/ circumstances:

No floor fan. = No red pipe.

Floor fan on low. = Red pipe at damper key.

I don’t know. Just wanted to warn any new burners on here.

 

[bholler]

In my situation/ circumstances:

No floor fan. = No red pipe.

Floor fan on low. = Red pipe at damper key.

I don’t know. Just wanted to warn any new burners on here.

Again unless the fan was blowing directly into the intake I don't see any way the 2 could possibly be related. And get your self a thermometer. How do you know when to shut your stove back without one?

 

[TWilk117]

Again unless the fan was blowing directly into the intake I don't see any way the 2 could possibly be related. And get your self a thermometer. How do you know when to shut your stove back without one?

Well again, like I said a couple times, it never happened before my curiosity made me play with the convection using a small fan....

I shut the stove back when the wood is lit, flames get crazy, and the stove starts sucking too much air.

With the fan on, that whole process was accelerated by a lot.

I did not dream this.

 

[Woody Stover]

So I have seen it posted several times to try putting a small desk fan on the floor in a colder side of the house; pointed towards the stove room, as to push the cold air out toward the stove, replenishing it with warm air... I tried this, and apparently my house is either too small or too drafty or a combination of the two.

If you are saying it didn't really move a lot of warm air to the back room, I would try the fan on the floor, but closer to the stove room, maybe even in the next room right outside the door to the stove room. See if that moves warm air back to the far room better.
As far as the red pipe, I agree with the others..it's not because of the fan. Something else is going on. Maybe your draft was higher than normal because of super-cold outside temps, and your stove was burning hotter than you thought it should at your regular air setting. I mean, how can the pipe start glowing " a couple seconds" after you add two splits?

 

[Woody Stover]

I don’t have thermometer yet. Going by stainless steel pipe color, I don’t think it peaked over 600•

Yeah, you really need a pipe thermometer (surface magnetic will work on single-wall) and also a stove top thermometer. Then you will have a good handle on what's happening in the box and in the flue. Or you can get an IR gun thermometer..

 

[TWilk117]

If you are saying it didn't really move a lot of warm air to the back room, I would try the fan on the floor, but closer to the stove room, maybe even in the next room right outside the door to the stove room. See if that moves warm air back to the far room better.
As far as the red pipe, I agree with the others..it's not because of the fan. Something else is going on. Maybe your draft was higher than normal because of super-cold outside temps, and your stove was burning hotter than you thought it should at your regular air setting. I mean, how can the pipe start glowing " a couple seconds" after you add two splits?

Perhaps because of the fan blowing Extreamly cold air up from the basement or from that drafty back room towards the stoves intake provided it with more than usual dense cold oxygen.

I don’t really need to heat that room. I was just experimenting.

It could be because of extreme cold.., however yesterday was much colder and a lot more windy. And I had no glitches.

“How can the pipe start glowing a couple seconds after adding two splits?”

That was sorta my question seeing as it never happened before.
Like I’m saying, I think the fan had something to do with it disturbing normal convection and accelerating oxygen delivery.
Also, it’s a small drafty house, the fan was, maybe 15 feet away. And my stove is small and efficient.

 

[Woody Stover]

So you are running the boat stove on a 4" liner? https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-member-here-hello.172770/

 

[webby3650]

I have ran a box fan on the floor pointing toward the stove for about 10 years now. It works great! I haven’t ever noticed a change in the way the stove runs. I have known stoves to overfire when they added a homemade blower setup under the stove. We even had a Hearthstone Equinox with a cracked iron floor. He had made a homemade contraption, I suspect cold air and overfiring was the cause.

 

[TWilk117]

Yeah, you really need a pipe thermometer (surface magnetic will work on single-wall) and also a stove top thermometer. Then you will have a good handle on what's happening in the box and in the flue. Or you can get an IR gun thermometer..

I know. The cold was coming quick, and they were threatening us with power outages and possible blizzard and extreme cold weather, so I just hooked the dang thing up, not exactly as I wanted, until spring/ shoulder is over.

I’m going to spring for the IR gun when I can.

 

[TWilk117]

So you are running the boat stove on a 4" liner? https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-member-here-hello.172770/

Yes

 

[bholler]

Perhaps because of the fan blowing Extreamly cold air up from the basement or from that drafty back room towards the stoves intake provided it with more than usual dense cold oxygen.

I don’t really need to heat that room. I was just experimenting.

It could be because of extreme cold.., however yesterday was much colder and a lot more windy. And I had no glitches.

“How can the pipe start glowing a couple seconds after adding two splits?”

That was sorta my question seeing as it never happened before.
Like I’m saying, I think the fan had something to do with it disturbing normal convection and accelerating oxygen delivery.
Also, it’s a small drafty house, the fan was, maybe 15 feet away. And my stove is small and efficient.

My guess as to how it could glow that quickly is that you lit off creosote in the pipe. When did you inspect it last?