Well Crud...overfire

[eclecticcottage]

I guess it was bound to happen, and last night it did. DH had just been telling me he thinks I'm paranoid and make too big of a deal out of the nighttime reloads when I'll sit up for up to an hour to settle in the stove. So he did a hot reload and went to bed, only to realize aout 45 minutes later it was "bright" in the bedroom (because we're still under construction there's an opening from the stove room to the bedroom). Thermo was pegged at 800 and there was a light glow by it (why is that, they they seem to glow by the thermo). Since the stove is about a foot from the (outside) door, dh threw on the stove gloves and unloaded a few piece into the hod, then out it went. Left the door open to get air in, and it dropped to 700 pretty quick.

 

[Hass]

... he took burning wood out of the fire?

Give it some time to cool down and look for damage!
Cracked welds, corners, etc...

 

[eclecticcottage]

... he took burning wood out of the fire?

Uh yeah , I wouldn't recommend it though.

Probably the combo of ecobricks and REALLY dry driftwood that did it.

 

[pen]

Few suggestions:

Not sure how long he was watching the stove after loading but if more than 3 pieces of wood go in, I suggest being around the house (in attendance of the stove) for at least 45 mins, preferably 1 hour. Every load is different and sometimes it needs the air adjusted a bit differently than the norm and at different times.

For the next time, a few things that people have had success with when dealing with an overfire is:

1. Try turning the air down all the way if it was not when this happened and turn the blower to HIGH if you have one. If that is a failure:

2. Try opening the air up fully. Believe it or not, extra air can actually cool the fire. If that is a failure:

3. Try opening the door up (may need to turn the blower off for this). An inch may be enough to break the seal causing the secondaries to fire like crazy. Maybe more, maybe less depending on your stove. If that is a failure:

4. With the door open (obviously) if you can easily and safely rearrange some of the logs so that they are in a less burning friendly position do so. If that is a failure:

5. You can throw some ashes (be liberal) from the ash pail outside on to the fire (don't leave the door open when you go out for cold ashes). If that is a failure:

6. You can locate the primary or secondary air inlets of the stove and stuff some aluminum foil in one or both of them. Do this w/ the door closed. If that is a failure:

7. Accept the fact that you have obviously done something wrong in your life and karma is biting you in the rear. No holds barred here, fire extinguisher, garden hose, chimfex flare if you have one, ect, ect

pen

 

[lopiliberty]

I guess it was bound to happen, and last night it did. DH had just been telling me he thinks I'm paranoid and make too big of a deal out of the nighttime reloads when I'll sit up for up to an hour to settle in the stove. So he did a hot reload and went to bed, only to realize aout 45 minutes later it was "bright" in the bedroom (because we're still under construction there's an opening from the stove room to the bedroom). Thermo was pegged at 800 and there was a light glow by it (why is that, they they seem to glow by the thermo). Since the stove is about a foot from the (outside) door, dh threw on the stove gloves and unloaded a few piece into the hod, then out it went. Left the door open to get air in, and it dropped to 700 pretty quick.

When my liberty got away from me and pegged out at 900 degrees plus, the stove was in a dark room and there was no signs of anything glowing other than 2 of the air tubes which where cherry red. Can't remember, does the republic 1750 have a 5/16 top plate? Seems to me when I was researching lopi wood stoves I read somewhere that one of the republic stoves has a thinner top plate.

 

[eclecticcottage]

I don't recall. I know I could see it and DH couldn't. It was barely visable, and only right "above" (towards the back of the stove) the thermo.

 

[begreen]

I suspect the stove is fine. Lesson learned and be more careful. Though I should talk, it happened to me this week too.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Pen: Probably 5-10 minutes.

Begreen, I agree, the stove seems fine. I don't think it was a major overfire (the littlle glowing area wasn't much bigger than an inch or so across) and we caught it pretty shortly into it.

I guess if we had much creosote in the chimney we'd have known about it then!

 

[joecool85]

...Probably the combo of ecobricks and REALLY dry driftwood that did it.

Color me wrong, but I'm pretty sure driftwood is a big no-no to burn in your stove.

 

[corey21]

...Probably the combo of ecobricks and REALLY dry driftwood that did it.

Color me wrong, but I'm pretty sure driftwood is a big no-no to burn in your stove.

Once driftwood dries out it is good wood to burn as long as it is dry.

 

[eclecticcottage]

...Probably the combo of ecobricks and REALLY dry driftwood that did it.

Color me wrong, but I'm pretty sure driftwood is a big no-no to burn in your stove.

I should have mentioned this, it is freshwater driftwood. Saltwater driftwood would be bad I imagine, with salt being corrosive in nature. This is basically seasoned by water vs air/sun (which sounds pretty weird now that I said it), and VERY dry. I wouldn't suggest packing the stove with it, it'd go nuclear for sure. We used several pieces with ecobricks and a split. We'll stick to using it as kindling or just a few pieces at a time either alone or with splits-but not with Ecobricks.

We collected this particular driftwood last season and air/sun dried it. I don't have a moisture meter yet so I can't tell what the moisture content would be, but I would say it's LOW. This has been stored in plastic totes with the lids on, and didn't mildew or leave moisture on the inside of the lid-so there must be very little moisture present.

 

[joecool85]

I should have mentioned this, it is freshwater driftwood. Saltwater driftwood would be bad I imagine, with salt being corrosive in nature. This is basically seasoned by water vs air/sun (which sounds pretty weird now that I said it), and VERY dry. I wouldn't suggest packing the stove with it, it'd go nuclear for sure. We used several pieces with ecobricks and a split. We'll stick to using it as kindling or just a few pieces at a time either alone or with splits-but not with Ecobricks.

Maybe it is only bad if it's been in saltwater, I thought it was all driftwood.

 

[tcassavaugh]

did it do all that with the stove shut down?? if not, why not just shut it down and watch......once the air is taken away, a starving fire doesn't burn very long or hot.

cass

 

[theonlyzarathu]

So.... what you are saying is that the stove "took off" or over-fired and you couldn't get it slowed down? You're not saying that you had a chimney fire, right?

I used to have this problem with my old Riteway 37. If the temps got too low, or windy or heaven forbid both, I couldn't put much wood in the stove, or it would take off, causing the stove pipe to glow cherry red, and the stove pipe temp to go off the scale above 900 degrees F. I was using the standard 7 inch pipe with it. Last winter I replaced the outside SS insulated chimney piple with a 6 incher. The stove got way more controllable.

If your stove is taking off, then you have broader issues that you deal with. You need to control the stove. You didn't say which stove you had this problem. I would be concerned about an old stove that is not airtight, or that has an excessive amount of draft. You should not have to sit by the stove for an hour watching it to see that it doesn't take off. This is just dangerous.

Granted you don't want to put in a load of wood and then turn it down and walk away. But you should be able to put in a load, set it at its normal burning and then come back 30 minutes later and turn it down without sitting next to it to watch it.

My current stove is a PE summit Pedestal. I have a 22 foot chimney up the center of the house with a 6 inch SS Olympia Liner. Even in high winds and temps around zero, it behaves itself. The only problem I have is that if I open the door when the fire is just starting out, the draft will blow out the fire, but once the door is closed the draft is easily managed at any temp I've experienced down to high winds and MINUS 8F.

If this isn't what you have, then you need to consult a professional. Running a stove that takes off easily is just plain dangerous; you could burn your house down, and die in it.

Just my two cents.

 

[eclecticcottage]

It was the Republic. I imagine the Temco could overfire somehow, but we won't be running big loads in it. Smaller, hotter fires there to keep the creo down and the room warm when we want to use it. The others are all LP or NG.

We've been running it as our only heat source since October, and this was the first overfire/runaway. I believe it was the combination of VERY dry fuel (and likely too much/placed just right) on a hot coal bed and operator error (not waiting and settling in the stove before leaving the stove room). I usually let it get up to 600 or so, then damp down and keep an eye on the top temps for at least half an hour. If it tries to run up to 750 or so, I'll pop on the blower and keep an eye on it for another half hour. It's really only done that 2-3 times, usually it will cruise at 700 and then start dropping to 650 or so.

I don't believe we had a chimney fire-and if we did, it must have been a quick one, because DH checked for sparks, flames, smoke-and it was all clear. I don't think we did though. No "freight trains", no glowing on the pipe, no "hail". Actually, we didn't even have a "burning" or overfire "smell" like I've heard some folks mention. Didn't even boil the water in the cast iron pot I've got on the step top. I think we caught it early on, as it was starting to crank up. I was just saying if we DID have a buildup of creo, this would have probably let us know about it in a big ugly way.

 

[firefighterjake]

It was the Republic. I imagine the Temco could overfire somehow, but we won't be running big loads in it. Smaller, hotter fires there to keep the creo down and the room warm when we want to use it. The others are all LP or NG.

We've been running it as our only heat source since October, and this was the first overfire/runaway. I believe it was the combination of VERY dry fuel (and likely too much/placed just right) on a hot coal bed and operator error (not waiting and settling in the stove before leaving the stove room). I usually let it get up to 600 or so, then damp down and keep an eye on the top temps for at least half an hour. If it tries to run up to 750 or so, I'll pop on the blower and keep an eye on it for another half hour. It's really only done that 2-3 times, usually it will cruise at 700 and then start dropping to 650 or so.

I don't believe we had a chimney fire-and if we did, it must have been a quick one, because DH checked for sparks, flames, smoke-and it was all clear. I don't think we did though. No "freight trains", no glowing on the pipe, no "hail". Actually, we didn't even have a "burning" or overfire "smell" like I've heard some folks mention. Didn't even boil the water in the cast iron pot I've got on the step top. I think we caught it early on, as it was starting to crank up. I was just saying if we DID have a buildup of creo, this would have probably let us know about it in a big ugly way.

Random thoughts . . .

Guessing you're fine . . . or rather the stove is fine . . . not so sure about your spouse after failing to listen to your advice.

Pen offers good advice for any folks who are concerned . . . the few times I have had an "Oh crap" moment I have used fans to cool things down and used tin foil to block off the incoming air to bring the temps down to more moderate levels . . . I would not recommend removing the fuel in any case.

And yeah . . . I think you know the cause of this incident . . . putting a new source of fuel (and a lot of it) before the cycle was complete and then not waiting to make sure the fire was settled down and cruising.

 

[eclecticcottage]

It was the Republic. I imagine the Temco could overfire somehow, but we won't be running big loads in it. Smaller, hotter fires there to keep the creo down and the room warm when we want to use it. The others are all LP or NG.

We've been running it as our only heat source since October, and this was the first overfire/runaway. I believe it was the combination of VERY dry fuel (and likely too much/placed just right) on a hot coal bed and operator error (not waiting and settling in the stove before leaving the stove room). I usually let it get up to 600 or so, then damp down and keep an eye on the top temps for at least half an hour. If it tries to run up to 750 or so, I'll pop on the blower and keep an eye on it for another half hour. It's really only done that 2-3 times, usually it will cruise at 700 and then start dropping to 650 or so.

I don't believe we had a chimney fire-and if we did, it must have been a quick one, because DH checked for sparks, flames, smoke-and it was all clear. I don't think we did though. No "freight trains", no glowing on the pipe, no "hail". Actually, we didn't even have a "burning" or overfire "smell" like I've heard some folks mention. Didn't even boil the water in the cast iron pot I've got on the step top. I think we caught it early on, as it was starting to crank up. I was just saying if we DID have a buildup of creo, this would have probably let us know about it in a big ugly way.

Random thoughts . . .

Guessing you're fine . . . or rather the stove is fine . . .

Pen offers good advice for any folks who are concerned . . . the few times I have had an "Oh crap" moment I have used fans to cool things down and used tin foil to block off the incoming air to bring the temps down to more moderate levels . . . I would not recommend removing the fuel in any case.

And yeah . . . I think you know the cause of this incident . . . putting a new source of fuel (and a lot of it) before the cycle was complete and then not waiting to make sure the fire was settled down and cruising.

The stove seems fine. I never really ran an open fireplace like the Temco, but his family had one like it at their home when he was growing up. Makes me wonder if they are more forgiving in that way. I guess I'll find out when we start using it!

I do need to find that air inlet-I think it's where the OAK would hook into on the bottom of the stove. Luckily, the Republic stays reasonably cool on the back/bottom/sides even when it's 700 or so on top, so it would be accessible if we needed to.