We just got our new EPA stove to burn with this season. Used an old Pre-EPA for 12 years. It's been a learning curve....The other night I accidentally over fired the stove. In retrospect, I should have turned the air down much sooner....The actual stove and pipe did not glow but the air wash shield was glowing. Stove top got to a little under 800 with flue temps around 550. Air was completely closed and blower on high. Husband had just swept the chimney that very day! My question is, can you shove something fire proof into the air intake hole in the bottom. back of stove in an emergency situation like this? I've looked the stove over and see no apparent damage. It's 1/4 inch steel topped stove. It's and England stove. I would appreciate any advice as this was a harrowing experience that I am going to try with everything in me to not let happen again! Thanks a bunch!
Accidental overfire
- Thread starter mando4mary74
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T-roy_
Burning Hunk
800 is hot but nothing to be overly concerned about. Maybe give the stove a once over. Check door gaskets and such for air leaks.
I had checked the door with a dollar bill before starting the first fire a month ago. I took a light and shined inside the stove the next morning and didn't see any light come through. All the welds look good. I was concerned about damage to the air shield because it was glowing.....We've used the stove a month now and never had this happen but in retrospect I realize I put way too much very dry red oak in there and it was like once it took off it went berserk! Thanks for the reply....
I've heard of folks having alu foil balled up laying ready for emergency plugging.
(Though there is a temp where alu foil starts "burning" - to aluminum oxide -, that should not happen at your air intake. Or if it does, it's 911 and a sprint away, IMHO.)
(Though there is a temp where alu foil starts "burning" - to aluminum oxide -, that should not happen at your air intake. Or if it does, it's 911 and a sprint away, IMHO.)
jetsam
Minister of Fire
It's counterintuitive at first if you're used to pre-EPA stoves, but you get lots of heat out of the secondary burn too- so you can choke the air down and still be making tons of heat.
The fastest way to cool the stove in the event of an actual overfire is to open the door fully (also counterintuitive). Yes, you get an inferno in the firebox, but you also get a ton of dilution air cooling the stove and flue. (So I hear, haven't tried it, my stove shuts down to the point that "low" is almost "off".)
And like stoveliker said, if you plug the air intakes for the secondaries, you should stop getting much reburn activity... bear in mind that if you put it out in this way, the firebox can fill with wood gas in the absence of flame, and it will all ignite at once the first time flame returns (making opening the door an exciting proposition).
I have no problem letting my Englander hit 800 on occasion. Which model do you have? If nothing on the outside was glowing and you still have black paint then you’re fine. Nothing you can do about it now anyway.
I think most of us have gotten distracted and turned down the air a bit late. It happens. By the description, you may have not overfired the stove, at least not seriously. Some tips that have helped me are:
1) Set a timer if you can not be at the stove all the time during startup. This can be a kitchen timer or a cellphone timer.
2) Install a digital flue thermometer with an alarm. I like this because it doesn't just alert me, it alerts everyone in the house. I have ours set to 900º.
1) Set a timer if you can not be at the stove all the time during startup. This can be a kitchen timer or a cellphone timer.
2) Install a digital flue thermometer with an alarm. I like this because it doesn't just alert me, it alerts everyone in the house. I have ours set to 900º.
We have the Madison model. The paint on the outside looks the same as before it happened...I checked all welds and they look the same. Hopefully, the only thing hurt was my confidence....Live and Learn...
I will definitely look into the flue thermometer....I am usually a stove hawk but for some reason I just let it go a little too far....
Isaac Carlson
Minister of Fire
800 is not bad. Our stove hits 800 just about every day and has done so since we put it in years ago.
the problem with having a lot of dry wood in a hot firebox is the rapid off-gassing and the heat it makes.
More wood means more gas to burn which means more heat. The only way around this is to close the air down below what it needs to burn completely and then it smokes because it is not burning it all, which wastes fuel and stinks.
the problem with having a lot of dry wood in a hot firebox is the rapid off-gassing and the heat it makes.
More wood means more gas to burn which means more heat. The only way around this is to close the air down below what it needs to burn completely and then it smokes because it is not burning it all, which wastes fuel and stinks.
ChadMc
Burning Hunk
Was going to say 800 isn’t horrible. We hit that every now and then in our regency. The dealer said you can’t hurt it even at 1000!! I called regency cause I just didn’t believe that and they said the same. They didn’t bat an eye at 800. We have a blower on ours and I turn it on high and it cools it back down quick.
Isaac Carlson
Minister of Fire
yeah, I caught some hell this last week for running my stove at 1000 before going to bed. A dull glow above the firebox doesn't worry me at all when the flue temps are 350-375.
be careful, the blower blows on the thermometer’s sensing coil and artificially lowers the indicated temperature so it’s probably still almost just as hot.
800 is perfectly fine. 1000 on occasion isn't going to hurt the stove. But doing it regularly will destroy the stove
I really don't think any metal should be glowing, that is material science saying things are close to breaking down. I watch a lot of old Star Trek series with my kids, it is what we would call "Structural integrity failure is imminent". That said, it happened to me in my first season with my Englander. I got distracted by chaos in the house, next thing I know the smoke detector is beeping, my magnetic flue thermometer lost its magnetic bond and fell from the flue bouncing off the stove top and to the floor, the stove top was emitting a scary reddish glow. Right then and there I swore I would never leave a new fire unattended no matter what other chaos was happening in the house. And yes, opening the door completely letting the cold air in brought the temperature down. But the fire was so hot from the open door that I got a spot of 1st degree burn on one arm.
ChadMc
Burning Hunk
Every now and then I may hit 700-800. I have mine pretty dialed in. I can get it to cruise between 500-600 for hours!!
Isaac Carlson
Minister of Fire
Yep, I have gotten plenty of radiant burns when reloading the stove. Those coals can be HOT. It's amazing how hot the inside of the firebox can be even when it's time to reload.
I tried a new arrangement of splits the other night that stayed stable for about 10 minutes and then all started burning at once. Uh oh! That was a poor choice! Now im in for it. Anyway, flue probe temperature skyrocketed in about 4 minutes up to temps where my stove top would have hit 850 on the top. But i did the opening door trick about 4 times, 5 mins apart, and STT stayed at 700. Wasted a little heat but felt much calmer! Opening the door drops the flue temps rapidly.
Isaac Carlson
Minister of Fire
I try to pile them against the coolest side of the firebox nice and tight with the coals raked to the other side. They will burn more evenly and not all at once.
If you have a cleanout tee use that. In an emergency if my stove is overfiring I can pull the cleanout cap, instantly removes 90% of the draft from the stove and cools off the chimney. I have a walkout basement so I can be from the stove to the tee in 10 seconds, my wife knows this as well, and to bring one of the leather gloves from by the stove to prevent a burn. Of course if there is a chimney fire adding more oxygen will just make it worse.
Agreed that 800 probably didn't do any damage, but completely understand being a bit freaked out... Put my new EPA stove in in January and try to stay under 700, but have also hit 800 once or twice. The thing that always freaks me out is when I seem to have it cruising at about 550 after 45 minutes, go shower, check it after the shower and it's screaming along at 700-750... Big adjustment from the old smoke dragon.
I will never leave the stove unattended while it's catching again, either! I have a question, I have inspected the stove closely to see if there was any damage. One thing I noticed that may not be new but I can't be sure is the front of the baffle boards is not resting flush on the front tube...They are resting on the other 2 tubes...I can't say I see an obvious warp in the boards or the tube....Seeing you have an Englander, I thought you might be able to let me know if this is the case with yours as well! Thanks!
Curious to see the answer to that... Mine are the same. Resting on the middle tubes, 1/4" off in back and 1/2" off in front.
That sounds like mine. I just wanted to make sure I hadn't warped something ha ha..Must be correct since we both have an England stove. I don't see any obvious warpage or anything...Thanks for chiming in...I feel better ha ha
I'm considering at my next cleaning to flip them over and see if they flatten out...
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