This is my first post, and I have a question about my Buck Model 81 that some of you might be able to answer. I recently had this stove installed as an insert along with a Forever Flex pre-insulated stainless 6" chimney liner. I also had the chimney swept/cleaned before installation. Saturday morning, I filled the firebox with wood on top of a nice bed of coals and opened the primary air all the way.....got a nice rolling fire going. When I had a good secondary burn going on in the top of the firebox where the air inlet tubes are, I closed the primary air to 50%. The flames around the wood subdued, but the coals underneath were glowing red hot, and the secondary burn was really going. It got VERY hot, to the point I got concerned. It was making a "popping" noise as it got hotter. I closed the primary air completely. The secondary burn continued for well over an hour even after the primary air was completely closed, but what scared me was the heat it was giving off & the smell of something getting very hot. All the owner's manual said was" if the connector or chimney glows, you are overheating." You could not touch the top of the stove even for a split milli-second. My question is whether any of you know of a way to control the air flow that feeds the secondary burn, or what can I do to prevent this again? I do not have a thermometer on the stove or the flu but I am considering it. The mfr would not tell me what the maximum temp was for this unit. I have learned that a large fire is NOT the way to go. Any suggestions appreciated.
BUCK MODEL 81 NON CATALYTIC
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Yes, you should get one (or perhaps two, one magnetic and one IR gun, which is how I go). Stove top temps in the 600-700f range should not worry you. 900f+ is where things start to glow.
You cannot control secondary air, but should not be a problem. Big, hot, long fires ARE the way to go, so long as they are under control and do not result in overfire.
Welcome to the forums!
The popping is just the metal expanding, nothing to worry about as it is normal. The smell was probably from getting it hotter than it has been before and the paint off gassing. I can't say if you had an overfire or not with you not having any way to measure temps, a good way to tell is if you can put your hand on the door handle or not. What I can say is you might want to start cutting the air back sooner, cut it down in stages, 75%, 50% down to just about fully closed and you should be good to go, you don't need to cut the air to the secondaries as that is a critical function of the stove reburn, that is always left wide open.
Get that thermometer right now, you can find them at local Ace hardwares or a local stove shop.
Get that thermometer right now, you can find them at local Ace hardwares or a local stove shop.
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