I got the stove going this morning like I always do with a few small splits, a couple odds & ends from the wood pile and a couple small 2x4 scraps on a hot bed of coals with the primary wide open. The 2x4 scraps were lit in no time and the fire was going. I went upstairs to eat breakfest and maybe 20 minutes later my wife said, "Do you smell that, smells like something is burning?". When got to the basement stairs all I could smell was that new stove paint burning smell. The stove pipe was reading 550 and the stove top was 700 with both climbing quickly. I cut the air all the way off and setup a fan blowing over the top of the stove. Took a few minutes but the temps came down to normal and it's burning fine now. I can't see any reason why this happened, the ash pan is closed all the way (I never use it so it's never opened), the door closes tight, the gaskets look like they are in good shape. It has been very windy and cold here though so maybe a strong gust of wind created a super draft. I may have knocked the block covering the ash hole lose too while getting some ash out this morning. Will have to check that.
One thing that caught my attention was the CO detector I have down there had a reading of 13 while this was happening. First time any of my CO detectors have ever registered a reading besides 0 so it's good to know they work.
One thing that caught my attention was the CO detector I have down there had a reading of 13 while this was happening. First time any of my CO detectors have ever registered a reading besides 0 so it's good to know they work.