So last night around 1:00 AM I decided to load the stove up for the night. Did my normal routine of putting 6-8 or so splits of various sizes in the firebox. Nothing really too big. Which in fact may have been part of my problem. I left the air wide open to get things going and started to close it down like normal. I noticed that as I was shutting the air down, the fire was still burning a bit faster than I would like, so I continued to shut it down thinking it would slow things down a bit.
Well, with the air shut all the way down, the stove continued racing. Before I knew it the temps were up over 700* and climbing. The fire inside the stove looked like nothing inside a stove I've experienced before. The flames were up against the glass, and a whooping sound (best I can describe it) came from the fire. It sounded like a lot of air pressure inside the box. At this point I'm getting really nervous, unsure of how to control this inferno in my living room.
I'm thinking, "Okay the air is all the way down, less air means less fire, right?" No such luck, with the air all the way down, this potential volcano is going to cause me some major problems. Then I remember that Backwoods mentioned to me in an earlier post that keeping the air wide open will allow some of the heat to go up the chimney. So seemingly against what I would think is common sense, (after all more air equals hotter fire which is the last thing I want) I open the air control fully. Thankfully, and with a great big "whew!" things started to settle down. The stove top got up to about 775* according to the Rutland thermometer. I think the whole scenario took about 20 excruciating minutes.
Anyway, this has been a lesson learned. I want to thank Backwoods Savage for all the great advice, as well as everyone else on here who pass their knowledge on to others. I also need to mention that my wife remained much calmer than I did through this whole ordeal. She helped me to calm down during the tense moments.
Hope everyone is having a great holiday season.
Jamie
Well, with the air shut all the way down, the stove continued racing. Before I knew it the temps were up over 700* and climbing. The fire inside the stove looked like nothing inside a stove I've experienced before. The flames were up against the glass, and a whooping sound (best I can describe it) came from the fire. It sounded like a lot of air pressure inside the box. At this point I'm getting really nervous, unsure of how to control this inferno in my living room.
I'm thinking, "Okay the air is all the way down, less air means less fire, right?" No such luck, with the air all the way down, this potential volcano is going to cause me some major problems. Then I remember that Backwoods mentioned to me in an earlier post that keeping the air wide open will allow some of the heat to go up the chimney. So seemingly against what I would think is common sense, (after all more air equals hotter fire which is the last thing I want) I open the air control fully. Thankfully, and with a great big "whew!" things started to settle down. The stove top got up to about 775* according to the Rutland thermometer. I think the whole scenario took about 20 excruciating minutes.
Anyway, this has been a lesson learned. I want to thank Backwoods Savage for all the great advice, as well as everyone else on here who pass their knowledge on to others. I also need to mention that my wife remained much calmer than I did through this whole ordeal. She helped me to calm down during the tense moments.
Hope everyone is having a great holiday season.
Jamie