What is the SAFE procedure if glass in the stove door breaks?

[bogydave]

Was reading the post "Glass broke in sisters' stove"in the pellet mill.
Not sure the stove they were discussing.
I often thought having the metal door for a back up
if the glass ever broke with a fire going.
What is a safe procedure if it ever happens?
Is it now an semi-open fire place with no inlet air control?
Spray some water to keep the fire from running away?
Gloves, metal bucket, pull the wood out & run outside with it? (several trips if needed)
I've thought about it, but don't know how the stove is going to burn if the glass is gone.
Be good to know what to do. Bucket of water thrown in just don't seem the best solution, but
would work if was the only recourse before worse happens.

 

[KTLM]

Just guessing maybe a fire ext. to start with but it's always good to have a backup plan. Run and let Mrs. bogy handle it.

 

[bogydave]

Just guessing maybe a fire ext. to start with but it's always good to have a backup plan. Run and let Mrs. bogy handle it.

Dry powder don't cool the embers, they will re-ignite as soon as the powder dissipates.
Did that on an big oil tank fire (300 lb purple K extinguisher, many feet away),
timbers near the hatch kept re-igniting the vapors. We finally hit it with foam. (scary for a while though)
Maybe short blasts, till it cools down.

 

[KTLM]

Just don't want to cool the stove metal too fast. Good thought to bring up. Many burners may not have considered a runaway fire plan.

 

[hemlock]

I've heard of some keeping a wet/waterlogged chunk of wood nearby to toss in the stove should it get away on you. Maybe in a pinch, a wet rage might have the same effect? If you use water, be careful of steam burns. I would try to avoid dousing it with a large amount of water to avoid thermal shock -but when it comes down to it - your stove or your house?

 

[snowleopard]

How about keeping a few pieces of plywood on hand cut to friction-fit the door? Put one in there, and it shouldn't ignite too quickly, because the air will be pulling the flame away from it. While that one's doing its thing, you've got the second piece of plywood soaking in the sink. When the first one fails, the second one goes in. This at least will buy you some thinking/working time. If you're truly concerned about this, you could even make a `sandwich'--a few layers of plywood with some metal in the middle, and turnstile-thingo's that you could rotate to lock the piece in place.

You might even be able to install the backup window you keep on hand for the occasion while the plywood is buying you the minutes. And if it takes a gasket, have that material on hand and be ready to work fast.

Also, keep your video camera running because this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we *will* want pix . . .

 

[volks-man]

push everything to the back of the stove with the poker.
turn down the air controls to zero.
sit back and enjoy your new fireplace till it burns out.
keep a spray bottle of water around to mist it if it gets out of hand.

 

[davmor]

I had a glass break on a door years ago and I put a peice of foil over the door. Did not stop the air completely but it helped. Dave.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I cracked 2 panes in my old EW loaded stoves from logs rolling into the glass during the burn. Luckily they cracked instead of shattered and just burned down. Current stove loads NS. With a steel stove, it seems like bending up a piece of sheet metal to go over the opening would do the trick.

 

[MishMouse]

I don't think you would have a total failure of the glass unless you really tried.
I think since the glass is more of a ceramic it will crack instead of shattering unless you replaced your original door glass with something that is not up to standards.

The stove I have the Harman TL-300 they actually sell a insert that takes the place of the door to turn it into a fireplace.
And I have run it before with the door open and the bypass open with little issue.
Your biggest issue could occur if you took your poker and put a hole in the glass then instead of it acting like a fireplace it would pull the air in through the hole. If this happened I would shut down the air and plug the hole with a non-burnable material.

To the OP, try this with the fire going normally, close primary air, open the bypass and open the door wide open.
Observe what happens to the fire.
Now close the door and open the door just a crack.
Observe what happens to the fire.
This should tell you what would happen to your stove under a total failure (which I do not think is possible) and a crack or hole (more possible).

As to what to do in this situation, I would use my furnace cement and use it to cover the hole or crack if it was letting air into the stove causing a uncontrollable condition. It is not flammable and should be able to take the heat for a short period of time. I have never tried using it on a hot stove only to repair fire bricks but it would be the most safest for a quick fix. The key to this is causing a uncontrollable condition, if the stove was still controllable by closing the primary air and or having the bypass open or closed I would leave as is until the fire went out.

I would not recommend the following solutions that were suggested:
Using plywood on your door, I do not think placing burnable material on the door would work due to most stoves air wash systems would ignite it very quickly causing a fire outside the normal contained box. Also since the box is already hot even with the air turned down it would still ignite the wood, even if wet it would still eventually ignite.

Pulling the wood and making a run for it.
I would never try to pull the wood out and make a run for it, then you could have a fire in your home of suffer serious burns.

 

[cptoneleg]

One of the extras for my stove is a wire front door, so shouldn't be a big deal; I don't know why but front door opening does not seem to afect fire like opening side door. But thats my stove :zip:

 

[roddy]

i can burn my stove with the door wide open(with or with-out screen),no need to panic as far as i can see...sit back and enjoy

 

[Danno77]

Funny you mention this. I've thought about it before. I Found a sheet of 22 gauge steel in my scrap pile that just happened to be the EXACT right size that I could clamp the door down and have the seals seal it tight between the stove and the door. I threw that right outside my downstairs door, so it's pretty handy. I don't really expect catastrophic failure of the glass, but sometimes I do get rammy with overloading and cranking the door shut, so I suppose it could happen.

 

[firefighterjake]

1) Never really worried too much about this . . . seems like most folks who have had issues with breaking "glass" have been folks who have attempted to shut the door with great force on wood splits impacting the glass -- something I avoid. The "glass" used in these stoves is pretty rugged . . . I can only think of a handful of folks who have new EPA stoves who have had issues with the glass breaking to the point where it was MIA and anything more than a crack.

2) As Roddy mentioned my stove can also be run with a screen in place of the door . . . which to me says if the glass did fail in a major way . . . it would just be a matter of making sure that no errant embers or sparks came out during the burning proces..

 

[Highbeam]

So the reason that many stoves can be run without a front door is that it spoils the draft. If you partially open a door, or admit some air through a partially open or broken door then you can very well create an overfire since the air that is coming in is being sucked into the fire and then up the chimney. A blast furnace. You need to spoil the blast furnace by giving the firebox so much air that it prettty much stalls.

This thread can not only apply to broken glass but also to those of us with stoves that have crappy and failure prone door latches. I am most worried about a door popping open while I'm asleep. With a door cracked open, the blast furnace effect is big and overfire will likely occur. If I'm awake I plan to prop the door closed with something heavy and metal.

 

[bogydave]

Some good replies. Hope to never need any of them.
I know with a stove full of dry splits & the door wide open, the fire
want to get roaring. The stove may not get over-fired but if ran that
way for very long, the chimney will be clean. When I load a full load of birch, the bark
ignites quick & shortly I have a raging, roaring fire. After the bark burn off, the raging fire does calm down.
I've seen the pipe out the top of the stove turn red it got so hot. (old stove, door open)
Spray misting water then may be a good solution.
Foil would give you some time, few layers wrapped around the door could be done pretty quick.
Sheet metal sounds good, (I have galvanize but would work, zinc gasses issue but can ventilate the area outside)
I think a thin piece of steel a very good idea, would last long enough to gain control & some time
to get a repair (depending on the time of day) & could get you thru the night if needed.
Quick thinking. Having some plan, if needed is a good idea. Saves panic & knowing what you can do rather quick to gain control
can prevent small incidents from getting out of control.

Hopefully the fire burns like a fireplace & no overheating the stove pipe or flue.
If getting too hot:
Grab the roll of foil, wrap a few layers & close the door, stove on low . Get a piece of steel for longer term temporary fix.
Fix the door. Kick yourself in the ass for breaking the glass, about now.

Thanks everyone
I've got a workable plan & hope to never need it.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

First step, don't panic. There's no need to do anything but keep an eye on the stove, make sure no sparks pop out to cause a fire and just let the fire burn down. Turn down the air controls, although that probably won't do much, since air will be going in past the glass. If you do happen to have a chimney fire at the same time (unlikely) it's always a good idea to have a Chimfex extinguisher around just in case. Don't throw water on the fire. It can crack metal and cause scalding steam. Running through the house with burning wood and ashes is far more dangerous than the broken glass. Just keep an eye on the stove until it burns down and you'll be fine.

 

[cptoneleg]

How much golf do you get to play in Alaska :zip: You own adiffernt animal than me I can take the door off and no problem

 

[bogydave]

How much golf do you get to play in Alaska :zip: You own adiffernt animal than me I can take the door off and no problem

4 months, 5 in a good year. T1-UP in about 4 to 6 weeks, I hope.
Some conditions I can take the door off & burn.
I figured the glass most likely to break when loading the stove for
the overnight burn & birch bark roars with black smoke when it takes off.
I'd not be comfortable burning thu the night with the door off. Well no sleep anyway.
Just nice to have a plan but never need it.
Like major earth quake here, can happen, some pre planning can be useful.

 

[cptoneleg]

How much golf do you get to play in Alaska :zip: You own adiffernt animal than me I can take the door off and no problem

4 months, 5 in a good year. T1-UP in about 4 to 6 weeks, I hope.
Some conditions I can take the door off & burn.
I figured the glass most likely to break when loading the stove for
the overnight burn & birch bark roars with black smoke when it takes off.
I'd not be comfortable burning thu the night with the door off. Well no sleep anyway.
Just nice to have a plan but never need it.
Like major earth quake here, can happen, some pre planning can be useful.

My dad had a fallout shelter built back in the 50s, he died of natural causes in the 90s, don't even know who lives in that house now, but who knows that damn thing may come in handy some day.LOL

 

[bogydave]

Being prepared for the worst & never having to use it. Priceless.
Being prepared for the worst & it happens? it is still an "ugly" situation.
Not being prepared, & the worst happens ???? (I can think of many words) but "uglier" will do.