We got an overfire!

zachary193 · Post by **zachary193** » Tue. Nov. 07, 2023 3:12 am

ColdHouse wrote: ↑
Mon. Nov. 06, 2023 4:24 am
Leaving the door open is only part of the problem. Delegating or expecting someone else to watch the stove is IMO the bigger problem. It is best for one person to be responsible for the stove.

You said it best

ColdHouse · Post by **ColdHouse** » Tue. Nov. 07, 2023 4:59 am

Hoytman wrote: ↑
Mon. Nov. 06, 2023 8:42 pm
Everyone learns the basics of stove operations or we go back to fuel oil. No excuses.

Years ago a fireplace or stove is all people had to heat by. Everyone in the home knew how to operate the fireplace and or stove, even the kids. Sure, the man of the house was most responsible, but any man back then, if he was smart, taught everyone how to use the stove. Most often a newly married woman already had these skills because her daddy taught her…and most were as good with an ax chopping wood as they were baking pies.

Whomever starts a tending finishes the tending, but everyone keeps an eye on the fireplace or stove…everyone (back in the day and all in my household today…my wife didn’t want to pay the high fuel oil bill, so learning stove operation is the trade-off).

It doesn't matter if it is a heating stove, an automobile, machine, cleaning a home.... None of that matters. What matters is that when something goes wrong, no one wants to accept responsibility. The truth is accepting responsibility is really something that is too little too late. That means that whatever bad was going to happen already happened and those that had a part in it just don't have enough integrity to admit they had a part in the problem.

I find that no matter what I do, when it doesn't go right, it is my fault. When I was younger, I would get a specialty tool to perform some job and do the job and then leave the tool in plain site on the kitchen table. I was busy, fixed a problem, and will put the tool away later. Ultimately what happens is somebody moves the tool to some obscure place that it won't be found for years. After this happening several times, I realized that it is my fault and responsibility to put the tool away instead of getting upset at somebody for sticking it in some hutch drawer.

When something can go wrong, the less people involved in the equation the better.

beretlock · Post by **beretlock** » Tue. Nov. 07, 2023 5:34 am

It sounds like you experienced an overfire situation. Given the glowing and high temperatures you described, it's essential to address this promptly. Firstly, close the ash door immediately to reduce air intake. Let the stove cool down naturally, and check for any damage or warping in the grates once it's safe. You might have some clinker to remove. Ensure you maintain proper airflow to avoid this in the future. Stay safe and keep an eye on your stove.

ColdHouse · Post by **ColdHouse** » Tue. Nov. 07, 2023 6:09 am

One way to help cool the stove is to turn on blowers if they are not already on and to get other fans and direct them at the stove. Close the vents. I guess you could also take a mass of something like kettles filled with water, cement blocks/bricks/rocks and place them on top of the stove. Obviously if something is on top of the stove that can accept the heat that the stove is offering, that will help cool the stove.

Dreamcatcher · Post by **Dreamcatcher** » Tue. Nov. 07, 2023 7:14 am

When I was a apprentice I worked with a lot of high voltage trouble shooters
They all had one thing in common they all followed a procedure and that is how I deal with a coal stove the same way every day

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Tue. Nov. 07, 2023 8:42 am

I've had a few time my stoves got out of control because of forgetfulness.

An old Newfoundlander taught me a trick for cooling it down rapidly without risking sudden shock to the cast iron parts by trying to quickly shed heat from the metal.

If you don't have a hopper stove, dump more coal on the firebed and close the primary damper down to normal run position and not shut all the way.

Sounds crazy, but it worked every time and no cracked or warped parts.

The layer of "cold" coal on top of the firebed does two things.
1. It adds a lot of colder heat-soaking coal.
2. It adds a layer that slows airflow through the firebed.

This allows the firebed to slow down gradually and not shock the cast iron. Kinda like lifting your gas pedal foot with a speeding car and controlled slowing, verse slamming on the brakes in a panic stop skid.

Paul

Hoytman · Post by **Hoytman** » Tue. Nov. 07, 2023 2:03 pm

I like it, Paul.

ColdHouse · Post by **ColdHouse** » Wed. Nov. 08, 2023 10:07 am

It is better to fully open the ash pan vents with the door closed than to leave the door open.

In my scenario, I have my stove figured out so that I open the ash pan door, remove yesterdays ashes, shake the grates, fill the hopper, make sure firebox is full, top off hopper, clean rim on hopper, replace hopper lid, close ash pan door and walk away. I use dry room temperature coal. When very cold outside the only difference is ash pan vets open more and tending frequency is more often. No open ash pan doors. Total service time of stove less than 5 minutes.

fig · Post by **fig** » Mon. Nov. 20, 2023 5:15 pm

It happens. I was sitting in a chair directly in front of my stove with the clean out door open waiting for it to take off. Opened my eyes 15 minutes later to a glowing mass. In my slumbering state I immediately opened the feed door for some reason I'll never understand. That is when I hear the grate go tink.....Thermostat on the wall read room temp at 96. All in a span of 15 minutes. Doesn't take long.

Ultralume · Post by **Ultralume** » Mon. Nov. 20, 2023 9:56 pm

I found that a barometric damper set so that the flapper opens very easily will prevent such a disaster. There isn’t enough draft with the flapper wide open for any serious over fire to occur. Ask me how I know

ColdHouse · Post by **ColdHouse** » Tue. Nov. 21, 2023 4:37 am

fig wrote: ↑
Mon. Nov. 20, 2023 5:15 pm
It happens. I was sitting in a chair directly in front of my stove with the clean out door open waiting for it to take off. Opened my eyes 15 minutes later to a glowing mass. In my slumbering state I immediately opened the feed door for some reason I'll never understand. That is when I hear the grate go tink.....Thermostat on the wall read room temp at 96. All in a span of 15 minutes. Doesn't take long.

My extremely limited experience is with the Hitzer 503's I have and I can tell you that my stove won't go from cold to roaring blazing in 15 minutes and my room won't get to 96 that fast either. If my stove is hot enough to go to blazing hot in 15 minutes there would be no reason to have or leave the ash pan door open. If my fire is weakly burning and I filled up the stove the way I fill it, and left the ash pan door open, I bet it would take close to 2 hours to get that stove above 450. My stove would laugh at me about getting hot in 15 minutes. Granted, if on an initial light with dry wood and only a little coal, that stove could get hot fast, but a stove with a simmering fire that just had the firebox and hopper topped off would take a long time to get over fired. Once again if the fire was roaring pretty good and not just simmering, then there would be no need to leave the ash pan door open in the first place. Open ash pan door, empty ash pan, fill stove, close up everything as it was and done.
The video I posted above you can see the basement stove doesn't even look like it is going after I fill it.

waytomany?s · Post by **waytomany?s** » Tue. Nov. 21, 2023 3:42 pm

Ultralume wrote: ↑
Mon. Nov. 20, 2023 9:56 pm
I found that a barometric damper set so that the flapper opens very easily will prevent such a disaster. There isn’t enough draft with the flapper wide open for any serious over fire to occur. Ask me how I know

I used to think that. Ask me why I changed my mind.

waytomany?s · Post by **waytomany?s** » Tue. Nov. 21, 2023 4:04 pm

cedar wrote: ↑
Sat. Nov. 04, 2023 10:59 pm
So I just started up my ds insert on Wednesday. Didn’t need much heat so was just kinda running low and slow, apparently too low as it was out when we came back from dinner tonight. No biggie relit it and had a decent fire reestablished and dumped quite a bit of new coal on top. Told the fiancée to keep an eye on it as I had the ash door open to keep good air to it for a bit and when it starts glowing (the coal) or she comes to bed close the door. As we’ve done numerous times!
About an hr later she wakes me up saying the stove is acting weird and doesn’t know what to do.
The top center 1/3 around the hopper door was faintly glowing and everything inside the box was beyond glowing. My infrared thermometer wouldn’t read and it goes to 1050. Each side of center was lower 600-650.
Anyways I know I’ve read post’s before about these situations but can’t seem to find them. What do I need to investigate come tmw morning?
The coal box is about 2/3 full and I tried to just see if the grates would shake for some reason and they dont. Not sure if they are warped or it’s just too hot and something is binding somewhere and once it cools off some more it’ll be fine. Am I going to have a one giant clinker block to chisel out?
Appreciate any and all advice!

Hey, where'd you go? We all want to know what happened.

ShawnLiNy · Post by **ShawnLiNy** » Tue. Nov. 21, 2023 5:16 pm

waytomany?s wrote: ↑
Tue. Nov. 21, 2023 4:04 pm
Hey, where'd you go? We all want to know what happened.

Happens way to much

waytomany?s · Post by **waytomany?s** » Tue. Nov. 21, 2023 7:01 pm

ShawnLiNy wrote: ↑
Tue. Nov. 21, 2023 5:16 pm
Happens way to much

Ikr? I wanted to know if the grates bound or were ok after.