Why two thermometers?

First off why you need to have two thermometers...
Each must reside on a separate surface...
One vertical the other horizontal...
They will act as a check and balance...
Tell you when the other is reading in error...
Finally...
The vertical one tells you when it got Way too hot...
By falling off...
The metal was no longer magnetic...
The second to remind you it is over 900*...
Don't do any thing else stupid...
So the PSA...
Don't leave the ash door open...
Close it before you leave the stove...
The door was open for 3 hours...
The house was 85* when I returned...
With windowstats in use...
What I did to save the stove...
Turned on the blower...
Shut the ash door and closed all the bottom vents...
Opened the over fire air all the way...
Waited till it was down to 850*...
Added 40 lbs of coal...
The coal capped the hot coals...
Keeping the heat off the hopper and lid...
The lid was glowing dull orange...
Got it down to 300*...
Checked the operation of the grates...
All looks good...
10 more days till shut down...
I'll see the condition of the grates and frame...
In a proper tear down...
The frame and hopper were set for replacement anyway...
Proper setbacks of the mantle prevented that from smoking...
Although it is no longer glossy white...

I tell the students at the college I work at that I have alot of experience. We must remember experience comes from bad judgement.
What you did many of us have just to a different degree, some more some less.
Let us know what your experience is after all of this.
Usually one time just challenges the components of the stove, where multiple times is permanent.

Stove is still running...
Nothing broke...
Grates still move just fine...
Nothing obvious is warped or sagging...
I'll see just how good Memorial day weekend...
What probably saved it was all the ash built up from running low and slow...
And letting it cool down slowly...
Burned thru about 55 lbs of coal in the 3 hours...
My mistake was breaking the rule because I was hurried...
A good reminder...

You did well, same shut down procedure with a hand-fed... over air fire is your friend.

About 10-12 years ago I left in the tri-axle at 1:00 AM in the middle of Winter to go up over the Allegheny ridge for a load of soft coal. I had to call my dad at about 2:00 to tell him to look out the window and see if the Scalehouse was on fire. He asked me “why” to which I replied “If it’s not on fire, please go down and close the ash door on the Warm Morning” (that I left wide open in my sleepy, besodden state).

The conversation ended very abruptly and I think the Scalehouse got re-arranged quickly when he got there but the building and stove were still intact. If I have to do that now, I will not shut the light off so it cannot be missed when I’m driving out... still not the answer but better than nothing.

I think many more of us on this forum have done it than what we know.

CapeCoaler wrote: ↑

Mon. May. 13, 2019 10:00 pm

First off why you need to have two thermometers...
Each must reside on a separate surface...
One vertical the other horizontal...6
They will act as a check and balance...
Tell you when the other is reading in error...

Actually, you need three for that.

You did the smart thing with the slow cool down. That is where rookies make their mistakes.

I have a thin steel floor under my stove that is loud if (and when) my magnet falls. Im thinking a 5 pound magnet on the side would be better instead of a light thermometer.