If there's still a lot of coals- rake them out flat as possible ( which means pulling to the front with these N/S stoves ) If before just coals rearrange as required. After a while you'll get to playing around with it as little as possible. In warmer weather when we're stretching out reloads as long as possible and there's just a handful of red hots left I'll rake them towards the center, straddle that with large oak, maple or pine, put some small pine splits directly on top of the coals in the center and then some more splits on top of all that. Hoping you've tamed that beast. What kind of tiles are those under the stove ? They appear very thin.
I think I may have figured it out finally. I covered part of the primary air with a magnet and that helped quite a bit. The other thing I'm doing is as soon as a reload catches I am closing the damper about halfway. After that it seems to run just fine.
They are very thin. They are just the cheap stick on kind. They are stuck directly on to the poured concrete floor.
I'm thinking I finally got this beast under control. I'll find out for sure once it gets really cold but I want to thank all of you for your patience with all of my questions. Once again you all have proven why this is the best forum on the web. Thanks everyone!
Not that I'm aware of. They've been there for 25 years now and have never had an issue. I know that's not an excuse. I'll have to see if I can find out from my folks what kind of adhesive was on them.
I hope you've nailed down the controllability issues with your stove Marvin I am still learning myself, so couldn't offer any usable advice. But, that's one of the reasons I'm here, to learn from those that know.
Just asking Bill. But why would it matter if the dry adhesive is flammable underneath the non flammable thin tiles? Pretty sure Marvin is good to go with his setup. But then again one of the furry pets might be a flaming problem.
Talked with the insurance lady when I installed the hearth and figured thicker was better so went inch and a half cement under the rock as they were worried about the embers. Canadian standards [cited below] recommend the following floor protection: Any combustible flooring or floor covering beneath a solid-fuel-burning appliance requires protection from hot embers that might fall during fire tending or ash removal. Combustible floors must be protected by a continuous, durable, non combustible pad made of a 0.38 mm (0.015 in) thick metal sheet , or a grouted ceramic floor-tile installed in accordance with the National Building Code of Canada shall be considered a durable pad. Floor protection pads must extend not less than 450 mm (18 in.) in front of the loading door and 200 mm (8 in.) beyond the other sides and back.
Are they non flammable thin tiles ? And do they possess the protection required IF the glue is flammable ? It could be Marvin took one outside and experimented with a blow torch with one that had popped off and has seen for himself that an errant wayward ember is not a concern. I'm not judging or condemning anything, just asking.
Quick thought....could a possible cause of my fire wanting to run away have been due to turning the air down too soon? What I mean is, I have been so worried about over firing the stove I was pretty quick to shut down the air. The wood was not charring very much. I think I read or watched a video about that causing the wood to off gas too much and being a potential problem with not being able to control the fire then?? The damper seems to have helped quite a bit (especially today, we are having some crazy wind gusts) but I'm wondering if that wasn't part of my problem as well. I just put a 3/4 load in and let it run open longer to char the wood and it seems to be burning more consistently right now.
I think it is much more likely that loading on too many coals was causing heavy offgassing...seems like you had several things going on here honestly. Glad its workin gooder for ya!
Yeah I think you're right on there. This may be one of those paralysis by analysis deals. I've done so much reading and watching videos that I'm over analyzing everything instead of just being patient and learning the stove. Thanks for all your help!
